Switalskis Solicitors launch their first marketing video

– and here’s how Scala helped.

About Switalskis

Switalskis Solicitors has the largest high street presence of any other law firm in Yorkshire. With 13 offices across the county they provide a broad range of personal legal services, as well as being home to nationally recognised Child Abuse, Clinical Negligence and Mental Health legal teams.

Scala & Switalskis Solicitors

Scala was engaged by Switalskis in May 2015 to provide strategic marketing consultancy services. We began by overhauling the firms marketing activities to ensure that they support the business ambitions of the firm. This included (amongst other things) developing a company brand, marketing messages, website, use of social media, instilling (through training and management) a culture of blog writing within the firm, reducing reliance on ‘traditional’ advertising methods and PR.

In addition, we have assisted in transforming and nurturing the internal marketing team and their day-to-day functions to ensure that what they do is focused and relevant.

Our Video Marketing Brief

• To create, film and edit a marketing video to feature on Switalskis website and new YouTube channel.
• To create a way for the video to be used across the social media outlets of Facebook and Twitter.
• To communicate the Yorkshire presence and roots of the firm.
• To highlight the following areas of legal work: small businesses, Wills & Estates, Family & Divorce and Conveyancing.
• To feature one of Switalskis offices.
• To ensure that the video reflects the brand values of the firm.
• To work within a budget.

The Concept

We reviewed a variety of marketing videos produced by other law firms. These ranged from video testimonials from former clients; a ‘piece to camera’ by Managing Partners and explanatory videos by solicitors. We wanted to do something different and luckily Switalskis Solicitors put their faith in us.
Working with the newly developed marketing tag line ‘Lawyers for life, business and you’, Natalie and Joe from Whistle Video worked collaboratively to create an imaginative and effective storyline.
It was important to find a way to link the different scenes together, and we opted for a white ‘Yorkshire’ rose to do this. Watch out for how it’s used throughout the video.
We also wanted the video to ‘pull at the heartstrings’. Behind every legal transaction is a human story and we wanted to communicate that. All too often people find themselves turning to lawyers at a time of distress or upheaval. Sometimes however, they can be exciting times too, like opening a business or moving to a new home.
The first stage of the project was to create a storyboard. Hand-drawn visuals were created by Whistle’s designer, Sam, who also happens to be Joe’s brother! We worked closely with them and the client at this stage to ensure that it gave an accurate visual representation of how the video would look.
Once everyone was happy with the storyboard, production of the film could commence.

Film Production

Actors for the shoot were carefully selected and sourced from Star Casting. The decision on which actors to use was unanimous. We should also make a very special mention at this point to baby-Nyla, who really is the star of the show, closely followed by Eva the cat!
Then came choosing the locations. They needed to be in Yorkshire, of course. Locations were scouted using google earth, personal knowledge and good-old-fashioned leg work. Scenes were filmed in the centre of Leeds, a traditional-looking stone house in Sheffield and the breath-taking moors of Ilkley. The ‘flower shop’ scene was filmed at Erica Berry Flowers in Ilkley and we’d like to thank them for being so accommodating on the day and active on social media too!
After filming was complete, Joe could focus on the editing. With guidance from Natalie, he created the 3-minute promotional video which encapsulates the key marketing messages that Switalskis wanted to promote. Using the video footage, we were also able to create a 30 second edit for social media, and GIFs for each area of law featured.

After working closely with Switalskis throughout the video production, final tweaks and edits are complete and we’re delighted with the end-product.
The video launches at 12.30pm today, so make yourself a cup of tea (may we suggest ‘Yorkshire Tea’ for the occasion) and enjoy!
Contact Scala if you would like to develop a high-quality video that engages and speaks to your clients.

office@scala.uk.com
0114 4070159