How to create impact in a world of grey

Case Study

John Owens Estate Planning Services

PAIN

John Owens approached us to create a bespoke brand for his estate planning business based in Worcestershire. He wanted his brand to be colourful and fun – debunking the idea that professional services need to look staid and boring.

IMPACT

Says John: "The industry is full of grey people with grey personalities and grey websites. I'm not grey and needed my website to be radically different to show this.

Also, trying to get people to open up to sensitive areas was difficult. This area is scary for people and difficult to understand. What I needed was a simple way of explaining the things I could do, how it would help them and why I was the one to help them."

SOLUTION

John wanted to explain his services in a fun, easy-to-understand story, rather than a list of dry, jargon-laden facts. By using this approach, he can send the relevant explainer videos to clients before a face-to-face meeting to prepare the ground. With the client better informed, John can focus on building a good relationship and addressing the client's specific needs, rather than spending a lot of time explaining the value of a product or service. These explainer videos also help John generate new leads through various social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as his website.

So, how did we approach this project?

First of all, we had to come up with an attention-grabbing creative hook for this brand.

John explains: "The idea of using egg characters came about as a result of a talk I gave comparing the brittleness of an eggshell with the fragility of our lives. Obviously, we all hope to live long and prosperous lives safely in our "egg boxes"; however, all it takes is one unforeseen event to bring our world crashing down. The egg characters are a light-hearted way of introducing subjects we often struggle to talk about. I use them to explain the world of estate planning in a fun and engaging way so you can more easily understand why it is so important to protect your estate.

Who, after all, wants to sit and listen to a lawyer droning on about trusts and powers of attorney using terms that leave most normal people befuddled? No, this is a serious subject but not beyond introducing clarity, a splash of colour and even a bit of fun."

Since John is the face of Owens Estate Planning Services people buy from him on the basis of trust.

In the explainer videos we therefore had John introduce the topic and deal with the trust and relationship building elements. The characters were then used as a communication support tool. Following the personal introduction, the characters step in to explain the product details in a story format. Storytelling is one of the earliest forms of communication. For millennia humans have relied on storytelling to connect and share information with others. It is one of the best ways to explain the real value of a product or service and characters are brilliant at it.

The combination of John and the characters transformed his brand. It became an attention-grabbing, memorable and informative brand that creates a strong emotional connection. The human side of the brand – the fun, humour and storytelling – is what creates a sense of connection and trust. And, as people buy from people, this trust translates into more leads and a stronger relationship with his clients.

What impact did all this have on John's business?

"My website is impactful and everyone who has seen it comments on the characters, it is a great place to direct potential clients so they can get to know me a little better and it will sift out those clients who aren't the right fit for me.

The explainer videos have been a great way for clients to understand my services and the images provided have given social media posts much greater impact."