Webcast Makeover: Loomis Sayles
Loomis Sayles is a leader in mutual funds & investment management, and they know it’s important to keep up the conversation in the ever-changing world of finance. In 2011, they came to us looking to improve their monthly video webcasts from an outdated clunky system, to something they could be proud of. Now having produced webcasts for them consistently since that day, Newfangled is proud to say we’ve succeeded.
Challenge:
- Update the look & feel of their old monthly video content
- Improve the workflow for a faster legal & creative review process (ready to go live within 4 days of filming!)
- Standardize the web posting/encoding process
- Add analytics, so it’s easy to see who’s watching, where, and for how long
- Liason with area vendors to assist in updating Loomis’ video & web hosting equipment
Process:
When we came on the scene in 2011, Loomis had a small conference room turned studio already set up with a camcorder and green screen wall. We made small improvements to their equipment that turned into huge payoff in post. For example, they had an inexpensive video camera, but by adding an external recorder we were able to give it the look of a much more expensive production. We also set up a teleprompter, for time-crunched sessions with high level execs. Our team familiarized ourselves with their gear, and are able to be set up and filming within 15 minutes of arrival. We are currently serving as a liaison with our friends at HB Communications, to create a larger, more modern studio coming in late 2013.
Our first step was to attack the visual design of the video. We came up with several looks, and ultimately landed on a themed song, sound effect, with a pallette of blues and grays matching their brand. The video is shot on green screen, and the background and titles are added in post for flexibility.
A standardized logo animation opens every video
Background, added in post
Loomis needs their content live within 4 days of the filming, and Newfangled’s online collaboration tool is the key to a quick approvals process. Within a day of the filming, we provide a secure, password protected link to the content. Loomis is able to upload, download, and share the link easily, and it’s viewable on any mobile device. Key decision makers can comment on specific timecodes of the video, to streamline the notes process. Back at Newfangled, we are instantly alerted to any notes, resulting in our ability to turn around the revised video quickly.
Link revisions & notes directly to the timecode of the video
In their old workflow, Loomis was publishing several versions of the video to their website for download, including windows media, mpeg4, and quicktime movies. This was clunky, left the viewers waiting for long periods of time for a download, was incompatible with mobile devices, and left Loomis with no insight into who was watching (Or IF anyone was watching). We helped them implement a new web player, which integrates seamlessly to our online collaboration tool. Once approved, it’s instantly ready to be embedded in their site – playable on any device. Loomis can log in at any time and check the performance of the video, and even customize the player.
Video Analytics
Results:
- Loomis has a standardized look & production process
- Videos are live online within 3 days of taping (1 day faster than promised!)
- The online player is modern, and reactive to any mobile device or web browser
- Analytics are readily accessible so we know what is working, and where to improve