Client Overview

“We enlisted the help of Directive to create our first big marketing video and could not have been more pleased with the final product—everyone at Extend was so excited to show it off. The creatives made our brand come to life through animation and inadvertently helped us evolve our visual identity overall. The entire team at directive was so collaborative, and so easy and fun to work with—we will definitely be back for more!”

– Katherine Vreeland, Senior Marketer, Copywriter, @Extend

Extend came to Directive fresh off of a brand update with new guidelines and new color palettes. This also included a long unaddressed need to refresh some of their more dated and impersonal pieces of video content. They wanted to educate their audience on the values of their brand but were struggling to connect with that very audience.

Extend’s video was currently four years old and they wanted a video that added energy and a modern kick to the brand’s identity. But they also wanted to make sure they communicated the main product benefits of Extend to both new and existing customers.

Directive’s video team was asked to create a new awareness video for Extend and explain the spend management benefits of using Virtual Cards. Directive’s creative team focused on the messaging that mattered most, “Businesses are not aware there’s a virtual card/spend management solution available with their existing credit cards – let alone the power/benefits of using virtual cards.” To drive both awareness and intrigue, Directive’s new awareness video was a combination of “education” and “promotion.”

Directive recognized this need to educate Extend’s audience on the value of virtual cards as a spend management solution. Engaging video content was needed to create awareness and intrigue around the product that held viewers’ interest. Based on Directive’s audience analysis and strategy, the video would be set to target financial professionals responsible for their company cards and managing the books — Small Business Owners, CFOs, Finance Managers, and Controllers. This meant creating a video that was not only engaging enough to stop the scroll, but also valuable and provocative enough to maintain their attention after that initial capture.

The first step in the process was to collaborate with the client on a Customer-Led Creative Brief. This was designed to outline the main problem the client was facing, the target audience, their pain points, the proposition, and the support points that backed it up. This helped identify the main value points to focus on within the script while identifying key personas that would be targeted with the campaigns.

Before finalizing the script, Directive put together a comprehensive Communications Strategy Deck, including an extensive competitor video audit, customer reviews, and a new positioning statement. Additional creative assets involved designing a mood board, art direction, and other design elements. This provided insight into many of the pain points financial professionals face when managing the company credit card, allowing Directive to create a relatable, engaging opening for the video while driving real value for their core audience.

During the video production phase, Directive managed everything from a new voice-over and music, to new motion graphics, and a new, more energetic style. This design offered fluidity and excitement for the brand. Directive also cut the final video into two unique 30-second Video Ads used for Upper Funnel content to target specific personas, grab attention, and drive more qualified leads.

In today’s saturated B2B SaaS marketplace, everyone wants to have the next cutting-edge strategy that helps them stand out from the crowd. But not everyone is willing to go the extra mile to distinguish themselves with these tactics. Video is a great way to engage prospects, but not if it isn’t speaking to them in terms of the values they’re concerned about. Customer-led videos that engage viewers on their values, instead of bragging about the brand values, are how you can connect with your audience, not just entertain them.