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How did the project start?
With a real Christmas card actually! Someone in the office had given out some rather alternative Christmas cards covered in sprouts; in the middle of brainstorming for ideas for our Christmas mail-out to clients, the sprouts were just the inspiration we needed.
We also quickly realised that this could become something which we had been wanting to create for a long time: a piece of viral marketing that would spread our company name across cyberspace using Youtube, Facebook and other social networking sites.
What options did you consider?
At first the sprout card led us to think of Christmas stereotypes - the multicoloured jumper, the inevitable pair of socks... however we kept coming back to the simple sprout and all it stood for. The Christmas sprout always gets a reaction - usually one of disgust and resigned acceptance of it's place on the dinner table. However we wanted to make sure that our sprout got an even bigger - and hopefully more likeable reaction. One that people would want to share with others.
What help and expertise did you receive?
The animation was all done in-house using animation software which helps to manipulate facial features in a fluid and realistic way. Facial features are altered frame by frame to create a believable quirk character. A collaboration between designer and web developer brought this sprout singing and - almost dancing onto the screen
Did you face and challenges or learn any lessons?
We were planning a simple static e-card for the soon approaching Christmas season so the idea of an animated singing sprout was a last minute idea. However as the end of the Working Year loomed we had very little time to put the idea into sound and motion.
The software we had decided to use was new to all so the project was a steep learning curve.
What are the outcomes and how has it improved your business?
Sent out as a link from our Christmas ezine - our singing sprout was an instant hit with our clients and others receiving a huge 54% click-through rate from the ezine. Our top viewers clicked through to view the animation a whopping 45, 50 and 57 times respectively.
Viewers were obviously not put off by our loveable sprout being carried of on the prongs of a fork either: the clickthrough rate to our website was also greatly higher than expected.
We also published the sprout on Youtube and embedded the video on multiple Facebook accounts to further spread the word.
What are your plans for the future?
Having produced a singing orange back in 2006 and now our sprout in 2008, who knows what the future holds for r//evolution and fruit and vegetable related marketing.
We can only hope that our next one is just as grape as the others...
