This animation is part of a trilogy of films created for NES, the education and training body of NHS Scotland. The goal was to deliver the key commitments set out in Scotland’s suicide preventions action plan – Every Life Matters.

The animation was to be delivered to a broad audience, so it was important the script avoided jargon and technical terms, focussing on straightforward engaging language.

Speakeasy used key statistics throughout the animation to stress the seriousness of the issue, motivating people to take action. Information was provided at the end of the film to signpost people to the right services. The watercolour animation technique was chosen because it is both visually engaging whilst remaining sensitive to the tone of the film.

Lloyds Banking Group’s Diversity & Inclusion team commissioned us to create a series of videos showcasing colleagues from diverse backgrounds who were carving out successful careers in the organisation. They were to include an analyst with cerebral palsy, a member of the graduate scheme who was blind, a gay area manager, a woman who had been granted significant of time off to deal with fertility issues, and an Asian director.

Our conversations with Jimmy, Simon, Louis, Jenny and Mark revealed powerful stories of tremendous challenges being faced and overcome. We felt a documentary approach would be a much richer and more memorable viewing experience than simply watching people talking in an office.

After viewing the films, hundreds of colleagues wrote to express how they had been inspired by what they had seen, and conveyed their support and solidarity. Making the film was life-changing for some of our ‘inspirational people’.  For example, it gave Jimmy Asuni an awareness of power to inspire others, and he went on to establish links with an organization supporting children with disabilities in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Nestlé is the world’s largest food and beverage company, headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland.

The group wanted to create films tracing its vanilla and sugar supply chains back to their source, and commissioned Speakeasy to produce these.

Shot in Mexico and Madagascar, the films highlight Nestlé’s fundamental approach to responsible sourcing: knowing were the raw materials and ingredients it buys come from – and improving suppliers’ practices.

In Madagascar we meet Simon, who has been farming vanilla for about 18 years. We also interview one of Nestlé’s responsible sourcing managers, who confirms that today, the company can trace 100% of the vanilla pods used in its ice cream back to the farmers in Madagascar.

The decorative caption style we use for the English subtitles creates a distinctive graphical look, as well as providing a translation of the interviews. We also use captions to highlight key facts and statistics.

Aimed primarily at shareholders, this film was produced for one of SSE’s annual meetings to illustrate the company’s commitment to exceeding the minimum requirement and doing the right thing for customers, staff, shareholders – and the environment as a whole.

The film references some of the difficult decisions made by the company in recent years, such as freezing gas and electricity prices and making a commitment to the living wage.

Messages are delivered through a combination of unscripted interviews with staff and managers, and simple ‘motion tracked’ captions inserted into the footage to appear as if they’re part of the scene.

The film includes a number of case studies showing how SSE works with communities to go the extra mile, making a real contribution to the lives of those it serves.

Filming was carried out across the UK, from Portsmouth to Strathy in the Highlands of Scotland.

Lloyds Banking Group and its charitable foundations have donated more than £600m to charities across the UK over the last 30 years – and have committed to supporting a further 10,000 charities.

The bank wanted to raise awareness of its community work and commissioned Speakeasy to make a film about ‘Day to Make a Difference’, the group’s colleague volunteering programme. This enables colleagues to spend at least one day a year volunteering for a charity or community project of their choice.

Our film follows a team of colleagues as they take part in a garden planting project at a school.

Lloyds Banking Group has pledged to deliver 2.3 million volunteering hours by 2020. In 2016 alone, its colleagues completed more than 260,000 hours.

British American Tobacco wanted to raise awareness of the good work it is doing in the areas of sustainable agriculture and corporate responsibility.

It commissioned Speakeasy to create a film that would do this through the real life experience of BAT employees, its suppliers and partners out in the field.

The focus of our Responsible Farming film is a farmer in Lomdok, Indonesia, and the support he receives from one of BAT’s ‘leaf technicians’, an expert who provides guidance on sustainable agriculture and practice.

The leaf tech works closely with the farmer to ensure he gets the best crop, that his practices are environmentally sound and that he maintains the flexibility to grow other crops.

We delivered the film with English subtitles and digital TV graphics designed to an organic theme.

The British Red Cross commissioned us to make a film as part of its Withstanding Weather campaign, to help people deal with emergencies.

We interviewed Emily, a young person from Ballater, Scotland, who faced severe flooding in 2015.

In this film, she talks about how she coped with the floods, leading to both her and her family’s recovery. It is a powerful story of Emily’s emotional journey – and how lasting positive influences in her life including her family, friends and love of drama and sport, helped her deal with the distress of the flood itself.

The film was shot over two days in Ballater and captured Emily in different settings – performing on stage, running outdoors, swimming in the local pool and at home. This creates visual variety as well as giving us an insight into Emily’s life and personal experiences.

Centrally based at Perth airport, Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance is one of only three air ambulances in Scotland, and is funded entirely through charitable donations.  It provides a vital life-saving service in time-critical emergencies across most of mainland Scotland.

Speakeasy wanted to produce a film for the charity on a pro bono basis to highlight the necessity of the Air Ambulance for the people of Scotland. The programme looks at the work of SCAA and explores the challenges it faces to provide this vital service.

The film provides a visual portrait of the service including interviews with pilots, paramedics, volunteers and patients.  It begins with a harrowing reconstruction of a heart attack victim being rescued from a remote hotel on Rannoch Moor, and concludes with the actual patient visiting the airfield to make a donation and thank the people who saved his life.

As part of Speakeasy’s 20-year anniversary celebrations, our staff in London and Scotland selected two charities to produce promotional films for as charitable donations.

One of these was Shooting Star Chase, a leading children’s hospice charity caring for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families. The charity depends on the generosity of supporters for its funding, so awareness-raising activity like this is invaluable.

We met the families of Liam and Kye, two children with complex needs, and heard about the vital support they receive from Shooting Star. The simple interview-led approach, combining new footage and family photography, gives a personal and moving insight into each family’s story and experiences.

The film closes with a call to action and a reminder of the cause: ‘Whether lives are measured in days, weeks, months or years, we are here to make every moment count to babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families.’

The University of Aberdeen commissioned Speakeasy to produce more than 20 films to help promote its postgraduate programmes. The brief was to raise awareness of the university’s Business and Law Schools, with a particular focus on international markets, including China and the Middle East.

On the theme of ‘Getting There’, our films present the University of Aberdeen as a portal into a new world of opportunity. ‘To get there – come here…’ Interviews were filmed against green screen with a motion-controlled camera to allow us to move in on a virtual background representing the student’s aspiration – where they hope to go as a result of the qualification.

Filming also involved the use of drones to capture dramatic footage of the university’s unique and historical buildings, as well as User Generated Content and bespoke motion graphics added in post-production.

Speakeasy also produced films to promote the university’s ‘Instant Offer’ proposition, as well as coverage of the Law Graduation Ceremony and marketing materials aimed specifically at the China market.

We have found that filming interviews in a studio setting – either in an actual studio or against a ‘pop up’ background – can give us far more creative scope, allowing us to emphasise key messages and produce films that are far more engaging than conventional ‘talking head’ videos.

In these recruitment and induction films for Scottish Enterprise, the green screen allows us to create 2D and 3D elements that the contributors appear to interact with.

Branded, animated captions also underline key concepts that the interviewees refer to. By turning to look at the captions, the contributors helping to draw the audience’s attention to them and create a sense of having ownership of them.

The un-scripted interview approach meant that the comments felt genuine and heartfelt – rather than ‘learned’ or read off a page. The interviewees included new recruits, seasoned professionals and the management team.

Rothschild is one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory groups, employing 3,400 people in 40 countries across the world.

The firm commissioned Speakeasy to produce a graduate recruitment film to form part of its recruitment and induction process.

We interviewed a number of new recruits who talked about what the organization meant to them, highlighting the career opportunities on offer.

A filmic shooting style and post-production techniques add quality and polish to this simple interview-led approach. This included using a camera track, dolly and slide track to add dynamic movement to key shots, and colour grading to enhance the final edit.

Doosan Babcock is a multinational manufacturing and services company supplying the thermal power, nuclear and oil and gas industries.

Speakeasy has produced a number of films for the group, including a recruitment film to help attract and induct new talent.

Staff across the business share their own recruitment stories and give us an insight into what makes Doosan Babcock a great place to work and develop your career.

The interviews were filmed against a green screen, using the same ‘double exposure’ elements captured in our corporate brand film for the company. This allowed us to layer footage of work settings and activities against the background.

Archive and new footage are used as cutaways to show viewers a range of different roles and activities.

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi is Japan’s largest bank and one of the world’s largest, with 35,000 staff across 40 countries.

The bank commissioned Speakeasy to produce a film to help kick-start its induction

sessions and support HR staff in delivering the vision, culture and values to new recruits.

The film had to be inspiring, motivational and introduce some key ideas about the

business. It had to be applicable to everyone in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa region – and easily adapted into multiple foreign languages.

Our film also had to introduce each department within the bank and bring the business to life for the audience.

When NHSScotland launched a major recruiting drive to tackle the rising number of vacancies in non-clinical roles, it needed a new centralised website to host careers information and engaging content.

