Wow-How Studio

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I run a video marketing and advertising agency based out of Orange County CA, we specialize in creating video and animation assets for our clients. I am personally the founder and CEO

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wow-How Studio, and what were your goals?

We hired Wow-How to help with a 3D animation/ PSA commercial. We wanted to create something visualyl unique, engaging and emotional.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We had been in touch with Wow-How for a few months and knew they were talented but were just waiting for the right project to work on. We gave them the brief and had them bid out the project compared to other 3D animation houses

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail, including the project steps and all stages of production.

We provided the concept/ script that we had already worked on for a while with the client. Once we gave that to Wow-how they took it from there by developing the look, storyboards and characters.

Who did you work with and what was the feedback process like?

We worked with a few different people including an account rep and project manager. They were very available for emails and calls throughout the entire process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

In the end we were super happy with the work and the relationship with wow-how

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They had a very organized structure between their project managers account managers and animations they kept everything moving and on time from reviews to deliveries

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They have a very polished animation style - allowed for us to create a unique and brandable video style for this animation.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

no they were great- highly recomend

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

R&M is an independent Swiss family business with 57 years of experience in the information and communications technology market. R&M develops and manufactures connectivity solutions for high-quality communication networks. The company contributes significantly to operational reliability and safety in voice, data, and video transmission worldwide with its copper and fiber optic systems. R&M solutions are compelling in their ability to deliver excellent availability and cost-efficient network operations.

With high product quality and innovative design, R&M ensures that networks are fit for the future. R&M connectivity solutions are used in offices, data centers, by network operators, and in industrial applications. R&M is one of the top three players in Europe and the Middle East. The company is represented by its own marketing organizations in over 40 countries on all continents. Within R&M I am responsible for the audiovisual content: this means either creating it myself or working with partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wow-How Studio?

We are about to enter new markets with a certain product portfolio. Therefore, we were looking for a company that can create a professional 3D animation. Since video content is much more engaging than text, we wanted something that would persist on social media and provide enough information to potential customers.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We have worked with the studio before and were very satisfied. This was the decisive reason. besides, they are in a great price range.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We approached the studio with a storyboard. After a kickoff meeting, we provided them with the 3d data so they could get started. In addition, we provided them with real videos so they could get an idea of the product. After we approved the animatics, the coloring and rendering were implemented.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We were in contact with one salesperson and one developer. It was nice not to have more points of contact with other people, so we only had to explain the project once.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We have received various feedback, the people are very satisfied. Since it is an awareness rather than a sale, no ROI can be calculated.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The collaboration was very easy, also the tools used simplified it.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The people were very nice and accommodating, besides we could almost keep the very tight time frame.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

The communication on our side was done by two persons because we were on vacation. some times only one or the other person was on the distribution list - this delayed the project a bit.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior instructional designer for the human rights education team at Amnesty International — the global head office of the international secretariat. We create educational outputs for the general public, which means that we educate people on how to claim their rights.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wow-How Studio?

For the past five years, we’ve been making online courses for human rights education. We wanted to diversify our types of output and explore other possible avenues to educate our audiences.

One of the key platforms most salient to young audiences is video format — people like to learn on YouTube. We thought of doing what we regularly do, but in a different format. We hired Wow-How Studio to help us make five short videos.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started communicating with Wow-How Studio and talked about the scope of the project. The project management started early on.

First, we independently worked on the scripts and textual concepts for the videos. As soon as that was approved by our law and policy team, we sent it to Wow-How Studio for them to do a visual description.

The process consisted of 7–8 back-and-forth messages and up to two review sessions for each one of those steps. Therefore, it was a lot of communication for five different videos. Each video has around seven different phases.

Wow-How Studio used Adobe After Effects to assemble all the footage, textual elements, and illustrative files. They exported the videos directly from that tool, too. By the end of that process, we had our videos for the public.

The videos educated people on particular human rights and each one of them was different. The first one was general — it showed what the world would be like if you were looking at it through a human rights lens. The second one talked about the nuances of hate speech in human rights laws. The third video talked about how gender-based violence is a systematic issue. The next one was about ethical vaccine distribution within the COVID-19 context.

We had another video that talked about COVID-19, but it was more educational — it showed the things that people could do and ways to take action, even when they had to be socially distanced and couldn’t do traditional activism.

What is the team composition?

