Why brands use animated explainer videos to communicate complex messages

According to research, 63% of consumers say they would most like to learn through a short video, compared with just 12% who prefer a text-based article. Meanwhile, 93% of video marketers say video has helped increase audience understanding.

The challenge isn’t simply getting information out there. It’s making sure people understand it.

Complex services. Technical processes. Sensitive issues where every word matters. These subjects often require more than a written explanation alone. And that’s where animation can be particularly powerful.

We recently put that thinking into practice with Yorkshire Water, developing a series of animated explainer videos designed to help customers better understand some of the questions they ask most frequently.

The project reinforced three valuable lessons about how animation can turn complexity into clarity.

Three lessons from creating animated explainer videos for Yorkshire Water

1. The strongest explanations help people visualise what they can’t see

Unlike live action, animated explainer videos aren’t constrained by what can physically be filmed. They can visualise a process, simplify a system, move between locations or time periods, introduce data and turn abstract concepts into something tangible.

That makes it particularly useful when organisations need to communicate something people might otherwise struggle to picture.

For Yorkshire Water, the brief centred on helping customers understand a number of challenging and often technical subjects, including why directors receive high salaries and why dry spills can happen during winter.

These weren’t topics that needed decorating. They needed explaining. If audiences can’t easily picture what you’re describing, animation can often provide the clarity that words alone cannot.

Rather than simply putting existing information into motion, we developed a distinctive visual world designed to make technical detail feel simpler, more human and more engaging.

2. Creativity works best when paired with credibility

Visual storytelling was only half the challenge. When the subject matter is sensitive, clarity has to work alongside accuracy.

The project became an example of our ONE PHA approach in practice, bringing together specialists from across creative, content and reputation disciplines to carefully shape both the visual storytelling and supporting narrative.

Our Content Studio team led the animation pre-production internally, developing the concept, storyboards, illustration style, scene design and animation direction before collaborating with a specialist animator to bring the work to life.

Alongside this, our reputation experts helped ensure complex issues were communicated clearly, accurately and responsibly.

Every piece of information needed to be correct. But it also needed to work as storytelling: clear enough to understand quickly, concise enough for video and human enough to hold attention.

The most effective animated explainer videos don’t just make a topic look interesting. They help audiences understand and trust the information being shared.

3. Choosing the right format matters as much as the message

As demand for content continues to increase, marketing teams are being asked to create more assets for more platforms, often with tighter budgets. That makes choosing the right format increasingly important.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean that animation will always be the answer.

Live action can be incredibly effective when a story benefits from real people, products or environments. But when the subject is abstract, technical, sensitive or difficult to capture through a camera lens, animation can often communicate the message more effectively.

Animated explainer videos are particularly useful when brands need to:

• Explain technical services or processes
• Visualise infrastructure, systems or operations
• Simplify customer questions
• Communicate sensitive or reputationally important subjects
• Present data in a more engaging way
• Turn abstract concepts into something tangible

Sometimes the goal isn’t to provide more information, but to make existing information easier to understand.

Helping audiences understand, not just consume

The Yorkshire Water project reinforced a lesson that applies across sectors.

Whether you’re explaining a complex service, introducing a new process or helping audiences understand a sensitive issue, understanding rarely comes from information alone. It comes from how that information is communicated.

Animated explainer videos offer organisations a way to bridge that gap, transforming technical detail into accessible, engaging stories that audiences can absorb quickly and confidently.

And sometimes, making something easier to understand is the most powerful creative move a brand can make.

The real value of animated explainer videos isn’t what you show

As audiences consume more content across more channels, brands face increasing pressure to communicate clearly, quickly and effectively.

Animation can help organisations answer difficult questions, explain complex concepts and improve audience understanding without sacrificing accuracy.

Through our Creative & Content Studio, PHA helps brands develop animated explainer videos that combine strategic communications, visual storytelling and creative execution. Through our integrated ONE PHA approach, we bring together creative, content and reputation specialists to ensure even the most complex messages connect with the audiences that matter.

More from us

Complex communication challenges rarely exist in isolation.