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Your Hero Video Flopped. Here’s Why It’s Not the Moment You Think It Is.

Gen Z and Millennials don’t care about your drone shots.

June 05, 2025

June hit fast. And if the year’s already felt like a blur, you’re not the only one doing a double-take.

Maybe Q1 had you locked in. Maybe your calendar’s been nonstop. Now you’re just catching your breath and realizing how far you’ve come. This time of year brings that mix of reflection and momentum. You’re craving a reset, but the pressure’s still on.

Before today pulls you back into the chaos, tap into this edition of The Resource—your cheat code for staying sharp in social-first video, creative strategy, and culture-led marketing.

  • Inside The Work: Your video might impress the CMO, but not your audience. Let’s fix that. 

  • Week Moodboard: A visual reset that’s anything but quiet.

  • Picked For You: Cozy culture, smart content systems, posting 50 times at your next event, and where the best marketers will be catching tan lines next week—our top picks for what you should be reading, watching, and tapping into right now.

Your Hero Video Flopped. Here’s Why It’s Not the Moment You Think It Is.

We’ve all been there: You dropped the big-budget brand film. The one with the drone shots, moody lighting, and a voiceover that sounds like it came straight out of a Nike ad. It looked fire in the pitch deck. 

But then you took it to the feed and crickets. Nothing to show for the spend.

Here’s the thing: Gen Z and Millennials aren’t watching your 90-second masterpiece if it doesn’t stop the scroll in the first two seconds or feels like it belongs in their feed. 

Let’s talk about why your hero video is flopping and what to do instead.

Why Your Big-Budget Video Isn’t Hitting

The traditional hero video approach is failing for three key reasons:

Platform mismatch: That beautifully crafted 16:9 horizontal masterpiece? It's getting cropped, compressed, and competing with native vertical content that was built for the scroll.

Attention economics: Audiences give content seconds, not minutes, to prove its worth. Most hero videos take too long to deliver value, with critical messages buried 30+ seconds in.

One-size-fits-none distribution: Pushing the same video across YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn ignores how each platform's algorithm and audience behaviors fundamentally differ.

According to a survey by ORC International, 90% of respondents tend to skip pre-roll ads when given the option, and marketers often find that platform-specific, targeted content yields better engagement than broad, generic hero content.

The Modular Content Approach

The smartest brands aren’t just making one hero video, they’re building content ecosystems designed to win the scroll, not just the pitch room.

Here's how they're doing it:

1. Start with the ecosystem, not the hero

Instead of creating one video and chopping it up later, plan the entire content ecosystem from the start:

Nike's "Play New" campaign exemplifies this approach. The team shot modular components that could stand alone on TikTok or Instagram while building toward the larger narrative on YouTube and broadcast.

2. Don’t open with your logo. Nobody cares yet.

The first 3 seconds determine whether viewers stay or scroll. Restructure your storytelling to:

  • Open with the most visually arresting moment

  • Lead with human faces, surprising visuals, or immediate value

  • Save brand reveals for after you've earned attention

  • Use text overlays to deliver key messages even when muted

Fenty Beauty consistently nails this approach with product-focused content that jumps straight to results, saving brand context for mid-video when viewers are already engaged.

3. Bring Creators Into Your Process

The strategies that are actually working bring creators and community members into the mix from the jump:

  • Let relevant creators help shape concepts instead of just handing them a script

  • Test ideas with small audience segments before going all in

  • Plan shoots that capture both the clean, professional shots and the raw, authentic moments

  • Design campaigns that invite people to participate, not just watch

When creators help build your strategy, you get built-in cultural relevance and distribution that feels organic, not forced. One standout example of this was Doritos with its famous “Crash the Super Bowl” campaign. Doritos embraced a creator-driven, participatory strategy for its Super Bowl advertising, allowing fans to shape the campaign content, testing ideas in stages, mixing polished production with raw user creativity, and actively inviting audience participation.

What to Actually Do About It

Ready to level up beyond those underperforming hero videos? Start here:

  • Look at the numbers, not just views, but where people bounce: Look at which specific moments in your current videos are actually keeping people watching (most platforms give you that second-by-second data)

  • Think modular, not monolithic: Plan content that can break down into platform-specific pieces while still telling a cohesive story

  • Try. Track. Trash what doesn’t work. Keep what does: Try different hooks, sounds, and calls to action to see what actually resonates

  • Track what matters: Focus on engagement rate, completion percentage, and conversion metrics—not just the vanity metrics

The hero video isn’t dead. But the way most brands use it is the real problem.

The ones actually winning aren’t posting one polished piece and calling it strategy. They’re building content ecosystems. Modular. Platform-native. Built to stop the scroll.

If your hero video is built to impress the CMO but not your audience, we should talk.

We’ve been noticing it. Color’s creeping back in after months of everything looking beige and safe. What started as a subtle shift is now impossible to ignore. Brands are leaning into high-saturation reds, electric blues, punchy greens—palettes that signal energy, confidence, and edge. Go louder. They’ll notice.

The Future is Fuzzy: Inside the Billion Dollar Industry of Cute Sh*t

DonYé Taylor—a creative strategist, founder of the brand Nüclei, and cultural commentator—breaks down the rise of the cozy economy in her latest Substack piece. She explores how Gen Z and Millennials are gravitating toward softness, comfort, and community, signaling a shift in consumer values that brands need to understand to stay relevant.

Cannes Lions is basically the Grammys of advertising. It’s where the year’s most culture-shifting campaigns get their flowers, and where next year’s power players are already making moves.

Happening Jun 16–20, 2025. Stream it, follow the buzz, or convince your team to fly you out and expense the rosé.

Still Posting Recaps? You’re Already Behind

Oren John breaks down how Coachella and The Masters posted 50 times over a single weekend—and why it wasn’t overkill, it was a masterclass in real-time strategy. Watch this quick TikTok and apply the insight to your next event media plan.

Steal This Framework for Better Content, Faster

Creating content that hits doesn’t come from waiting on inspiration. It comes from building a system that works. In this episode, marketers Ally Golden and Rob Skinner break down a simple but powerful content framework they picked up at Digital Summit. If you’re trying to turn strategy into scroll-stopping stories, the Focus + Format method is one worth stealing.

Thank you for being a part of The Resource. This digest is powered by REC Philly, a premier creative agency based in Philadelphia specializing in connecting brands authentically with Gen Z and Millennial audiences through social-first video content.

Want to connect with Gen Z or Millennials — or take your social strategy and video content to the next level? Work with us. Submit this form and we’ll be in touch to schedule a call.