Animation firm hits two million video milestone

Preston-based animation firm Viddyoze capped a record-breaking 2020 as its technology was used to create two million videos worldwide.

The company’s tech allow people to create and use their own video animation in just three clicks and saw a huge spike in demand as the lockdown created a generation of new video-makers.

Viddyoze’s customer base grew from 80,000 to 163,000 in 2020 and its technology was used to make two million videos – compared with 1.4 million between the whole of 2015-2019.

David Chamberlain, who co-founded the business in 2015 with Joey Xoto and Jamie Garside, said the focus in 2021 was continued growth and launching a new enterprise solution.

He said: “2020 was a record-breaking year and it was a bit surreal to see animations using our technology on TV adverts and social media all over the world.

“We were growing anyway before 2020, but we managed to capture market share as people used our technology to become video makers.

“Videos are a perfect vehicle to amplify your message. You can’t have a million conversations with a million people but you can have a million people watch your video.”

Viddyoze made a number of key hires through 2020 as it expanded its workforce from 30 to 52.

Chamberlain predicted: “The quality of content is going to increase in 2021 and that’s going to open the door to creating a lot more personal content.

“We have got a video on YouTube that, at the last count, had had 12.6 million views. Could we go out and speak to 12.6 million people or make 12.6 million calls a year? Probably not. That’s the value of video.”

Co-founder Joey Xoto said successful videos were all about ‘edutainment’ – combining education and entertainment.

“In this day and age if you’re trying to stand out on social media the big thing is you need to understand edutainment.

“Videos have to be educational and entertaining. Successful videos are all about story telling, so you need a good story to tell.

“We’ve built 1,600 templates and the length of our videos tends to be between five-25 seconds.

“However, you still need to plan it and choose the right platform.

“YouTube is different to Facebook. We know with YouTube you need an attention-grabbing start in the first six seconds to keep people watching. Every social media platform has its own quirk.

“2020 created a new generation of video makers and that’s only going to grow in 2021.”