We approached the Made x Things team with the challenge of creating an explainer video for our upcoming product launch. The task was not an easy one as we sought to introduce a new product based on new technology to a traditionally “low-tech”, change-resistant industry.”
- Joshua Linton, Business Development Manager, IBEX
The Brand
IBEX is the first of its kind, commercial oven. After years and years of research and development, they’re ready to launch and set the industry ablaze. With the IBEX’s incredibly fast cook time and even surface cooking capabilities, it stands in a league of its own.
The Problem
The IBEX oven is without a doubt, one of the best innovations in commercial cooking, but here’s a big problem not many people talk about when it comes to NEW products… Adoption of that product can be met with skepticism. It can be really difficult to convince people that new is better when they feel like what they have is working just fine. Like Henry Ford said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”. IBEX needed to find a way to share their unique product and an easy-to-understand explanation of HOW it works so damn effectively.
The Plan
Starting first with our Discovery phase, we dove deep into the IBEX brand, their goals, and some ideal outcomes of working together. Whatever we created had to do 3 things:
- Make people aware of the value the Ibex oven creates.
- Remove skepticism of the “NEW” thing in town.
- Generate the feeling of confidence in the IBEX’s speed, quality, safety, reliability, and productivity for both chefs and operations managers.
The tone of the video should be approachable, yet confident. A split between corporate and personable. A new product that should excite and delight anyone in the industry while eliminating the skepticism from traditionalists. IBEX will be the leader in the commercial oven industry and we aim to make that clear.
Looking at the sales funnel, our video would focus on the top 3 levels of the sales funnel.
The Approach
Of the opportunities that we helped IBEX find with our Discovery phase, they ultimately selected the “Overview video”. This would essentially focus on a 2-3 minute 3D animated video full of energy and clear explanations. As always, we want to entertain people too.
We would focus on 3 core elements in the video.
- The Product Benefits
- How It Works
- The Technology
IBEX had used 3D animation in the past, but with more realistic rendering and less corporate jargon, we would help them look like the leader in the space that they aim to be.
The Work
Starting first with a simple 3D CAD file, our first task was to take some simple 3D geometry and make sure everything looked as it does in real life. We do this by comparing hundreds of photos to our model, materials, and lighting.
The materials, the camera angles, the lighting, and the script ALL had to work together to help tell a story of IBEX. With a combination of beauty scenes, abstract scenes, and scientific scenes, we created a versatile world capable of talking about IBEX in different ways.
With a design direction figured out, we needed to tackle the biggest challenge, rendering realistic 3D scenes. With 3D projects, our project budget often determines our render budget. For this project, we knew we had to keep our frames rendering at less than 2 minutes/frame to make sure we fit inside the budget. After much trial and error, with the help of GPU rendering, we did just that and rendered about 4,000 HD frames at closer to 1 minute/frame. An achievement even Pixar would applaud ????.
Something often overlooked in a 3D project is the edit. We needed a unique approach to this project that would grab people’s attention and this was one of our best tools. It couldn’t be boring turnarounds of the product, it needed to be more entertaining, it needed to be inspiring. By using many quick cuts, interesting camera angles/effects, and placing them on the beats of the music we would do just that.
The Results
In the end, the IBEX project was delivered to smiles and cheers. For the IBEX team, this video would be used as a new chapter in their evolution.
The Made x Things team are experts in choreographing a fine balance between compelling storytelling and nuanced animation about a technical subject matter to deliver inspiring results that drive customer engagement through both excitement and education.
Though initially, it seemed like a difficult balance to strike, given the complexity of our subject matter, the result was both informative and entertaining.
Matt and the team were a pleasure to collaborate with as we worked together to tell our story.”
- Joshua Linton, Business Development Manager, IBEX