I was mostly in contact with two key individuals from Wow-How Studio. They were both project managers but for different sides of the project. One person handled the tasks and the other person handled the timelines. They managed multiple people that were doing illustrations and working in the background.

How did you come to work with Wow-How Studio?

We looked at some suppliers and ended up finding Wow-How Studio. We saw their portfolio, which had really good quality videos. They made the most compelling and clear offer and had a really competitive price. In addition to that, they were friendly during the initial discussions, so we decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about £25,000 (approximately $35,400 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from around August 2020—February 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Since we’re a big, old organization, we have long processes. Right now, we’re doing translation and dubbing services, and we have a procurement process going on. Therefore, only one of the five videos has gone public, so far.

The video has gotten good engagement on our global YouTube accounts and social media, including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. In general, the numbers have been slightly above average for our engagement with that type of content.

Wow-How Studio made visually engaging materials that we would have never been able to do on our own. It was a collective effort because we needed to demonstrate how to connect in a particular way with the audience. With our powers combined together, we did it.

How did Wow-How Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

Wow-How Studio was stupendous. They were abnormally responsive for everything related to project management.

As far as communication, we only had a couple of introductory calls and a closing call. After that, we communicated exclusively through email — we had email conversations for months and multiple emails every week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I haven’t worked with a lot of animators in the past. However, I have the impression that Wow-How Studio's team of illustrators and animators has some hustle in them. They are more pleasant than any average supplier — they’re not phony or cloying.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Wow-How Studio could have been better at internalizing our needs to represent diversity and inclusion earlier on. That way, there wouldn’t have been that many back-and-forth feedback rounds.

Additionally, working with international people had some challenges. There was some language difficulty that may have slowed down the process in some ways. Some of the people that work for Wow-How Studio were not super fluent in English. However, they had methods to get over that, which was quite impressive.

Any advice for potential customers?

Have all the materials that you’re contributing to the project developed as early as possible. The process of producing, even a short video, is quite long. Therefore, the earlier you can provide the scripts and briefs about what you’re looking for, the better.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

iConvert is a Conversion Rate Optimization specialist focusing on the iGaming industry. We work with Online Casinos, Sportsbooks and more to deliver solutions to increase FTDs, higher deposits and higher customer retention. I am the company's Head Of Design.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wow-How Studio, and what were your goals?

We approached Wow-How to fill a skills gap in our team in the form of 3D animation. We were looking to create an animated video to go on the home page of our website which explored our products and the sectors we worked with.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We searched for a company via linkedin which we felt could deliver the quality we strive for. Wow-How found us and approached us to. discuss our requirements. The samples they showed us really helped us to believe they were the right fit.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail, including the project steps and all stages of production.

Before our initial meeting, we conducted our research into style and requirements of the project. Our main inspiration coming from useplink.com. We required an introductory animation to then lead it into a looping video. After speaking with Wow-How, they listened, understood and came to us with a timeline of the project, a price and all details involved. This made us feel very confident in them. We had regular reviews to view progress and offer our feedback at crucial stages. This created a great open and honest working relationship and what impressed us the most, at every stage, they listened.

Who did you work with and what was the feedback process like?

We discussed requirements with Anna, and Anastasiia lead the production team. Both extremely knowledgeable and talented.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We showed the videos to other companies within the investment group which we belong to. The feedback was unanimously one of greatly impressed. The results themselves are now being considered the benchmark in our strive for consistent quality.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

The project manager spoke to us regularly and giving us access to a project calendar made sure we could deliver feedback and check in when we had a question giving more than enough time for Wow-How to reply, stay on schedule or adjust their schedules if need be. They delivered results on time.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The most impressive thing about them was their speed in completing the project and the high-quality output. They listened, and they created a result which expressed our brief extremely well. The value for money is outstanding.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

We have no suggestions for improvement, they will be our first choice moving forward.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work as a VFX supervisor on a smaller production company located in Sweden. We are a full production company active in film, TV, Post-Production, animation and sound. I am responsible for our VFX department where we work both with CGI production and general VFX production.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wow-How Studio?

We needed help to create a high-end Tv commercial in full 3D for a client where we were responsible for the creative part and the 3D studio were responsible for the full CGI production. We came in contact with Wow-How studio a couple of months before the production start and did a couple of projects together which made us really confident with Wow-how and their production quality.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to meet the high production quality that our customer demanded.

SOLUTION

How did you select Wow-How Studio?

We did a couple of project before this started. Wow-how showed that they are able to deliver the high quality that we demand at the same time that the work process was both very simple and professional.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail.

The film that we were aiming for had a very special look and feeling to it. It also had a couple of technical requirements that's not always that easy to get. We originally asked for a 15-second film but with the possibility to extend further.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

Wow-how immediately understood what we were looking for and presented artists who would be best suited for this type of production. They also came up with ideas to solve our technical requirements in the best way.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Its to early to present any figures but our early measurements shows us that it is well received on the market and runs very well. personally I'm very proud of the film and so are the client.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We where and felt included under the whole production process where we could adjust and and approve it step by step. Wow-How was very attentive with our wishes and was quick to deliver updated work after our feedback.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The high production quality and their ability to meet demand and present the solution. The work process between our team and their team felt really smooth and professional.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not in this project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a political foundation with over 100 offices worldwide. I’m a program coordinator and researcher in the Ukraine office.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wow-How Studio?

We were looking for a partner to produce two short animated videos that were based on scripts handed in by participants of a small competition among young people.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We held a competition among young people to hand in ideas on an animation film script of up to 5 minutes in length reflecting on a topic of interest in society.

Wow-How Studio was initially handed two winning scripts. There was an extensive process where the script was still further revised, shortened, and adapted because of length and budget considerations. There were different phases.

At first, they worked with us to adapt the scripts, and then it went into the realization phase, and in the end, we worked through the final details. There was also work on voiceovers and music. In all, the process required extensive coordination and intensive feedback loops.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact was the business development manager.

How did you come to work with Wow-How Studio?

We contacted several animation studios in Ukraine and asked them for initial cost estimates based on scripts.

We received a few responses, but it quickly turned out that other studios didn’t have the capacity to handle this within our preferred timeframe. With our budget and time considerations, Wow-How Studio quickly emerged as the only studio capable of handling our idea for the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $10,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2020–January 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’re very satisfied with the final product; however, I would like to stress that the entire process of project implementation, from initial negotiations to adapting final details of the finished products, with Wow-How Studio was very positive.

We had quite a complicated nexus because the studio had to navigate our consideration as a foundation, and then there were still the young script authors. All of this required extensive consultation, revision, and negotiation. These are not easy preconditions for an animation studio but Wow-How proved to be a reliable, responsive, and flexible partner who delivered great results.

How did Wow-How Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

We had extensive consultations during the entire project and were in contact three to four times per week in the final phase.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness was excellent. We had the feeling that Wow-How studio was acting in good faith at all times. It was a very trusting partnership with a very positive atmosphere.

We never felt that Wow-How were doing things strictly to plan, budget, or fixed idea. They really went out of their way to accommodate different views. Their team was flexible, responsive, and competent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, I can't think of any problems worth mentioning. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Despite the fact that our project was rather complex, our experience with Wow-How Studio was wholly excellent. This is why I cannot offer advice on how to circumvent systemic problems of working with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Engagement for Paper Education. We are a B2B EdTech company that partners with school districts to provide their students with equitable access to academic support, whilst providing teachers with insights into their student's learning.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wow-How Studio?

Product and service explainer videos to used directly in our product and on our public site. Our users generally have varying "tech savvyness", so some users need a little hand-holding with product features. The explainer videos were used to explain the general concept of our product and service, and the how-tos were used to help users successfully use our product

What were your goals for this project?

To help us with user onboarding and buy-in

SOLUTION

How did you select Wow-How Studio?

I believe they reached out to a colleague of mine to offer their services.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail.

We already had a strong creative idea, and scripts. We produced out own scripts and mood boards for characters then approached multiple companies for quotes. Wow-how seemed to have the best quality and the most reasonable price. They then created our characters with a few rounds of revisions, storyboarding, selecting the VO etc

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

Mostly conducted over email and comments on storyboards. Some meetings to discuss finer details where necessary.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The projects were very successful, the goal was to help with user onboarding but the videos have all ended up with thousands of youtube views too.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The end result was excellent, we are incredibly pleased with how the videos ended up. Along the way, there were multiple points of heavy feedback, but we also came into the project with a strong idea about creative direction, so that was always going to be the case.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They had a very strong work ethic. They work hard. They have no problem hopping into a meeting at 10pm (local time) to go over feedback. They also work fast, I think we produced 7 videos in 10 weeks. Everyone worked very hard to help us hit our deadline.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It sometimes takes a few conversations to get feedback though. I also cannot comment on how the project would have gone without our creative direction (it could have gone fantastically - my comment is an acknowledgement of a lack of experience for wow-how in this situation rather than a criticism) so I cannot comment on that!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We have a brand of headphones. I am the chairman

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wow-How Studio?