Speakeasy was commissioned to provide two different requirements: a short, ad-style film to sit on the website’s landing page and a series of case studies – short documentaries illustrating a ‘day in the life’ for a range of current NHS employees.

Shot in a day against green screen, our landing page film took four actors on a whistlestop tour through a number of possible roles, using props to add humour and energy.

For the second requirement, we worked closely with a number of health authorities, vetting contributors and preparing staff for filming. We identified strong interviewees and worked with them and their colleagues to capture a range of interesting visuals.

This film was produced for the human resources team at Lloyds Banking Group to celebrate the department’s successes in driving the performance of colleagues throughout the group.

The department’s values are brought to life as we follow a number of colleagues through their working day, with key facts and statistics presented through captions and an explanatory voiceover.

Colleagues are pictured outside their working environment, helping to highlight the human dimensions of the Group HR function, and showing how the department’s values extend beyond the office into their personal lives.

All in all, the film expresses the personality of Human Resources, making it a fitting celebration of its achievements. Filming was carried out over four days in London, Edinburgh and Halifax in Yorkshire.

Aimed primarily at shareholders, this film was produced for one of SSE’s annual meetings to illustrate the company’s commitment to exceeding the minimum requirement and doing the right thing for customers, staff, shareholders – and the environment as a whole.

The film references some of the difficult decisions made by the company in recent years, such as freezing gas and electricity prices and making a commitment to the living wage.

Messages are delivered through a combination of unscripted interviews with staff and managers, and simple ‘motion tracked’ captions inserted into the footage to appear as if they’re part of the scene.

The film includes a number of case studies showing how SSE works with communities to go the extra mile, making a real contribution to the lives of those it serves.

Filming was carried out across the UK, from Portsmouth to Strathy in the Highlands of Scotland.

Speakeasy has managed a number of staff and management conferences for plumbing and heating group Wolseley.

This has included producing high-impact conference opening and closing films.

Our 2-minute ‘Time to Deliver’ film is short but powerful, and features real staff at work in a range of settings: forklift truck drivers, warehouse staff, sales assistants, delivery drivers and managers.

Beautifully captured portrait shots – where employees look down the lens as the camera tracks towards or around them – underpin the film, conveying strength and personality.

A scripted voiceover focuses on the company’s vision and values – and aspirations for continued growth and innovation.

Speakeasy was set the challenge of producing a series of four events to launch the training process for the ‘Games Workforce’ – a group of around 16,000 volunteers. We devised an innovative and stimulating format based on a Saturday night ‘live TV’ format mixing theatre, audience interaction, comedy and a series of films and pre-recorded inserts.

Our ‘Signature Move’ film encouraged the audience to get creative and come up with a new move or gesture that would be synonymous with Glasgow2014. Presented by an intrepid Glasgwegian presenter, the result was a punchy, high-energy piece that encouraged the workforce to get involved by performing their idea.

Our other films included a whistle-stop tour of all 15 games precincts, fronted by sprinter and sports correspondent Iwan Thomas.

At the launch of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Scottish Enterprise and its partner organisations held an event for business leaders, government officials and high-profile VIPs. The aim was to encourage the growth and expansion of industry through the tremendous business opportunities presented by the games and surrounding events.

Scottish Enterprise commissioned Speakeasy to produce a short, impactful film that introduced the concept of Scotland’s innovation heritage to the conference audience.  This was a mood piece, intended to surprise and engage the audience ahead of the opening speech.

We combined archive footage and stock images with an animation style that gradually gathers pace as the entire history of Scottish innovation unfolds, culminating in a flurry of snapshots of Scottish inventions – both old and new. A carefully chosen music track helps to build the momentum of the piece, whilst evoking a sense of purpose and promise.

Speakeasy was commissioned to produce an opening film for Newton’s 2017 annual conference entitled: ‘From Fake News to Artificial Intelligence’, exploring the opportunities – and threats – for the investment community around media manipulation and AI technologies.

The film had to engage the audience from the outset, it had to cause a stir and immediately capture the delegates’ imagination, and attention.  Taking inspiration from electronic music and comedy duo – Cassetteboy’s – ‘cut-up’ viral video series, we created a gritty, deeply satirical film cut from genuine broadcast reports featuring world leaders and technology billionaires.

Presented as an authentic public broadcast transmission, the film creatively intercut excerpts from keynote speeches and interviews featuring Theresa May, Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Jeremy Corbyn, Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jack Ma, Jeff Bezos, Vladimir Putin, Jacob Zuma – to create an alternative (fake) speech.  This was augmented by ‘fake’ news captions and surreal compositions featuring emoticons, digital interference static and graphical typographical headlines.

All these motifs combined to deliver an expressionistic, surreal and darkly comic event opener.

Ahead of the launch of TSB as a new bank on the British high street, we were asked to produce short teaser films, with a focus on brand values and local service.

The aim of the project was to celebrate, inspire and educate staff on the involvement and positive contribution TSB would make to local communities and society as a whole.

Our creative approach was to create a film that was light-hearted and personable, with the new TSB staff at its core.  We put a spin on the brand values – pioneering, collaborative, straightforward, transparent and responsible – with the idea of word association unrelated to work. This gives us an insight into the thoughts and values of the real people behind the bank.

Filming in Newcastle, Edinburgh and Swansea, we shot and delivered three films in one week and were credited for the high standard and fast turnaround. The film prompted ‘tears and spontaneous applause’ from the leadership audience, and ‘excitement and laughter’ from colleagues.

Speakeasy was commissioned to produce the promotional film at the heart of the BAE Systems stand at Farnborough International Air Show.

Shown on a huge 152” LED screen in the purpose-built ‘Core’ viewing theatre, the film was to be the central starting point for both invited delegates and the general public, driving home the company’s ‘Total Performance Strategy’ in key areas including servicing, innovation and technology.

Filming took place across four BAE locations and captured technology including helmet mounted displays, a wind tunnel, nanotechnology and military air and information systems.

To provide a fully branded and coherent experience, the film incorporated 3D graphical stings featuring the aero-sculpture model, which formed the roof of the Core theatre, in full flight.

Travis Perkins, the UK’s largest builders’ merchant, holds annual events for its Group Leadership Forum, attended by leaders of the group’s 23 companies.

The events update management on corporate challenges and successes, but also highlight the groups’ core values – its ‘Cornerstones’. These include ‘Keeping people safe,’ ‘Working for our customers’ and ‘Being the best.’

As part of our management of the event, Speakeasy produced this film, using motion graphics to create a 3D cube that opens up into a sequence of dynamic cascading tiles.

The film combines new and existing footage with simple captions and a punchy soundtrack setting out what each Cornerstone stands for. Building Better, Together was one of two films presented for the first time at this event before being rolled out across the group.

British American Tobacco needed a 3-minute film setting out its vision for 2020.

The film had to show the organisation as forward-thinking and focused on future success.  Our creative approach was to set the film ‘today’ and suggest the possibilities of ‘tomorrow’ through flash forward style sequences that brought the future to life in a vivid and memorable way.

Futuristic scientific and laboratory footage provides the backdrop to an account of BAT’s emphasis on research and development, while atmospheric footage of a tobacco farmer provides balance by stressing the importance of the company’s past experience – and its tradition of ethical practices and mutually productive partnerships.

Stylised shots of colleagues working together emphasise the importance BAT places on its people and the vital role they play in its future success, while archive footage from around the world illustrates the company’s global ambition.

VisitScotland commissioned Speakeasy to produce an ambitious film promoting Scotland’s national St Andrew’s Day celebrations on 30 November.

The brief was to follow a ‘kilted army’ of nine campaign champions with two film crew around Paris, Dublin, Berlin and London.

The kilted army would recruit people named Andrew (or André, Andrea, …); fly them to Scotland to celebrate St Andrew’s Day in the town of St Andrews – and show them hospitality like they’ve never experienced it before – the Scottish way.

Surprise – in the reactions of the ‘Andrews’ – was key to the success of the campaign.

VisitScotland’s aim was to create a viral social media video that generated 150,000-200,000 views. The campaign ultimately generated around 3m views.

“Our sincere thanks and recognition for the hard work and effort you and your team put in the St Andrew’s Day project. The support and commitment we got from you all at Speakeasy was significant – we simply would have not crossed that final line without it.”

Helen Campbell, 

Head of Global Brand & Marketing Communications, VisitScotland

Scotland is world-renowned for the quality of its food and drink, including Scotch whisky, salmon and beef.  Scottish Development International wanted a video that would promote Scottish produce to the rest of the world and reflect the expertise and artistry of Scots working across a range of food types and disciplines.

Our solution was to shoot five Scots telling their personal stories. These included a fifth generation beef farmer in Dumfries, a whisky taster in Edinburgh and Michelin starred chef Andrew Fairlie, who spoke while preparing a dish of roast Scottish game bird at the world famous Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire.

The film reflects quality – in people and processes as well as the produce. Quality was also reflected in our production values, including the use of high-quality cameras and lenses to create a beautiful filmic look. The film was subsequently produced in multiple languages including Russian, Japanese, Korean and Mandarin.

Speakeasy produced an attention-grabbing two-minute film to open the flagship Scottish Life Sciences Dinner, showing the history of the life sciences industry in Scotland.

