True Cases! How To Save Thousands Of Dollars On Creating Explainer Videos? $10.000-$30.000
The Problem
Are you aware that 65% of your audience are visual learners? Modern users spend more and more time watching video content online, which means that video marketing will only keep growing. For numerous retailers, brands and startups — video ad is an excellent way to build awareness, show product’s integrity and drive interest. But how can you create a video that customers actually want to see?
Setting up commercial campaigns, advertising agencies use videos as an effective sales instrument that helps to increase conversions up to 80%. But every time they come up with a question “What this video should be like to be really efficient and bring tangible revenue to the client?”.
Is it better to make a video ad with actors or create 2D graphics, white board animation of motion design? Or is it better to use visual effects and 3D graphics or any other kind of other video marketing format?
Anyhow, all of these options are legit and have their pros and cons, just like all of the above mentioned videos are effective for meeting challenges. But the next important question is: What is the project’s budget? And as long as any client is eager to receive a high-quality end product, one should think of content that can actually stands out and more importantly — use his costs wisely. One of the answers is a trending format of explainer videos. It is an excellent way of marketing campaign that can smash company’s objectives and propel its social media forward but it is also effective approach that combines audio and visual stimulus to explain a concept in a simple, fun and understandable way.
In this article we will describe four cases for different industries that will show how appropriate video product and reliable contractor can help you save up to $10.000 — $30.000 for video campaign.
Case 1. Prestigio
Prestigio international brand has been offering a wide range of consumer electronics for home, education and business for more than 15 years. Having produced a new Prestigio vehicle digital video recorder (DVR) they needed a proper video commercial for their ad campaign. After thorough selection among several PR-agencies they have chosen AG-agency that has redirected this order to us, Darvideo Studio.
The client’s main objective was to describe Prestigion Diamond DVR’s key technical characteristics and its features. Discussing the following work, we have spent dozens of hours in person and with multiple Skype calls negotiating and talking about various options of the future video: the script, its main idea and value, format, duration and of course, its price.
An option with full-fledged video filming was very expensive and time-consuming. It would involve actors, video-production cast, car rent, DVR’s installation and other production items that cost tens of thousands of dollars and take months of work. The video needed to be done is short terms with a relatively low budget. And yet the main objective about means and ways of showing internal parts of the device wasn’t covered.
After carefully taking into consideration all issues, we have come up with a decision to make a 3D model and 3D animation. Not only it allows to reveal and demonstrate the device’s full potential but also to show its hidden characteristics from the most favorable angle (for example, the layout of the camera lens).
The whole production process took us only three weeks. We have created 2 language versions of the video and all formats required for the widest distribution of video on the Internet and on TV channels at the same time.
The result:
- Both, the client and the agency have been totally satisfied with the final work and are planning new projects with us again;
- AG-agency strengthened their trust with Prestigio brand;
- The final client (Prestigio™) has saved budget on costly filming, received first-class 3D video ad and a successful TV advertising campaign.
Prestigio resulting video — https://vimeo.com/327139919
Case 2. Generic Travel Bags
Generic Travel Bags — a startup initiated by Duty Free Innovation (Switzerland), who contacted our Studio directly. The production process was preceded by a period of negotiations and briefings, a careful selection of the strategy, format, and stylistics of the future video, as the company originally planned to engage additional investments into its project. This kind of requirement meant that final video was supposed to be not just attractive and entertaining, but also convincing for potential investors.
The task that the customer has set for us: to create clear advertising video describing the rapidly growing tendency of increasing passenger traffic of air travelers, current marketing problems and loyalty programs at airports around the world. Considering unsolved marketing issues, it was necessary to show and describe all the possibilities of additional cross-sales of goods to airline passengers.
Generic Travel Bags offers a solution to this problem by providing easy and convenient shopping bags in Duty Free zones that you can take with you on board. Such a simple and inexpensive service should stimulate additional consumer demand and, as a consequence, an increase in sales at airport stores.
In this case, the story of creating a full-fledged video clip is very identical with the case #1. Shooting or creating a 3D simulation of such a video is also a very cumbersome and time-consuming project. At the same time, the client planned to start pitching with potential investors and raise money for the next stage of the development of the startup as soon as possible.
Having carefully studied and analyzed the filled brief and all documentation from the client, we proposed the option of creating a 2D animated video clip with characters to show the story. On the one hand, such a format could easily convey all the locations and situations that occur to passengers when making purchases while traveling. On the other hand, it allows to be flexible, optimize the budget and make a video in a short time, and meet the deadline.
The result of the work was not just a startup video, but a series of two videos, which together revealed the essence of a startup for investors and explained how this service will work for future customers.
With this approach, Duty Free Innovation was able to fit the estimated budget and received videos allowing their business to grow and find the right partners and investments.
What is done — one of Generic Travel Bags videos — https://www.behance.net/gallery/77482543/Duty-Free-Innovation-AG
Case 3. TESS
Before starting to describe the case, it is important to define the essence of the company’s service: TESS is a Norwegian and nationwide supplier of products and services to the MRO market. The core products are hoses and hose fittings for all purposes with corresponding services. Moreover, TESS is a leading operator in the welding industry and other products such as cleaning machinery, personal safety.
And now a small brief about the story of video ordering: TESS marketing department had a serious problem with the exact and correct presentation of its services to potential customers. As the company provides a relatively innovative service, but their customers are enterprises with traditional, if not conservative, management, and they simply could not see what pain points TESS could resolve for them.
In other words — the client could not see and understand the value of the service. And what is their service? Very simple — TESS offers to place and equip specialized stores of various sizes near client’s factories/ enterprises/ production areas — from small shops to department stores. The range of products is always selected according to client’s enterprise. What is the purpose of this stores? To save time for enterprise workers and employees, allowing them to buy everything they need in production — from gloves and tools to spare parts of complex devices without leaving their workplace.
This kind of exclusive service requires an accurate explanation to its customers and it is significantly important to show the benefits and value of such cooperation as quickly as possible. Since the decision makers had very little time to watch, the format of a short and capacious video was chosen. We understood that video should immediately convey its value and answer that “why do we need this service?” But what kind of video — it should be in order not to go beyond the budget but to represent all that is necessary for an effective TESS marketer at the same time?
Initially, the negotiation, communication with the client, script writing and production was held by our partners — the Norwegian studio Animer.no. Darvideo Animation Studio joined the project when the work on the video has already started, but the chosen strategy was absolutely inappropriate: it was very expensive; it was already lasting for several months and ironically — it did not meet TESS requirements. In other words, the project went to a dead end …
After discussing the problem with the art director of Animer.no and examining the TESS request, we have quickly jumped into the process and offered TESS several 3D video styles to choose from. The client liked the formats and a week later, our department of 3D modeling and animation had already been working hard.
Without revealing all the secrets of daily work and animation magic, I want to outline one important thing that all the parties of this project have realized to themselves: the right format, the right project schedule and a proven studio contractor not only makes the work comfortable and effective, but exceeds final expectations as well.
The project final version can be found here:
https://darvideo.tv/portfolio/tess-3d-animated-explainer/
Case 4. Financial Behavioral Planning
Our partner, Clients First PR agency from Macclesfield, United Kingdom, has faced a problem while working on promo campaign for their client, Financial company. One of the project’s objectives was to create an explainer promo video, to describe the essence of individual financial planning and how important it is to supervise your own income distribution and asset management. One should mention that this kind of service is not quite understandable to any person from the very first sentence. And this ad campaign is a bright example of how important an accurate and clear script is. Believe it or not, but the script is the first place you want to start when making an explainer video for this kind of services.
Therefore, our studio together with Clients First team have developed the 2D format of the animated video that would show the main character and his various real life situations. Why did we choose this way of presentation? Because it is extremely important to center the video around the story, but not around the sale. The script must find feedback in every customer and if you want him to see the value of the product, show him the story the way, he will easily understand and compare to his own.
The script for this explainer video was very simple: the story has two main heroes, the Man and his twin — an alter ego — who is constantly provoking him to waste money and to buy unnecessary things. But than a financial assistant comes to him and shows the guy how he can easily monitor his finances and achieve his real life goals. Financial consulting — is the essence of the ad video.
Of course, one could show this story in absolutely different manner: to pick dozens of locations, to find actors who are very alike, to write pages of script, financial scales etc. All the process would be incredibly expensive and hard-working. That is why explainer video was considered to be an effective and lucrative alternative that was an integral part of successful marketing campaign. Besides, the agency has significantly saved client’s budget that was spent to other promo channels.
The resulting video that was used in the advertising campaign:
Behavioral Financial Planning — https://youtu.be/6Om63jgcn-A
Conclusions
To make a long story shirt, we’d like to outline the most important items that allow a studio to produce high-quality explainer videos and save clients budgets. The right format and professionally organized production process not only saves time and money, but also allows you to create a bright and effective movie with a minimum of effort.
The right contractor guarantees to finish the project in time, keeps you posted at all times, saves client’s nerves and presents high quality video material. Choosing explainer videos — you are choosing modern, fun and educational product, that not only outstands between other videos, but also allows you to gain thousands of views, increase conversion and become closer to your client — being clear, simple and transparent at the same time. Interesting fact: people who view high-quality explainer video are 64% more likely to make a purchase.
Use humor in your videos. Don’t be afraid to be fun — be afraid to sound boring. Animated videos allow to present any kind of material in a light and memorable manner — take full advantage of it.
Animation has no limits and it allows you to implement any kind of story, to bring any ideas to life using very sound budget. You have no costs for actors, locations, rent and so on. It can all be done in one studio in a very short amount of time for a very reasonable price.
One of the most powerful techniques you can use for video marketing — is to educate your audience. And the great thing is that education comes in many forms. For instance, you can teach your customers how to use your product or service and provide useful tips on how to make the most of it.
As Internet speed keeps increasing, phone storage gets better, streaming becomes the new norm, more people are tuning into their phones and smart TVs instead of cable — every brand, every company should use video marketing — while watching videos, user gets a new knowledge, fun content and plenty of positive emotions.
And if you want to know how to make a customer fall in love with your brand using just videos — read in our next article were we get into the details of video marketing mechanisms, tips and secrets.
