Live Stream Pitch
What should you expect when you work with me?
Big ideas. Bold visuals. Versatile writing. Unexpected campaigns.
The pitch below is an example of what I offer from the very start.
CONTEXT
A pioneering video streaming brand asked me to pitch a conversion campaign promoting their webinar platform.
They went another direction, but I love the concept, so I wanted to share this window into my process and what my work looks like before the final product.
Out of respect for the brand and for the purpose of this presentation, I will refer to the brand and product as “Live Stream”.
CHALLENGE.
Encourage small-to-medium business owners unaware or fearful of changing platforms to switch to Live Stream.
SOLUTIONS.
Three concepts to consider, from familiar to unexpected.
Solutions.
Familiar
Unexpected
Unexpected
Familiar
When they opt to upgrade glitchy software, a user is transported to an abstract webinar realm in a Tron meets Last Starfighter grand adventure.
Unexpected
Familiar
Ron Burgundy meets Willy Wonka in the form of a host who guides us through an interactive museum / R&D facility for all things live streaming.
Dale, an alien visitor in a constant battle with human technology, embraces Live Stream to phone home and uses it as an example of human potential.
Level Up / Mood Board.
Vibrant. Wild. Adventurous.
The Webinarium / Mood Board.
Simple. Bold. Cheeky.
Outta This World / Mood Board.
Authentic. Approachable. Silly.
SELECTED CAMPAIGN.
Outta This World.
Campaign.
Unexpected
Familiar
When they opt to upgrade glitchy software, a user is transported to an abstract webinar realm in a Tron meets Last Starfighter grand adventure.
Familiar
Unexpected
Ron Burgundy meets Willy Wonka in the form of a host who guides us through an interactive museum / R&D facility for all things live streaming.
Familiar
Unexpected
Dale, an alien visitor in a constant battle with human technology, embraces Live Stream to phone home and uses it as an example of human potential.
Campaign.
Creative Strategy.
Outta This World.
From first contact to repeat engagement, Live Stream offers a simple all-in-one solution to host, post, cut and curate stellar webinars that deliver outta this world results.
Campaign.
Creative.
Outta This World.
A twist on the traditional customer testimonial format introduces Dale, an annoyingly lovable, yet obnoxiously techno-allergenic interstellar judge who uses Live Stream to "phone home" and report on humanity's fitness to join the intergalactic community.
Dale uses Live Stream to broadcast his experience and curate his adventures among humanity based on audience data and insights. He even edits his webinars on the fly and posts them next day thanks to the quick in-browser editing in Live Stream.
This unlikely audience surrogate is strategically designed to captivate viewers and address their concerns: Dale's foibles with everyday technology juxtaposed with an easy command of Live Stream will show users that there is no need to fear learning curves or procedural changes with our platform.
Campaign.
Who the heck is Dale?
Dale is a clumsy technophobic alien caught in a never-ending personal battle with basic every day human technology trying to take him down. They hail from parts unknown, for reasons their own. They're the neighbor who's always inviting you over; the friend who always offers a hand, even when you don't want it; the co-worker who can't stop asking all the questions that are definitely not ready to be found in that office handbook you didn't even know existed. They're beyond annoying. They're your best friend. They're also an interstellar reality star using Live Stream to broadcast their exploits among humanity to the cosmos.
Deliverables.
Campaign Hero Video
Explainer Style Video
Display & Video Ads
Landing Page
HERO VIDEO.
Hero Video / Treatment.
An omniscient narrator commentates as Dale runs a webinar to "phone home" and deliver his verdict as to whether humanity should be considered for invitation to the Intergalactic Entrepreneurial Mishmash or… face obliteration.
Cutting between webinar interface, BTS and b-roll, the video demonstrates Live Stream features as Dale exclaims that he was ready to give up on humanity, until he met a dog, who introduced him to Live Stream.
Hero Video / Script.
Close-up of an old computer screen with a DOS-style command:
> Webinar loading…
VO: Webinar blues got you down?
Loads of complex windows and panels pop up, filling the screen with prompts to “upload”, “select speaker”, “test microphone”, etc. Then errors like, “Can’t find camera.” The screen freezes and glitches. A pinwheel of death appears. The screen goes dark, leaving a reflection of lights and a vague silhouetted user.
VO: Well, there's a way around that. But don't take my word for it.
Cut to a reverse shot of Dale, alien infiltrator in a suit, seated in a cubicle, eagerly, hungrily, urging the wheel to stop spinning. Frustratedly, he bangs at the keyboard. The computer sparks, smokes, then sets fire. Dale yelps and flips a flower vase, pouring water all over the computer to douse the flames. He does a quick glance to make sure nobody saw and sneaks off.
VO: Meet Dale. He’s… still getting to know our technology.