The brief from Scottish Enterprise was to promote Scottish excellence abroad, encouraging greater foreign investment and the globalisation of Scottish companies.

Combining a heart monitor sound effect with established visuals of life – planet earth, a beating heart, an unborn baby, and a DNA helix – our film showcases Scottish life sciences discoveries and innovations from Alexander Fleming’s breakthrough with penicillin to the building of the first full body MRI scanner at the University of Aberdeen.

New footage shot at companies including Calcivis, BioAscent and Fios Genomics brings the review of the life sciences industry right up to date.

As part of an organisation-wide print, video and digital brand refresh, Speakeasy was commissioned to create a new brand film for Scottish Development International. This would highlight how Scotland is brilliantly connected for businesses across a number of sectors including the financial and technology industries.

We mixed new and archive footage to showcase Scotland and its businesses at their most dramatic, colourful and engaging.

Scotland’s ‘connectivity’ was visually represented in the film by a dynamic neon graphical ‘pulse’. This zoomed through and over different settings in Scotland – landmarks including the Kelpies and the Forth Rail Bridge; Scottish cities seen from above and a business meeting with advisors – connecting businesses to each other, via vital infrastructures, people and innovative technologies.

We also created seven case studies to accompany the main brand film. These featured interviews with companies including Barclays, JP Morgan and games specialist Outplay.

Arup is a global firm of consulting engineers, designers and planners, headquartered in London.

Speakeasy’s ‘Arup Fellows’ films aim to educate and inspire the internal audience by showcasing the achievements of engineers who are masters in their fields.

In previous years, the Fellows were filmed on location, at buildings they had played a part in developing. To push creative boundaries – and to capture work that spans the globe cost-effectively – we introduced 3D modelling, allowing us to film the interviews in a studio.

Using Cinema 4D, we modelled buildings including the China Central Television headquarters in Beijing and a prototype for a Ghanaian kindergarten, designed to enhance learning environments.

The response to the films was overwhelmingly positive, with Arup stakeholders saying they “capture the spirit of Arup culture,” “enhance our reputation,” and “promote our technical experts”.

BAE Systems commissioned Speakeasy to create a film for its trade stand at Defence and Security Equipment International – the largest security and defence trade show in the world.

The brief was to showcase the global defence and aerospace specialist as the ‘Home of Innovation’.  We needed to showcase the company’s human side, subverting the view that BAE Systems is all about ‘kit’ and engineering.

In the video, a number of individuals are filmed in an abstract studio environment.  As each contributor speaks, images relating to their views on creativity appear beside them: spiders, wheels, cockroaches – and even the Batmobile!  These abstract images articulate the contributor’s thoughts on creativity and reveal what exactly gave them inspiration to do their job.

“I’ve heard people talking about the film in the corridor, and I’ve never seen that before. So I don’t think you could ask for a more successful outcome than that.”

Heather Beeby, 

VP Corporate Events, Group Business Development, BAE Systems

Global engineering giant Doosan Babcock specialises in engineering, aftermarket and upgrade services in the energy sector.  The company’s most precious resource is its people and it wanted a brand film that would not just convey who it is and what it does, but also express the link between the engineering projects and the people responsible for them.

Speakeasy developed a concept to convey this link in a visually powerful way. In brand films we usually see staff talking in the location of their workplaces. Our idea was to turn this on its head. Using the ‘double exposure’ technique, increasingly seen on television and in film title sequences, we placed the working environment inside the people instead of the other way around.

This involved filming employees in a studio as well as filming power stations around the UK, before creating the effects in post production.

UK housing association Stonewater needed a conference opening film that would inspire and motivate staff by reminding them of collective achievements after a tough year.

Our brief was to convey 18 key points in 3 minutes, in a striking and engaging way. We wanted to feature real employees –  and landed on the idea of using three employees’ journeys to work as the film’s structure.

We would convey the key points in text, but incorporate this into the different environments the employees were passing through. With the help of Google Maps and a camera, we identified 18 scenes for our crew to shoot, with clever graphics integrated into the landscape in post-production.

Stonewater’s directors were so pleased with the film, they decided to give it wider exposure as a brand film on their website.

Speakeasy was commissioned to produce a film to launch the ‘Connect Plus’ initiative to all Wolseley employees.  ‘Connect Plus’ would see a huge cultural and operational change across the business, with new technology seeing a move away from the reliance on paper-based data, stocktaking and ordering, towards a fully digital operation.

Comedy was used to create a short, ad-like promo film.  Shooting on location at Wolseley sites and featuring genuine colleagues, the old technology was represented as a source of inner fury for colleagues, who could no longer endure the use of a purely paper-based work flow.  Using super slow-motion cameras, powerful wind machines and hundreds of scrunched up paper balls – we shot sequences representing the frustration colleagues felt using the outdated working practises, and the sheer rapture they would feel when the new technology was introduced.

Speakeasy has been closely involved in a project that redefines how video is used in Lloyds Banking Group.

Risk Exchange sets out to mimic YouTube and other video sharing and social media sites in creating a platform for colleagues in the bank’s Risk division to populate with films of their own making; films that share their skills, knowledge and insights with others.

We created an innovative launch film to persuade colleagues to take part and produce their own films. The video uses engaging motion tracked graphical elements inserted into live action footage to evoke the sense that we all have something to contribute, and Risk Exchange is the place to do it.

Although we filmed the first series of films ourselves, the intention was always for the channel to be populated in the future with user generated content (UGC). To this end we developed a clear and concise UGC Guide and film that could be sent to all colleagues to help ensure that what they filmed would be as effective as possible.

Following on from our work setting up the innovative Risk Exchange colleague video sharing platform, Speakeasy was commissioned to produce a number of films to help colleagues deal with important issues effecting their everyday working lives.

A comedy format was chosen to highlight common problems in a memorable and entertaining way, gaining traction through the myriad of other formats and channels competing for colleagues’ attention. The first of these was on the subject of meeting etiquette – how to avoid having too many meetings and ensure the meetings that are held are productive and efficient. A ‘mockumentary’ approach was chosen – akin to the BBC’s comedy classic ‘The Office’ – in which the fortunes of real colleagues are followed as they attempt to deal with the seemingly endless meetings that threaten to consume their entire working day.

Following the success of this, similar comedic treatments were chosen to show colleagues how to film effective User Generated Content (UGC) and control the use of email – another potential scourge of the modern office environment.

All these films combined the use of actors with real colleagues to keep costs down and lend an air of authenticity.

The Risk division of Lloyds Banking Group provides effective and efficient risk oversight for all aspects of the group. Its core aims include provide early warnings of risk-related issues – and minimising losses within the bank’s risk appetite.

Speakeasy produces the division’s Customer First TV channel, which aims to unite the 3,000 colleagues working across Risk as one team.

Each episode is fronted by a colleague presenter, and includes interviews and vox pops with colleagues, managers and directors.  Punchy on-screen graphics and visual effects help engage viewers and chapterise the content. The channel centres on the topics that affect colleagues and customers day-to-day.

Themes have including cybercrime, fraud and money laundering. The channel also examines how commercial and retail customers are assessed for risk.

The channel has been a huge hit and attracted around 11,500 views last year.

Over the past 125 years, Doosan Babcock has successfully navigated an ever-changing world: from their invention of the first ever boiler; to steel, then crane manufacture; to a central role in the energy industry; to the 21st century and the application of their skills to the new challenges of a low carbon future.

Our task: to produce two films to tell that extraordinary story but also to articulate their pride in that ongoing adaptability and resilience.

The first of these films fulfilled the role of a trailer, teasing an internal audience at the larger piece to come. A voiceover-led piece, combining a graphical timeline and footage from the client’s archive, this 2-minute film was first shown as an opening film at a major company meeting.

The second film, an 8-minute documentary, expanded the previous timeline, adding interviews with staff from all levels within the organisation and providing historical context through the use of newsreel footage from across the 125 year history.

Wolseley is the world’s largest trade distributor of plumbing and heating products and a leading supplier of building materials.

Every year, the company needs to update staff and stakeholders on key highlights and future strategy.

For one of its UK management team conferences, Speakeasy produced an innovative animation to summarise the group’s achievements over the previous 12 months.

The animation used a revolving disc as a visual theme, with symbolic objects appearing above and below it to illustrate the milestones referred to by the voiceover in terms of the above and below ground sectors.

The disc flips in three dimensions to transition between different ideas and topics, giving the film an energy and dynamism which holds the attention throughout.

Our 3D ‘set’ is modelled in corporate colours, with motion graphic flags reinforcing key points and a simple voiceover sharing the group’s story.

In a time of enormous change, investment in technology was a priority for UK plumbing and heating group Wolseley.

The internal ‘Connect’ project would equip the business with the tools it needed to achieve its goals and give customers a complete and seamless experience. This animation was designed to give the management team an overview of the Connect transformation, focusing on improvements in systems and processes, and the benefits they will deliver in reducing cost and making the business more agile and efficient.

The animation takes the Connect project branding as its starting point, combining live action and animated elements in a dynamic 3-D environment through which the audience travels, exploring each of the component initiatives in turn.

