Every client, every job presents unique challenges that fuel our days and make work fun. Happily, this means that coming to work for us is never a chore.
We take great pride in our work and think that it shows. Have a look and see if you agree. Then give us a call!
What do Dizzee Rascal’s trainers and one of our films have in common? Not a lot you would have thought, except last week at Futureversity’s fundraising dinner and auction at the Savoy Hotel.
Three months ago, when Futureversity asked us if we had anything to donate to their auction, we thought long and hard, and after deciding that a compilation of Fergus’s comedy sketches might not quite cut the mustard, we offered up a prize of a free promotional film.
Fast-forward to the auction last week and with Alastair McGowan compering and Dizzee Rascal running the auction – we found ourselves up for sale and bought by Cisco Systems. One free promotional film ready to be delivered to Cisco, and one large contribution to Futureversity from Cisco Systems.
We have just completed a series of films for NEST (National Employment Savings Trust) to launch a new scheme for providing employees with an automatic workplace pension.
We had three days to put the pitch together and came up with the idea of a man having a conversation about pensions with himself at four different ages. You can see the result here
This was a very complex shoot technically and logistically and, achieved in a very short timescale (less than two weeks from shoot to delivery).
CLIENT COMMENT “As part of our work to raise awareness of NEST in the run up to the launch of the scheme, we commissioned a series of short films. Our objectives were to inform people about pension reform, generate support for this change in workplace pension provision and educate them about the role NEST will play in delivering the reform.
We had just over a month from sending out RFQs to delivery of the films. We needed three audience-specific films and we anticipated an approach similar to films we had commissioned previously. So we were happily surprised to receive a creative approach that delivered complex messaging in a highly original and accessible way with a central idea that reinvents the way you look at the subject.
We were keen to do more than just ‘tick boxes’ with this communication and feel we have successfully delivered a series of films that will engage our audiences through comedy whilst informing them.
It is too early to measure effectiveness of the films beyond informal feedback. So far that has been very positive from across the full spectrum of our stakeholders. We certainly consider it a valuable piece of communications.”
How to get your message across in the new comms landscape
The government wants to pay less for comms across the board – less for production, less for distribution. And it would like to see more private sector partnerships in comms to relieve the burden on the taxpayer.
The biggest impact will surely fall on conventional TV advertising (which, were Mrs T still running things, she would no doubt be branding ‘the last bastion of Spanish practices’).
The government recently published its Review of Government Direct Communication and the Role of COI(click here). It demonstrates a clear aversion to the TV advertising regime of the past, with £0.5 bn. spent annually on comms, including millions on buying TV airtime for government messages. ‘Digital’ is the new mantra.
A fairly standard reaction to the subject I suspect. And something we had to confound when we were thinking of an approach for the web film to accompany the new workplace pension for NEST (National Employment Savings Trust).
Our approach seemed like a good idea at the time – what would you say to your future or past self if you met? An excellent core idea on which to hang a positive message about saving for the future, we all thought. Now we had to execute it. And that’s where it got interesting. One actor at four different ages on screen at the same time. Two other actors at two different ages also on screen at the same time. Three versions of the film. Two days. Very busy make-up department. In a pub in Acton.
The technical challenges were met with a combination of split screens and chromakeying (and a lot of head scratching). Performance was even trickier – we couldn’t afford to stereotype but had to draw distinctions between the ages, plus timing and reactions were going to be essential for the right comedic tone to be created. Congrats need to go to all our cast but especially Jerry Lindop for his brilliant Brian, Brian, Brian and Brian.
Decision Aids are designed for patients with certain conditions who are facing healthcare decisions prompted by the alternative treatments available. They are used to facilitate shared decision making by providing the information that helps patients weigh up all the treatment options available to them, based on different consequences, long and short-term outcomes and support the process of constructing preferences appropriate to their individual situation.
Commissioned by Addenbrookes Hospital, we developed and produced the first set of UK decision aids in 2008 for localized prostate cancer and BPH. Subsequently in 2010 we delivered a knee replacement PDA and are now working on a further set of films for hip replacement, cataracts and end stage renal failure.
Structuring these communications to achieve the right balance of medical information and patient anecdote makes the development process challenging, especially given that our patient contributors have to be handled with great sensitivity (as do many of the consultants!). Given their importance as a recognized treatment option in and of themselves, we have been required to work closely with senior consultants and subject matter experts ensuring that all contributors stay on message and that where there are competing interests between policy and clinicians the films deliver the correct policy messages. There have also been the logistic challenges of finding the right patients and juggling multiple availabilities on the same shoot days.
“We were very pleased with the relationship that developed with your team and your immense patience with our developing materials and lengthy consultation. Please accept our sincere thanks for all your help and for an excellent finished result.”
Dr Mary Archer, Chairman, Addenbrookes Hospital
It has been shown that Decision support interventions have performed better than usual care interventions in a number of ways – including, most crucially, by showing reduced rates of elective invasive surgery in favour of conservative treatment options. This in turn has resulted in lower treatment costs across the health service.
We’ve worked extensively with the NHS and DH over the years, making films for Connecting for Health, the DH, NHS Direct and NHS Choices, as well as many PCTs and SHAs.
To see how the NHS use the Decision Aids films please click here
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