Creativity in the age of coronavirus
Creativity doesn’t feel as natural in isolation. Trading ideas with yourself in the mirror just isn’t the same vibe as a high-octane boardroom brainstorm. Plus, they say more brains are better than one, right?
Ten months on from the original government order to work from home, we’ve risen to the challenge of getting great work out the door – without even leaving the front door. As we say goodbye to the first month of 2021, here is a little round-up of some of our favourite creative highlights, all delivered under lockdown conditions.
Long-distance relationships with co-creators
Co-creators are a great source of content and bring a fresh perspective to social feeds by portraying a product in their own unique style. A report published by GlobalWebIndex discovered that 96% of consumers who follow content creators are engaging with them to the same extent or more than before the outbreak – so how do we leverage this opportunity for our brands?
When most countries went into lockdown, we shifted our co-creator approach to focus on a new normal where everyone remained at home. The challenge? Making sure the content they captured would convey the warm and inclusive feel of the Aberlour experience, whilst being mindful of social-distancing restrictions.
When it comes to our hospitality clients like ME by Meliá, we typically work with local co-creators to capture content across the globe. With travel restrictions and lockdown measures in place, we had to rethink our approach to focus on evoking a sense of safety at the locations, capturing social distancing and the new reality across hotels.
Making a TV ad out of paper for Yeo Valley
During the second half of 2020, many brands seemed to turn to animation as a creative solution at a time when elaborate live-action shoots were simply not on the cards.
So when Yeo Valley asked us to create a TV ad for their new Super Thick organic yogurt, we knew there were certain pandemic-related challenges that would influence our creative approach. By partnering with a paper-craft artist to create an animated stop-motion world of Yeo, we were able to strip back crew numbers and work within a small, socially distanced team on set.
The ad consists of two main scenes, opening with a table-top view as we meet our yogurt super fan, Jo, before transitioning into the end scene depicting the real Yeo Valley farm made out of paper, with the Super Thick pot front and centre.
Our production approach made it possible to shoot the ad, while ensuring COVID-19 compliance. Despite the limitations, we were delighted with the results. As was our client in Somerset! Watch it below to see what we’re on about.
Promoting safe domestic travel with influencers
In June, 68% of people said that they were not planning to travel internationally for the next six months. But, on the flip side, staycations saw their own little trend last summer, with record numbers of people flocking to Britain’s not-so-iconic shores. Countries across Europe were no different, and this was an opportunity we seized upon for Spanish brand Sol by Meliá – partnering up with local social influencers to promote safe domestic travel. The FOMO was real, see for yourself:
Remixing the old to create something new for Ballantine’s
When Ballantine’s wanted to create a brand film for a special event in South Korea, we supported our partner Cubo Drinks to uncover and adapt previously unseen footage from a previous shoot, in a brand new, ultra widescreen format. New motion assets, from existing material. With the final edit managed by Feed, this was a real collaborative effort across the Cubo Group.
We also worked with Echoic – an award-winning music and sound design company – to create an entirely bespoke composition and sound suite that turned this footage into a completely immersive experience for their audiences, which has also been adapted into dynamic social posts for a larger audience to enjoy from home. Take a look below and get lost in the Scottish heritage of Ballantine’s!
With a little bit of inspiration and (even more) creative thinking, we can continue to deliver brilliant content that clients love. A global pandemic is the last thing that’ll stop us.
Looking to take your content to the next level in these challenging circumstances? Get in touch with our Client Partner Director Tiffany on tiffany@eightandfour.com