Quick montage of Dale fighting common everyday human tech: an office printer hurtles reams of paper at him; a toaster explodes in his face, blasting ashy dust all over; Dale spinning in the window of an active washing machine.
DALE: You guys have no idea how hard it was to phone home from here. The buffering, the upload limits—in all the cosmos, I've never seen such sabotage! How do humans deal with it all?
Silly montage of Dale trying to use random technologies to cast his webinar and failing—we see him trying everything from talking to a tv to karaoke to scanning his face in the copy machine to getting wrapped in the cord and tripped up by landline phone to setting a mobile phone on fire in a microwave to talking to a parking meter to crashing a drone rigged with antennas.
DALE: I swear, I tried everything. I was beginning to think all their technology was just made for torture. They even lock themselves in these prisons they call cubicles during daylight hours.
Dale examines a cubicle, spinning in a chair, measuring the space, laying upside down on the desk.
DALE: I was ready to give up on them. I really was.
Back to the UI. Q&A chats are filling up.
DALE (responding to chat): Why didn’t I?
DALE: Have you heard of dogs? I swear, they're the true masters of this world.
Dale walks along a city street, where he comes across a Live Stream employee walking a dog. He plays with the dog, then looks up to see Live Stream's logo.
DALE: Well, I met this cute one. They introduced me to Live Stream. And... [Dale pauses to give a Chef's kiss]… If I didn't know better I'd think we'd created this. [Beat.] We didn’t, did we?
VO (deadpan): Nope. Live Stream was built right here on Earth. By us Earthlings.
Shot of the Earth rotating gently in space.
Back to Dale.
DALE: Well, Live Stream changed everything.
A BTS shot shows Dale queuing up b-roll video for the webinar on his laptop. We cut into the video to see Dale and friends breaking apart tech to build his antenna. A dog ferries buckets of new tech to them.
DALE: Turns out these humans are pretty crafty when you give them a chance. We got the [insert kitschy name for a cosmic alien satellite dish] up and running in no time. All it took was a little help from my friends.
Back in the webinar view, Dale introduces new speakers. They wave.
DALE: Allow me to introduce the team.
FRIENDS (many voices): Hi! So cool. Outta this world! Are you really an alien?
DALE: Okay, I'm just gonna edit that one out for the final version…
Dale reverses the video and edits the webinar, then we cut back to Dale talking to camera.
DALE: There you have it, folks. It is my esteemed opinion as local supervising magistrate at large for the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy that humanity deserves further consideration for inclusion in the Intergalactic Entrepreneurial Mishmash. No need to extinguish them yet.
VO (coughs): Ahem, what’s that now?
Dale smiles. The screen freeze frames and we zoom out a bit as a heat map analysis overlay appears, showing viewer engagement spiking on that line.
DALE: Oh, lookie! That line was a hit.
VO: About that extinguishment thing…
DALE: Nothing to worry about.
VO: But—
DALE: Look at that, our time's up. What should I explore next?
A poll pops up on screen:
1 - Technology Dangers
2 - Food Tastings
3 - Dogs
Dale pops back on screen.
DALE: This is Dale, reporting from Earth. Tune back next week for—
A blur crosses the screen. Random nonsense types in the chat. All goes haywire.
We cut out to see a cat crossing Dale’s desktop, meowing. He jumps back.
DALE: Infernal creature what have you done?!
Cut to a Title for Live Stream set over stars. A UFO circles the logo.
VO: Host outta this world webinars for stellar results, with Live Stream.
A dog in a spacesuit enters frame and speaks. It's our voiceover, personified.
VO / DOG: Proudly made by Earthlings. Woof!
Outta This World / Video Tests.
Authentic. Approachable. Silly.
Outta This World / Extras.
Depending on production technique—for instance, if Dale were performed by an actor in a costume—we could allow for ad-libs, improv, and a wide variety of extra footage that could be repurposed into quick-cut high impact social reels, spinoff content and static graphics.
Below are some initial ideas for additional social assets that could be derived from this video.
Cutdowns
Montage of tech failures set to music
Montage of Dale building his satellite
Montage of Dale operating a webinar
Spinoffs
"Dale from Earth" webinar series, hosted by Dale
"Office" style sitcom starring Dale; with printer fights galore
Stills
Webinar in action
Dale outside Live Stream
Dale's Webinar BTS
EXPLAINER VIDEO.
Explainer Video / Overview.
Grounding our campaign in the every day realities of the local Earthling customer, we introduce an every day entrepreneur whose webinar hasn't been performing up to par.
A narrator with impeccably timed deadpan delivery guides our webinar host from livestream limbo to out of this world results as we cut between vibrant title cards, simple hand-crafted tabletop set pieces, stock footage metaphors, behind the scenes webinar footage, product demo shots and a cameo from Dale to show the benefits of Live Stream for customers.
