Quick Pivots

Objectives

 

As the head of Multimedia Design at Fifth Third Bank, one of my main internal clients is the Social Media team. However, I'm not the only vendor they use for creating social content. In late February of 2023, they approached me for help with a problem surrounding a high profile March Madness campaign they had been outsourcing, using NCAA basketball players as influencers to promote our brand through their personal Facebook Meta channels.
 

The final product that was delivered by the agency they leveraged to manage the engagement with the players and the content creation was deemed unusable, due to a range of issues related to overall concept, audio quality, and delivery/performance of the players who had little or no experience as influence marketers.
 

Leadership from the line of business asked our team if there was anything we could do to improve the content within a three-day window before the final assets were due. While this meant setting down other work to support, it was quickly justifiable based on our team's operational principles to prioritize work planned for paid distribution. 

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Critique

 

In my initial review of the work that had been done, I pointed out several issues that I felt we needed to be mitigated.
 

Overall Concept
The pieces that had been originally created had been scripted around having the players connect bank features and the brand's promise to "put 166.7% into everything we do" to their own performance on the court. The concept itself felt like a miss, asking collegiate athletes wearing our brand's tee shirt (instead of their team colors) to post content in their personal Meta channels that was authored in the bank's voice and context, instead of in their own. 
 

Audio Quality
The vocal tracks used in the initially delivered assets were recorded on the court in an empty gymnasium. The natural reverb of the room was overwhelming, rendering the dialogue mostly inaudible.
 

Performance
The performance and line delivery of the individual players reflected the simple reality that Name/Image/Likeness paid engagements for NCAA athletes is a new concept, and that the approach was flawed. The authenticity was just not there, for any of the six players contracted.

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Problem Solving

 

Our team requested the full set of raw assets used to develop the first round of creative in order to determine our options for improving the final product. We received a mix of interview footage and b-roll of the players dribbling, making trick shots, and dunks. 
 

While there was little that could be done to get around the interview footage issues, the b-roll content was actually pretty awesome. Before I knew it, I was scrolling through file after file of behind-the-back alley-oops and no-look free throws, and absolutely loving it. The natural reverb that was problematic for the recorded dialogue actually enhanced the captured audio of the ball against the floor and the rim. With these ingredients now in hand, we were able to make a quick pitch to the Social Media team for a new concept that let the players' athleticism and talent speak for itself; leveraged user-generated-content editing tactics; and tied in our brand using a custom animation.
 

To further strengthen the authenticity of the content, we proposed alterations to each video's end card to incorporate each player's team colors into Fifth Third's design language elements. While we had not secured the rights to mention specific school or team names, this addition helped better balance our brand and the players' brand in the new design.
 

As a finishing touch, we were able to incorporate (after rigorous online searches) player hand signatures in the end card of several of the pieces. This provided an additional element of ownership for the athlete, which we strongly felt had been a missing critical element
 

Execution