Case study: The film, the brand and the message
By Simon Fuller. Movie media. Last week, we took a look at how comms strategy group Naked Comms had set up its own branded entertainment division to roll out engaging pieces like the film The Forest Guard, a documentary following the adventures of a bunch of Californian kids who have invented a device for the quick detection of forest fires
Well, Sony Europe green-lit the film and commissioned it. So we thought it only right to have a chat with Sony about the project, and about why brands in general are beginning to turn to moviemaking to get their messages over to consumers.
“[The Forest Guards film] was a piece of activity that was genuinely happening in the business,” says Emily Young, general manager of environmental comms at Sony Europe. “We thought that it was interesting from an internal communications perspective, and also it was embodying our message, so we thought, let’s document it.”
The film charts a genuine relationship in which Sony was involved – the company’s engineers work with the kids to transform their forest fire detection idea from prototype into working reality. But Sony doesn’t have a weighty presence.
“It was not heavily branded,” says Young. “Stories are things that engage people, rather than tell the same message over and over again. People don’t want to be shouted at. But stories can be discovered, learnt from, and [form] a testimony to the work [of the children and engineers involved].
“I think the reach [of the film] is a benefit. With a piece of advertising we don’t know how effective it has been, who has seen it and so on. We wanted a piece of content to use in lots of places, for example online, or that could be cut into small pieces and seen that way, or [that] you can watch as a whole thing. It was very flexible in that way as a piece.”
And with the likes of McDonalds cooking up its own branded film, Dreaming In Mono, could we see brands and films becoming something of a winning partnership going forward?
“Filmmaking is increasing as a movement, because we know the media landscape has changed, and people pay less attention to straightforward ads,” says Young. “Brands need to think of different ways [to engage consumers] – subjects that mean something to the audience. [They need to] find something that consumers are interested in already.”
