“Story Story Story”

- Sir Ridley Scott, one of the greatest living filmmakers/storytellers, opening the New Directors’ Showcase at the Cannes Lions in 2018.

Stories are all around us. We use them to entertain, to amuse and to inform. They also form the underpinnings of nations, companies, families, teams and even money. Storytelling has become a buzzword in corporate communications. A search of LinkedIn finds that nearly 800,000 people describe themselves as storytellers, or list storytelling as a skill. But there is good reason for this.

Stories are central to how we define our reality. They define belonging, and the concept of ‘them’ and ‘us’. This is because every cultural arrangement relies (no matter how loosely) on a shared set of understandings. This makes an understanding of stories essential for those interested in creating and strengthening cultures of any kind.

What is a story?

Simply put, a story is an encapsulation of cause and effect. Our brains link facts – A leads to B, B leads to C, and so on. This gives rise to the three-act structure: the ingredients, the reaction and the outcome. The reason this is a more effective form of communication than just giving facts is that it mirrors how our brains have evolved to process information.

Story structure activates the brain in a way that simple facts do not:

“Don’t drink the water, it’s not safe” isn’t as memorable as... 

“Sarah drank from that smelly stream, and she has been in bed, writhing in agony, ever since.”

When we hear the facts linked as a story, we can’t help but visualise Sarah’s experience. This creates an emotional reaction over and above the simple facts and embeds it into our brains. Because of this, information relayed as a story is far more likely to be remembered than the same information shared as bare facts.

Conflict is essential to great stories…

Good stories are about conflict; they include a degree of jeopardy in the achievement of the effect or outcome (i.e. A plus B could lead to C, but it could also lead to D, E or F). The greater this unpredictability or jeopardy, the more powerful the emotional connection, and therefore the greater the impact of the story.

This gives nearly all great stories a recognisable structure. Look at any of the great myths – ancient or modern – and you’ll find the personable figure of the underdog, who sets out against great odds to achieve a significant (and almost unattainable) goal. In doing so, they enhance themselves and grow. In his excellent book Into the Woods, renowned screenwriter John Yorke examines the mechanics behind story structure. He argues that, while the subject of the story (the protagonist) might not get what they initially wanted, they achieve the thing that they actually needed, and that is far more valuable.

The reason for the success of this type of structure is that it mirrors an insecurity that lies at the heart of all human beings. Built within our psyches is the belief that we are the underdog facing the challenges of the world. Different types of stories resonate with different target audiences, but the underdog against the world resonates with us all.

Story and Memory

The paradox of the online world is that, while it has never been easier to reach an audience, it’s still difficult to connect with them. There is so much noise in modern communications, but great stories give you the opportunity to reach past your audience’s overstimulated heads and reach their hearts. Emotive stories do this. Used effectively, they enable you to get people to take note and remember what you want them to.

The facts that stories lace with emotional connections become far more memorable. Bear with me here… In the early days of Casual, I used to go to breakfast networking groups, to meet and learn from other entrepreneurs. At one meeting, the topic of the conversation was, “What makes great customer service?” As we went around the table, the various business owners present gave their two-cents’ worth: “Well, I think it’s about sharing my mobile phone number and then not letting it ring more than twice when they call” and “I think it’s about sending a card for your clients’ birthdays”. Each business owner took their turn to give their ideas. When it came to me, I had a story about something that had happened recently and was fresh in my mind.

“A good client of ours rang our office at 4pm on a Tuesday afternoon. They had a very important pitch, and, for one reason or another, the film that they had been waiting for from their internal video department hadn’t come. She told me that the pitch started the next morning at 9am, and it would be severely compromised without the video. I told her not to worry and that if it was humanly possible, we would get it done. Four of us stayed and worked until 2.30am, finished the film and sent it over to her. She played it and they ended up winning the business. “This is what I think is good client service.”

About a year later, I was at a conference and I introduced myself to one of the other delegates. I was slightly taken aback when he said, “I know you; you’re the guys who are really good at client service.” He had been at that networking group, and had heard the story I shared. It had stuck in his mind long after the associated facts of the rest of the group had faded. I’m telling you this to illustrate the enduring nature of information that has been made to resonate with a broader narrative.

Making the intangible tangible – brand, values and the ‘foundation myth’

The previous example illustrates another key asset of stories in the business context: they allow the communicator to make relatively intangible ideas – such as customer service, brand or values – tangible. It can be challenging to communicate what is meant by an abstract brand slogan. If the communicator builds that definition out with a story, it gives it a form and context that is accessible and ‘sticky’ (or memorable). In this example, the relatively abstract concept of ‘customer service’ is given a clear form through a simple story.

Apple’s iconic ‘Think Different’ slogan is perfectly encapsulated by Ridley Scott’s equally iconic 1984 commercial for the launch of the original Mac computer (even though the slogan itself didn’t feature for the company until 1997). The spot features hundreds of drone-like, monochrome men in boiler suits all captivated by a large, Big-Brother-esque face on a screen in front of them. From the back of the room, a young woman in running kit, including red shorts, runs in and hurls a large hammer at the screen, destroying it. It ends with a voiceover saying, “Find out why 1984 is not going to be like 1984” – a clear, if implicit, punch at the established order represented by IBM. Anyone who saw that ad could see the essence of what Apple stood for then and what it continues to stand for now. To explain what was meant by the slogan could have taken many hundreds, if not thousands, of words, but video allows it to be captured and understood simply, in a handful of seconds.

This attribute makes the format really useful for internal/employer communications. Every company now has a set of values, which it expects its staff to live their working lives by. These values are far more effectively communicated through a story than a slogan. A value with a story becomes a behaviour. A behaviour is easier for the employee to understand and act on. Saying, “This is what we mean by excellent customer service, integrity, give more, etc.” is a great way to get staff to exhibit those values. Video is an effective way of illustrating these stories to them.

The powerfully aligning nature of narrative is part of the reason that foundation myths hold such a powerful sway in the business world. Yes, the company may now be a global behemoth, but, once upon a time, it was just a small group of people with an idea and a desire to go against the system. These founders faced almost impossible odds (conflict/jeopardy) but overcame them with guile and a belief that what they were doing was right. No matter how large and successful the company becomes, there will always be the underlying narrative, which can be mythologised, and used to engage and motivate staff and other stakeholders.

If you find this interesting check out Nick's book: The New Fire - Harness the Power of Video for Your Business. You can preorder it here. 

Contact Us

In researching this blog post, it became apparent that there are A LOT of opinions out there about the best way to make content go viral.

Some are adamant that all you need to do is follow these ‘simple steps’ and you’re guaranteed a viral hit.
Others are a little more pragmatic and recognise that there is often no telling what is going to capture the world’s attention.

But one thing they all agree on is that there are certain things you can do to greatly improve your chances. So here are five of the best…

1. Refine and commit to your brand personality

To be truly successful, viral content should be unique to its maker. Your voice, your values, your perspective is what will make that viral content uniquely and memorably yours over any other brand’s.

So, before you do anything else, really refine and commit to your brand personality.

A brand personality should be reflective of its target audience, so think about their priorities, behaviours, wants and needs - what do they respond to?
Now use that as the basis for your output.

Because, at the end of the day, you don’t just want to reach as many people as possible for the sake of it – if you did, you could just film a funny video of your cat and be done with it.
You want to reach the people that are actually going to follow through and engage with your brand.

So don’t lose track of who you are and who your audience is in the pursuit of virality.

2. Focus on the platforms that best suit your audience

Your target audience should be your greatest inspiration here – seek out the platforms that they frequent. Don’t make them work to find your content – demonstrate that you value them enough to take it to them.

And, once you’ve pinpointed those platforms, create a consistent campaign across all of them. Optimise the content for each platform individually, whether that means creating versions in different aspect ratios, with or without sound, or with different run lengths.

Making the viewing experience as easy and enjoyable as possible will greatly improve the chances of engagement.


3. Have a strategy

We live in a world that is saturated with content - which makes standing out all the harder.
Your audience’s attention is a precious commodity, so they need to trust that when you release content, it’s going to be worth their time.

One way to ensure that your content has cut-through is to really think about why you’re making it.
Having a strategy means that you avoid making content for the sake of it, and only release content that is meaningful for your audience and purposeful for your brand.

Which is not to say that all content should be planned months, even years, in advance. A spontaneous, responsive piece of content that rides momentum can be hugely effective.

But for the content that is planned, make sure that you’re spending your budget in the most effective way by using it strategically.


4. Think about why audiences share and play to it

There’s a difference between watching and sharing. And viral content gets traction because it’s shared.
So why do we share something?

In short, to make ourselves look good. Whether it’s reflecting our intelligence, our empathy, our sense of humour, our interests… taking a piece of content and sharing it is a public declaration of our thoughts, feelings and values.

Therefore, when making content, it’s important to think about what aspect of it people might want to use as social currency with the valuable people in their network.

When striving for a viral hit, be honest with yourself and ask, ‘would I share this with my network if I had no connection to this brand?’

5. Encourage Interaction

In addition to sharing content, think about other ways that people might engage with it.

Encouraging audience interaction - in the form of comments, likes, UGC, and related tags - can elevate content from being a proclamation to a conversation.

This helps the campaign to feel inclusive, which brings us back to the idea of emotional connections. Everyone wants to feel part of a tribe and if all our peers participate in something, chances are we’ll want to interact with it as well.

So invite comments, encourage interpretations, ask questions, set challenges. Make your content about more than just your brand – make it about your audience as well.