A CTA and link at the end of the video drives viewers to learn more.
Explainer Video / Treatment.
1 - The Challenge
We open with a timelapse of a User hosting webinars on automatic repeat. Results are flatlining. The audience isn't growing. The User's excitement dims.
Our VO chimes in, "Uh-oh, looks like you're stuck in livestream limbo".
2 - The Solution
Our voiceover guides the User to imagine a better solution: "What if I told you running a webinar could go from feeling like this," cut to a shot of an Apollo era NASA mission control room, "to this?" Cut to a finger sliding the throttle forward on a Star Trek style pilot's interface, followed by a shot of a spaceship warping into hyperspace.
We have a quick interchange between the User and the VO as the VO introduces "A better way to Webinar: Live Stream."
3 - The Demo
We explore the product. Show the User exploring and putting the product through its paces. “But what if I want to ____ ?” the User asks. The VO offers a solution, demonstrated on screen.
Our user welcomes a guest—it's Dale, the alien—and a semi-transparent graphic overlays an improving analytics graph as the VO says, "First contact is the easy part. So we built our product to encourage repeat engagement"
We end up with a speechless, flabbergast, user, to which the VO offers a solution: "Can't find the words? Don't worry, we've got words for you." A title card of WORDS on repeat floods the screen. We cut out to see real sentences typing in a demo of the teleprompter feature, which the user then voices over.
4 - The Benefits
Our VO prompts the User to imagine the results they'll get with Live Stream, and the benefits they'll experience. I.E., a tabletop prop shows a plant growing vibrant as metrics increase around it, or stock footage shows a spaceship exploring the cosmos, etc. as the VO calls the benefits into focus: "Take your webinars to the stars with in-browser editing and AI tools."
5 - The Conclusion / Call To Action
We end with a call to action encouraging the user to test out Live Stream, repeating the campaign slogan "Host outta this world webinars that deliver stellar results".
Explainer Video / Mood Board.
Authentic. Approachable. Silly.
DISPLAY & VIDEO ADS.
Display & Video Ads / Treatments.
Concept 1 - For anyone. Anywhere.
VISUAL: We start with the glitchy webinar opening fro the social video.
VISUAL: Dale sets the computer on fire, then douses it with flower water.
TITLE: Webinars should work for you.
VISUAL: Webinar view of Dale talking to camera.
TITLE: Live Stream. Webinars for anyone. Anywhere.
Concept 2 - Phone Home
VISUAL: Quick cut montage of Dale’s adventures attempts to master human technology, ending with him roped up in a landline phone cord and falling over.
COPY: Phoning home? That’s hard. Stellar webinars? Simple, with Live Stream.
ALT COPY: Interstellar calls? Hard. Stellar webinars? Simple.
Concept 3 - Outta This World
VISUAL: Open with a giant RKO style radio tower rising from the
curvature of the Earth, sending out radio waves.VISUAL: A UFO swings by.
TITLE: Outta this world webinars. Made right here by Earthlings.
Concept 4 - Contact.
VISUAL: Webinar view of Dale speaking.
VISUAL: Quick cut/zoom to show engagement analytics and stats.
TITLE: From first contact to repeat engagement.
TITLE: Stellar webinars that deliver out of this world results.
Live Stream logo.
LANDING PAGE.
Landing Page / Overview.
Anchored at the top by a spattering of speckled stars, the visual journey of our landing page guides us to land on Earth, playfully reinforcing bits of Dale's story with items such as Dale popping waving from behind the header video, a scrappy UFO and a dog in a spacesuit floating by at one point. Meanwhile, the copy, videos and GIFs pinned across the page provide down-to-Earth balance, addressing visitors with clear and compelling copy and real-world examples of how the product will benefit them.
Landing Page / Details.
Above The Fold
Main Header: Host out of this world webinars.
Body: Lead your webinar from livestream limbo to stellar results from the all in-one command center designed to take you live, and beyond.
Below The Fold
Subject: Analytics
Header: From live, to beyond.
Body: Real-time analytics to track engagement and chart user interest so you can edit and post the best version of your show.
Subject: Speaker management.
Header: Beam up your crew with confidence.
Body: Manage guest speakers effortlessly—invite, organize, control the mic, or transport them away with just one click.
Subject: Post-Production.
Header: Edit, polish and post at warp speed.
Body: Cut out awkward moments, clean up unwanted noise and navigate your webinar by automated transcript to launch your finished video all from within your Live Stream dashboard.
Subject: Accessibility.
Header: Inclusively designed for a universe of viewers.
Body: Reaching everyone, no matter their needs, has never been easier. Put your audience front and center with built-in accessibility features including real-time captioning and screen-reader compatibility.