Iowa Corn, the state association for our local corn production industry, worked to create a campaign to show the benefits of E-15. This project would provide several benefits to the state — an economic boost for corn farmers, a lower-cost fuel for consumers and a cleaner fuel option to protect the environment.
The Problem
For years, there was either Unleaded (E-0), Super Unleaded (E-10) or E-85 for flex fuel vehicles. That was until E-15 came along. According to the EPA, E-15 is safe for use in any 2001 or newer vehicles. The newer 15 percent ethanol blend is better for the environment than standard gasoline and more economical for the consumer. Consumers needed to be educated and aware of this “new” fuel available to them at the pump.
Our challenge was to create an attention-grabbing educational awareness campaign that showed all the benefits of E-15. This campaign needed to be in a format that would be ubiquitous across different social and traditional broadcast media channels with a specified target audience comprising general consumers ages 18 to 65. We were also tasked with building a registration list of at least 500 people for American Ethanol gift certificates as part of the E-15 promotion.
The Solution
Strategically, we wanted the campaign to be lighthearted, informative and catchy. Since E-10 is more commonly referred to as “super unleaded” at the pump, we thought why not use this same thinking for E-15? Thus, the “super duper” unleaded campaign was born. We took this phrase and built out an animated video with a whimsical jingle that touches on the benefits of E-15 fuel and deployed it across different platforms — the Iowa Corn website, YouTube, social media accounts and traditional radio and digital ads.
The Results
The Super Duper Unleaded video campaign was extremely cost-efficient and effective in reaching our target audience. With more than 194,000 impressions, the cost-per-impression was less than $0.01 and with more than 41,000 video views, the cost-per-view was $0.07. A call-to-action button encouraging viewers to learn more after completing the video netted 248 direct visitors to a landing page on the Iowa Corn website. By the campaign’s end, we netted 822 sign-ups for the American Ethanol gift certificate giveaway, almost doubling the number in our initial goal. Of total visitors to the web page specifically designated for the program, 20 percent were converted into signups for the giveaway. In all, Iowa Corn website traffic increased almost 7 percent during the Super Duper Unleaded campaign.
I first realized motion graphics were becoming an important facet in graphic design during my senior year of high school. While applying to colleges, I came across a school that sent me a promo disc of their classes — “Motion Design” came on the screen and it clicked for me, right there. This whole video was designed from start to finish. Motion design is the future. I knew I wanted to explore animation from then on and the rest, as they say, is history.
Here are four reasons to consider using animation in your company’s marketing needs this year:
Engaging. Stop people mid-scroll on their Facebook feed, webpage and more. Animations keep information moving in a format that speaks to a larger demographic using color, movement and music.
Digestible. With motion graphics, complex ideas can come to life. If you have a lot to say, and you’re worried that a printed format might leave your readers confused, an animation style video might the solution. Add visuals, on-screen text, maybe a bit of badass music or a voiceover. Boom. Done.
Flexible. The versatility of animation is unmatched. It’s great for website, mobile or tablets and designs are not limited to just videos — heck, you can make custom gifs! No, all gifs are not designed with space cats riding pizzas and shooting lasers out of their eyes, gifs can be productive too. They can be used to create wildly engaging social posts. Wait — there’s more. All those nifty illustrations you see flying around in your video can be repurposed into any number of print pieces as well.
Economical. Depending on the type of video you want to produce, animation can be incredibly cost effective. Consider the budget needed for one or two camera men, a producer/creative director, plus talent to spend a day shooting enough footage for a :30-:90 second video. Then think through the time your video team will need to spend reviewing the footage afterwards, adjusting audio and piecing it together into the final video. Plus, last-minute edits to the script and potential reshoots. Now think about that budget compared to a small team of designers, animators and copywriters needed to create an animated project where they can nimbly adjust and edit throughout the process. Animated video is very economical in comparison.
The Bottom Line. Animation holds a hotbed of potential for your brand. The possibilities are endless because you’re not limited to what’s just in front of you — you’re tapping into true creativity! Want to hear more? Contact Lessing-Flynn about creating your motion graphic project today.
What We Can Do — Client Examples: