If you’ve captured something incredible on video – a trending news event, a rare glimpse of animals in the wild, or simply a funny moment – Newsflare can connect you with media organisations who are ready and willing to buy it.
And if you’re from a media organisation that’s hungry for engaging video that will keep your audiences coming back for more, Newsflare is the place to go.
Newsflare’s team asked Rooster Punk to help them to define their brand story and look and feel, and to articulate clear propositions for multiple audiences on the ‘supply’ side (video creators) and the ‘demand’ side (media customers).
The quest
Newsflare’s global army of content creators – the ‘supply’ side of their platform – provides a never-ending stream of clips, from riots in the street to hair-raising rescues to cute kitten antics. They range from professional full-time film makers to ‘chancers’ who just happen to have their phone ready when something amazing happens.
On the ‘demand’ side, Newsflare talks to a wide variety of organisations, from news media to TV producers to marketing agencies.
The platform’s messaging was confused and confusing: talking to both sides at once and not making a clear pitch to either.
Our job was to unravel this, creating a clear overarching brand story that spoke to both sides, and then articulating a clear and compelling proposition tailored to each. We then went a layer deeper, creating messaging frameworks for different types of buyer and seller – for example distinguishing between TV producers and news organisations, and between professional film makers and one-off creators who are totally new to this world.
Insights
Although we were talking to a global audience made up of many different personas with totally different points of view, we knew that something fundamental united them: their drive to be among the first to witness, capture and share life as it happens. And we knew that this was about real life – with all its highs and lows, triumphs and tragedies.
The story
We created an overarching brand story that described real life, captured on film, as ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’, and invited both supply and demand-side audiences to be part of it.
We then developed audience-specific versions of the brand story that spoke to the needs and motivations of each side.
Creative and strategic chapters
Once we’d developed brand story variants, the project divided into strategic work, where we defined story variants and messaging frameworks for multiple sub-audiences, and creative development.
The creative task was to develop both a distinct brand voice and a visual treatment that brought the story and Newsflare’s unique proposition to life, while making the most of their biggest asset: moving image.
We developed a visual construct that put video content front-and-centre, heroing footage from Newsflare’s library either as clips or stills. These are overlaid with a ‘viewfinder’ graphic, drawing audiences into the idea of someone holding the camera, capturing the moment.
As well as celebrating the amazing content on the platform, the idea invites participation and encourages filmers to get out there and capture life’s highs, lows, funnies and fails as they happen.
The viewfinder treatment also gave us the flexibility to relate any content to our brand story of ‘the greatest show on earth’. Using the graphic to highlight a key word, we create a dynamic area where the word ‘show’ is interchangeable with any noun that best describes the action on screen. So it may be ‘the greatest injustice on earth’, ‘the greatest chase on earth’ or even ‘the greatest dancer on earth’.
Happily ever after
Newsflare now has a compelling story and a clear positioning that speaks to each audience individually, focusing on their needs and motivations and setting out what they need to know about the platform. They also have a unique, dynamic visual treatment that celebrates moving image and can be constantly refreshed with new, trending content.
For sales conversations and targeted campaigns, the team is now armed with painstakingly developed messaging frameworks tailored to each group – and with a distinct brand voice that will help them bring it to life.
We’re very proud of our work with Newsflare. We hope you’ll agree that it’s an apt celebration of the Greatest Show on Earth.