We needed a video spot to communicate on social networks

What were your goals for this project?

Have a dynamic video in correlation with the products we sell

SOLUTION

How did you select Wow-How Studio?

Thanks to the advertisements we have seen from this company

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail.

We wanted a dynamic video that shows the main characteristics of our products Process in detail:

1. Visual Description. to create textual descriptions of the scenes.
2. Storyboard. А storyboard is black&white sketches of the future frames where we can see the main actions in the video (quantity of objects, their location and camera movements directions).
3. Music. Before the next stages, we should choose and approve music because it’s a base for future animation. We will provide you with several music options (3-4) for your choice based on your preferences.
4. Animatic shows keyframes movements where objects appear to move. It’s a grey coloured video where we check pace, objects and camera movements, timings, synchronization voice over with video.
5. Style Frame. At this stage, we are developing several slides adding light and materials, and get this scene in final quality for a future video.
6. Render - is the process of generating an image of the video using a computer program. With the help of render set up, we put render settings and control it during the whole process.
7. Compositing. The final stage in which we collect previous stages in the video, add captions, adding colour correction, etc.
8. -Final cut the final result where we received the polished video.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

Exchange of ideas, very professional files. We are happy to have collaborated with this company

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

This collaboration was very fruitful. Wow How Studio is very responsive and professional. We recommend her without any problem and will continue to work on future projects with them.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their responsiveness was amazing. Once we received results even on a Sunday afternoon

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. We are very satisfied

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are Toronto based digital media agency that focuses on creating marketing and educational content mainly for healthcare industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wow-How Studio?

We are contracted to produce video series for a new medical product and unlike typical corporate videos we wanted to make fun, and exciting animated characters to introduce the product. We hired Wow-How to design and animate 2 videos and we will start 3rd video soon.

What were your goals for this project?

Goal was to create 2 fun microbes that interacts with a box that product inside is secret. Their interaction and curiosity to figure out what the product is definitely nailed and achieved our goal so far. We are already getting positive results from client and hopefully once it is all finished we will get even better results.

SOLUTION

How did you select Wow-How Studio?

We went through multiple freelancers & studios to make a decision and wow-how is selected because of their rich portfolio but also team capabilities.

Describe the project in detail.

Project includes to create 2 fun microbes that interacts with a box that product inside is secret. Their interaction and curiosity to figure out what the product is definitely nailed and achieved our goal so far. We are already getting positive results from client and hopefully once it is all finished we will get even better results.

What was the team composition?

Multiple people assigned for this project and so we communicate with the project manager. She is professional and also good at communicating with us for each step of the project

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Project is still in process but for the first video results we had positive response from client.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Great. Communication is very important to us and they are excellent in terms of handling the project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Communication & professionalism.

Are there any areas for improvement?

So far we are happy for each step they got involved.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Brand and Content for Startpage, the world's most private search engine.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wow-How Studio?

We were looking to create three videos to help people understand the dangers of online personal data collection and how people can take back control of their privacy.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were brand awareness and education of our product. It was important that the videos were both information and engaging in order to capture the attention of viewers.

SOLUTION

How did you select Wow-How Studio?

Wow-How's team was so creative and thoughtful. I was very impressed by both their organized account leads and the creative solutions they presented to bring our scripts to life. Online privacy is a difficult subject and their ingenuity went above and beyond what we ever expected! Lastly, they instantly understood our brand colors and style.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Startpage provided three scripts and then the Wow-How team took it from there. From initial storyboards to custom illustrations and animations to VO artist and music mastery. It was an easy and straightforward process.

What was the team composition?

BD lead, Account lead and creative team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our entire executive team was very impressed with the videos. In just two months, one of the videos has 60k views on YouTube. They video have also been used by media outlets that are reporting on privacy to help educate and inform people about data collection. We are very pleased!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. They team was great a communication and were able to adapt to our feedback with ease.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed by how creative they were with turning words on a script into visual metaphors.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I have no suggestions for improvement. They are a well oiled machine and I will work with them again.