HubSpot Graphic Design Impact Award WINNER: How We Used Animated Video to Explain a Client's Abstract Product

WiFi SPARK created a product which improves people's experience whilst being a patient in hospital, but the benefits are hard to demonstrate on film. We created an animated video that demonstrates how it works and how it helps. We submitted it as a case study for a HubSpot Impact Award in the Graphic Design category.

This submission was the quarterly winner for Q4 2018.

“We created SPARKⓇ Media in order for there to be a better, more ethical entertainment service available to hospital patients. So, when they’re at their lowest ebb, bored, ill and feeling isolated because they’re in the hospital, they can have a plethora of entertainment and communication options available to them - all for free and from their personal mobile device.”

This is how Claire Bradley, Marketing Manager of WiFi SPARK, the leading WiFi provider to the NHS, describes the revolutionary SPARKⓇ Media platform. They identified a gap in the entertainment and WiFi offerings that hospitals provide to their patients, and created a solution.

A solution which helps better serve patients but also helps NHS Trusts achieve efficiency savings and improve their offered level of care at the same time.

When the UK Government ruled that the NHS should offer free-to-access WiFi to all patients and visitors, WiFi SPARK developed a platform which would help NHS Trusts go a step further. They created SPARKⓇ Media.

But it’s Hard to Demonstrate the Product on Film

Whilst patients can stream premium and freeview TV services, or use their regular apps as they would at home, they can also log in to a private portal and access content related to their healthcare. They can also perform tasks such as placing orders for meals or request assistance from ward staff.

SPARKⓇ Media allows patients access entertainment and streaming services, communicate with loved ones back at home, pre-order meals, call for assistance, see information about their treatment… all sorts.

All of this is fed into a back-end system which informs NHS Staff and systems. The reduction in food wastage alone can save a typical hospital over £150,000 per year. This saving can then be diverted into healthcare budgets instead.

How this looks when filmed, however, is that somebody is using their mobile device in a hospital bed. It could easily be an advert for Apple or Samsung, maybe a mobile phone network, rather than WiFi SPARK. Also, there’s a web of red tape to navigate when trying to film inside an NHS Hospital for commercial purposes. What’s more, all of the benefits that the SPARKⓇ Media platform brings to patients and NHS Trusts aren’t easily shown physically. They’re too abstract and too far-ranging. Claire said,

“We know it’s cool, we’ve got a whole technical team who know how cool it is, but trying to make that information palatable and easily understandable for our audience was a real challenge.”

So, we worked with Claire and Becky to provide them with an alternative option.

Animation was the Cure

Thanks to our in-house design and video capabilities, we put together a short animation video which demonstrates how SPARK® Media benefits patients and NHS Trusts in equal measure. Crucially, in ways that Trusts don’t usually immediately consider.

From patients being able to make it clear what they need when calling for assistance, to care staff being able to access patient notes, there is no need for the health team to keep calling back to their desk or storerooms. Time is saved and wards are run more efficiently.

Surveys are another important benefit and because SPARK® Media lets patients provide feedback easily and at a time of their own choosing, Trusts get increased amounts of more insightful feedback.

How the Animated Video Helped WiFi SPARK and What’s Coming Next

Following a successful launch event which used the animated video, WiFi SPARK staff have been on the road pitching the platform at events and shows. “It’s more relatable than trying to take videos of patients in hospital beds,” Becky told us.

And Claire shared how well the video has gone down and the effect it’s had on the WiFi SPARK team. Seeing the benefits of SPARK® Media so clearly presented gave the team a real boost. It’s now used by the sales team as prelude to sales meetings and calls, it’s used at tradeshows and events and, in Claire’s words, “It's really proved its worth from a value-for-money perspective, instantly.”

We’ve also worked together to share the video via social and targeted it to key personas on their regular social platforms. It’s also been used for SEO purposes to help lead outreach conversations.

The success has led to Digital 22 and WiFi SPARK using the HubSpot video hub as a hosting platform for future video work together during 2019. Check out the award-winning animated video below...