WEALTH FACTORY
I am not financially savvy,
nor do I have experience with being a well-off businessman. So when I was given the task to help our client create and entertaining advertisement about the typically boring industry of finances, I was a bit at a loss for words.
For a project like this,
I think a writer has two ways to approach it, Go deep into research on the industry, or go deep into research on the characters within the industry. I opted for the latter. I really felt like I needed to find a more practical way to relate to Wealth Factory and the individuals behind it other than researching all the ins-and-outs of big business finance. A well-written script for Wealth Factory’s audience would have to appeal not only to someone’s professional life, it would also have to strike an inner chord – something more personal and human. I believe for something- anything- to affect people in any memorable way, it has to resonate and relate to them. To do that I knew I had to get to know the CEO and creator of Wealth Factory, Garrett. I looked through old videos he had, talking about his vision for the company. I listened to him, in person, get excited about how his business had helped thousands of people change their lives. Garrett personified a “casual-Tuesday” image of professionalism. He had a ‘cool guy’ way of being that seemed so contrary to the ‘stiff’ type we are all use to when it comes to finances. And above all he was all about helping people, really helping people.
That simple observation lead to the crafting of the needed contrast of character that gave the commercial its comedic grace.
The storyline
of a Dilbert-styled meeting, where those present are saved from the mornings’ drawl by Garrett acting as- well, Garrett. Once I started writing about the character, instead of the topic, it made my job easy. Common questions the marketing team wanted to be addressed in the advertisement naturally found comedy centered yet passionate answers that fit the genius of Garrett.
The commercial was desired to be light-hearted, but at the core of it there still needed to be substance, and Garret’s passion for alternative finance was that substance.
The character
helped, but there were for sure challenges. My writing had to be done with a specific target audience in mind. It had to be funny to keep the audience engaged without losing the message. The original script I pitched was revised day after day in the weeks leading up to the shoot. Members on ours and our client’s team often found errors in the information, had an idea for a compelling shot or thought we could refine parts of the script for clarity or humor. The process was very “all in” and involved with numerous individuals lending their opinions.
Sometimes too much input can destroy a script, but in this case, everyone was so passionate about getting across the right message, the collaborative team spirit we love to have in all productions really took flight. COMV and I want our clients to be part of the process and happy with the final product. We rely on our client’s input and insight as we work with them because we want to produce a product that they are satisfied with and COMV can be proud of. And in the end, this video did just that:
So was it worth the clients money?
- Weekly the video campaign produced 200+ leads for Wealth Factory’s sales agents
- YouTube in-stream ad’s were getting a 40% view rate, nearly double the amount of viewers choosing NOT to slam that “Skip” button then the average ad
- The video has over 3,500,000+ combined views between facebook and Youtube
