Content with lasting impact doesn’t happen by chance.

At Lilac Howell, we believe that a well-crafted film is the most effective way of getting your voice heard in an increasingly chaotic world. It can reach a wider audience quicker, with greater cut-through and more lasting impact than more traditional
methods of communication.

But this doesn’t just happen. Every film needs clear and concise planning, imaginative production and above all, appropriate assessment to determine its value to your overall communications strategy and most importantly, the realisation of
your business’ key objectives.
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This is why Strategy is the bedrock of not just every film we produce, but everything we do at Lilac Howell and it’s broken down into three broad areas:

Planning and Pre-Production

Everything begins and end with the Brief – the foundation of everything that follows and the platform to establish purpose and outcome. This wide-ranging and detailed document enables you to identify your key audiences and their requirements, the messages that will pique their curiosity, the tone of voice these messages will be delivered in and the creative executions that will provoke
interest and action.
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It will encourage you to identify the most effective platforms and channels to maximise your film’s visibility and finally, determine KPIs to measure its impact on said audiences.

The Brief is that important. Once complete, scripting and storyboarding bring it to life. We help you to tell a compelling story, suited to the type of film you’re producing and craft an imaginative storyboard that not only mind maps your vision, but enables you
to allocate time and resource to the production process.
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Add in location scoping, shot listing, resource management (i.e., actors and props), and any and all tasks necessary to set up for filming, and you’ll find this part of this vital stage of production.

Production and Project Management

Strategy doesn’t end with your film in production.

We are with you every step of the way in ensuring that the film is produced in line with the Brief and your wider Communications strategy. It allows us to realise the both objectives of the actual film and the role it needs to play in raising awareness of, generating interest in and ultimately, converting your audience to your messages.
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It also allows us to spot any pitfalls and obstacles and deal with them before they jeopardise the film’s purpose and outcome; call its hands-on project management.

Post-Production and Impact Assessment

The final film is only the beginning.

How will you maximise its visibility and more so, assess its impact on your audience and crucially, your business? This is often the stage when things go woolly and impact is either misinterpreted or cannot be determined with any accuracy.

There is no magic answer to this question. Visibility and impact should be built into your Brief. The most appropriate and effective platforms and channels, along with key performance indicators, or KPIs, should be as much a part of your pre-planning
as the script and storyboard.
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Impact assessment in particular must be part of a broader marketing impact analysis covering every aspect of your marketing communications. Outcomes are driven by objectives. What does success look like, for your film and every other communications strategy your employ? Awareness, interest, consideration, conversion, loyalty?
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Our long-standing experience in marketing and communications enables us to help you with this crucial stage. We employ a single entity KPI dashboard that incorporates clear performance measures and rationalises each phase of your film’s impact strategy and allows integration with your broader digital and offline marketing strategy, to ensure cohesion and synergy across all activities.

Vital aspects of this dashboard include grouping KPIs based on funnel stages. For example: Awareness - View Count, Watch Time, Device Type, Interest - Engagement Rate, Audience Retention; real-time updates for agile decision-making and the ability to share across teams to encourage collaborative working.

Creating content is not enough, you must be able to measure its effect as well, so you can adjust strategy according to ensure success.

In fact, the most effective film marketing strategy isn’t just guided by KPIs, its driven by them. Using the right performance indicators shapes both creative and strategic decisions and as a vital part of the initial Briefing process, is non-negotiable in every
film we produce.

Great content doesn’t happen by chance.

It’s the very essence of Beyond Just Film.