The 4 M's: Methods to Make Your Content Production More Efficient
As a major international brand, you have an evergrowing number of markets to serve. And, your campaign content must be relevant for a wide variety of different channels. So how do you use your budget most effectively? These are big questions for international brands, as Robert Verberne of Wenneker.Amsterdam knows all too well. The modular production approach with the 4Ms, pioneered by PAKT, provides the answers.
Wenneker.Amsterdam has been creating award-winning campaigns for years and, in that time, the production company has developed a range of increasingly advanced techniques. By breaking down the content production into small pieces, Wenneker.Amsterdam works as efficiently as possible. Robert explains which four methods, the 4Ms, strengthen the approach.
1. Modular approach
“When you undertake large productions, you continually come across all kinds of separate parts. The trick is to map these out in advance, to find efficiencies and solve the complex content puzzle.” Robert changed his modus operandi by thinking in terms of assets rather than content - See also the previously published article here.
2. Multi market
Wenneker.Amsterdam's content travels all over the world. Take the project for Chinese company, TP Vision. “The content we create has to be locally relevant,” says Robert. “We pay attention to the models, the sets and the right products with the right logos in order to connect them to the country or region where the content will run. And which language do we use? In Germany and China, everything is still translated. So titles and texts on imagery will look different. You can, of course, film twice if a product is presented in different markets, but is that really necessary? We consider that at the beginning and gear our post-production accordingly. Of course, sometimes you need two sets. But in post-production, using CGI, you can easily replace a product with the locally relevant one. That is efficient and saves money. By thinking about the target group and the market well in advance, you’ve already made the first efficiency gains.”
3. Multi-channel
“Every brand serves its customers through countless channels”, Robert continues. “Not so long ago you made a TV commercial and then you added something extra for social. That often meant double the work. That's no longer possible, because there are so many channels to fill with relevant content for the consumer. Think of socials, online retail channels and websites. The platforms Instagram and Facebook are the same in all countries, but in China, for example, we also use WeChat, JD and T-mall. All the channels are unique and require content to be produced in a slightly different way.”
“The mobile format, 9x16, is the most difficult,” says Robert. “It’s high and narrow and banners on websites are very low and wide.” So how does Wenneker.Amsterdam deal with this? “We break down the creative idea into assets, taking into account all the various media guidelines. We make sure that everything on the shoot is rotated to the smallest format, so that you are finished in one shot. We know whether the model has to look into the camera, whether the shot is for a tap or a swipe up. This way you avoid missing shots. In post-production, all the assets are then made to measure.' In the case of TP Vision, Wenneker.Amsterdam made 750 different items in one year, ranging from lifestyle and CGI films to photography.
4. Multi talent
“After we’ve laid the groundwork, the next question is talent – a crucial factor in making award-winning content,” Robert says. “We look all over the world to get the best person for the job. Of course there are many production companies with a handful of directors but not for us. The world is our roster. We look for the best director for the job, in consultation with the clients and agencies.”
Wenneker.Amsterdam has a huge head start with PAKT, the ecosystem of production companies of which they are a part. “With seven different production companies in various countries, we have access to talent in all disciplines and an excellent database of directors around the world,” Robert explains. And where is the efficiency here? “We make sure that everyone involved - producer, director, photographer, film crew and post-production - knows how to work. We want everyone to understand why we do it this way, so that through a maximally efficient process we can offer our clients as much quality content as possible.”
The 4Ms, as described in this article, help Wenneker.Amsterdam deliver a unique production approach for clients, where quality is paramount and efficiency is guaranteed throughout the entire process.
We boldly state that we’re very good at producing in general and at modular production in particular. It isn’t necessarily unique, but the difference is that we do it well, clearly, transparently and above all in a structured way, together with our customers, whether that’s an agency or an advertiser.
