When Skandia decided to radically increase the amount of video they produced, they needed the right tool to succeed. Storykit allows them to do the short, fast, daily storytelling that they need.
"If you have a good story, anyone can create video content in Storykit. That is why the tool is so valuable for the quick and brief storytelling we do on a daily basis."
Skandia is a Swedish insurance company that creates security through higher pensions, a healthy working life and sustainable investments.
– Three years ago, we decided to radically increase the frequency and quality of our video production. That includes both video on social media and our site, but also in terms of product videos, events and internal screens.
Why video?
– There are billions of figures that confirm the benefits of working with video, but for us, it's mainly because we noticed a growing demand for video content. We also see how effective it is.
Jesper and his team came across several challenges when they decided to step-up their video production.
– Video production can be very resource-intensive. Sure, you can go with simple mobile videos and super basic productions, but the public's demands and expectations have increased significantly. Today, people expect content to be relevant, attractive, and engaging. And creating that type of videos used to be so time-consuming that we weren't able to produce everything we wanted to create.
They chose to work with Storykit.
– Storykit is a valuable tool for our short, fast, daily storytelling, says Jesper Carlson, editorial manager at Skandia.
With Jesper's background in journalism, it was a natural step to create an editorial department at Skandia for the company's content creation.
– When I started working at the company, the marketing department was separated from the communications department. I was probably pushing the boundaries a bit when I started pulling employees from both sections into coordination meetings. We've now had an integrated unit for several years - Strategic Communication & Marketing - where the editorial team plays an important and fundamental role in our work.
There are obvious advantages of the editorial approach, according to Jesper.
– We simply have to coordinate our resources and channels to maximize our efforts, and I can't stand silo mentality. Our editorial team is a group of fantastic professionals with unique profiles and incredible competence, but they are even more powerful when they work together. And with the editorial department in place, we create a lot of great content!
The editorial approach is reflected in everything, from how the meetings are structured to how they think about storytelling.
– Every morning at 9 am we meet to discuss the content of the day. We certainly have a cohesive marketing- and communications plan that we adhere to, but we also work reactively and respond to what's happening in the world and stay up to date if there's something we want or need to comment on. We also have weekly and monthly meetings.
Jesper and the rest of the editorial team make sure that the morning meetings are productive and taken seriously.
– Everyone participates with a sharp mind and it creates a positive pulse and breeds creativity. Classic news' evaluations play an important part of what we do and that's why we use the term 'editorial department'. We bring the news pulse into our marketing- and communications department because it has a very positive effect on our work.
Do you think working editorially would benefit all types of companies?
– I'm absolutely convinced that all companies would benefit from moving away from working in silos. Working as an editorial department has worked really well for us at Skandia!
Storykit is able to help Skandia achieve the type of storytelling they need to do on a daily basis.
– We no longer need to use photographers and motion designers in all of our projects, and we have a team of people that create videos. If you have a good story, anyone can create video content in Storykit and that's why the tool is so valuable for the quick and brief storytelling we do on a daily basis.
Skandia is still working with larger productions as well, with producers and sound- and light technicians.
– But we also use our larger productions in Storykit, to easily create short, very target-focused videos.
Why is it important with target-focused videos?
– We have our core topics, such as pensions, mortgages, and health, but we address many different age groups. A 25-year old who recently started receiving occupational pension from his or her employer is obviously in a different target group than a mid-career 45-year old or someone who is 65+ and ready to retire. We use Storykit to easily duplicate a video and angle the message towards a specific target group.
Have you noticed any positive results?
– Yes, absolutely.
Are you using Storykit to solve any other problems?
– Lots. One example is internal screens. We recently changed all our internal screens at Skandia to very nice high-res screens that will be installed in elevators, cafés and facing the street. It doesn't make sense to hire a motion director to produce a video for 20 000 SEK and takes two days to deliver, just for an after work invitation, so we use Storykit to create something nice and simple, and it doesn't require much time from our side.
Looking ahead, Jesper is planning to work even more effectively with Storykit.
– We are currently taking steps to further increase our productivity with the use of templates, modules, and custom slides. It's fun to work with the new features that are constantly coming out. We have so many ideas and it's kind of inspiring when Storykit keeps releasing updates.
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