Being able to travel to new parts of the world for work is a huge perk for a lot of us here at Casual. However, the Covid-19 pandemic put a halt on international travel for the most part, in order to keep our crew and staff safe in a world where travel restrictions and Covid-19 numbers seem to change on a daily, if not hourly, basis.

Yet, content still needs to be filmed, and this new world required us to think creatively and problem-solve to ensure a positive outcome for our clients. When Bloomberg came to us needing to shoot in Angola by the end of 2020, we had to think outside of the box.  

There’s no denying that 2020 was one of the strangest years on record. The COVID-19 virus became a global pandemic and changed the world as we knew it. For me personally, 2020 saw me hitting multiple personal milestones -- none of which were able to be celebrated with friends and family. 

One of those milestones included landing a new job as a Production Coordinator with Casual FIlms, and moving to Los Angeles from a rural town in Southwest Washington. So, what was it like starting a new career and moving cities during a pandemic? Strange. 

Having wrapped up a year of endless surprises, new normals, adapting and adjusting, inspiration can be hard to come by. Well, here are a couple of films to help get the imagination flowing again...

The great thing about working in this industry is that you can have the chance to be creative every single day. However, even if it's is your main job, there's nothing scarier than creating on a blank page without bounds.

Luckily here at Casual, our creativity is always in lockstep with purpose. What does the film need to accomplish? How can we maximize the clients budget so they get the most value? What new filmmaking techniques fit with the client's brand and their audience? 

Creating within these parameters is an opportunity to make something even better. Imagination without bounds can be exciting, but creating with a purpose is in some ways, even more satisfying. Within constraints, creativity can flourish.

So check out these films to get the creative juices flowing for 2021, and you just might find yourself inspired. 

The 'Recruit the Best Talent' Film

With COVID-19 restrictions limiting our ability to shoot live action footage for our clients during lockdown, animation is an evergreen solution to communicate your company's message in a clear and engaging way.  

Animation has the power to be the most agile and future proof piece of communication in your armory. 

2020 has been a year for the history books. We learned, grew, adapted, and persevered. We bonded, we took endless Zoom meetings, and now we're here at the end. This week on the blog, let's take a look back at 2020 through some of our favorite films (to make) of the year. 

December has always been a month of reflection. People slow down, take some time off, and take stock of what all they accomplished this year. But in 2020, that looks a bit different. We're all just glad to have made it through. It's not a year to traverse the cliffs of success, it's a year to buckle down, try your hardest at the things you can control, and lean on each other to make it through the rest. 

For Casual Films, we count ourselves as extremely fortunate. You don't have to look too far to see how businesses across the world have closed, employees been furloughed, and people just generally struggling. Back in March of this year, we went through those same motions, those same worries. As difficult as this year has been, it's been extraordinary that we are all sharing such a common experience. 

As we stand here at the end of December, we just want to say thank you. Thank you to our staff of 45+ across London, New York, and Los Angeles who have persisted in creating for our clients. We launched our Ariel production system. We figured out how to film remotely, film UGC content easily, film on COVID-safe sets, and keep making great films no matter the circumstances. We played team-bonding games, we bantered on Slack, we bonded (virtually). 

We're grateful for the relationships we've built to see us through these tough times. We're thankful that we can look out for each other, lean on one another, and begin 2021 with a bit of hope. Here's to the New Year being kinder to us all. 

In the spirit of reflection, let's take a little trip down memory lane & see which films Casual-ers most proud of in 2020. 

UNHCR - Nansen Awards

Often videos that deal with weighty topics are overwrought and can feel melodramatic. The relative intensities of the subject matter and the visuals were well balanced here. - Edward Beresford, CFO | London 

This year's Nansen winners are truly inspirational people and learning about the achievements of these incredible women put a lot of things in perspective. Projects like this don’t come up too often at Casual and felt very lucky to work on the series with a group of very talented people. It was great to see the team go the extra mile to deliver the films and to see the reaction of viewers, who were equally in awe of these amazing ladies! - Emily Lay, Executive Producer | London

HSBC - Technology and Innovation

My favorite film of the year was the 'Roundtable Discussions' series we created for GoDaddy. Filmed remotely in the height of lockdown, these discussions featured Black entrepreneurs across all industries, sharing their experiences, advice, and thoughts on finding success as Black-owned businesses and helping others in their community.

The films were some of the most urgent, topical ones that we made this year - publishing in step as the U.S. (and the world) had a national reckoning on our perceptions of race.

We also produced these in the height of lockdown. Without being able to film in person, we shipped iPhones and a small tripod all around the U.S. so folks could film themselves easily. A simple, useful filming technique we've since used for several other clients. - Sanica Apte, Producer | Los Angeles

New York State Dept. of Public Health, Wear A Mask PSA

One of my favorites this year was our Wear A Mask PSA for the New York State Department of Health. A project our editor, Aaron, put together in May that sort of marked the beginning of our “new normal”. 
Also, shout out to us receiving an honorable mention from the State on this–whoop, whoop! - Fritz Polax, Production Coordinator | New York

With COVID restrictions limiting our ability to shoot live action footage for our clients during lockdown earlier in the year we had to get creative with our offerings and champion our in-house postproduction talent. 

