The Story of Anglo American’s COVID-19 Response Video
How does a $30 billion company share its response to a global pandemic in a way that connects emotionally with employees, shareholders, and business partners?
That’s the challenge global mining company Anglo American faced when it worked with Investis Digital to show how Anglo American’s 90,000+ employees and contractors have been making a difference during COVID-19.
Safety is at the heart of all that Anglo American does. As society is facing the greatest threat to global health in a century, Anglo American is doing all that they can to safeguard its people and their families.
“Re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives.”
As a leader in responsible mining, Anglo American plays a vital role in delivering support to its host communities. The company’s wide-ranging efforts in response to this pandemic are directed at where support is most needed, very often in terms of basic services like providing hospital facilities and tens of thousands of food parcels in remote areas around their mines.
These actions are consistent with the company’s ethos, “Re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives.” Anglo American wanted to demonstrate the impact of its actions while thanking the incredible commitment of its employees. But how do you show the scale and scope of the company’s actions in a way that humanizes the brand and connects emotionally?
Anglo American Gives Employees a Voice through Video
We decided to give its employees a voice through video. Creating a video that captured some of the faces and voices of Anglo American employees would bring their story to life with an impact that no other format could accomplish.
Our approach was to create a collage of video snippets of employees discussing how inspired they are to help – and how the company is helping to improve people’s lives. We couldn’t depict all employees inside a 1:45 minute video - but if we crowdsourced representative videos from the different regions of the world where Anglo American does business, we could represent their stories.
Pulling off a global video shoot during a global pandemic presented its share of challenges. Our creative team could not travel anywhere to shoot footage due to the pandemic – so it was impossible to manage quality control in each country where we sourced the videos.
In addition, some Anglo American locations had more complete video production resources than others – but we felt it important to include as many faces as possible, even if many employees involved had only a mobile phone to tell their stories.
We reached out to employees in different countries and narrowed the participants to a manageable number. Then we distributed a script with specific speaking parts assigned as well as a creative brief. The scripts focused on words of inspiration, not information.
After all, faces and voices create emotional impact – not dry statistics.
Magic in the Preparation
It’s been said that the magic in film is in the editing. But for the Anglo American COVID-19 response video, the magic came in the preparation. By setting up employees for success with a script, a creative brief, and clear instructions we received incredibly powerful submissions from countries ranging from Brazil to South Africa.
Our team assembled the footage into one seamless video that reflects the passion, commitment, and can-do attitude of Anglo American’s people, whether they’re flashing their smiles or speaking with their faces covered by sanitary masks. We showed them on job sites. In their homes. With their dogs. Giving each other “air high fives” from a safe distance. We showed them caring. Helping. And connecting. As one employee in the video said, “We will come out of this stronger.” Stronger, indeed.
Impressive Results for Anglo American
The video was shared on Anglo American’s socials, including Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Within a few weeks, the video achieved more than 100,000 views, which is an impressive number for the mining industry and exceeds the number of hits to the Anglo American website over the same period. It has also been shortlisted at the Digital Impact Awards, the Communicate Lens Awards, and the Corporate Content Awards.
But views and awards alone don’t tell the story of the emotional impact. We are most proud and moved by the viewers who told us how the video moved them. “I’ve got goosebumps,” says so much more than a view.
As team leader Mark Senior said, “The emotional power of this video is just beginning to be felt. All it takes is one view to inspire action. Anglo American is in it for the long haul. Anglo American wants to make a difference.”
Contact Investis Digital
To learn how we can help you tell your story with video, contact us. In addition, Mark Senior recently discussed how we shoot videos during the pandemic. Read Mark’s blog post here.