Now this is not to say explainers are useless. In fact, explainers work wonderfully well, in the right context. But in the case of having people do the unglamorous job of picking up trash while on a run, you must up your game (see the video below). Explaining the concept of running and picking up trash… leaves a bit to be desired, so the option here would be to write an appeal and dress it in a gorgeous production.

Robert Collier, the legendary copywriter (writing sales letters during the great depression), wrote it beautifully: “Before you put pen to paper, before you ring for your stenographer, decide in your own mind what effect you want to produce on your reader – what feeling you must arouse in him.

What better way to arouse a feeling than with creative video. For this app in particular (RUN ECO TEAM), targeted toward runners, it would need a runner’s opening. Cue the solo runner at the start with desirable “running” landscapes. It would also require a touch of mystique, hence app reveal and weird bottle cradle at 0:17. A build up is necessary (i.e. what’s he going to do with all the trash?), and, of course, some resolution: “Our waste is a source of energy.”

But for a product like this, you don’t want to do much more than that, as the goal here is to pique runner’s interest enough so that they will visit the app page, and download it for a trial. If the message aligns, and in this case it does – most runners are advocates for environmental protection – you’ve got a win. So before you submit the default “we need an explainer” request, make sure you evaluate whether an explainer is the right choice, while keeping in mind your end goal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ2fZZG153o