Oui Will

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I’m the CEO and Co-founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Oui Will?
We needed to leverage their expertise and their high production quality videos to tell a story about our products, and explain it in a way that’s compelling and doesn’t come off as contrived. We needed the most high quality content to share about our company while staying within budget.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We had a series of videos that Oui Will did for us over the course of several months basically to describe our product, to launch our Kickstarter campaign, and even to help us conceive of some elements on our website, for which we were in a last phase of development. They offered quite a creative eye and shared their results with us to see if we were on board with it and if we believed it was the right direction to go. They worked with us to write scripts for the videos and essentially to produce wire frames for the elements of our future website. They added touches that really went a long way to tell our story. We actually ended up putting a gif of some of those sections on our Kickstarter page.

How did you come to work with Oui Will?

Cost was a factor. We got quotes from other video houses, and they were extremely expensive. A friend who had done work with Oui Will in the past recommended them to us. We liked that the backgrounds between Gui and Chelsea [Founders, Oui Will] added a bit of yin and yang to what they do. Seeing some of the work they did for other brands gave us confidence. Once we had that initial video made with them for our Kickstarter in 2016, the work was solid. It put us at ease. They proved what they could do, and it led to us to doing more stuff with them.

How much have you invested with Oui Will?

In the tens of thousands of dollars.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them October 2015 and have been working together since.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

They were really willing to work with us as a start up in terms of pricing, and I know they charge a lot more to established brands, but they had a passion for what we’re doing and helped us out initially. We agreed on a rate that allowed us to invest in producing a high-quality video without penny-pinching. We’ve had two successful Kickstarter campaigns for which they’ve produced the video, and I think the quality, the way the story is told, and the storyboarding, has all made an impact.

How did Oui Will perform from a project management standpoint?

There is probably some room for improvement. The high-level perspective is there’s only so much that 2 founders can do. There were some scheduling challenges getting through some of the work but I wouldn’t say there was anything egregious. I think part of it is that they are passionate about what they do. There’s probably a natural tension between the agency and the client where, as the client, you ask yourself whether you want to be pushed out of your comfort zone or whether you just want to go with what you’re saying based on what you think is safe. At times it felt like we were in crunch time, and they still wanted to offer another creative element, but that said, it generally paid off. I call it all part of the messy process that you go through to make something good anyway, whether it be internally or externally. One time when I wasn’t happy with one of the things we were doing, I remember one of Chelsea’s camera guys came over to my apartment and spent a few hours working it through. We all just wanted to get to a point where we were happy with it. Chelsea and Guill [Founders, Oui Will] were painstaking in their efforts and took the time to make sure we were all aligned. Ultimately once we had agreement on that, it gave them the license to offer their constructive feedback and/or real creative ideas to the project. I was in contact with at least 4 or 5 additional members of the team. I spoke with them anywhere from every couple days to at least once a week as we were working on the project.

What did you find most impressive about 111 Minutes?

Probably the best thing they’ve got going for them is that they’ve managed to tee up a unique twist on their agency between the work they’ve done and the fact they have connections to Europe and San Diego, which you see in their work. They have a very likable and dynamic set of founders and clearly everyone who works there has to meet a certain standard. One of the things I really admired about the process was the willingness to interview different stakeholders around our company, from investors, to key executives, to customers, to employees. What I admired about the videos is they have very high-quality automatics, and they have a really strong team that can produce these explanatory graphics. It’s the extra detail about Oui Will that I really admire: the extra time to get the story right as well as very high-quality production that I think ultimately leads to a really good product and helps elevate our brand.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with 111 Minutes?

Our team is in San Diego and Vancouver. Their team is in San Diego and Paris. A lot of coordination was required to get all the pieces of the story and though it wasn’t necessarily hard to do the brainstorming, sometimes coordinating times and things like that was challenging. It would be in their best interest to streamline their services, clearly defining the suite of offerings and services they provide. I do like that they customize to your budget and needs.