Dynamic production using crews, remote-filming devices and video diaries creates more engaging and inspiring health content than via conventional retrospective, staged or storyboarded approaches
When a brand wants to create powerful, authentic and inspiring content to support its communications, this will often involve carefully crafted film shoots, relying on expertise and experience to capture the most visually-appealing footage without intruding on whatever unfolds in front of the crew. But times are changing and, for many brands, their approach to creating content has already changed – with a need to elicit more powerful, intimate and authentic footage in a form that resonates more and builds deeper trust with audiences. At FIXING US, we learned this many years ago. Our expertise was honed during the pandemic at a time when the corpus of filming projects were on hold, especially when it came to healthcare. Unable to rely on crews alone, we established a default model which utilized a blend of in-person crew filming, remotely-filmed and directed content, as well as guided, self-filmed video content. In addition, we developed a host of new techniques, all contributing dynamically to the creation of more genuine and emotionally resonant content. This approach has proven to be much more effective for clients in achieving stronger engagement, as well as better health outcomes for patients and consumers. Set against the traditional and conventional agency approach to content creation, which relies on retrospective or aspirational perspectives (which tend to be staged or storyboarded to support the manufacture of added effect), we believe the blended approach can better fulfil the needs of most health brands today and tomorrow. There are many benefits for clients, including:
Flexibility: The blended approach allows for greater flexibility in terms of location, subject-matter, intimacy and, crucially, in terms of budgetary constraints and timing. This helps overcome logistical challenges and ensures a wide range of experiences and perspectives are captured with better core content and powerful ancillary material to support social, digital and internal deployments.
Efficiency: Remotely-filmed content and self-filmed content can be far more cost-effective than crew filming. This canallow for the creation of a larger volume of content across any omnichannel platform, which helps to reach a wider range of audiences and increases the impact for the brand. Indeed, for many clients during the pandemic, we were able to shorten timelines and guarantee delivery of content by agreed dates whilst at the same time lowering costs!
Dynamic Footage: Following people with a mix of remote and self-filmed footage enables us to remain in the lives of protagonists continuously with the benefit of content being more dynamic, with different levels of intimacy, authenticity, resonance and immediacy. We can see events unfold and capture raw emotions of patients, loved ones and healthcare professionals with an ability to capture moments that people are often unable or unwilling to share in a room full of production crew. This is especially true with patients but can apply to anyone appearing on camera.
Engagement: By using a blend of different filming techniques, content can be more visually interesting and dynamic, which can help to keep audiences engaged and interested. This is particularly important when dealing with complex health-related topics, as it helps to break down information into more manageable and engaging segments. The authenticity of this approach greatly enhances opportunities for free/earned media and PR coverage.
Global Reach: The ability to film content remotely and using self-filming techniques means that content can be created from around the world more quickly and efficiently than with other content creation methods. Indeed, it is now common practice for us to complete an entire process - from project origination to delivery of all content for multi-language projects across multiple continents - in just a few weeks, whilst significantly lowering costs and thus creating time-sensitive opportunities for clients that were previously unimaginable.
Authenticity & Emotional Relatability: Above all, this style of content is more authentic and true to real-life, with a range of emotions being captured that increase the emotional impact and relatability of content and improves outcomes for the brand and its audiences.
When planning to create content that is more engaging, more powerful, more shareable and more likely to lead to better outcomes, it is crucial to not rely on traditional methods alone. FIXING US has evolved into one of the world’s leading health content creators because of our ability to tap into blended techniques via remote direction and self-filming technologies – creating better content whilst lowering costs, presenting new opportunities and leading to better outcomes for all. If you want to chat to us about this or learn about how engagement-oriented content can work for you, what it would look like - and to see some great examples in action, or if you just want to discuss your perspectives and experiences with us, please get in touch.