Problem

A brand new personal finance platform that needed to provide products and services that their customer base would need, and use.

Brief

Create a fun and informative video to engage users to sign up for a new online  community dedicated to personal finance.

Challenges

1. One month turnaround time, and a limited budget

2. A new brand with no clear direction for the identity

3. Multiple messages to deliver in one short video

Decision #1

Establish a plan of action

With only one month to pitch and create this video, and a multitude of messages to try and include, the pressure was on.

The priority? Manage expectations with a clear plan. As the initial brief had little detail, the project needed a clear direction to get things moving.

My proposal was to focus on one key message in a 60-90 second animated video, highlighting to the client the need for clarity and simplicity.

Decision #2

Justify choices

To get the main stakeholders to agree on one message (instead of the four they'd asked for) would need explaining. And here's what got them on board...

• Delivering one single message would allow us to create a short and punchy video that engaged the audience.

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• Multiple messages in a launch video would be confusing for the audience.

• Opting for animation over a filmed production would be cheaper and less resource-heavy to produce. 

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• With animation we can adapt to feedback on the go, without having to carry out reshoots for a film.

Decision #3

Write a strong script

The key to a successful video is starting with a strong script, which acts as the backbone for the whole production. 

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And to make this video accessible to the masses, it was important to use a friendly, conversational tone of voice with common vocabulary — but avoiding overuse of slang.

Decision #4

Build the storyboards

With an approved script, it was then crucial to have clear visual ideas approved by the stakeholders before we started animating — to avoid unnecessary back-and-forth down the line. 

Working with our lead designer, the two of us worked closely on creating the visual storyboards to present our ideas.

Decision #5

Develop in an agile way

As time was tight and the stakeholders only approved a selection of the scenes from the initial storyboards, we needed to get agile.

While the animator started working on the approved scenes, I worked with our designer to revise the unapproved scenes until we had full approval.

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This process continued with the approval of the animated scenes until we had a beautiful final edit that the client was happy with.