Case Study: Built In, “Ideas Need People”
Client
Built In is an online community for National startups and tech companies. It is the destination for career advancement across every stage of a tech professional’s career. People use Built In to keep their finger on the pulse of the industry, grow in their current roles and find companies whose missions they’d like to join.
Requirements
Built In wanted to create a video to bring to life the purpose statement for the company, “We Empower Humans to Build the Future”. They asked us to tell an emotional, compelling story that would inspire both their own employees and potential candidates.
Creative
We loved the brief for this, and we had some great conversations early on with Built In’s marketing team about what they wanted from the video. They kept things high-level and conceptual, and it gave us a lot of room to explore different ideas about what the video could be. The three concepts we pitched reflected that, one used mostly archival footage, one called for a shoot, and one was an animated photo collage. The animated collage won a few hearts, but the concept that called for a shoot was the clear winner.
“I just watched it again and cried all over again. GREAT JOB.”
Pre-Production
Once the concept was decided we worked with Built In’s marketing team to finalize their script and align it with the concept they chose. They were also able to give us access to their full office to shoot in and enough Built In employees to fully cast the spot, which was great as our shotlist called for twenty people. Their art director worked with us on color schemes for the various scenes, as well as putting together a wardrobe guide for their employees. True to the theme of the video, this was a big team effort.
Production
We shot in two days. One day at Built In’s HQ in Chicago, and another day where we got both the outdoor footage and the close-up shots of words. We knew we had to keep the crew relatively small, so we designed the production approach and visual aesthetic around a moody, easy-to-execute look that relied a lot (but not entirely) on natural light. That allowed us to get a lot of shots done in a day without blowing up the budget. This small crew approach also allowed us to wait on the 2nd day of shooting until we had a nice rainy day to match our in-office shoot day.
“People are absolutely head over heels in love with the video. The leadership people who have seen it love it to the point of raving. The comments center on the emotion the video elicits: "gives me all the feels." "just got chills." Lots of heart emojis. Also fire emojis. So ... I'd call that a win.”
Post-Production
The edit for this came together really quickly, and it was clear from just the assembly that we had something special. From there we were able to plan the visuals we wanted for our second day of shooting, and spend some time finding the perfect music track to accompany the story we were telling. The feedback we got when we sent the complete cut along to Built In was pretty amazing, and the only note we had from them was a tweak to the end graphic.
“I just saw the “Ideas Need People” spot and I am absolutely 100% BLOWN TF AWAY! Holy moly, that is a beautiful powerful video. You all nailed it, the Built In employees nailed it, I just can't even put into words how thrilled I am watching it.”
Timeline
Overall the process from start to finish took three months, just about evenly split between creative, pre-production, and post-production.