Stock video and user generated content (UGC) became the most cost effective and engaging way to communicate our client’s messaging. More than ever businesses needed to communicate with their audience, and we were able to support them every step of the way.

Say the words “stock footage” to a video editor and you may ordinarily be greeted with a very long yawn in return. Often what people envision with stock footage is endless clips of alpha male business handshakes, overly enthusiastic office meetings and beautiful people with perfect teeth turning to smile at the camera, all with an extra helping of cheese.

So how do you make stock video look cool? I hear you ask. At Casual Films we have access to a range of stock footage and image libraries that offer a brilliant variety of appropriate and “fromage free” content that fits most needs. Our editors are well versed in bringing this content to life and finding innovative ways to present it, cut it and link it together to perfectly deliver on a chosen narrative, mood and pace. The great thing about stock footage is that it only requires a small team, keeping costs down, and opens up a variety of options for your film that are easily corrected or updated at a later date should your messaging need to change with the ever-changing business climate.

Below are two examples where we’ve married together stock footage, motion graphics and UGC/existing footage.

HSBC - Technology and Innovation

 

The first example - HSBC Technology and Innovation delivers the key message of innovation within HSBC through a dynamic and stylised edit. Each contributor recorded a voice over which we cut between, intertwining each voice to create a sense of both diversity and togetherness. This narrative is then brought to life with content of the contributors provided by HSBC and carefully selected stock footage.

 

---

 

Plan Zero - A Mitie Initiative 

Plan Zero – A Mitie Initiative is another brilliant example of how stock footage, simple graphics and sound design can be combined to create a fast paced, slick film that helps engage an audience on important, information heavy subjects, that may ordinarily lose interest. 

Plan Zero – A Mitie Initiative

Bold, clear typography gets the messaging across quickly and effectively whilst quick match cuts and clever shot compositions are brought to life with bespoke sound design, this then acts as a common thread that ties the film together. 

Sound useful? Get in touch with one of our experienced Exec Producers for a test drive..

As Thanksgiving rolls around each year, we are reminded of all that there is to feel grateful for. 

As we turn the corner into 2021, there's no doubt we'll all go into the new year having learned something - about ourselves, about our communities, about the world. 

We'd like to take this opportunity to take stock, and give thanks. To inject a little optimism into this time of year. 

At Casual, we're grateful for our team. Through strange times, our staff of 45+ across London, New York, and Los Angeles have persisted in creating for our clients. We figured out how film remotely, film UGC content easily, film on COVID-safe sets, and keep making great films no matter the circumstances. We played team-bonding games, we bantered on Slack, we bonded (virtually). 

Empathy is the keyword of this year. Stressors extend beyond just work-tasks. We're all cooped up in our homes, worried about loved ones, feeling a range of emotions. We're so thankful for how supportive our teams have been to each other.

We're grateful for the relationships we've built to see us through these tough times. We're thankful that we can look out for each other, lean on one another, and take this Thanksgiving holiday to rest and reflect. 

As technology has improved, the little cameras embedded in the back of our phones have become a key selling point for Big Tech. They now have large sensors, stabilisation and are perfect for grabbing a snap of your gran doing the splits on her birthday. For all the wizardry, Big Tech still hasn’t solved one big problem... the user.

A weird location with no light, a piece to camera directly up the nose, or the old classic, a thumb over the lens. Yep, UGC or ‘user generated content’ can be a great idea for your next global campaign, but a real pain to execute. The content can be questionable to say the least and sometimes the final edit can end up being a mix of stock footage with the one or two UGC clips that made the cut.  With everyone trying their best, but failing, it’s an awful lot of wasted time and effort.

The solution to these UGBs or ‘user generated bloopers’ is Ariel Capture, a new mobile app from Casual that makes producing user generated content a breeze. To kick off a project your staff just need to download the app via the App store, drop in a project code, and they’re ready to go. Everything is on-screen: bespoke shot lists, questions and on-screen filming tips. Once the footage has been shot and uploaded to our secure servers, our award-winning post-production team will bring your content to life.

With your workforce at home and a desire to record this exceptional time, Ariel Capture offers a cost-effective solution for not only remote filming, but also for managing your UGC projects in one place. Gone are the days of tracking down the clip named DC000375 from forty emails memorably named ‘my clip’. All your footage will sit in one project on the cloud rather than your desktop, where it’s draining the computer memory and sending your fan into hyperdrive.

Sound useful? Get in touch with one of our experienced Exec Producers for a test drive...