The emphasis is on how the change programme will enable the company to serve its customers better, implicitly illustrating the inter-connectivity between initiatives, and paving the way for ‘Connect Plus’ – the next stage of the process.

Newton Investment Management’s 2016 annual conference was about bringing together some of the world’s leading financial thinkers to share ideas and reveal unique insights into the investment landscape.

The theme of bees was chosen to reflect this sense of collective achievement and collaboration. As with previous years, the role of the film was to set the tone of the event, instantly engaging the audience and immersing them in the theme.  We created a highly rhythmic animation with quick-fire ‘kinetic text’ captions. These were driven by an explosive percussion track, punctuated by short live action clips and unexpected music changes.

The visuals – ranging from psychedelic jungle animals to expansive cityscapes, Mahatma Ghandi to Jimi Hendrix (and, of course, lots of bees) were designed to tease and delight, playing with metaphor and optical illusion to hold attention and provide an intelligent and challenging introduction to the event’s key themes.

A series of short sting versions were produced to chapter-mark the four main sessions of the Newton conference.

Producing high-impact opening films has been a key element of our annual event management of Newton Investment Management’s annual conferences every September.

Our Investor’s Guide to the Galaxy film set the scene for exploring the big ideas shaping investors’ opportunities and risks, and how these are reflected in Newton’s key strategies.

Mirroring high-production value sci-fi franchises such as Star Wars, we combined CGI and stock imagery to produce stunning planetary and galactic sequences, with on-screen graphics simulating a spaceship control deck.

A (fictional) interview with an eminent scientist sharing his knowledge creates drama and engagement in a Carl Sagan-style voiceover.

A monolithic dark object floating in space reveals itself as a huge 3-dimensional Newton logo, alongside the event’s title: ‘An Investor’s Guide to the Galaxy.’

Newton Investment Management is a London-based global investment management firm with more than $70 billion assets under management.

Speakeasy manages the firm’s annual conferences and produces high-impact event opener films.

One of the event themes was optical illusions, reflecting the deceptive and complex nature of the situation in world markets.

Our opening film recreates a series of classic optical illusions to fool the audience and open their minds to the idea that all may not be as it seems.

Featuring shapes that continuously change, pulsing neon lights, visual distortions and sparsely used captions, the animation encourages the audience to see challenges, scenarios or possibilities from new angles.

The rhythmic, techno soundtrack is key feature, adding an other-worldly, future-looking mood to the film.

Each year Speakeasy produces a conference for Newton, which is part of the Bank of New York Mellon.  The opening video is always a key way of introducing the event’s theme and getting the audience ‘in the mood’.

One of the event themes was the traditional Indian legend of the six blind men and the elephant. We used animation to tell the story for the delegates in advance of Newton’s chief executive explaining its relevance to understanding the current global economic climate.

Delegate feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with delegates reporting that the film was ‘original’, ‘fresh’, ‘fun’ and ‘exhilarating’. It engendered an understanding of the original story and reinforced the event’s central message in a way that was absolutely in keeping with the Indian theme.

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) is the public sector food body for Scotland, set up to ensure that information and advice on food safety and standards, nutrition and labelling is consistent, evidence-based and consumer-focused.

Speakeasy was commissioned to produce a short and lively launch animation to explain the function and remit of the organisation, stressing its involvement at each stage of the food chain, from field to fork.

The starting point was a set of infographic icons symbolising the organisation’s different areas of operation.  These were brought to life through humorous animation, in conjunction with a lively music track and sound effects.  Succinct captions summarise how FSS helps the people of Scotland improve their diets and make the best possible choices.

Speakeasy was commissioned by the Greater London Authority to produce a series of five short animations with the purpose of driving a greater number of people to sign up to the London Rental Standard.

This was a voluntary accreditation scheme introduced by the Mayor of London to improve private renting and promote good standards.

The aim was to prompt the audience for these films – primarily landlords – to seek important information online, specifically on legal issues, deposits, health and safety and damp and mould.

We created a simple and engaging animation style that allowed us to easily illustrate the effects on properties of problems like damp, mould and condensation. This, in turn, made the animations and their key messages more accessible and memorable for landlords.

Managers at Vodafone UK play a vital role in building the team, driving performance, developing people and rewarding results.

This approach is set out in ‘The Vodafone Way’, the company’s roadmap to management excellence, otherwise known as ‘Simply Brilliant Management’.

Vodafone UK commissioned Speakeasy to produce an animation explaining this framework, to be shown at an event for its managers.

Our animation uses a whiteboard or ‘telestration’ technique, inspired by the process of drawing freehand sketches over moving or still video images. This combines animation, text and voiceover to text explain complex concepts in a simple and engaging way.

Motifs including a moving bus and diving board illustrate concepts such as driving performance and skills development.

We scripted and extensively storyboarded the piece before filming the live action animation, adding in further elements in post production to fully engage the viewer.

British American Tobacco commissioned Speakeasy to produce an animation marking World No Tobacco Day, created by the member states of the World Health Organization in 1987.

The film focuses on the booming trade in illegal tobacco, challenging the assumption that this is a victimless low-level crime. Our animation combines high impact on-screen captions and simple motifs with a photo montage style that allows us to characterise the protagonists in this illicit trade. The network extends from seemingly innocuous market stall holder ‘Dave’ to distributor ‘Luke’, international transporter ‘Dimitri’, general manager ‘Khalid’ and chief executive ‘Mr X’, who heads up a growing and highly structured organisation.

This approach increases the viewer’s engagement with the film, and the impact of its key messages. Tense music and a gritty voiceover add to the drama of the animation, which urges viewers:  Arm yourselves with the facts about illegal tobacco.

The launch of Apple Pay transformed the way people could pay for goods and services, by letting them use their Apple device to make transactions.

Lloyds Banking Group commissioned Speakeasy to produce an animation to introduce Apple Pay to its staff and explain their role in helping customers set it up.

The system works like in-store contactless payments, but instead of using a card, customers use their iPhone, iPad or Apple watch to make payments either in store, in app or online.

Animation was the perfect medium to express potentially technical and procedural information in a clear and unambiguous way.

Using perspective and reflection to create the effect of a floating 3D setting, our film combines photo montage, captions and simple icons to explain how Apple Pay works and its role in the future of mobile banking.

A futuristic soundtrack, uncomplicated script and accessible voiceover help to create a dynamic and easy-to-follow instructional film about this innovative new payments system.

Speakeasy designed and developed a series of high impact videos and interactive presentations for BAE Systems to show on its stand at Defence and Security Equipment International – the largest security and defence trade show in the world.

These included an interactive demonstration of the company’s enhanced communication products, illustrated through a series of battlefield scenarios which visitors to the stand navigate via an interactive touchscreen.

A stylised ‘folded paper’ 3-D animation treatment brings each scenario to life, combined with an explanatory voiceover and informational captions. We produced online and iPad app versions of the demonstration.

Lloyds Banking Group wanted to produce a series of training videos on how staff could keep their branches open in a crisis. We worked with them to select the most important subjects: winter weather, flooding, suspicious packages, protests & demos, transport issues and power cuts & it failures.

The films needed to appeal to a wide audience – all UK branch staff including Lloyds TSB, Halifax and Bank of Scotland.

The choice of animation rather than live action gave us the freedom to create a generic branch to appeal to all three brands, and the flexibility to show the wider environment where that branch was situated.  We could also show different weather conditions, and a large number of characters.

Caroline Quentin as narrator brings a dry, light-hearted tone to the piece, without being over-the-top or comical.  The music was composed specifically for the project and adapted for each film.

Financial fraud is escalating rapidly, leading to the devastating loss of life savings for a growing number of victims.

Financial Fraud Action UK was set up to tackle financial fraud on behalf of the UK payments industry, supported by the UK Home Office, Metropolitan Police and National Trading Standards.

Speakeasy was commissioned to create a film raising awareness of the ‘Banking Protocol’, a set of actions for all payments staff to follow if they noticed customer transactions that were unusual or out of character.

Our film captures the experiences of actual fraud victims who lost life savings, alongside interviews with the head of fraud prevention at the Metropolitan Police, bank staff and the head of fraud control at Financial Fraud Action.

Highlighting the increased threat from impersonation and deception scams, the film formed part of the national ‘Take Five to Stop Fraud’ campaign.

Speakeasy produced a powerful drama for British American Tobacco to show that buying illicit cigarettes is not a victimless crime.

The aim was to raise awareness of the illicit trade in tobacco and its links to organized crime.

A key message was that over-regulation can cause an increase in illicit trade – with the profits linked to violent crime, terrorism and people trafficking.

Scripting the voiceover in rhyming couplets – This is the man who buys the box / No credit card, not from a shop – increases the tension – and creates a dissonance alongside scenes of criminality.

The film tracks the escalating nature of the crime involved, and the human cost. Snatched sections of dialogue and surveillance-style photography add to the drama.

Intended for lawmakers, health organisations and regulators, as well as the general public, the film was very well received by BAT and has attracted more than 16,000 views on YouTube.

The British Red Cross commissioned Speakeasy to make a series of Sports First Aid films for its #UpYourGame social media campaign on on Facebook, Twitter and online: http://sportsfirstaid.redcross.org.uk

#upyourgame

This encouraged sports clubs, coaches and anyone who enjoys keeping fit to learn essential first aid skills.

