Page 30 - AdNews Magazine Jan-Feb 2021

Investigation
“And within that, brands shoot- ing in states within Australia that they wouldn't normally — for example, we saw a boom in jobs posted in Perth because they were least impacted by COVID-19. I think we'll continue to see more interna- tional brands source production and talent in Australia during the coming 12 months,” she says.
“I think it's been great to see the creative community band together to still 'create' during this challenging time, and the way they have continued to deliver engaging campaigns that move the meter, in a way that is mindful of the broader economic climate and the impacts it has had on many consumers (job losses, etc). I hope its a collegiate attitude we see in the 'post-COVID-19' world, whatever that means.”
Kate Hansen, cofounder and managing creative director at Swingtime Creative, a Sydney- based video and motion graphics production company, says she saw a game of catch-up in late 2020 as people tried to meet their dead- lines after hitting pause earlier in the year. Now she feels 2020 has created more opportunities for small businesses and producers.
“We were able to hit the ground running in 2020 when everything hit the fan,” she tells AdNews.
“We were well placed when the pandemic hit in a lot of ways because we have quite a small, agile, nimble little production company.
“We already work from our home studio so we can ride the wave of the creative industry, which can run hot and cold at the best of times, with minimal overheads. And we have a strong base of long-term external suppliers and creative part- ners that mainly expand and con- tract as required depending on what jobs are on the books.”
Visual Domain, one of the nation’s largest production busi- nesses, went from freezing staff levels and cutting hours when the pandemic hit to growing its team from 62 in January 2020 to 79 by November last year. The com- pany was also set to end 2020 with 10,000 videos, up from 7500 the year prior.
As restrictions have eased,
clients have been seeking unique videos designed for one channel (often Instagram or Facebook) in order to connect deeply with cus- tomers but not overtly sell.
“Clients are less interested in producing one video that is repur- posed across all channels, instead they’re looking for hyper-tailored engaging content,” says CEO Renece Brewster.
“We all spent a stack more time online and on social media in 2020 so we know, with weary audiences, we need to be producing video content that really stands out.”
Brewster says the company had to rethink some of the more tradi- tional approaches to video.
“Much of our videos are shot in-field with real people,” says Brewster.
“We had to consider how we could use other creative treatments to continue telling our clients’ stories without this option back at the start of the pandemic. We put on more animators and found that was a great immediate solution. Moving graphics in place of people. Our animation output has really increased as a result.
“Also, with everyone moved to remote working we had to work out how we would support our editors in particular given the size of the files they are constantly working with, all via home internet.
“With the rapid pace, clients needed to pivot their advertising plans quickly. This saw an increase in our edit-only offerings and animation. The fast turnaround that we were already supplying our clients was tested as we pivoted to working from home while still providing this service.”
Brewster says the outlook for 2021 is strong: “We have a new Client Hub coming that will give our clients the opportunity to check in on