Commotion Engine

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Director of My Dental SOP

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

My Dental SOP is an instantly accessible digital platform for dental practice's Standard Operating Procedures.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Commotion Engine to accomplish?

• Explain My Dental SOP to potential customers
• Be engaging and visually pleasing
• Obtain more leads with an explainer video

SOLUTION

How did you find Commotion Engine?

Referral

Why did you select Commotion Engine over others?

• High ratings
• Referred to me
• Good products

How many teammates from Commotion Engine were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Commotion Engine was to create a 2D animated explainer video about the My Dental SOP platform with engaging visuals and voiceover. They provided a creative brief, outline, script, storyboard, voiceover, and animation. Commotion also created and provided social media cutdowns, including a 30-second and 1-minute version, along with thumbnails. The video was to include our platform's key features, problems it solves, and a clear CTA.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The measurable outcomes that have demonstrated success includes increased engagement on our social media platforms and ads, increased demo bookings, positive feedback, and messaging clarity to potential customers.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Brandon was Commotion Engine's lead primary team member that helped with the project. Brandon was very efficient and helpful throughout the project. Brandon would respond to inquiries, questions, suggestions, etc. very quickly and clearly. Brandon was respectful of our feedback, and the team delivered items quickly and with high quality.

What was your primary form of communication with Commotion Engine?

Email or Messaging App

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

Commotion Engine made it very easy at each step to understand what was needed from our company and what we were expecting from Commotion Engine. There was a clear path to the final product and the Commotion Engine team was very helpful and personable, especially Brandon. Their animation style was incredible and smooth, and the voiceover was great. we are very impressed with the quality of the product.

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

I do not have any suggestions at this time. I am very happy with the product and the support we recieved.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Coordinator of Quick Hands Logistics

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Provide warehouse industry with third party services for operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Commotion Engine to accomplish?

• lead generation
• brand awareness

SOLUTION

How did you find Commotion Engine?

Online Search

Why did you select Commotion Engine over others?

Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from Commotion Engine were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Deliverables:

• script outline
• script final draft
• storyboard
• animation video 
• VO
• final animation video after suggestions

For this project specifically we provided an outline of the script to make sure key points were not missed. Commotion Engine cleaned up the outline. Once the outline was finalized they moved forward with creating the script. After the script they provided the draft toryboard, then a final storyboard with minor changes to the VO. When we receieved the first version of the video, I provided feedback on the VO since a few words were misprounced. The video receieved after that was the final video.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We received more traffic to our website.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Commotion Engine has very good project management. Whenever we asked for changes, they were honest about what they could and could not do (due to video time restrains) but the quality of the video was still very good. The changes they made did align with the suggestions we had.  Although we did not have a strict timeline for this project, I do believe we were delivered our items in a timely manner.

What was your primary form of communication with Commotion Engine?

Email or Messaging App

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

Their responsiveness and not pushing unnecessary video meetings stood out. A previous agency we worked with would take too long to respond to our emails and requests. Whenever they wanted to talk about the project, they would try to get us to do video calls or in-person meetings, which did not always work with our schedule.

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

No

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work in strategy and operations for Rohirrim; we work in generative AI and produce language models specific to companies with their siloed data sets. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Commotion Engine?

We hired Commotion Engine for video production services. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Commotion Engine was responsible for creating explainer videos to show what we do and who we are in a visual and easy-to-understand way. We had a specific aesthetic and tone to represent our company and gave them a brand book and an outlined script to start. Commotion Engine gave us a proposal the next day, and we got started from there. 

We storyboarded with Commotion Engine, collaborated with them to pick out voice-over options, and worked together on the animation. We finalized the voice-over with the animation, and Commotion Engine provided sound effects for the final product. 

The result was a multi-media video with custom animation and stock video. Commotion Engine handled everything in-house, and the videos were less than two minutes long. 

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with a program manager, but two others worked on the project with us behind the scenes. 

How did you come to work with Commotion Engine?

