A video shot for advertising can run on an in-store screen. But it has to have been planned for, and you have to know who owns the screen.
Nothing that dates
That is the first rule, and it decides the file's lifespan.
A displayed price, a promotion, a date, seasonal packaging, a model about to change: each of those turns a reusable video into a disposable one.
A well-made shelf video serves several seasons. A video with a burnt-in price serves six weeks, and costs the same to produce.
Good practice: the price and the promotion arrive as an overlay, added by the retailer or the brand at the moment of broadcast, never in the image.
The formats that work on the shelf
Four, and they are all short.
The gesture: opening, measuring out, applying, assembling. An action recognisable in a second, with no face needed.
The result: before and after, with no text, filmed in the same light.
The size comparison: the product next to an ordinary object, to settle the question people ask in front of the shelf.
And the product loop: ten seconds, with no apparent beginning or end, running all day without tiring.
The common point: they work without sound, at three metres, and for somebody who does not stop.
The language of display
That is the particularity of this market, and it is settled before the shoot.
Depending on the region, commercial display and disclosures may be subject to their own requirements, notably on the language used. A national operation may therefore require several versions of the same file, not for reasons of style but of compliance.
The applicable obligations depend on the autonomous community, on the medium and on your situation, and are checked with a lawyer before the files are submitted.
The production consequence is simple: always deliver a master with no burnt-in text, with the texts supplied separately. That is what allows a regional version to be produced in an hour instead of reshooting.
What to negotiate beforehand
Five points, all written down.
The exact technical format and file size required by the retailer.
The duration of in-store use, which is not included by default in an advertising licence.
The retailer's right to use the video on its own channels, described in the box.
The authorisations of the people filmed, valid for that specific medium.
And the file submission deadline, often well before the broadcast.
How to produce it without doubling the cost
One rule: one shoot, three frames.
Frame wide, keep the subject centred, and export vertical, square and horizontal from the same edit.
Systematically film a fixed ten-second product shot, no hands, no movement, no text. That is the shot the retailer asks for and that cannot be manufactured afterwards.
And keep all the text on a separate track, for the reason described above.
What an in-store video must return to the retailer
| Goal | The shot that serves it | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|
| Bring people into the shop | The storefront and the street | Local networks |
| Help find the aisle | The route from the entrance | In-store screen |
| Sell the brand | The product picked up | Online product page |
What is agreed with the manager before coming
The quiet hour, the permitted area, the presence of a staff member willing to appear, and the name of the product to feature.
What costs a full reshoot
A visible price that changes the following week, a finished promotion, or a competitor's label in the back of the frame.
The test before sending the file
Three checks, five minutes.
Watch the video without sound, on a phone, at arm's length: can you tell which product it is in a second?
Step back three metres and look at the screen: is the text still legible?
And check the format against the retailer's technical sheet, line by line. A file rejected for a non-compliant size or duration comes back a week later, and the broadcast window does not move.
