Video has dominated digital marketing for more than a decade — but the ground keeps shifting. In this episode of Hard Refresh, host Andrés López-Varela is joined by Nanda Gunnink (Managing Director, Studio Orange), Saira Manns (PR & Social Media Manager, Greyhound Australia), and Tanya Waite (Director of PR, Mainstay Media) to explore the changing craft of video.
From lo-fi user-generated clips to high-end brand storytelling, the panel unpacks how entertainment, education, AI, and streaming are reshaping the medium. They debate whether synthetic talent and automated workflows can ever replace human creativity, and what “television” will even mean by 2050.
In this episode:
// Entertainment isn’t just humour
Brands are learning that keeping audiences engaged means blending storytelling, relatability, and information, not just chasing jokes. Lo-fi, relatable clips often outperform glossy campaigns because they feel more human.
// Lo-fi VS high-production video
From cyclone updates filmed on a couch to high-budget campaigns, the panel shows how context and purpose – not budget – should determine the style of production. The lines between user-generated content and professional advertising are blurring fast.
// Streaming, Connected TV and the new definition of television
With YouTube, TikTok, and Netflix competing for living-room screens, the classic 30-second spot is losing dominance. The conversation highlights how TV ads must adapt internet sensibilities to stay relevant.
// AI-assisted video and synthetic talent
Tools like CapCut and AI-generated avatars are speeding up production, but the group raises ethical questions around disclosure and whether audiences will accept non-human talent at scale.
// The pendulum of authenticity
Just as Instagram’s polished aesthetic gave way to rough TikToks, the panel predicts cycles where audiences swing back to craving polish; a reminder that novelty, not just technology, drives audience taste.
This episode was recorded on the traditional lands of the Whadjuk Noongar people, live at State of Social ’25.
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