We researched companies that made explainer videos and looked through their portfolios. We interviewed these companies but felt most comfortable with Commotion Engine and their ability to complete the project in the time frame and style we were looking for. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together between March–May 2023. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The video has been published on our home page, and our clicks have increased significantly. We also posted the video on LinkedIn, and it was seen by people that later became customers. We’ve received nothing but positive feedback, and viewers have complimented how easy it is to understand. 

How did Commotion Engine perform from a project management standpoint?

Despite a tight deadline, they came through for us in every aspect and completed everything on time. Commotion Engine stayed within budget, and we worked virtually and communicated via Google Meet and emails. We handled all the edits through our storyboard and animation software. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They supplied a great product and stayed on brand with our color scheme and aesthetic. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing we can come up with. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They will deliver as soon as possible if you know what you want. Make sure everyone is on the same page so the process can go smoothly. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Nuspire is a leading managed security services provider (MSSP) founded over 20 years ago to revolutionize the cybersecurity experience by taking an optimistic and people-first approach.

Our deep bench of cybersecurity experts use world-class threat intelligence and 24x7 security operations centers (SOCs) to detect, respond and remediate advanced cyber threats. I'm the Director of Content Strategy, developing content for all stages of the buyer journey.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Commotion Engine, and what were your goals?

We were getting ready to launch an industry-first product to the market and needed help demonstrating the power and possibilities of our new offering and we knew video would be a strong medium for our audience.

SOLUTION

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

I had worked with Commotion Engine before at another company and loved their process. They take the time in the beginning to understand the goal and direction of the project, getting everything dialed in, in the planning phase so that when you get to production, the project flies.

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

We had the need for a marketing promo video, a more technical explainer, and also a webinar stinger for our launch webinar series. They started with an outline phase which is a great opportunity to get feedback from other stakeholders before diving into the production. What this meant for us is that when production started it moved really quickly.

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

We worked with Jared and Scott throughout the process, both were very responsive. They asked for clarification when needed and were upfront about timelines and status. When I had questions they were quickly answered, I felt that if at any point I needed to reach their team, I could.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When they delivered the first draft of the video, it was exactly what we wanted. We see these videos helping us support our efforts as we continue to launch and iterate on our new offering. They will be valuable tools in educating our audience around something that's never been seen before in our industry. Today, they are our flagship content pieces on our product pages to help inform prospective and current customers.

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

Commotion Engine does a good job of communicating the timeline and gives visibility into a living document of the timeline to help manage when things might start to slip. I felt like I had a good sense of what needed to happen on our end to keep the project on schedule. Jared and Scott would check in regularly as the project moved into the different phases of production so I always felt connected to the status.

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

What I've been impressed with in the past and why I wanted to work with them again is that they have such a dialed-in process. This process is clear and leads to a great product, every time.I think what makes the team at Commotion so different is that they put a lot of focus on the discovery and planning and pre-production phases of the project.

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

Not really, I had a great experience working with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Content Manager I write and help produce videos, eBooks, articles, press releases, and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Commotion Engine?

Our team, and other teams within Neustar, have engaged Commotion Engine for a number of animated videos. The videos present complex information about technical subjects in an easy-to-understand way, with engaging graphics.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to drive thought leadership in the area of robocalls, call spoofing, branded calling, and broadband issues. We worked with CE on numerous videos, which all relate to one another, but delve into very specific subject areas. We also use the videos to drive leads, on social media, and through our website and emails.

SOLUTION

How did you select Commotion Engine?

When I started at Neustar, CE had already done several projects for us, and I admired the work.

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

As an example, we recently worked on a Branded Call Display (BCD) video. I provided a creative brief and we held a kickoff meeting. Then we collaborated on creation of the script. Once we got approval internally for the script, CE developed storyboards for our ok. After that, we made several tweaks, and they delivered the draft with motion video for our ok. At every point, we were able to tweak anything needed.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

We have a small team, but need to get approval from several other stakeholders. So, after our team agrees, we get the draft versions and run them by our stakeholders. We consolidate the feedback and share with CE. There are times when after we get far down the road, there is an industry change, or someone notices something they missed and we ask for more edits.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Not only is the BCD video a hit internally, but just from my personal experience posting it on LinkedIn, the video was viewed close to 300 times. I ask our CommSol team to share the video on their social media through our employee advocacy platform, Gaggle, and so, if you multiply that by at least 40 people, after being posted for ten days, the reach was over 10,000. We are also starting paid social media around it.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent. CE is easy to work with, friendly, accommodating, and can understand and convey technical topics well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

This seems to be a very energetic group of individuals who can easily learn, interpret and translate new, complex subject areas into entertaining videos with exciting visuals and snappy dialogue. They're great!

