Corporate video for train operator c2c

Project details

Client: c2c Rail (National Express)
Type: Train operator
Location: London & South Essex
Date: Autumn 2014

Purpose of the video:

To launch c2c’s new fifteen-year franchise, they wanted a video to support their communications activity.

c2c’s parent company National Express was awarded a new franchise term by the government during summer 2014, with the new franchise starting in November 2014.

The video was seen as a good solution to convey the company’s investment plans in an engaging way. c2c was also expanding its use of social media at the time, so short videos formed part of this new communications strategy.

How we made the video:

We made use of resources within the company wherever possible, which included using some video footage taken on a smartphone. The voice-over was also recorded using one of c2c’s own station announcers at London Fenchurch Street station.

Once c2c had approved the script, we started sorting through the raw footage and assembling the animation sequences. Various video and audio editing packages were used, including the industry-standard Adobe After Effects software, which is used by all major broadcasters (e.g. BBC, ITV, Channel 4).

The results:

The finished video is 2 minutes 30 seconds long, with the key points shown earlier in the video.

Analytics from YouTube showed the average viewer watched the video for 1:42, which is a very strong result and much higher than the norm.

As well as public use, the video was used for internal training and at stakeholder events. It was also played on a continuous loop on a welcome screen at the company’s reception for over a year.