There were three films in the series, covering first aid advice and action in different scenarios: unresponsive and not breathing, head injury and broken bone. We scripted and filmed different scenarios involving a runner, footballer and cyclist.

Slow motion filming techniques and dramatic close ups of people preparing for their sport build tension and visual interest. The strapline: Would you know what to do? acts as a call to action and has helped to build traction on social media.

British Red Cross promotes the films alongside free first aid guides for people involved in different sports.

Safe Drive, Stay Alive is a live event organised by Surrey Fire and Rescue Service as part of its campaign to reduce road traffic accidents and the suffering they cause, particularly amongst young people.

Speakeasy was asked to refresh the event’s filmed content – a dramatised scenario of four young people embarking on an ill-fated car journey.

Our approach involved sourcing five new case studies of real accident victims. This was the biggest challenge of the project and involved research with support groups, emergency services and social media, including Facebook.

Steadicam and time lapse sequences helped to create the reconstructions. One continuous shot involved choreographing more than 30 people as the camera passed through the scene, including crew, actors, ambulance, fire and police.

Feedback suggested the film had significantly helped increase engagement with the campaign, with viewers describing it as ‘powerful’ and ‘emotional.’

Speakeasy was approached to produce a film around the topic of internal fraud. The aim was to raise awareness and understanding of what internal fraud is, its impacts, how to minimise it and how to identify and report suspicious behaviour.

The film needed to appeal to employees working at every level and across all divisions of the bank. The client expressed that the format should be watchable, and different to films that have been seen before.

To achieve this, we produced a gritty drama, featuring realistic and well-researched characters. The four scenarios are set in different parts of the bank, including a branch, a call centre and a strategy department.  The scenarios are linked together by a presenter, who is head of Group Fraud Investigations.

The film scored a 99.1% success rate in audience evaluation, and was described by one manager as “by far the best security video I have watched in my 25 years service.”

Travis Perkins, the UK’s largest builders’ merchant, commissioned Speakeasy to
produce a film spearheading its ‘Workforce with a Difference’ campaign. This
encouraged staff to think more carefully about how they treat each other, to avoid both personal and commercial damage to the business.

The film was based on the central idea of not treating colleagues as though they are
the same as you – and featured a central character who literally
sees himself in everyone he interacts with in the work place.

The damage to the business, in terms of performance and reputation, are depicted
through a series of hard-hitting scenarios which highlight the dangers of not
considering the individual circumstances of colleges – and how the things we say
and do may impact on them. The film used professional actors and was shot over
two days in a series of Travis Perkins locations. It was premiered at the group’s
annual conference, receiving universal praise from the UK management team.

To celebrate its sponsorship of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, Lloyds Banking
Group wanted to create a legacy film, inspiring colleagues to continue in the spirit
that the games had brought to offices, branches and interactions with local
communities.

We needed to find a way of seamlessly combining repurposed client footage and
official Olympics material with newly shot content, to create a fresh and engaging
film.

Our solution was to set up our shoots in large studio spaces, projecting the client and Olympics footage in high definition onto a 15m, floor-to-ceiling screen.
In front of this dramatic backdrop, we filmed interviews and scripted content featuring a broad mix of contributors – including Olympic torch bearers, senior management, colleagues and customers.

Each contributor gave their personal story about how the games had touched them – and how the Olympic flame would continue to burn for them.

Events programme

In 2016, the Student Loans Company commissioned Speakeasy as their sole supplier for all audio-visual requirements across an annual programme of events across England, Wales and Scotland.

The programme includes a week-long student support seminar with multiple break-out rooms for 500 delegates and a series of one-day seminars in Plymouth, Leeds, London and Stratford-upon-Avon to share insight on SLC’s Advanced Learner Loans product.

Speakeasy’s role includes set design, the creation of a bespoke ‘information hub’ installation; generating graphics and artwork and providing digital touchscreens and signage.

We use initial site visits to specify the AV requirement for each event, and then continually monitor our approach for potential service improvements or efficiencies.

As part of the SLC contract, we complete internal post-event reports that are reviewed at our weekly production catch-ups.  Any suggested improvements are then discussed with our production team and presented at our monthly client contact meeting.

‘Lighting Up’ Opening Event

Speakeasy produced seven launch films and the first main launch event for the opening of the £1.35 billion Queensferry Crossing, Scotland’s biggest infrastructure project in a generation.

This was a hugely complex project delivered in a tight schedule (4-5 weeks) on what was still a live construction site. The brief was to create a visual spectacle that would attract international media attention; celebrate the work of the contractors involved and mark the handover to the Scottish Government. 

Speakeasy’s creative involved staging a dramatic night time light show that would be filmed by drones and helicopters and would showcase the bridge at its most striking. This involved installing more than 100 light fittings across the bridge and getting more than 80 crew on and off the bridge at different stages – including specialist lighting and projection mapping teams, audio-visual specialists, camera crew and events teams. With construction work still in its final stages, there were many logistical and health and safety challenges. 

Speakeasy managed the project by liaising closely with the contractors – Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors – as well as Transport Scotland, Police Scotland and bridge managers Amey. To avoid disrupting ongoing construction work, much of our set up was done overnight in the run up to the launch event. Issues that arose include Police Scotland declaring a no-fly zone across the whole bridge area two days before the launch event. To ensure we could still film the launch light show by drone and helicopter, we had to secure additional clearances very quickly. We also had to work around the removal of four cranes on top of the three bridge towers – a job that involved 40 helicopter lifts and was weather dependent. 

On launch night, Speakeasy had eight camera crews at strategic points across the site, as well as two aerial crews.  We delivered seven films in total, including two overnight edits to provide footage for international media syndication. Six of the films were specifically for social media. Our main 1-minute launch film attracted 25,000 views within three days of the launch and supports the #LoveQC social media campaign. Speakeasy was also responsible for hosting the press photocall on launch night. This involved accompanying broadcast and press crews including the BBC, ITV, Sky and Reuters, to key vantage points and maintaining health and safety compliance at all times. We also delivered VIP and ‘VVIP’ launch parties for more than 100 invited guests and dignitaries. This involved working closely with Police Scotland and the First Minister’s protection team.

Management Team Conferences

Speakeasy has managed a number of Management Team Conferences for FTSE 100 plumbing and heating group Wolseley since 2006.

For the 2014 conference, we used a bespoke HD 16m rear projected screen that extended the full length of the conference room. This created an unparalleled widescreen experience to maximise content and creativity.

The specification allowed us to display same content both left and right of the screen area whilst integrating picture-in-picture capability for videos and slides.

For the 2013 Management Team conference, Speakeasy suggested using the format of the Blockbusters gameshow to act as a tool for the conference. Progressing across the board with different decisions and obstructions along the way provided the perfect metaphor to align with the group’s key messages and long-term business goals.

United Arab Emirates Symposium & Expo

Speakeasy produced an expo for BAE Systems in Abu Dhabi in 2012. The event’s main objective was to raise the profile of BAE in the UAE as an excellent career choice for young people, with a particular focus on encouraging young women into engineering.

Speakeasy was responsible for promoting the event, the safe transit between the UK and UAE of valuable defence and technology assets, producing bespoke internal and external exhibition areas (including constructing an outdoor structure) and all event branding and graphics. Experiential features included a Typhoon aircraft simulator.

Several VIPs attended the expo and it was Speakeasy’s responsibility to ensure they were looked after to the highest standard – whilst ensuring they visited all areas of the expo. 

Speakeasy also produced the video content for the expo and had it translated so attendees had the option of listening in English or Arabic to make it accessible to all. 

The expo was hugely popular with the target audiences and, over the three days, almost 800 students attended the event, including more than 400 girls. Feedback revealed that the expo had helped the young people attending develop an interest in engineering and new technology.

Student Finance Tour

The Department of Business Innovation and Skills commissioned Speakeasy to deliver its 12-week Student Finance Tour 2016, involving more than 2,000 events to educate over 160,000 students about the financial support available for going to university.

Peer-to-peer communication is key to the campaign’s success. Speakeasy recruited a group of outgoing graduate presenters to act as passionate advocates, sharing their own 

positive university experience with prospective new students.

Our presenters attended a bespoke three-day Speakeasy training programme to prepare them for delivering interactive and engaging 30-minute presentations at each event.

The aim was to fully immerse the graduate presenters in the Student Finance Tour experience, and ensure they were ‘emotionally attached’ to the brand message when they went out on the road.

To help the campaign target key low participation regions across England, Speakeasy selected presenters who were familiar with these areas to deliver the local presentations. This allowed us to maximise the audience connection in priority areas.

Since its launch in 2011, the BIS Student Finance Tour has educated nearly 500,000 students and 60,000 parents about the financial support available for university through around 8,000 events.

Annual Conference

Speakeasy produced the annual conferences for Cycling Scotland, the national cycle promotion organisation for Scotland, in 2015 and 2016. Held respectively at Edinburgh’s Our Dynamic Earth and Perth Concert Hall, both events followed a similar format.

