A Day In The Life Of An Economist

By the time I attended the Metals & Engineering Indaba a week after completing this video, I knew I achieved my creative goals. Everyone loved this video, and love was exactly what I was aiming for in the script.

In business, big terms like ‘brand’ often gets thrown about because it eventually translates to money. What often gets overlooked though is that branding is just the semantics of a human connection a business aims to make with their customers. You have to actually emotionally engage your audience to build a relationship with them.

And to befriend someone you can’t hide behind snazzy marketing.

As in life, business too has to open itself up, show people what you care about and why. As people that’s what we connect to, and is why we choose or buy based on emotions rather than intellect. Emotions are another form of intelligence. Joe Sugarman built QVC on that premise and anyone who’s ever bought a Ginsu knife because it cuts through a shoe will attest to that.

Creatively then, I humanized this script by carrying the product information through a quirky character. She plots the story of “a day in the life of an economist”, which she is in real life. In fact if Marique and the economics team at SEIFSA didn’t donate so generously of their time to research this video, I don’t think the conversation could’ve boiled such a big product concept down into so casual a conversation.

What you can find it in the subtext of the video is a nerdy statistical product that acknowledges the difference made by unseen people tucked away behind their computer screens. That’s a product of a our human family, one we all pitch in to as we create economies that sustain all our lives, and is the message of love and family that I aimed for in the script.

I suppose we were family for a day when we shot it. It was fun and tiring at the same time. Marique did a great job as our star and my directorial mandate was well supported by an imaginative crew. They not only gave this video a great visual feel, but also added the stylish presentations which matched the simple but snappy directorial style I had in mind.

The result is an media asset that fits into a much broader social media strategy. On one hand it informs SEIFSA how to develop the PIPS product based on what customers want, and on the other generate leads for sales. That was a tall order, one that their Sales manager Nuraan had the chutzpah for, of course after we poured over the feedback we had and took an educated guess.

From the feedback I got at the ME Indaba I don’t just think it’ll work. I’m pretty proud of this work.

Hit play and see for yourself!