Marianne interviews Senior Designer David, Senior Account Manager Hannah, Senior Copywriter Josh, and Designer Tom about our recent project for Pepper.

Tell me a bit about the background of the project?

Pepper had developed a fully bespoke platform, Atlas, offering a sophisticated end-to-end servicing and asset management solution specifically for the Greek and Cypriot markets.

Pepper wanted to improve their financial services branding and raise awareness of Atlas and start a conversation with potential clients, using a short video to showcase the platform in new business pitches.

Given the fast-approaching deadline of an upcoming pitch, a quick turnaround was required for the production of the video.

This time pressure and the difficulty coordinating production to such a tight timeline, alongside the lack of internal resources to produce the video to the desired standard, meant that Pepper came to us with the project.

What was the aim of the project?

Our brief was to produce an informative, effective, and pacey video, summarising the platform’s capabilities to best effect inside 2 minutes – all before the new business pitch.

The video needed to provide a broad overview of Atlas without delving too deeply into the key USPs of each of the platform’s four modules. Giving enough information so the viewer gets an overall understanding of what Atlas offers, but is not overwhelmed with information.

What was the biggest challenge?

Hannah: I think, for me, it was getting my head around the complexity of the platform and then being able to showcase this in a clear and succinct, yet memorable, way. 90 seconds is a short amount of time to describe 4 very different and intricate modules!

David: Trying to get a true understanding of this product. As a complete newcomer to this type of software, it needed quite a bit of research to get started!

Tom: Working with four different platforms made puzzling all the screen recordings together quite challenging.

Tell me a bit more about the creative process and how we got to the final design?

The first step was to really understand Atlas. We needed to capture the key messages in a clear, concise manner to avoid overwhelming the audience with intricate information and jargon. This involved distilling the brief and all the many benefits of Atlas down, so that its benefits and purpose could easily and coherently be communicated to someone unfamiliar with the platform.

We presented the four modules of the platform (Atlas LRM, Atlas 360, Atlas Investor Portal, and Atlas Sales Admin) in a visually engaging way, going into Atlas itself to give an insight into how it’s used and, briefly, what each offers.

From script to storyboard, we worked to ensure that this short video would consistently bring the platform to life and demonstrate it to best effect in an engaging way. Through all stages of production including voiceover, animation, and artwork we aimed for the highest standard, while also working to a rigid timeline in order to have the completed video ready for the new business pitch.

What was the most enjoyable aspect of this project?

Hannah: It was great to work with a new team at Pepper and on something quite different. Everyone really pulled together to get this completed in the tight time frame – a great result.

David: The team really pulled together and helped each other out on this one; playing on each others’ strengths and supporting one another.

Tom: For me, it was seeing everyone’s expertise come together to create a solid piece of work.

How did you feel about the final result?

Hannah: I think the video looks great: it’s pacey and slick but informative. It was great to hear that the client loved it too – and hopefully will help them win lots of new business!

David: Video is an area which some of us in the team have slightly less experience with. So there was a level of learning required along the way with this project. Despite this, everyone dived in headfirst to get the job done, and that’s something that I feel we should all be really proud of.

Tom: Despite the restraints, I think the final cut speaks for itself: nicely paced and balanced out with strong imagery, footage, and tone of voice.

“Thanks to all the team at mm* for the quick turnaround and high-quality end product. You took our vision and made it reality!”

– Brij Desai, Programme Manager at Pepper