Delegates drawn from around Scotland with a keen interest in promoting and developing cycling took part in some cycling study tours on Day 1, which concluded with a Civic Reception.  Day 2 consisted of a day of plenary sessions, panel discussions, ministerial addresses, workshops and keynote speeches.

Speakeasy worked with the Cycling Scotland team to plan the agenda for each day.  We programmed and launched the conference website and online booking facility, and liaised with the venue to coordinate all catering, logistics and AV requirements. We also designed and built a striking 8m set backdrop for the main stage.

Our brief included coordinating the requirements of 20 exhibitors at each venue.  Our content producers gathered and formatted all speaker content and wrote the script for the conference host, BBC Sports presenter Rhona McLeod.

Arriving at the venue, delegates were greeted by our onsite team and checked in with our sophisticated scanning and badging system.  

First Joint International Conference

Abertay University commissioned Speakeasy to produce the largest conference ever held by the Finland-based Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA) and the California-based Foundations of Digital Games (FDG).

Designed to promote and advance the science, technology, design, and study of digital games, the week-long event in Dundee included four plenary sessions and more than 250 academic papers, workshops, panels, special sessions and posters.

We designed an eye-catching brand for the conference, drawing on an ancient Scottish gaming icon – the Lewis Chessmen – and giving it a modern twist.   This look-and-feel was applied to a conference website and online registration and payment system.

We implemented an extensive marketing, social media and sponsorship strategy, and worked closely with the team at Abertay to stage a series of innovative and engaging social events, culminating with a Gala Dinner at Guthrie Castle in the Angus countryside.   

Onsite, 350 international delegates were welcomed by our hosting team and were given specially-branded delegate bags, pens and the conference proceedings on an eye-catching pink slap wrist band USB stick.

Delegates enjoyed using our conference app, with participants vying with one another to gain points by posting photos, comments and rating sessions.

Dinner & Annual Awards 2017

Since its launch 18 years ago, Scotland’s Life Sciences Dinner & Annual Awards has grown into one of the biggest events in the UK life sciences calendar. Scottish Enterprise commissioned Speakeasy to produce the 2017 event in Edinburgh’s National Museum of Scotland.

More than 700 guests attended the dinner and awards, which included a keynote address from GlaxoSmithKline chief executive Sir Andrew Witty and networking activities.

Speakeasy managed and produced the event from start to finish, including guest registration and management; venue liaison; catering; audio-visual; nominee filming; a national marketing and communications campaign; sponsorship generation; logistics and financial management.

To enhance guest interaction, we arranged a choice of fun and engaging post-dinner networking activities, including interactive cocktail making classes and a multi-sensory tasting experience.

Speakeasy also recommended introducing a mobile networking app. Take-up was impressive, with 60% of guests downloading the app to their device. App usage was also high, with almost 7,000 sessions and more than 17,000 recorded sponsor impressions over the period.

Orientation Events and Films

The Glasgow2014 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee commissioned Speakeasy to design and produce a series of events to launch the training process for the ‘Games Workforce’ – a group of around 16,000 volunteers, contractors and paid staff.

We designed a high energy, fast-paced programme based on a Saturday night ‘live TV’ format mixing theatre, audience interaction, comedy, pre-recoded inserts and a high energy fashion show where a team of ‘Clyde-siders’ unveiled the volunteer uniform for the first time.

Speakeasy produced a series of short, memorable films, including a tour of all 15 games venues, fronted by Welsh Commonwealth Sprinting Champion and TV sports correspondent Iwan Thomas. 

Our programme spanned four events over two days, with audiences of around 4,000 at each show. Speakeasy worked closely with Police Scotland and Transport Scotland to co-ordinate logistics including security bag searches, individual registrations, badging and the distribution of training packs.

International Low Carbon Heat & Water Conference

Scottish Enterprise commissioned Speakeasy to produce the 2016 International Low Carbon Heat and Water conference and showcase, bringing together suppliers, customers and other experts in the low carbon heat, water and wastewater sectors.

Speakeasy created a high-impact one-day event attracting more than 450 delegates and featuring more than 60 exhibitors, three keynote speakers and 40 workshop presenters from 13 countries. The event included a powerful business-to-business matchmaking session, drinks reception and conference dinner.

We designed the event to be “paperless”, providing delegates with a smartphone app containing the full agenda, speaker biographies, networking profiles, exhibitor details and social networking features.

An onsite filming service was also provided, resulting in a highlights video and several interview pieces for use on the client’s website, to demonstrate their work in these key sectors.

MIPIM 2016 & 2017

In 2016, Speakeasy was appointed by the Scottish Cities Alliance – a collaboration of Scotland’s seven cities – to design and build an exhibition stand for Marché International des Professionnels d’Immobilier (MIPIM) – the world’s leading property market.

Taking place at London Olympia in October 2016 and in Cannes in March 2017, the events are a magnet for international investors, attracting around 23,000 people over four days.

Both are busy shows and the Alliance was competing with many other cities for potential investment opportunities. Our stand design was created with these pressures in mind and combined a visually stunning set with content and marketing to persuade investors to stop and consider Scotland as a potential investment destination.   

Importantly, we designed the stand with durability in mind, using hard-wearing materials that can be easily refreshed to maintain a fresh look for each show.   

Engaging content is key to successful interaction with stand visitors and we used virtual reality headsets to create an immersive experience of Scotland’s seven cities.

The National College for Teaching & Leadership (NCTL) – Events

The National College for Teaching & Leadership is an executive agency of the Department for Education (DfE), with responsibility for ensuring the supply of high-quality teachers and training. Speakeasy has been managing events and other marketing for NCTL’s Teacher Recruitment Campaign since 2015.

A key feature of Speakeasy’s approach is the recruitment of university brand ambassadors to engage with graduates on campus and in high-footfall locations such as train stations. Equipped with iWalker digital billboards, the brand ambassadors generated almost 6,000 registrations in 2016, representing around 60% attendance for priority subjects such as physics, maths and chemistry.

Alongside our partner company Blackberry, Speakeasy planned, marketed and managed a series of events including:

• 6 x Large Train to Teach events
• 16 x Mini Train to Teach events
• 14 x Application workshops
• 30 x Online surgeries
• 32 x Graduate Fairs

These took place all around the UK, including Birmingham, Manchester, London, Newcastle, Leeds, Nottingham and Southampton, with delegate numbers at each event ranging from 300 to 1,200.

In 2015, Police Mutual Group commissioned Speakeasy to produce its first ever series of group-wide staff events, to be held at key locations in the Midlands, Hampshire, Suffolk, Merseyside and Staffordshire.

The UK-wide organisation offers financial advice and services to serving and retired Police officers and members of the Armed Forces. Speakeasy’s role covered video, 2D and 3D design – including all print design and production and screen animation – app development, content development, communications planning and transport and logistics.

Marketing of the events involved setting up eight separate event websites and managing the invitation process, as well as signage, registration and badging at the venues. 

We developed all content for the roadshow events including slides, a series of video inserts and interactive elements. Interaction with the audiences was via a bespoke event app using iPads to cast votes and submit feedback and questions. The event app also included a note-taking facility and information about the agenda and speakers. By providing full event information, the app meant there were no print requirements – making the event completely paperless.

The final show was webcast live, also with interactive content.

Venturefest Scotland

Speakeasy has been producing Venturefest Scotland since 2015 for national economic development agency Scottish Enterprise and partner stakeholders including Innovate UK and Glasgow City of Science.

Designed to drive economic growth through innovation, the annual event brings together entrepreneurs, innovators, investors and academics from across the UK and beyond to collaborate, learn, network and share knowledge and ideas.

Speakeasy worked with the client team to deliver an engaging and packed programme including 18 interactive workshops delivered by 80 contributors, an innovation showcase, an exhibition and a Meet-the-Expert programme of appointments. 

Specific deliverables have included a mobile networking event app; a bespoke registration website infographic and fanfare videos promoting the event; coordinated social media and email marketing campaigns to drive delegate registrations and sponsorship raising of more than £100,000.

Recent successes have included generating 2,050 Twitter followers, more than 2,000 mentions and 1,500 retweets for the event.

@ World Travel Market

National tourism agency VisitScotland commissioned Speakeasy to to design and build its stand for World Travel Market, the annual global travel trade show.

Now in its 37th year, the three-day event attracts around 50,000 visitors and 5,000 exhibitors, generating almost £3 billion in contracts between attendees.

The show provides VisitScotland and partners the opportunity to meet, network, negotiate and conduct business.  For a number of years, VisitScotland had taken space on the UK Inbound stand, but in 2015 took the decision to occupy a bespoke stand on their own.

The challenge was to accommodate up to ten partners and the VisitScotland team within a 20m2 floor space and a limited budget. Clever design and use of space was used to efficiently and aesthetically include all requirements, while providing an inviting environment.

The end result was a huge success for VisitScotland and their partners.

Annual Conference

In Spring 2018, the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS) commissioned Speakeasy to event manage the 2018 SMAS National Manufacturing Conference – the only manufacturing conference of its kind in Scotland, taking place just once every two years.Sponsored by the Bank of Scotland and taking place at The Westerwood Hotel in Cumbernauld on 30 May 2018, Speakeasy worked with SMAS to fully design, promote, administer, deliver and evaluate the event.

