PayZapp is an invoicing solution by HDFC Bank which enables customers to pay, receive and request payments on the go. E-commerce and digital payments were just starting to gain popularity in India and it was the perfect time for an app like PayZapp.
Challenges
The problem was that the concept of digital payments and mobile banking were fairly new to India and the audience needed to be educated on how simple, safe and effective these payments were.
The bank had a customer base of more than 12 million users.
They needed to reach out to this massive audience through different channels as fast as possible.
They needed something that could easily be shared with their customers.
A way to quickly explain the product and its benefits in a short amount of time.
It should be interesting enough for busy customers to actually invest their attention.
An explainer video was the perfect solution to their problem because:
PayZapp’s target audience was young millennials who spent a large majority of their day on the internet. Using a digital asset like an explainer video could help HDFC reach them through various channels like social media, organic search, E-mail and WhatsApp.
This video could be used for multiple purposes like having it on the app description page on Playstore, on the HDFC E-mails, on the HDFC landing page or if they ever want to pitch the app to a investor personally.
Explainer videos make boring business concepts much more engaging both in terms of visuals and storytelling.
They can show how the app actually works so customers are aware of the look and feel of the app before downloading.
Our Process
Our account executive is the first point of contact between us and the clients.
Like we always do with our new clients, we sent out a questionnaire to HDFC when they first approached us.
Scripting
The creative director had a brainstorming session with our scriptwriters on the angle of the story.
Scripting is tricky and one of the most important aspects of the video. It is about finding the right balance between a creative story and a message that drives customers to take action.
The primary target customers for PayZapp were young tech-savvy individuals so we knew that the story had to appeal to this base.
In the table below you get a detailed overview of our thought process during the scripting process.
Storyboarding
Now that we decided how we wanted to present the message, we moved onto creating the storyboard for our video. A storyboard is a rough sketch of each frame of the video along with its description and voice over.
Illustrations And Style Frames
After the storyboard is created we share it with our clients for approval. After approval, it is forwarded to the illustrators to create the characters and backdrops for the video. The new illustrations make up the style frame for the video which includes the final color schemes of the video as well.
It was important that we chose the same color scheme of the HDFC for the explainer video. By using these colors we maintained brand consistency so that the audience would associate the video to the brand better.
Animation
We then forwarded the style frames to the animators who made the images come to life, frame by frame.
Animated explainer videos are effective because they engage the mind in a very visual manner. By engaging the audio and visual senses we are able to capture the attention of the viewers so that our message can be communicated to an attentive audience.
We make sure that our animations are not dry and static- As you can see that even the transitions for the PayZapp video are visually appealing and there is a great flow.
Sound effects are also added to sync with the actions in the video (Eg: Sound of typing on phone, the sound of notifications received, etc.).