Somewhere in December a marketing manager is asked to "do a nice little video for the clients". Two weeks later the whole department is standing in a meeting room in paper hats, waving at a phone, wondering how it came to this. If you are planning a shoot like this, our corporate video page has the details.
Greeting videos are easy to make badly. They are also one of the few videos your clients will open with goodwill, because for once you are not selling anything. Here is how to use that well.
Decide who it is for
One video rarely works for everyone.
- Clients and partners want to feel remembered, not marketed to.
- Your own team wants to recognise themselves and each other.
- The public on social media needs a reason to care about a company's holiday at all.
Pick one audience as the main one. A warm film for clients can be shared with staff, but a video full of inside jokes should stay inside.
Which occasion?
A UAE workplace celebrates more than one calendar. Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha, Diwali, Christmas, New Year, Lunar New Year, Eid Al Etihad on 2 December: many teams mark several of them. You do not need a film for each. Two approaches work:
- One year-end thank-you that is about the year you shared rather than about a particular holiday.
- A few very short greetings across the year, each led by colleagues for whom the occasion is their own.
What rarely works is a single video trying to name every holiday at once. For National Day specifically, see UAE National Day videos for companies; for the holy month, Ramadan campaign videos.
Formats that work
The year in sixty seconds. Projects delivered, events attended, the office move, the new colleagues. If you filmed anything during the year, the material already exists. This is the most valuable format because it reminds clients what you actually did together.
One sentence each. Twenty colleagues, one line each, in their own languages, cut together quickly with subtitles. It is simple to film in an hour and it shows the real team.
A single walk through the office. One continuous shot moving past desks as people look up and say hello. It needs a rehearsal and ten takes, and people love it.
The honest thank-you. One person, usually the founder, speaking for forty seconds without a script. It only works if they mean it and if the camera is close. See CEO message videos.
Hands, not faces. Cards being written, gifts packed, a table laid for the team lunch. It is a good choice when people are camera-shy.
Mistakes to avoid
- Forced fun. If the team wants to dance, wonderful. If they were told to, viewers can tell in two seconds.
- Snow over Dubai. Stock winter imagery in a desert city reads as "template".
- A sales message at the end. One discount code undoes the whole gesture.
- The corporate statement. "We would like to take this opportunity" is not a greeting.
- Too long. Thirty to sixty seconds is enough. Nobody wishes a greeting video were longer.
- Music without a licence. Famous seasonal songs are the most strictly protected of all. See music in business videos.
Can it be funny?
Yes, and a little self-awareness goes a long way: the outtakes from the serious version, the office plant that survived another year, the meeting that could have been an email. Aim the joke at yourselves, never at clients or at anyone's traditions. We go deeper in can a corporate video be funny.
Plan it in October, film it in November
The secret of a relaxed greeting video is that nothing is filmed in the last week.
- During the year: keep a folder of event clips, behind-the-scenes shots and photos. See behind-the-scenes content.
- Five weeks before: choose the audience and the format.
- Three to four weeks before: film. Add it to a shoot you already have planned if you can.
- Two weeks before: edit, subtitle, get one person's approval.
- Sending week: a horizontal version for email and screens, a vertical one for WhatsApp and social media.
Sending it
Most greetings are watched on a phone, in a messaging app, with the sound off at first. That means subtitles, a clear first frame and a small file. A link often works better than an attachment. A short personal line above the video matters more than the video itself.
Questions people ask
Should we make personalised versions for key clients?
A title card with the client's name, or a sentence recorded for your ten most important partners, takes little extra time on the day and is remembered far longer than a general greeting.
We filmed nothing this year. Is it too late?
No. The "one sentence each" and "walk through the office" formats need only a morning. And next year, start the folder in January.
Internal and external versions?
Often yes: the same shoot, two edits. The internal cut can be longer, looser and funnier.
How we can help
Fat Cat Media films company videos across the UAE in English and Russian. A greeting film is usually a half-day shoot with a quick turnaround, and it is easy to combine with other filming you have planned. See our corporate video service.
Need help with corporate video?
Company profiles, factory and office films, recruitment and training videos. Send us a short brief and we will come back with an itemised quote.
