Contra Costa County needed a series of engaging emotional training videos that didn’t feel like homework to watch. Our award-winning video production Bay Area turned traditionally dry study material into an engaging cinematic experience that employees not only watched but actually enjoyed — and came back to.

We featured real employees and real stories about the challenges of helping people in need — from the challenges of connecting stressed parents with free childcare to helping the homeless find housing. We used handheld cameras, drones and an LA-based team to create a documentary feel that felt real — and stuck with viewers.

Watch the video here.

And check out the Behind the Scenes video below:

The three days shoot involved a crew of fifteen members, Red Epic Dragon cameras and real social workers who played both people in need and social workers.

A committee of eight experienced social workers acted as a consulting team, making sure the scripts are reflecting real scenarios they face every day.

The video is now a model for other local governments across California.

As a leading San Francisco Bay Area ad agency, we managed all aspects of production, including motion graphics, editing, music, voiceover, sound design and color correction.

Take a look and let us know what you think over at our Facebook page!

Coupa Software is a leading cloud platform for business spend; Unicorn that successfully IPO-d in 2016.  They wanted to stand out from the enterprise software pack with a national TV ad that would appeal to CFOs—and make them smile.

For Feel Good Video, leading San Francisco video production company, making business videos entertaining and engaging is very exciting. We teamed with Coupa and Liquid Agency to craft a story involving 3 CFOs facing total chaos at home — battling kids, coffee makers, constant overspending — and contrasted it with the relaxing peace and order they have at “work sweet work.” The ad aired nationwide on CNBC—and you can watch the director’s cut here.

As a leading San Francisco Bay Area ad agency, we managed all aspects of production, including motion graphics, editing, music, voiceover, sound design and color correction.

Take a look and let us know what you think over at our Facebook page!

Can you make a massage chair commercial into an emotional story?

This was the challenge given to Feel Good Video, leading San Francisco Video Production, by Ogawa, which provides some of the most luxurious massage chairs on the market. Naturally, they wanted FGV to showcase the amazing features of their chairs. From zero-gravity reclining to seven default massage programs to a “body scan” that customized the massage. But they also sought a compelling story that would connect with “max relax” customers and drive sales of their market-leading health and wellness products.

As a leading San Francisco Bay Area ad agency, we mapped out eight separate commercials. They tugged the heartstrings and tapped the funny bone while featuring wellness benefits. We scripted a ridiculous Mr. and Mrs. Smith-style battle over who got to use the massage chair first. Crafted a story of a Woman Who Does Everything Wrong (and needs a respite at the end of the day). Breathed life into a narrative about a lonely dad who needs a break. 

With the ideas refined, we hit the really hard part. Recording eight separate high-quality commercials involving 40+ people in just three days. With tight coordination and planning, our LA video production team jumped across gorgeous locations befitting an upscale product to capture the footage. (Note: massage chair breaks were key to keep our energy up!)

From there, we managed all aspects of postproduction, including motion graphics, 3D graphics, editing, music, voiceover, sound design and color correction.

Take a look and let us know what you think over at our Facebook page!

We’re delighted to post our first-ever guest post on a topic we can’t get enough of–the role of emotion in creating connection with companies. Not only do emotions create brands–but fresh research shows that we turn to brands to express our emotion! Read on for new findings on this fascinating connection via Adam Gordon, Chief of Strategy at The Oya Group, a Bay Area-based strategic creative agency.

Did you know that couples use them to argue with each other? It’s true. According to a recently published study, couples use brands to communicate frustration and opposition. With over 20 years in marketing I thought I understood just how powerful a brand was, yet this was one of the most surprising things I have learned about them.

When you work with brands you learn just how pervasive and powerful they are, and this study showed me that it goes beyond even what I thought. It’s amazing when we thought we knew something really well, then some new aspect of it suddenly presents itself. It’s one of the funnest parts about working in marketing; you learn to expect the unexpected. Whether we, as marketers, like to admit it, very little in marketing is predictable, which means that you have to always stay open to the new.

I got an unexpectedly large surprise when I heard an interview on NPR by Shankar Vedantam (11/16/16) with Gavan Fitzsimons of Duke University. He and his colleague, Danielle Brick of the University of New Hampshire stumbled across a completely unexpected “use” of brands.

Couples use them to argue with each other.

What? Yes, it’s true.

“Well, the study finds that love can shape the course of brands, and brands can shape the course of love,” says Mr. Vendantam.

According to Professor Fitzsimons,
“When people are frustrated, they make dramatically more choices that are oppositional, that are against what their partner would want them to buy. So if my wife is a Diet Pepsi fan, and she has frustrated me in some way, I will choose Diet Coke. And in fact, we find that oftentimes, people in the frustrated conditions will actually choose brands they personally don’t like to spite their partners.”

If we ever doubt the emotional power of brands, this should set those doubts to rest. Whether in a B2C or B2B context, brands communicate at a deep emotional level and, for me, this study provided the ultimate proof of that.

And there’s more. Not only will people use brands to communicate or act out on their displeasure with their partner, they will also use them in a defiant manner–even if their spouse doesn’t know about it.

According to Mr. Vedantam, “So you’re frustrated with your partner. You know your partner likes Starbucks coffee. So on your way to work, you stop and buy coffee at Dunkin Donuts. No one other than you knows about this act of defiance. The researchers find a couple of things that are interesting here. The people who are likely to behave this way are often people who feel powerless in their relationship. So, you know, you feel you’re not being heard. You express your frustration through this kind of low-key oppositional behavior. The second thing that they find is that people often feel better after these acts of defiance. So it may be some kind of venting mechanism.”

Totally unexpected use of brands, no? As a marketer, of course, the question I have is, how we can use this? Perhaps we can’t. Perhaps we shouldn’t. Either way, I can’t think of a more powerful example of how ubiquitous and pervasive brands are today–they have truely become an integral part of our emotional landscape.

Indeed, the attachment to, and awareness of brands becomes part of our psychological makeup. Professor Brick puts it well when she says,

“Marketers assume consumers are making brand choices consciously and deliberatively, when often, factors outside consumers’ conscious awareness and control are impacting their decisions.”

Yes, brands–whether B2B or B2C–become part of our culture and psychology. Those of us who work with brands are playing with awesomely powerful tools. It’s good to be reminded of that.