LIFE SCIENCES AND HEALTHCARE HAVE THE BEST STORIES. MAKE SURE THEY ARE HEARD WITH VIDEO.
The life science and healthcare sectors have the most compelling stories - you are literally unravelling the mysteries of biology and saving peoples lives.
Whether you are a startup or an established pharmaceutical company there is a huge and diverse audience, hungry to understand just what the sector holds.
They could be your patients, the curious public, your current staff or your next hire but there is a real appetite for these stories.
And the most effective way to tell those stories is through video.
At Verri Media we have a background in bio-science and would love to help you shape your story, whatever it might be. The most successful companies are using film to tell a huge range of stories for a variety of reasons. Here is a selection of some of the best work across six key types of content that you should be thinking about making.
The most successful companies are using film to tell a huge range of stories for a variety of reasons. Here is a selection of some of the best work across six key types of content that you should be thinking about making.
WHO ARE YOU? BRAND + CULTURE FILMS
Explaining exactly who you are and what you do is crucial for any business. Clever logos and elegant fonts can only get you so far, a really good brand or culture film is a chance for you to explain what you stand for in a way that will connect with your audience.
In 2016, HFSP were having trouble getting people (mainly government officials who provide the funding) to understand why it’s vital to keep supporting the work of scientists who might not even be in their country. We collaborated closely with them to create a film that would capture the spirit of HFSP….in five mins!
The key for us was to ensure that we got both the big picture from respected leaders inside and outside HFSP, as well as the details from the scientists making the discoveries. This two stage approach created a holistic view of the institute that left no doubt of their value.
Everyone knows Kew Gardens for the beautiful space they’ve created in West London, but so much of their work goes unseen. They turned to video to tell that story, creating a series of films that would shed light on the unseen side of the institution. Their beautiful, inventive and charming films totally transformed my perception of the organisation.
But brand films can be much more subtle too - Tesla does a great job at showing what they stand for with these cherry picked little vignettes. For people looking to buy a Tesla, it’s aspirational; even if we know we aren’t going to drive on sheets of ice it gives you a real sense of how much work they put into the performance of their cars. And it works as a great recruitment tool too; there’s tech in there, adventure and great team spirit. It makes me want to work there!
WHAT IS YOUR IMPACT? PATIENT STORIES AND CASE STUDIES
One of the best ways of showing the impact of a technology is a good case study. While expensive cameras and drones can add polish to your films, the single thing that will make the biggest difference is finding an engaging person to tell a compelling story. Over the 100’s of films that we’ve made, good casting is the thread that joins all our most successful projects.
When Google wanted to find a way to explain some of the diverse ways their AI could help the world, they grounded it in the story of helping a one handed drummer get back some of their lost skills.
They’ve told the story extremely well, but the casting got them 90% of the way - Jason is a sympathetic person, his problem is tangible and the benefit of the technology is visible (and audible!). As well as showing off Google as a force for good in the accessibility space, it does an excellent job of helping move the debate about what AI can do beyond kids cheating on their homework!
The same principles of casting apply in bio/med tech; while the goal of your case studies might change from film to film (informing the audience about outcomes of a new treatment for individuals vs how a technology has revolutionised a GP’s practice), finding the right people and story is key.
At Verri we really believe in putting in the work to help connect our clients with the right people, no matter how small the needle or how big the haystack - we recently helped Biomarin find four very different stories across Europe to help explore the role medical technology can play in defining people’s identities.
WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND OUT? DISCOVERY DOCUMENTARIES
When you’ve done something truly groundbreaking you need to shout about it. People love a tale of discovery and a well put together documentary is unmatched in getting over the excitement of what you are doing as a company.
Perhaps the best example is AlphaGo, DeepMind’s amazing film about their quest to have an AI beat the best human Go players.
While that was feature length, short form docs can be very effective too; they’ve followed it up with great films about their work on protein folding (a pet favourite topic).
The key to both films is the feeling of being there as the work unfolded, that the outcome of their endeavour wasn’t clear at the outset.BBC’s Horizon strand made an excellent documentary about the work on the COVID vaccines. It was really unusual in a film about biological research to feel like you were there as the work was carried out, rather than a retrospective where you know the result.
It’s an approach that would work well for any biotech research - experiments and clinical trials by their nature have a story built into them.
And people love these stories, Alpha Go has been watched 32 Million times on Youtube. It’s a great way to show the dedication of your staff, to humanise your company and show what an exciting place to work it can be. It’s also an invaluable internal resource to help explain to new staff what decisions were made to get the project over the line.
HOW DOES THIS WORK? TECHNOLOGY EXPLAINERS
Done right, video is excellent at explaining complex ideas in potentially dry topics. The BBC have long been masters of unravelling tricky ideas and this series fronted by Prof. Hannah Fry is a great example of how an articulate and entertaining presenter can really bring subjects to life - even something as dry as CHIP&PIN bank cards!
Bioscience is ripe for this sort of approach, but finding the right person to front it makes all the difference. We’ve spent a lot of time working with TV presenters and influencers and we can pair you up with with just the right person.
At the other end of the production spectrum, when Biomarin wanted an asset to help explain exactly how their new treatment worked at a molecular level, we knew the best solution would be an animation. Using voiceover made it straightforward to localise across Europe and the complete control of script and visuals meant we could work with experts to tailor the amount of information to just the right level.
We produced this film from development of the initial script to sign off of the last asset. We might not have made the discoveries but it’s still great to think it might be helping parents make an educated choice about their child's treatment somewhere right now.
HOW DO WE KEEP OUR STAFF UP TO SPEED? INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS
Sometimes you don’t need a documentary, you just want a clear internal message to your staff. Since COVID normalised the use of webcams for zoom meetings there is a temptation to just shoot it over zoom. The problem is that the relatively poor quality of the cameras and mics in a laptop means staff have to work that much harder to concentrate on what’s being said.
That's not to say you should never use self shot material, it can be an excellent way of including stories, locations and people that would be impossible to cover any other way (indeed Viiv do a great job here), but keeping your core message as polished and easy to absorb as possible is crucial if you want your film to have impact.
Microsoft nailed it with this film from their CEO. It’s simple but effective, allowing Satya Nadella to clearly deliver the core of the message, but still give recognition to the hard work done across the company.
HOW DO I USE THIS PRODUCT? HOW TO’S
Figuring out how to do something new is core to what makes us human - in fact “How to…” is still the most common start to a Google search. Video is uniquely placed to show people exactly how to do something without your team having to be there alongside your customer, and it’s as true for using software as carrying out surgery.
Dr. Tapan Patel is one of the world's leading cosmetic surgeons and his experience is in huge demand by both patients and other doctors. We helped him create a masterclass featuring a huge bank of videos explaining everything from how to run successful consultations to the nitty gritty of injection technique.
The potential to dissect a process step by step, for users to watch and rewatch and to enable global distribution make video a uniquely powerful teaching tool.
So whatever stage of development you are at with your next project, please send us a message to see what a good film could do for you.