Not only is it technically accomplished, it is also very emotive, establishing a strong emotional connection with the viewer despite there being no words until 86 seconds into the 90 second approx. long video. Without further ado, here’s the low down on how to bring brand stories to life over and over again.
1. Discovery
The first step is to set up a discovery meeting, which is an initial investigative meeting between the agency and prospective client to discuss the ins and outs of the project and to find out if you think you can work together well. You will discuss the challenges of the job, resources, background, project goals and confirm the deliverables. Listen closely in the Discovery meeting to ensure that we fully comprehend the filming project and what is needed from that specific filming project.
2. Connection
In the Discovery meeting you will have clarified who the target audience is for both the product/service as well as who the target audience is for that particular video. To successfully connect with your audience it is vital that the video is made in a way that appeals to the audience whether that’s key stakeholders, investors, existing customers or even new clients. Then you can begin researching how the other companies in the industry market their products and can consider what works and what doesn’t. This is also the point in the client relationship where you might need to go on any recces for inspiration and to see where the client is based.
The Nomads often go on recces and love exploring new places to see where the stories are! It really helps us to bring a brand story to life by giving us a full view of the client and of the filming location (if it’s different to the client’s HQ), which means that we can plan the filming day thoroughly. The recce gives us the opportunity to see if there are any obstacles preventing what we are planning from taking place or from being the ideal version of the film shoot that we are hoping for. Small issues might well be easily circumvented by some simple, yet comprehensive planning on the run up to the film shoot. It also means we know what kit we need to bring or hire in. The recce we conducted on the run up to the Derwent shoot (pictured above) enabled us to plan what we needed to bring for the shoot, stuff that was outside the norm on a typical Nomadic shoot and also meant we had the time to hire kit in. For that shoot, we needed to bring plastic sheeting, safety goggles and masks, syringes, pipettes, powder paint pigment, large white card and a fish tank! We also decided that we needed to hire a Phantom Flex 4k on that recce in order to capture the paint explosions to their best advantage. Whereas the recce we conducted prior to the Renishaw shoot in 2022 (pictured below) showed us how well lit the rooms were, the size of the rooms and scale of them too regarding us needing a way to dampen the echo, or change the originally planned filming room to a smaller room without that issue.
Recce picture taken at Renishaw plc
Final shot used in video.
3. Creative storytelling
Once you have completed your recce and have agreed the terms and defined the deliverables of the filming project, then you can move on to focusing on achieving Creative Storytelling. To successfully bring a brand story to life you need to tell an actual story. That might sound like we’re stating the obvious but that really is what you need to do in order to produce a successful video. Your video needs a structure with one consistent message per video. Bombarding your viewers with lots of messages in each video might mean that your key message gets lost. This is best avoided by clear, well-thought-out pre-production work where detailed storyboarding and an engaging, dynamic script go hand in hand.
Sometimes using animation can help realise a brand story’s unique USPs by further visualising what can’t easily be put into words. Animation can be the perfect final magical sparkle to a video. It can fully cement the client’s purpose for the video whether that’s creating an educational video that needs to clarify any complex, technical information or telling a brand story, like this video we made for Icon at The O2. In this video the animated sparkle creates the narrative, which brings the viewer around the Icon shopping outlet at the O2 arena following people enjoying retail therapy on the run up to Christmas.
4. Delivery
The final part of the Brand Story puzzle is Delivery. In the pre-production period, consider what your approach is to getting this video in front of your customers. There are so many places you can share your shiny new video. A few popular ones are TV, Cinema, DOOH (Digital Out Of Home screens), Programmatic (mobile phone based advertising) to name a few. This means your deliverables might need to be broken down as follows:
- 1 x 3 minute long hero advert that’s played on YouTube
- 1 x 30 – 60 second cut for TV in landscape format
- 1 x 30 second square or vertical video to advertise on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc.
Social media edits usually have to be edited slightly differently to suit the formats of the specific platform they are going on in order to get the most user engagement. Across social channels you can do split advertising too, where you can send out 1 advert to a certain demographic and another advert to another demographic to maximise relevance. This is of course a vast overview of the advertising world, but having a solid marketing plan for the content will ensure it gets in front of the right people and produce a significant ROI (Return On Investment).
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We hope this blog has given you a good overview of what it takes to bring a brand story to life with video. There’s a lot to think about! If you are ready to explore how video can bring your brand story to life, call Nomadic UK on 01242 373942, email us on hello@nomadic.uk or fill out the form below.
