Project + BTS: The Fischer TV Advert we did

We are proud to say that we have just finished a TV Advert Production for Fischer Electric that will be aired on ITV (video at the bottom of the blog). In terms of the advert, the remit was simple: targeting working, career-focused men and women with money to spend on home refurbishments.

About Fischer

But first, we will start by explaining a little bit about the company we have just worked with: Fischer Electric. The company sells products and services they are really passionate about, like in this case electric radiators. Rated 4.7 on Trust pilot they have serviced thousands of customers across the UK and Europe with their range of electric heaters.

In the past, Fischer had produced an animated 30-sec advert which ran for a number of weeks across ITV UK and ITV Scotland. However, for 2022 they wanted to move away from their current TV animated advert to a real-life one featuring everyday people, but why? People who see people on screen can better connect to them. It’s why focusing on your key demographic is so important – it lets the viewer relate to the people they see on screen.  It evokes the feeling of “That person is just like me.”

What we at Impress produced

That is when we came in. We helped them produce a narrated storyboard that outlined the flow of the 30sec advert scene by scene highlighting the locations, actors, blocking (on screen action) and approach.

Our pitch was simple, we storyboarded an outline and presented what would happen in each scene. We described the scene, setting, ambience, key characters and the flow of the advert with a narrator.

Winning a TV advert tender is one thing. The prep and planning really is something else!

After a 5 day wait we were awarded the project, the feedback was that our brief fell in line with what they were looking for, an educational video targeting and showing their key demographic/s 40+ audience.

Fischer and the team loved the presentation, we were in the running with another 2 agencies. But Fischer told us the main reasons why we won the project:

• We were able to present two homely scenarios where they only thought of one
• The clients’ original vision of the homely setting was clear to us
• We were able to share an animated home within the 30secs
• Our visuals were easy to understand and worked in time with their voice over script
• We could deliver the advert within the required budget.

After having got the green light from Fischer, we got the green light from ClearCast for the Fischer Script.

Location and Set Design

The company Fischer is located in Leicester, the East Midlands, so we set about finding a location in the Midlands. We found a great location in the Derby, an open plan house in Melbourne. Filming in the Midlands is the best, you can park at 0 cost, but among anything else, logistically it’s a dream to get from A-B within minimal traffic compared to bigger cities like Birmingham and London.

Then, we attracted the right talent with industry rate performance fees which included buyout fees. Here the client had the chance to choose their ideal performer for each part of the 30sec TV Advert.

The next stage in the process was ‘set design’. Usually it is really easy to promote a product or service in a lovely open home. However attaching electrical radiators to a locations wall was going to be a no go for this project. We saw ourselves a bit restricted as we could not alter walls in locations when they belong to other people. But you should know, if you are building a set anything and everything is possible within budget. Here larger companies with TV advert spend generally opt for studio and set designs for a number of reasons but mainly because they can manipulate the location as much as they like.

But what did we ended up doing? We had our set builder create 2 walls using one stand, this took approximately 2 days to create in our studio. When the paint was dry we transported the building set to location. The set build included:

• Wooden frame
• Plaster boards
• Skirting boards
• Plug sockets
• 2 different colours for walls

The right team

With the budget being between the £10-£15k range, our skeleton crew for the Fischer TV Advert consisted of:

• Producer/Director (Me)
• Cinematographer
• Effects supervisor
• Set Designer
• Makeup artist
• Onset Dog handler (as required by ClearCast)
• Runner
• Behind the scenes videographer

We filmed the 30sec TV advert using the Red Komodo 6k Cine-Camera with prime lenses and Aperture LED lighting. As always filming was a breeze as we followed our storyboards and the days shooting schedule to plan. The actors delivered great performances and our onset dog Arthur was a dream to work with too and worked so well with Caroline.

Our dog handler

In her statement to ClearCast our independent dog said:

“The scene was Arthur the labradoodle, resting on a sofa. He was such a good boy too and the welfare was impeccable. Arthur was given access to roam, toilet and rehydrate when he wanted to do so. No animal welfare concerns at all.”

Post-production edition

The edit for the advert was straight forward too, we followed the initial plan to detail and lay down the edit which included:

• Shots and scenes following Storyboards
• Music specifically composed for the advert
• Grading of advert
• Animations
• Final export

Here comes the magic

After our first edit the client changed their minds about some of the set design in our first scene, as they wanted to remove plants and change the wall colour. But this was easy for the team to handle, as we are also specialised in visual effects.

All the above including the behind the scenes and special effects approach can be seen in the following video:

The TV advert ran on ITV UK and ITV Scotland for two weeks. The advert is due to run again later this year. Apart from the final video, we provided a Digital package of the advert, which included the 30sec advert edited for different social media platforms, like YouTube and Facebook. But not only we did that, but we also produced a 15sec version of the advert for them.

Overall this is what we call a successful project and having checked in with the client 2 months after the airing of the 30sec TV Advert the response and client interest has been great. We will be checking in later this year too to compile the data from the audience engagement inline with inquiries.

As with all clients Range Marketing and Fischer provided us with a glowing Google review: