Corporate Video Case Study - SPAREROOM.co.uk

In our latest corporate video case study, we catch up with Tom Chown from video production company Digitom Ltd to see how they helped Spare Room with their latest video project. 

What did SpareRoom want to achieve when they approached you?

We were approached by SpareRoom at the start of February with a very clear brief. They wanted to produce a series of branded videos giving their 4.7m users the opportunity to quiz politicians about housing issues affecting them. The subject of housing is a huge issue for this year’s General Election with the UK facing an ever growing housing crisis. So what better time than to ask what the political parties would do for renters and first time buyers, if elected.

The Video Brief

The initial brief was a series of User Generated Content films which would feature users filming their own questions on a Smartphone which we would then present to the parliamentary candidates. By using an iPad to present the contributors with the SpareRoom's user questions it allowed us to use a two camera setup making it easy to cut between contributors. As the candidates are answering people’s questions we directed them to look straight at the main camera. This gave an intimate feeling to the video production as each candidate speaks directly to their audience. 

How did Digitom organise the video production?

We knew we wanted to film at SpareRoom’s London offices; they have a fantastic open meeting room and function room in their building with white warehouse walls. With a location recce in the bag we were confident we could film the content in the same space without major timing issues.

SpareRoom had a political advisor who worked with their Press Officer to make contact with contributors. We prepared contributor briefings ahead of filming as well as collating the user video clips ahead of filming with the candidates. We were lucky enough to interview some very senior representatives of parties but we only had an hour with each of them. We planned the camera and lighting setups very carefully to ensure swift filming was possible and still have 5 minutes left to spare for press photography at the end.

How was the branded video content received by SpareRoom?

The films were launched on the 1st April, once parliament was dissolved and purdh began, allowing politicians to actively campaign for their parties. Given we filmed mid-March it was a fast turnaround for us to produce the series of 10x short films.

Matt Hutchinson, Communications Director for SpareRoom said "We chose Digitom Ltd for their experience and knew we were getting a safe pair of hands. What we got in the end was so much more, turning a good project into a great one in the process. The attention to detail, from pre-production, right through shooting and editing resulted in a set of films we’re incredibly proud of.”

Do you have a case study you want to share? We are always looking for new and exciting ways which corporate video production has been used successfully in business - get in contact and we will happily take a look at your piece.