Working with HDA Architects was a really exciting venture for us. First of all, it involved attending the National Beer Wholesalers Association convention in New Orleans. All of HDA’s biggest clients would be there, so, we could get all our interviews at one time. Arms twisted, we packed up our gear and headed south. I have to say, I really love traveling with our crew. I know their work and trust them implicitly, and there’s really no better way of ensuring consistent quality for our clients. Plus, these guys document everything—so if you’d like to know what the wood-fired oysters with chili-garlic butter are like at Cochon Butcher, I’m pretty sure we have more pics.
HDA’s clients include some of the most impressive distributors around the world (think Anheuser-Busch & Pepsi-Cola), but they are, at heart, family run companies. They were so great to work with (their clients agree), and I wanted to make sure that this aspect came through in all of their promotional materials we were creating.
At the convention, HDA introduced us to their clients—this could not have been a nicer group of people. I’d attribute it to something in the water, but this was an NBWA convention, so that something in the water was beer. They were so excited about the facilities that HDA had created for them. This kind of enthusiasm is gold on screen—it’s exactly the kind of footage we’re after for client testimonials.
“The impact it’s had on our employee morale has been huge. They love bringing their families in—they’re really proud of it.”
–Chris Sawyer, Partner, College City Beverage
We’d been contracted by HDA to produce three videos as well as an asset library. What’s great about the asset library is that we can create new content in the future using the material we captured during the initial production phase. This might be a video Q&A with a company executive. It could be an e-blast highlighting specialized or regional work. Or, it could be a motion graphics short for social media. Creating an asset library also shortens the turnaround time on these future projects. It’s a tremendous value to our clients (HDA loves having this!), and it vastly increases the content marketing possibilities.
The primary video we produced for HDA was a three-minute brand narrative. This is the piece where we’re really able to highlight the overall strategy and success of the company. HDA Architects is already specialized in the industry, but they want to expand. The brand narrative allows them to reach new clients in a way that other media simply cannot.
The short videos allowed us to focus on two individual projects—one in Del Papa, Texas, and the other in Kalispell, Montana. The location of Montana facility required a more nuanced design within the community; architecturally, it needed to harmonize with the surroundings. No small feat when you’re located just outside of Glacier National Park. So HDA incorporated natural stone and timber elements, inside and out, to complement the natural beauty of the region.
The Del Papa Facility, by contrast, was primarily concerned with efficiency—both the building’s energy consumption and the company’s production flow. We selected these two projects for just this contrast—to highlight HDA’s design range and capability.
Short videos are particularly suited for social media and online marketing. They’re easy to embed in a tweet (#welovevideoshorts!) or a Facebook post, and they can really work magic on LinkedIn. We’re already hearing about the great things they’re doing for HDA, and we can’t wait to see where they go from here.
“Working with StoryTrack was easy—they created exactly what we were looking for. Actually, they exceeded my expectations, which were very high to start with. I’d definitely use them again.”
—Patrick Holleran, Vice President, HDA Architects
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