We don’t need really need to explain why the last 18 months have been a lot. A lot of doubt, a lot of change and a lot of hardship for individuals, families & businesses.
In May 2021 Square Daisy celebrated our tenth year in business but far from being an opportunity to celebrate what we’ve achieved in the last decade, it was more of an opportunity to reflect and be grateful that we’re still going, and going strong.
When the coronavirus became a reality for every office up and down the country we retreated to our homes to continue our work. We adapted, leaning hard on our animation capability to keep providing video content for businesses, and helping those who took their shopfront online.
Whilst Square Daisy weathered the storm of the pandemic and thrived because digital services were so in demand, we didn’t totally escape the affects of the pandemic unscathed, with small children to home-school, isolation and for some team members and their families, overcoming the virus itself.
And it certainly didn’t escape our notice that our friends, colleagues and partnerships in our business network were struggling too.
The creative team here at Square Daisy wanted to use this milestone to create a video that acknowledges and applauds the small businesses that we turned to as a society to keep us going through the long months of lockdown.
We all had a shot at some creative writing to formulate a narrative and looked at which of our scripts would be most effective. We opted for a non-conventional, spoken-word poem to convey our message, almost mirroring an internal monologue of our collective experiences.
We storyboarded, considering the importance of each sentence and gathered some stock footage that visualised the sentiments we wanted to convey.
We wanted to ensure that the edit had a Square Daisy identity too, so included some photos and video clips from our archive. The video features the first ever Square Daisy meeting back in May 2011 with joint business partners Jovan, Dave and Amo round a table in Amo’s old flat in Northampton.
We recorded the voiceover internally with Alicia bringing her own words to life, recorded by Amy with our professional sound kit back at the office, but with an intentional ‘rough edge’ to the quality – we didn’t want it to be too polished, we wanted authenticity.
The end result is a great example of how stock footage can be extremely powerful when applied correctly, with the choice of audio bedding and a script written from the heart combining to create an impactful and emotive watch. It’s a different way to create corporate video content, but will stand apart from your competitors.
To all the SMEs out there – friends, families, supporters, clients – we recognise your sacrifice and resilience and we all thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
A decade of Square Daisy is a decade of making video content that champions what our clients do, raising their profile and helping them make an impact. We will celebrate this milestone with a party next year, and while an 11 year party sounds a bit naff, we’re badging it as the “Square Daisy 10+1” party. Hope to see you there.
As we approach the festive season, one where I hope we get to see and embrace close family and friends once again, the whole team at Square Daisy would like to wish you a happy, healthy and safe Christmas and prosperous 2022.
