Can a stand-out video campaign to garner awareness for services supporting the elderly go from concept to completion in just over a month? According to Kendra Finco, Saturn Lounge sales rep and client liáson, it can happen, but it takes tremendous collaboration between client and agency along with a commitment from both parties to hit agreed upon milestones.
Kendra cites her experience working with Bekki Schmitt, Information and Outreach Coordinator of the Milwaukee County Department on Aging, as proof that this difficult undertaking can be done. She explains that Schmitt contacted her in mid October 2019, shortly after learning that she had been awarded excess grant money to create a video campaign to heighten awareness for care-giving services offered by her department. The campaign included two thirty second spots, three fifteen second spots along with imagery that could be used for advertising. “It was an incredible opportunity,” Finco said, “but it came with a catch. The videos and ads had to be finished and then posted for two months by end of 2019 to qualify for the money.”
After speaking to Bekki, Kendra says her first move was to create a schedule which began with a kick-off meeting between her, the client and Eric Olson, Saturn Lounge creative director. In that meeting, the three quickly determined that to break through the clutter of advertising directed at the elderly in the Milwaukee market, the Department on Aging needed to take an approach that didn’t leverage stock photography and a serious tone. The idea was to use colorful animation that would set the Department’s messaging apart while allowing them to be more light-hearted and relatable.
The next step was to get the broader Saturn team up to speed. At this meeting, Bekki brought five members of her crew, all who knew well the stress of holding down a family and a job while taking care of an aging loved one. Bekki’s team members shared real-life stories that inspired Saturn to develop storylines and a look and feel they knew would resonate with anyone with questions relating to elderly care. Thanks to Bekki’s team’s ability to clearly relay their vision, their messaging and their goals, Saturn was able to produce the first script and accompanying illustrations within a week. Tweaks were then made, and by week two, the first video was already in the animation stage.
Kendra explains it was taking the time on the front-end to listen to the client, understand their needs and then set up the plan that streamlined the entire project. As a result, The Milwaukee County Department on Aging met their goal and had the campaign up and running by Thanksgiving. The Department also took advantage of Saturn’s capabilities for data and analytics reporting, which included Facebook and Google Ads buys. According to Bekki, for the first time for doing digital, the campaign was successful in learnings and findings.
“We didn’t have to spend a lot of money to reach people and get thousands of people to go to our website,” she said. “The campaign was very effective in exposure and opportunity to learn the possibilities of digital platforms.” She also noted that she appreciated Saturn’s support with navigating the digital landscape which was not without its challenges. “When challenges came up, I was quickly notified, and we were able to work out solutions.”
Overall, Bekki noted that she was very impressed by Saturn’s responsiveness and professionalism throughout the campaign. “It was a very fast schedule, and I appreciated the focus on customer service, how Saturn learned about our audience and what we were looking for, and then of course, the ability to execute on multiple platforms.”