Case Study: Video Production at Scale with FurnitureLab

Case Summary

Producing video at scale is easier said than done. When FurnitureLab came to us with a request for not one or two but dozens of product videos, we knew we’d need to squeeze every minute out of our production days. We harnessed our experience, creativity, and strategic thinking to produce fun, engaging videos that spoke to FurnitureLab’s audience, reflected the brand’s personality –– and ensured a healthy return on investment.

I know brand awareness is hard to measure, but I also know Storyboard has greatly improved ours among our target audiences. We get AMAZING feedback on our videos from clients (old and new), friends, and strangers alike. Best of all, I have been able to leverage all that content for way more than a year and I still have fresh and interesting video clips to share and re-package which makes my job so much easier.

Lara Murphy | Marketing Director, FurnitureLab

Challenge

FurnitureLab, a contract furniture marketplace, came to Storyboard Media with three primary needs:

• Providing their sales teams with tools that differentiated their products from their competitors
• Improving brand awareness via social media
• Reinforcing their brand by melding two foundation values: a willingness to have fun and a connection to their community

In our discussions with FurnitureLab, we understood that they were willing to take risks and interrupt patterns within their industry to help stand out.

Of course, to accomplish this, a single video wouldn’t do. We would need to highlight as many furniture pieces as possible. In turn, this means producing content at scale to lower costs and raise the return on FurnitureLab’s investment.

Based on the budget, our producers determined that we could create 24 unique product videos over the course of a 3-day shoot. But in order to pull it off, we would have to be fully prepared, maximally efficient, and on top of our game.

Solution

Producing video at scale requires high levels of preparation.

Before stepping into a studio, we hired a team of local improvisers we dubbed the FurnitureLabbers. Using local improvisers helped FurnitureLab stay connected to its community and reinforce the brand’s willingness to have fun.

We booked a studio for five days and scheduled each day to maximize our time:

• Day 1: Load in furniture and rehearse with the FurnitureLabbers
• Day 2: Take high-quality photos of each piece of furniture
• Day 3: Set up lights and cameras and shoot 8 furniture videos
• Day 4: Shoot 9 furniture pieces
• Day 5: Shoot 7 furniture pieces, then break down the lights and cameras.

The first two days of in-studio prep work were essential. It ensured that once cameras started rolling, no time was wasted.

Then, over the next three days of shooting, our team worked in concert to take advantage of every second. For instance, by booking consecutive days in-studio, we were able to leave our cameras and lights in place for the next day’s production. This eliminated the need to reset equipment on each day of shooting and allowed us to maximize the amount of time shooting video.

For each video, we paired the improvisers off and gave them 20 minutes to riff on-camera about each product, using both their comedic sensibilities and newfound knowledge about the brand of products.

After each product shoot, the director then pulled each pair off and had them record voiceovers that hit every potential specification or marketing point. So, if an important detail wasn’t brought up during their improvisation, we still had VO we could insert in post-production that highlighted said detail.

While the director ran the VO sessions, the director of photography shot close-ups, B-roll footage, and beauty shots of each piece of furniture.

Then, when they had enough footage, the next product was brought in and set up to have everything ready to go as the previous VO session wrapped. 

This constant movement and coordination between the director, producer, and DP meant that we made each second of production as valuable as possible.

If the improvisers weren’t improvising, they were recording voiceovers. If they were recording VO, we were gathering product footage. And as we were gathering footage, the next piece was getting set up.

Result

In the end, we delivered to FurnitureLab:

• 24 product videos
• Dozens of animated GIFs
• Hundreds of high-quality still photographs

We also helped FurnitureLab with a distribution plan that allowed them to highlight each piece of content as they rolled it out. They created a video hub on their website to hold their new content as well as embedded the appropriate video on each content page.

Of course, the goal wasn’t simply to produce content. It was also to help to reinforce their brand across social media and help their sales team.

According to FurnitureLab, our project led to direct, measurable results:

• 2500% increase in social media reach
• 10% more email opens from their dedicated/qualified audience