I was reviewing a client's $50,000 video when it hit me. Beautiful production, slick graphics, CEO talking about "innovative solutions" and "commitment to excellence." When I asked their target audience what they remembered from it, most couldn't recall a single specific point. Then I saw a competitor's video that opened with "Everything you think you know about data security is wrong." People were leaning in, sharing it, talking about it. The expensive video was just noise. The one that challenged assumptions actually moved the needle.
Your Brain on Corporate Speak
When someone watches a traditional corporate video, their brain goes into autopilot. They've seen this script a thousand times before.
But when you challenge a fundamental belief they hold, you're literally forcing their brain to work. They can't just passively consume it.
I've noticed people actually lean forward when a video contradicts something they "know" to be true. Their brain starts racing: "Wait, is that right? How is that possible?"
That mental engagement creates memory formation. Traditional videos slide right past consciousness because there's no friction, no reason to stop and process.
Challenge their assumptions and suddenly they're mentally wrestling with your content. That wrestling match transforms a passive viewer into someone who remembers, shares, and acts.
Research on cognitive dissonance confirms this. The brain literally can't ignore information that conflicts with existing beliefs.
The Assumption Audit
I've developed a systematic way to identify which beliefs to challenge. I call it the "assumption audit."
First, I interview their sales team and ask what objections they hear most often. Those objections reveal the core beliefs prospects hold.
Then I look at competitor messaging. If everyone in the industry is saying the same thing, that's your target belief right there.
But the real goldmine is customer exit interviews or lost deal post-mortems. I ask "What did they believe that prevented them from moving forward?" Nine times out of ten, there's a pattern.
For one supply chain client, three different prospects had said "We need to see our inventory in real-time." They all believed visibility was the solution.
But the real problem was they were looking at the wrong data entirely. So we challenged that assumption directly.
Making Your Solution Inevitable
A cybersecurity firm was stuck competing on features. "We have better threat detection, faster response times, more comprehensive monitoring." Classic corporate video stuff.
When I dug into their lost deals, prospects kept saying "We already have security software, we just need to use it better." They believed the problem was implementation, not the solution itself.
So we opened their next video with "Your security isn't failing because you're using it wrong. It's failing because it was designed for threats that no longer exist."
Suddenly we weren't competing against other security companies. We were competing against their existing mindset.
Once prospects accepted that their current approach was architecturally flawed, our client's solution became the obvious next step. They went from "Why should we switch?" to "How quickly can we implement this?"
The shift took them from a 12% close rate to 34% in six months. We didn't change their product or pricing. We changed the frame.
You're Not the Hero
Most companies fundamentally misunderstand their role in their prospect's mental landscape. They think they're the hero of the story, but they're actually the guide.
Companies position themselves as the protagonist: "We're innovative, we're leaders, we're the best." But in the prospect's mind, they're the hero of their own story, trying to solve their own problems.
When you challenge a perception, you're not saying "Look how smart we are." You're saying "Here's something that will help you succeed."
The cybersecurity client stopped talking about their advanced algorithms and started talking about how prospects could finally stop worrying about the next breach.
Companies keep trying to impress prospects with their capabilities, but prospects don't care about your capabilities. They care about their outcomes.
The moment you shift from "Here's what we can do" to "Here's what you've been missing," everything changes.
You become the trusted advisor who opened their eyes, not just another vendor pitching features. That's why perception-challenging videos work.
Research shows that 75% of executives have explored products they weren't considering after engaging with compelling thought leadership content.
Meanwhile, video content generates 20 times more shares than text and images combined on LinkedIn.
Your expensive corporate video might look impressive, but if it doesn't challenge how people think, it's just expensive noise.
The videos people remember are the ones that make them think differently. And thinking differently is the first step toward buying differently.