Are there any areas for improvement?

Keep it up!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My company is a nonprofit organization focused on education the public, building the community, and advocating for policies favorable to Hindu Americans. I am the creative director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Commotion Engine?

We hired Commotion Engine to help us produce a series of animated videos.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to produce short, easily digestible videos that aim to explain some basic concepts of Hinduism. These videos would be 30s - 1min and give a sense of familiarity to the viewer.

SOLUTION

How did you select Commotion Engine?

We did a google search and found commotion (as well as a few others). commotion had great reviews on clutch. And after going through a pitch, we felt they had the quality we were looking for at a cost we could afford.

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

Process with Commotion Engine has been really easy. Our initial conversations were about mood and style for the videos. We created a script because we needed to be very particular on the subject matter.

After submitting, we received a rough storyboard. After the storyboard was reviewed, refined, and approved. We were given quick frames to review the art, and then a quick cut from the video to review. A full cut was then provided, for us to comment and finalize.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

Feedback on the videos were done through a web app which allowed us to make real-time comments on exact time stamps.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our first video was a general video about Hinduism. We played it during one of our virtual galas and was extremely well received all around.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between our teams was smooth. It really helped that Commotion was receptive and accommodating to feedback within reason. When something could not be done, they always offered an alternate solution.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Commotion Engine’s quality speaks for themselves. What we found very helpful was how easy they are to work with. They haven’t tried to nickel and dime us when additional changes are needed. They work with us to create solutions. And their team is very personable.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We don’t really have anything at the moment that could be improved. Any (minor) hiccups that may have occurred were rectified right away and only happened in the initial video process when our teams were getting an understand of each other.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of Now4real, a tech company with an ambitious vision. We want to kickstart a new era of online socialization and make the Web a more transparent place. Web browsing has traditionally been an individual experience, while any social experience has been delegated to external social networks.

But when you are reading a web page, there are probably others like you, somewhere in the world, who are viewing that same page at the same time. Now4real makes it possible to connect you with those people in real time.

Now4real is a SaaS product that is extremely easy to use, reliable, secure, as well as very respectful of users’ privacy. We take care of all the complexity of delivering real-time data to and from the browsers, and we provide an elegant, ready-made chat widget and a flexible and beautiful developer API.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Commotion Engine?

When visiting a website, people may be at home, in the office, on a train, or anywhere in the real world. But they are also on a web page. That page is like a virtual place where they may meet other people. However, traditionally a web visitor didn’t have any means to know if he or she was the only one on that page at that moment or if there was anyone else.

With Now4real, web visitors can see in real time how many people are actually displaying that page. And they can chat with one another. This way, web pages become live virtual places, and browsing the Web is like going around in the real world: wherever they are, people see if there are others around them (presence counters), and they have a chance to interact with them (pagechats).

What were your goals for this project?

We needed an explainer video to show what Now4real does in a quick, easy, and funny way. We use on our website and on social media.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected a few candidate agencies on the international market and after interviewing them, we made our choice, based on previous results and recommendations, budget, and understanding of our needs.

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

We worked with a Commotion Engine's representative to convey our ideas and the details of our business. Then, we went through all the phases of the video production with iterations, where we provided feedback and Commotion incorporated it into a new release. This went on until full satisfaction on both parts.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

We worked with a project manager, who acted as a single point of contact for the video agency.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Out homepage grabs immediate attention thanks to the explainer video. We are starting to promote it on social media right now.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project manager that was assigned to us acquired an excellent understanding of our product and business and helped us a lot to focus on the important aspects to show. They were quick in getting back to us woth new iterations.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We had a general idea of what kind of video we wanted, but we were not able to get a clear view of the details. Commotion Engine helped us a lot turning a general idea into a detailed and focused project. Furthermore, they were very flexible in both extending the duration of the video and doing some extra-iteration to reach full satisfaction.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not actually.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior project manager at a healthcare advertising agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Commotion Engine?

