Feb '18 | Be Practical When Budgeting

It’s about a long term partnership, not a one off project.

We take a practical approach to budgeting, because we know if we find ways to save you money on the first project, there’ll likely be a second project waiting in the wings. And this was exactly our mindset when asked to create RocketSpace’s brand story video.

Our Challenge

Although we’d been working with RocketSpace for more than a year, we wanted to show them that we could elevate our style to match that of their newly elevated brand. And yet, we wanted to do this in a reasonable way because, after all– we understand the rebrand gamble. The last thing any marketing team wants to do is spend an exorbitant amount on a set of new brand guidelines and assets that don’t get the company excited, and therefore don’t get utilized. So we needed a savvy approach. We needed to turn a modest budget into something spectacular.

Tips for Marketers Who Skim:

• Check out free or low cost stock footage sites before purchasing full priced clips and images. Our favorites are: Pixabay, StockSnap, UnSplash.

• Capitalize on footage already shot. Keep your archival system up to date so you can dive back into old hard drives and find appropriate gems.

• It’s not too expensive (yet highly worthwhile) to conduct A/B testing on several voiceover artists before casting the one that completely encapsulates your story. Check out sites like voices.com or voiceover.biz to find the right talent.

An animated stock image with a type-on text treatment.

Choose Your Stock Footage Wisely

The biggest challenge we faced was to find the perfect stock images, at an affordable video production cost. We explored many options such as Videvo and Pexels as well as the options listed above. Whenever possible, get an HD or 4k version, as those clips are of higher quality and therefore more malleable in post.

And here’s a tip we learned along the way: everything owned by NASA is in the public domain. This was perfect for our space-themed video! But the downside was most NASA shots weren’t available in HD or 4k, so we had to develop a stylistic approach in post to compensate for this. We also chose to animate a few of the still photos just to give them a more dramatic dimension.

Another tip when picking stock footage – be careful not to have your boss fall in love with images and footage that’s ultimately unattainable. We learned that the hard way when we all fell in love with a perfect space shot owned by Red Bull.

Mine the Archives

To supplement stock video, we went back to our archives and pulled clips we’d shot from prior RocketSpace events. This is one of the key value adds of Patina. Every project is carefully organized, logged, and archived for up to 10 years. This means a client can return a year later and without having to go back into production, we can repurpose footage and cut together a video. It also means that you maintain brand consistency, even when key individuals on your team move on.

By repurposing previous event footage from multiple RocketSpace videos, we were able to weave real images into their new look, elevating their brand without even going into production.

A/B Testing

Whenever possible we do A/B testing throughout the creation process, because sometimes you need to see what doesn’t work, before going after what does. Or hear it, which was the case with RocketSpace. We chose to hire two voice over artists– one male, one female– and record both. (Which is highly affordable video production due to services like Voices.com!) Although both were superb choices, the female artist brought a powerful mystique to the story. Not to mention, in an industry dominated by men, whenever we get the chance to showcase diversity, we’ll take it!

Patina Pictures is truly an extension of the RocketSpace marketing team. K’Dee and her crew consistently deliver an incredible product on time and on budget. They are such a pleasure to work with and they have come to know our business inside and out, which enables them to make fantastic, informed choices in the moment. The creativity and flexibility that they bring to the table is bar none.

~ SVP of Marketing, RocketSpace