Partnership

“We Are Severn“

Ever wonder how to go from the dreaded, “We should refresh our Admissions video”… to boasting an Award-Winning video on your homepage? 

We know it can feel like a daunting task to take on an admissions video project. From not knowing the first steps – “Who do we contact?” “What do we even want to say?” “What should it look like?” …to then, having to plan, organize, and manage the video production. School marcom pros often serve as communications unicorns – social media specialist, PR representative, graphic designer, digital marketing expert (amongst other things) – and on top of it all, Producer.

This is where Cottage Creative can help you and stands unique in our approach to storytelling.

Collaborative Partnership with Severn School

In the heart of Severn School’s strategic planning and brand refresh journey, Cottage Creative served as the storyteller to leave a lasting impact through videography. Severn School reached out to Cottage Creative with what they identified as two needs: a strategic plan introduction video and a brand kick-off video for the admissions team.

Strategic Planning with the Communications Department: 

We embarked on this multi-faceted project with support from Severn School’s Head of School and closely collaborated with the communications and admissions department throughout each phase. By working closely with the Communications department, we defined the creative scope and goals of the projects to ensure the success of our final deliverables. Severn’s goal? To leverage their brand refresh and authentically tell the story of the Severn experience for all students. You can read more about how we prioritize working really well with communications departments here. 

Strategic Filming and Collaboration:

After several listening and collaborative brainstorming sessions, Cottage Creative proposed an approach that would ensure audio and visual consistency, greater ROI through the strategic use of resources, and develop continuity of their visual identity through each video. While working together, we identified additional opportunities to leverage our footage and audio and support their strategic initiatives: 

• “We are Severn” Admissions video
• Strategic Plan Kick-Off video
• Admiral Fund Kick-Off video
• “Voice of Severn” video series
• Head of School Welcome video 

Plan and Produce an Award Winning Video:

Let’s talk about the “We Are Severn” Admissions Video. While we didn’t set out to win awards (that was icing on the cake!), we did prioritize the integrity of Severn’s brand, vision, and voice leading to an impactful and authentic video – worthy of celebrating! 

Severn School’s brand refresh needed to be present in everything we touched. To achieve this, we prioritized capturing authentic b-roll, relaxed and genuine interviews, footage that highlighted the landscape of the school campuses, concise but playful scripting, and a unique soundtrack. Our approach went beyond filmmaking; it was an immersive process. We worked with Severn to engage parents, faculty, students, alumni, and the board at every turn, ensuring that the community’s diverse voices were heard and celebrated. This inclusivity extended to the filming process, where flexibility and creative staging filled gaps in footage, offering a holistic view of the year, the vibrant campuses, and the community. 

By actively listening to our stakeholder’s feedback, we transformed their vision into a final product that not only met expectations but surpassed them. The result was a video that wowed the community – but more importantly, embodied the collective spirit and identity of the School.

To get in touch and learn more, please reach out to Alex – we’re excited to get started.