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.

CreekGolf 2024

Following their Mission

Chatting to Indian Creek School’s Director of Development, Tyler Larkin, we were offered an opportunity to produce a Thank You video for their upcoming Creek Golf Tournament. We didn’t know what to expect.

We’ve worked with schools, we’ve filmed events and tournaments, but we were still getting to know what Indian Creek is all about – we were still in the beginning of our mindful listening journey.

Indian Creek is the premier independent school in the Annapolis area where KINDNESS is currency, WELL-BEING is priority, and EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION is relentlessly pursued.

What we experienced was incredible. It was living proof of their vision embodied in the families, faculty and staff. The competition was live, but friendly and encouraging. Everyone on Preserve’s 18-holes was there united around the Creek students and their mission:

To inspire authenticity, connection, and curiosity so every student can pursue their full potential in scholarship and in life.

Combing through the footage with their mission in mind made the Thank You story come to life. Inspired by ESPN announcers and sports documentaries, we developed a script with ICS’s team – Communications Director Tiffany McCormick and Director of Development Tyler Larkin – to keep viewers engaged and curious “whats next?” 

Coupling event footage with a “voice from the cloud” voice over, we could place the Head of School in the middle as a “field anchor” to read the powerful stats, and put a face to the Thank You message. We were sure we were onto something after the first draft when Mr. Larkin replied, 

“This is impressive.”

After sifting through the day’s footage to find highlights and moments, we started looking for the right music track, laying out footage selects, and then moved into laying in the voice over. Using AI to help, we were able to update the voice over in real time as we changed the script, accompanying footage, or needed to adapt timing. The AI tool saved a tremendous amount of time going back and forth to a microphone and recording software and quite a few dollars from a budget. Our exploration into AI tools has helped us stay ahead of the curve and maintain competitive prices in the market.

We produced one CreekGolf 2024 Thank you video as a quick turnaround to help ICS maintain the energy and momentum of the event, and delivered vertical and horizontal (social) versions to aid in their distribution.

It was a pleasure to work with Indian Creek and we’re excited to work more with them in the future.

We’re excited to learn more about how we can help you expand your reach, and crush your goals. Reach out to Alex@CottageCreativeHouse.com to start our conversation – we can’t wait to hear from you.

Inspired: silver Award

Hot Off the Press

Annapolis, MD: Cottage Creative won a 2023 Silver InspirED School Marketers Brilliance Awards for Severn School in Severna Park, Md. this week for its “We Are Severn” project in the only international competition that recognizes excellence in private and independent school marketing and communications. The Brilliance Awards are sponsored by InspirED School Marketers, a community that provides “brilliant ideas and brain food” for private school administrators worldwide. 

The entries were judged by a volunteer panel of 88 marketing experts from around the world who are professionals in private schools or businesses that specialize in private school marketing. The entries were scored on originality, persuasiveness, copy/script/dialog, visual elements, execution, and overall appeal.

“Most remarkable to me, in making this video with Alex and his team, is how well they listened – truly listened – to what we hoped to achieve. The final product exceeded our expectations and could only have been achieved with a team of professionals who care deeply about getting it ‘just right’.”

– Kim Slade, Severn School | Director, Enrollment Management and Outreach

Check out our category, our silver, and the talented teams we share the podium with We Are Severn | 2023 Silver. And congratulations to all of the 2023 InspirED Brilliance Awards winners.

Cottage Creative is an award-winning video production company, who calls Maryland home. We aspire to illuminate the unique essence of each client we partner with, employing mindful listening and strategic storytelling to foster a culture of engagement, understanding and growth.

Our goal is to empower our clients to achieve their dreams and resonate deeply with their audiences, creating a lasting impact.

To learn more, or find out what its like to be one of Cottage Creative’s partners, please reach out to Alex Glass at alex@CottageCreativehouse.com.