It has been one year since Vine exploded its way onto our smartphone screens. Since that first seed was sewn, we have witnessed an unprecedented level of creativity flowing from brands, publications and individuals alike. In honour of Vine’s first anniversary, I asked some Firefly friends and contacts to nominate their favourites, to inspire us all this coming year.

Firefly friend, David Moth at econsultancy, named posts by Denver Broncos and Oreo his favourites, both of which use stop motion – a technique favoured by many users.

In this Oreo example, the cookie company recreates a scene from the Shining, renaming it The Spilling:

Phil Szomszor, Head of B2B and Digital at Firefly, is inspired by Virgin Mobile USA. Phil feels that their Vines have a  perfect balance  of humour and brand identity. Virgin Mobile’s Halloween competition is a particularly strong example, generating thousands of likes and re-vines:

A site that regularly features inspirational Vines is Creative Bloq. Tom May, the associate editor, told us that one of his favourite Vine experiments was conducted by digital media developers, Code ComputerLove.

Using Vine, the guys at Code ComputerLove created a comic strip, unveiling a story by piecing together Vines which run one after the other. Take a look:

http://www.vine-comic.co.uk/

We want brands and individuals to keep creating fun, fruitful Vines, so in celebration of its first birthday; here are our six tips for those six second vids:

Be creative, experiment with styles

Be inspired by others, follow people who have created Vines you love and regularly check-out the news feed for ideas.

Think the whole Vine through before you shoot

Take a moment to briefly storyboard your Vine. Often people try to cram too much into one shoot, making it hard to follow. Keep it simple and give yourself enough time with each section of your video.

Know your video limitations

Vine doesn’t use the most sophisticated video software – it’s supposed to be casual. One thing that does often catch people off-guard is lighting, Vining in low light doesn’t work very well. So, make sure your subject is positioned in a way that means they are being covered by a natural light source

Know your way around the app

Some people think that there is no sound when shooting as Vine’s default setting has the volume switched off. Don’t be fooled though! It will be recording the sounds so watch out for those Ps and Qs!

Another trick not all people know is that you can review the Vine before posting it. After finishing your video, you have to click on the green tick to take you to the “share” page. If you click the back arrow at this point you can go back and review what you’ve just created.

Integrate it into your comms programme

Vine is an engaging, current comms tool. Brands should think how these short videos can link to the theme of comms campaign. But remember: think strategically. Doing too many ‘one-offs’ can come across as random.

Find a way of engaging your audience

Vine needn’t be seen as a broadcasting tool. Brands have had great success using Vine to engage their customers. For example, ASOS offered prizes to people who posted Vine clips of themselves using the hashtag #ASOSUnbox.

We couldn’t end this post without a cheeky Vine to make you giggle. Here is Jamie East’s spoof Vine of Helen Flanagan’s music video which was nominated by Ashley Scott, Media relations manager at Virgin Media. Her reason? Simple - because it’s hilarious!