Manual

Branding

In video, bumpers provide consistency with existing

metadata. Bumpers should be short and should not detract

from the content.

Think about your graphical bumper, or the rst few

seconds of your video, in the context of your video’s

thumbnail and title. If the thumbnail and title set the

expectation for the user that the video’s content will be X,

then the rst few seconds of the video need to conrm that

expectation. Heavy graphical branding can disorient a new

viewer, resulting in lower engagement with your video

content.

Branding should not distract the viewer from the

content:

• In-video bumpers for repurposed content:

 • Forrepurposedclipcontent,bumpersshould

ideally be no longer than ve seconds.

 • Iflongerbumpersarenecessary,makethempart

of the content: either by scripting new voiceovers

for every bumper, linking the bumper to the

content, or placing them later in the intro/

opening.

 • Nobranding:ifyourcontentisshortandyouare

comfortable with the metadata and thumbnail

being your sole branding, then you can forego a

bumper, or place the bumper at the end of the

video.

• Bumpers for new content:

 • Trystartingwithoriginalcontentand

placing a bumper after an initial scene – this

allows you to hook the audience and keep

your branding within the video.

• If you choose to use a persistent bug or logo in

your content make sure that they are “YouTube-

safe” by placing them in the upper left or upper

right corner.

 • Onembeddedplayersthereisastripof

controls at the top of the player, make sure

your logo is placed below this interactive

layer.

• /Nerdist – Chris Hardwick’s channel starts with

content, and follows with episode-specic

branding graphics.