Designed to raise ambitions, productivity and a wider understanding of Industry 4.0 among Scottish manufacturers, the conference featured a stellar line-up including First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and manufacturing heavyweights, Tom Williams, COO at Airbus and Juergen Maier, CEO at Siemens.

Facilitated throughout by ex-Scotland Today presenter, Angus Simpson, the packed programme included panel discussions, industry-led workshops featuring some of Scotland’s most successful manufacturing companies and a networking Gala Dinner.

As a publicly funded event, sponsorship and exhibition income was key and we achieved major sponsor partnerships with leading organisations including the AFRC and HVM Catapult and a ‘sold out’ exhibition which included international companies such as Rockwell Automation, Tente and IFM Electronic.

One of our client’s main objectives was to achieve 400 senior manufacturing delegates on the day from across Scotland’s diverse manufacturing sector.  Using our wide network of Scottish manufacturing contacts – from industry through to manufacturing support organisations such as Construction Scotland, Scotland Food & Drink and Scottish Bakers – we achieved the full 400 delegates and had to close registration early due to unprecedented demand. Delegates included CEOs, Managing Directors and Operations Directors from across engineering, manufacturing, food & drink, life sciences, oil & gas, construction, electronics and aerospace.

As part of our promotional campaign, we contacted over 120 stakeholders to enlist their help, securing event listings, social media support and e-bulletin inclusions with organisations including the ADS Group, OGIC, KTN, HVM Catapult, Oil & Gas UK and Scottish Engineering.

Conference and Events

Speakeasy has been producing high-impact annual conference events and films for global investment firm Newton Investment Management for eight years.

Each year we bring to life a striking visual identity that shapes the overall look and feel of the conference, including delegate and guest communications; online presence; branding and signage; layout and staging and content development.
The theme of the 2017 event at etc. Venues County Hall, London – From Fake News to Artificial Intelligence – was about how technological disruption, from self-driving electric cars on our roads to android robots in our homes, is set to revolutionise our lives. Meanwhile, the political landscape is disorientating, with policies announced in tweets & elections fought on Facebook. Set against this backdrop, Newton’s intention was to enable delegates to cut through the noise of misdirection and uncertainty to offer perspective. The alien and monkey emojis created to establish the brand of the conference combined the latest social media trends with the age-old theme of the maxim of the three monkeys and its associations with turning a blind eye to impropriety.
The graphical theme ran throughout the venue to enhance the delegate experience from the moment they walked in with large branded banners, branded directional signage, branded registration desks, two large LED walls in the main conference room and a thought-provoking opening film to set the overall tone of the conference.
Our opening film engaged the audience from the outset and immediately captured their imagination and attention. Presented as an authentic public broadcast transmission, the film creatively intercut excerpts from keynote speeches and interviews featuring world leaders and technology billionaires – to create an alternative (fake) speech. This was augmented by ‘fake’ news captions and surreal compositions featuring emoticons, digital interference static and graphical typographical headlines. All these motifs combined to deliver an expressionistic, surreal and darkly comic event opener.
Previous event themes have included Space, Optical Illusions, Through the Looking Glass & Heads Together.

The European Group of Organisation Studies (EGOS) along with local organising committee, the University of Edinburgh Business School, commissioned Speakeasy to produce the 35^th EGOS Colloquium in 2019, bringing over nearly 2,500 academics specialising in the field of organisations to Edinburgh. The Colloquium was the largest conference ever held by the University.

Speakeasy worked with conference organisers to plan the complex agenda of plenaries, sub-plenaries and sub-themes, exhibitions and an in-depth social programme. We managed abstracts, sponsors and exhibitors, delegate communications and onsite planning and logistics. The project also involved managing delegates, suppliers, volunteers and stakeholders, organising audio-visual, signage and onsite requirements over the five conference days.

We also worked with the project team to make the colloquium as sustainable as possible, including switching to more sustainable materials, eliminating the distribution of traditional conference bags and reducing the production of printed materials, providing exhibitors will reusable water bottles, working with suppliers to use compostable catering items at events, and selecting menus which included locally sourced and seasonable products.

Speakeasy was awarded a 3-year contract in 2018 by Education Scotland for the management of the Scottish Learning Festival Conference.

Held at the SEC in Glasgow over 2 days, the Scottish Learning Festival and Exhibition is a pivotal event in the education calendar, inspiring better teaching and learning and helping created a confident teaching profession in the 21st Century.

Speakeasy were responsible for the conference element of the Festival which included the management of initial submissions for the sessions and the review process. Once the papers were selected, Speakeasy worked with Education Scotland on the design of the programme to incorporate up to 130 sessions and manage all the speakers and their requirements. In addition, we were asked to help create and deliver an exciting, engaging and interactive session for ‘STEM Live’ which was being held on the second day of SLF 2018.

For both the 2018 and 2019 conferences, we adapted the room layout and built a stage on the main floor of the auditorium so that we could create an inclusive environment. We designed and produced ‘festival chairs’ for Education Scotland where delegates got to build their own chairs for the keynote sessions and really made the sessions interactive and engaging.

The days consisted of a jam-packed programme of keynote lectures, parallel sessions and live demo exhibition sessions in between. The turnaround and build for each and every session required careful planning and both conferences were a roaring success!

In Numbers:
– Over 4,500 delegates over the course of 2 days
– 204 Sessions submitted
– 20 Themes
– 130 Parallel Sessions
– Over 105 invited speakers included school children from all over Scotland
– Education Scotland also commissioned Speakeasy to build an interactive and engaging Education Scotland stand for the conference exhibition.

15th International World Water Congress

The International Water Resources Association (IWRA) and the Scottish Government commissioned Speakeasy to produce the 15th International World Water Congress in 2015, bringing together 1,000 of the world’s pre-eminent scientists, academics and industry experts in the global water sector.

Speakeasy designed a conference website with secure online payment and worked with project teams to plan the complex agenda of plenary, parallel and special sessions, the exhibition and a week-long social programme.

We managed abstracts and iPosters, put in place a PR and marketing strategy over the 18-month planning period and produced all delegate communications. The project also involved managing delegates, sponsors, exhibitors and stakeholders, organising high-quality catering for 1,000 delegates over the five conference days and producing a video highlights film.

Touchscreens in the exhibition area allowed authors to include video and interactive content in their submissions to give delegates a richer experience. Distributing memory sticks of conference proceedings avoid over-dependence on paper to protect the environment.

Golf Programme

In 2015 and 2016, Speakeasy was commissioned by national tourism agency VisitScotland to design and build exhibition stands at a series of key international golf events:

• The Open, UK
• The Scottish Open, UK
• The Ricoh Women’s Open, UK
• BMW Wentworth, UK
• Solheim Cup, Germany
• International Golf Travel Market, Tenerife
• PGA, Orlando

The main aim of the golf programme is to create maximum awareness around the globe for the ‘Scotland – Home of Golf’ brand.

Engaging and eye-catching designs and screen content were used to attract golf enthusiasts onto the stands at the major golf events and allow the VisitScotland teams to encourage golfers and travellers to visit Scotland and its world-class range of golf courses.

Installations designed to immerse visitors in the Scotland – Home of Golf brand included a 3D replica of the famous Swilken Bridge at St Andrews’ Royal & Ancient Golf Club; big screen aerial footage of key courses and full-size graphics.

Group Leadership Forum 2017

FTSE 250 building supplies group Travis Perkins commissioned Speakeasy to produce its 2017 Group Leadership Forum. This brought together the leaders of the group’s 23 companies to update them on challenges and successes, and remind them of the group’s core values – their ‘Cornerstones’.

Speakeasy created a truly immersive experience that seamlessly promoted these key messages throughout the two days. Delegates entered the venue through an ‘experiential values corridor’, with Cornerstone messages visible throughout the hotel.

In the main conference room, we created a wraparound experience with the use of three screens to immerse the delegates in the content that was being presented. While the main screen projected the core content for each section of the event, side screens were used to highlight key messages. 

The commission included editing film content overnight for the group’s annual awards ceremony – and producing two corporate films for Travis Perkins which were presented for the first time at the Forum before being rolled out across the group.

National social housing provider Stonewater commissioned us to make a series of films on its supported housing for young homeless people and people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, or mental health needs.

Stonewater introduced us to four of its residents, including Jonathan and Amber.  With a profound learning disability, Jonathan was unable to look after himself and needed specialist accommodation. Wheelchair user Amber couldn’t put her children to bed, before Stonewater offered her a specially adapted home that allowed her to live as a family again.

Each resident tells their story in their own words, creating simple and compelling films. Portrait shots open each film, allowing the interviewee to connect with us directly.

Stonewater’s vision and the strapline for our films was: For everyone to have an opportunity to have a place they can call home.

Stagecoach is the UK’s second largest transport group. Its rapid expansion over recent years has brought challenges – with a constant requirement for new bus drivers being one of them.

Speakeasy was asked to create a range of social media films to support recruitment across the bus company, but with a particular focus on drivers. These films needed to be ‘real’ – Stagecoach prides itself on its ‘family’ approach – and the friendly, flexible atmosphere in many Stagecoach depots is a major factor in staff retention.

