Thinking process
Context
The brand had great products, but its reels were lost in the feed after 2–3 seconds. Goal: stop the thumb and keep viewers until the end.
Hook
The first frame is already the end result, not a logo. On-screen text appears at 0.3 s and asks a question that is only answered at the end.
Pacing and retention
- A cut every 0.8–1.2 s in the first five seconds, then room to breathe.
- Sound drives the edit: every cut sits on a transient.
- Captions max two lines, high contrast, no animated fireworks.
Result
Average watch time went from 4 to 11 seconds and the reel hit Explore within 36 hours.