We had a workload capacity support issue. Commotion Engine is a partner that we’d used in the past and we’d had a good relationship with them, so we reached out to them for this particular project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our company provided them with scripts, and then Commotion Engine took them and created storyboards. We went through multiple revisions with them, and they also took on the edits for that.

What is the team composition?

I had two points of contact: a project manager and the VP of marketing. 

How did you come to work with Commotion Engine?

We had worked with them in the past on similar projects. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $10,000–$15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working them in fall 2019, and the project ended in June 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Commotion Engine delivered a significant standard of quality in a timely manner. 

How did Commotion Engine perform from a project management standpoint?

They always exceeded our expectations, so I give them high marks for project management. We communicated via phone and email. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a great team to partner and collaborate with on creative concepts, designs, and overall approach.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no suggestions. Commotion Engine did a really good job and we had a good relationship with them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that your team has a clear vision in mind of what you’re looking for. Any information that you can provide to Commotion Engine during the initial discussions will help them get a fuller understanding of the project and execute on your idea.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Senior Account Executive with an advertising agency located in Miami, FL. One aspect of my job is to oversee production, timing and costs of all creative projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Commotion Engine?

We had C/E produce and animated three short form videos (2 - 3 minutes) for internet use.

What were your goals for this project?

This was part of an awareness campaign for our client. The intention was to promote their impact window products and encourage FL residents to be proactive and protect their homes. Ultimately increasing our client's social media engagement and website traffic.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our team searched online for video production/animation companies and narrowed the search down to three. Ultimately we liked C/E's sample work the most and found their pricing to be competitive with the other candidates.

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

Once we began working together, my team provided C/E with general outlines for each video. From their C/E developed scripts and then storyboards before they began animation. They also provided the VO talent. The end result was three short form explainer videos with a mix of 2D and 3D animations.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

Since our companies operate from two different states, most of our exchanges were through email and various Google docs and online platforms to keep sharing feedback.The team worked with us on several rounds of feedback. We worked with a total of three C/E team members.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have yet to launch the videos online but currently, all stakeholders are very happy with the videos.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The quality of communication between our teams was clear and direct. C/E always let us know exactly what to expect in each video draft and when we could expect to see it.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

C/E has a highly creative and collaborative team. They did a great job! While the videos exceeded our expectations, so did their attentiveness, responsiveness, and professionalism. Most importantly, they were extremely patient with us and our client.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, we look forward to working with C/E again.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a product manager at OTO Systems, a venture-backed startup working on the next generation of voice intelligence software. I manage our product development and product marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Commotion Engine?

Because we offer a voice-based software solution, we’ve struggled to identify how to showcase our capabilities visually. We hired Commotion Engine to create a high-quality explainer video that could tell our story.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed an explainer video that paints a clear picture of what we do and what our products are. Our goal was to have a video that we could post on our website and use for sales related outreach.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We reviewed and received quotes from multiple explainer video production companies based in the US and Asia. We ultimately picked Commotion Engine because we wanted to have a US-based partner, and we felt that the quality of their work was above others within their price range.

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

The process was structured in a very straightforward manner. It included scripting, storyboarding, voice recording, and 2D animation production.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

For each step, we had two or three feedback rounds before they continued to the next phase of production. They used project management tools to collect feedback.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The video is now live on our website, and we’ve been able to use it for sales related outreach. Though we don’t have any measurable outcomes, we’ve witnessed the reactions of viewers who can now quickly grasp what our company does.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their team managed the entire process well. They were responsive throughout production, and were always clear and transparent with our team. The project moved relatively quickly, and our feedback was continually incorporated into their work. We were very hands-on, especially during the scripting stage. Also, their team was quick to adjust their schedule when necessary.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The 2D animations they created are superb. All of their work is clean and professional while still retaining a playful element. We were also very impressed by the logo animation that they made.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We had to be significantly involved in the beginning, which we didn’t expect. This ended up being a valuable experience, and we became less involved as production continued.