ML Toys Animated Commercial
ML Toys hired me as a freelancer to create an animated video to bring new excitement and fun to their marketing for their ride-on-car modification parts.
The strategy I developed was to target semi-handy dads who want to connect with their kids by working on a car together. There are a few brands in the space, all with similar “just show a photo of the product” branding.
We took it a few steps further to show the emotion that comes with better batteries and lights.
My Role: Writer, Character Designer, Voice over Artist, and Animator.
Team Size: 1
A Marketing Upgrade for a Toy Modification Business
Step 1: Setting the Marketing Strategy
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Marketing Approach
There are a few brands in the space, all with similar “just show a photo of the product” branding. So we chose animation to stand out.
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Target: Do-it-Yourself Dad
Our strategy was to target semi-handy dads who want to connect with their kids by working on a Ride-on car together.
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The Mascot
Pit-Stop evolved from a client's childhood idea of a fuzzy character. His son was created to add emotion to the story
First, we created a new Mascot: Pit-Stop, and we told the story of a father and son modifying a ride-on-car together, we added in client testimonials, and featured the lights and action only available in animation.
Step 2: The Script Outline
Outlining the Story Beats of the Ad will Maximize our Script and Story.
I broke down the script into these parts:
The Hook
The Problem
The Solution
The First Call to Action
Addressing Doubts and Establishing Credibility
The Second Call to Action 1
The Outro
Step 3: Script and Storyboard
Next, I worked on the script and storyboard. When working without a copywriter, I like to create the script and storyboard simultaneously. Microsoft Word was used to easily exchange and modify script ideas with the client.
Next, the Animatic
The client gets a rough preview of the Ad with the Animatic. In Adobe Premiere, I combine the Storyboard with a rough Voice-Over to ensure that the story and jokes work before we move on to the magic of Animation. Changes at this point are done to make sure all of the elements are used to maximize every second of the customer's’ attention.
The Final Animated Ad
Once we worked out the ad using the animatic, I used Adobe Animate, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Premiere to put it all together.
Results: Client Testimonial:
“The animated commercial Chris did for my company is FABULOUS! Way better than I had imagined. He’s going to do animated video instructions for our products too.”
— Alan Placer, ML Toys