Our director and crew worked hard to create a relaxing atmosphere for the contributors, most new to the process of filming. By doing so, we uncovered some great, engaging stories – two couples who enjoyed life together at Stagecoach, one driver with over 30 years’ service. Good-humoured, conversational interviews delivered a feel-good atmosphere to the final films.

Speakeasy produced seven launch films and the first main launch event for the opening of the £1.35 billion Queensferry Crossing, Scotland’s biggest infrastructure project in a generation.

The brief was to create a visual spectacle that would attract international media attention; celebrate the work of the contractors involved and mark the handover to the Scottish Government. Speakeasy’s creative involved staging a dramatic night time light show that would be filmed by drones and helicopters and would showcase the bridge at its most striking.

Speakeasy had eight camera crews at strategic points across the site, as well as two aerial crews. We delivered seven films in total, including two overnight edits to provide footage for international media syndication. Six of the films were specifically for social media. Our main 1-minute launch film attracted 25,000 views within three days of the launch and supported the #LoveQC social media campaign.

Speakeasy was commissioned to produce a number of internal communication videos for betting and gaming group Ladbrokes. This included a film to raise awareness of the key features of its new intranet site.

The film had to fit with the company’s new internal communications brand, reflecting the spirit and excitement of the sporting activities with which the company is associated.

So we devised a lively and humorous treatment starring fictional employee ‘Geoff’, who guides us through the main features and benefits of the site while demonstrating his sporting prowess – or lack of…

The actor was filmed in a white studio with the intranet pages superimposed behind him in the edit.

The client was delighted with the finished product:

“The video… has exactly the level of humour and pace balanced with instruction. A really good interpretation of our brief. Please thank all involved, for me…

Drew McMillan

Group Head of Internal Communications

Speakeasy produces a number of regular news magazine programme for Lloyds Banking Group, designed to allow colleagues to share ideas and best practice, keeping up to date with new products and initiatives, and providing a platform for senior managers to relay the strategic direction of the Group.

Carrying their own unique branding, these channels include the quarterly ‘Straight Talking TV’ for Lloyds Bank and ‘Spotlight on Scotland’ for Bank of Scotland branch colleagues, CFTV for Consumer Finance and ‘Being There TV’ for the Telephony Division.

All these channels have developed over time in line with production trends, technologies and the strategic requirements of the Group. Innovations have included the addition of colleague presenters and User Generates Content (UGC), for which Speakeasy provides a full strategic service, including branded colleague guides, file transfer and editing facilities.

Events and Exhibitions

Speakeasy has worked with Food Standards Scotland since 2005, delivering public events of varying sizes. These range from celebrity cookery road shows with audiences of 800 to large scale exhibition stands at various consumer shows.

We plan each event with meticulous attention to detail, including the design and build of stand elements and management of stock – which extends to hundreds of individual publications, leaflets and giveaways. 

Speakeasy also delivers comprehensive technical and audio-visual support, including live camera relay on cookery demos; sound, lighting and vision effects on exhibition displays and design and operation of bespoke touch-screen games and information points.

Our key contract responsibilities include raising awareness of the agency as an independent, authoritative voice for all food safety and healthy eating; influencing attitudes towards food safety and healthy eating; increasing FSS’s social media following – and driving traffic to its standalone website.

Annual conferences

Speakeasy has been producing high-impact annual conference events and films for global investment firm Newton Investment Management for six years.

Each year we bring to life a striking visual identity that shapes the overall look and feel of the conference, including delegate and guest communications; online presence; branding and signage; layout and staging and content development. 

The theme of the 2016 event at the Landmark Hotel, London – Heads Together – was about bringing together some of the world’s leading financial thinkers to share ideas and reveal unique insights into the investment landscape. The theme of bees was chosen to reflect this sense of collective achievement and collaboration, with a hexagonal honeycomb motif at its core. Hexagonal projection screens flanking a central LED wall and a half hexagon thrust stage area helped reflect the concept of a hive or a forum. 

Our dramatic opening film combined highly rhythmic animation with quick-fire ‘kinetic text’ captions, an explosive percussion track and live action clips of iconic people, places – and bees. A series of short sting versions were produced to chapter-mark the four main sessions of the Newton conference. Engagement tools included a bespoke app and interactive voting.

Previous event themes have included Space, Optical Illusions and ‘Through the Looking Glass’ – a reference to the apparently contradictory states of the world.  

Arup is a global firm of consulting engineers, designers and planners, headquartered in London.

Speakeasy’s ‘Arup Fellows’ films aim to educate and inspire the internal audience by showcasing the achievements of engineers who are masters in their fields.

In previous years, the Fellows were filmed on location, at buildings they had played a part in developing. Then, we introduced CGI models to bring the buildings to the Fellows instead, in a stylized white studio.

In Series 3 we took the concept further by blending CGI with props and graphics to create an interactive context for the Fellows, bringing the creative process to life and externalising the ideas and conceptual thinking that have put them ahead of the game.

Lloyds launched a campaign to help make the organisation more inclusive and wanted a 60-90 second film to provide the emotive punch of the campaign. The aim was to help stimulate cultural change in an organisation of 90,000 people.

We built the film around the idea that even seemingly innocuous comments can cause serious hurt, building up over time until the recipient feels at ‘breaking point’. The image of a light bulb shattering captures this in a memorable way. We had a cast of five characters, and filmed them talking straight to camera, spot-lit against a stark backdrop, creating an intimacy with the audience.

Words Count became the most clicked on film in the history of Lloyds Banking Group’s iWatch channel, where it was watched by more than 22,000 staff.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks – the distribution arm of energy supplier SSE – wanted to overhaul its external communications for customers experiencing a power cut.

Speakeasy was tasked with scripting the films to provide accurate advice in an engaging, reassuring and accessible way.

Using friendly 2D animation, we created a rural village location and a small number of simple characters – Jack and Mavis and their dog Buzz.

The first of our films delivers advice on how to prepare for a power cut, providing a series of tips on what to expect and how to respond safely. The second film gives advice for those already experiencing a power cut, including how to connect with Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks

Speakeasy also created five shorter social media films, each offering one specific tip.

@ The Royal Highland Show

Speakeasy has been delivering Quality Meat Scotland’s Royal Highland Show stand for three years. As the lead body representing producers of pork, beef and lamb in Scotland, its remit is to promote high quality meat to consumers and stakeholders, speak on behalf of the industry and share best practice.

QMS’s stand has traditionally encompassed several areas and functions designed to appeal to, and engage with, a range of stakeholder groups. These include public access areas, regular cookery demonstrations and lounge and hospitality areas. Each provides informative networking opportunities for consumer, industry and policy stakeholders, with bespoke messaging for each. 

Unique aspects include the presence of live animals. This requires special understanding and experience. A key focus of Speakeasy’s brief is to oversee the safe wellbeing of stock, ensuring they are fed, watered and kept clean. 

Speakeasy provides a streamlined and experienced exhibition build service to deliver the QMS stand to the highest standards, consistently delivering over and above the brief with a dedicated team. 

And, as we work with the QMS team year-on-year, we’re able to suggest improvements, updates and refreshes to the core pavilion – keeping exhibits fresh and new for returning visitors.

Dinner and Awards

Scotland’s Life Sciences Annual Awards & Dinner is the UK’s largest life sciences award show, celebrating the successes and achievements of Scotland’s internationally-renowned life sciences sector.

Now in their 18th year and wholly owned and managed by Speakeasy Productions, this year’s Awards took place at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel, the first time the event had been held in Glasgow for over a decade.

Sponsored by a raft of leading organisations including the University of Glasgow, GSK, Concept Life Sciences and Symbiosis Pharma, and attended by over 750 of the leading players in Scotland’s vibrant life sciences community, this year’s sold-out event included a drinks reception, a three-course meal and post-event networking activities to help guests break the ice and make new connections.

Paul Wheelhouse MSP, Minister for Energy, Business and Innovation presided over the awards ceremony with seven prestigious awards presented in areas including innovation, investment, business leadership and collaboration.  Other highlights included a keynote address from Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak, Vice Principal and Head of College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences at the University of Glasgow.

Working closely with key figures in Scotland’s life sciences community, we updated the 2018 award categories to better reflect the sector’s rising stars and global successes. We also assembled the judging panel; oversaw the nominations and judging process and filmed all 18 finalists in various locations across Scotland.

Speakeasy devised a national marketing and communications strategy featuring social media; a dedicated event app; e-communications and a programme of weekly guest blogs. Press activity played an important role and early on in the campaign we secured a high-level media partnership with The Scotsman resulting in editorial and advertising in both print and online editions.

Speakeasy produced the event from start to finish including content development; speaker and sponsor recruitment and management; venue management including menu selection; stage set design and technical management and full onsite logistics. Our team also created an impressive opening film; designed and produced the printed Awards programme and sourced a variety of fun and unusual networking activities to entice guests to stay on after the awards ceremony had ended.

83.5% of all guests who responded to our survey rated the event as either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’.  Our host for the evening, Des Clarke, also scored highly with 80% of respondents rating him as ‘excellent’. One guest’s comment summed up the whole evening: “Great host, excellent speeches. Nice dinner. Great opportunities for interactions. Made me proud to be Scottish”.