Supplement your instruction manual with a set of videos

Have you ever been on YouTube to search how to do something? It’s almost second nature these days no matter how big or small the task and, all being well, you can navigate to the best video and answer your question quickly.

The same is true if you have important information to convey about your product or service. While you could, for example, hand your customers a thick document of instructions and let them get on with it, they may prefer to absorb the information in a practical demonstration. And this is where video comes into its own. It may also save you from repeating yourself and answering the same questions over and over again.

Case study: Guidance on building with the PH15 system

If you want to build a low carbon, high performance home then the PH15 system from Passivhaus Homes is there to make life easy. It’s a system that has been developed to use low embodied carbon, bio-based materials efficiently so that reaching Passivhaus standard is virtually guaranteed every time. Think flatpack. Once you have gone through the design process your house is precision-cut off site and then all you have to do is assemble it. Even a good carpenter could build a house!

Regen Media’s role in the project

Passivhaus Homes wanted to explain some key features of their system in a set of short videos. Although this would never replace the technical documentation it would be another layer of the upskilling, building confidence and helping the construction team deepen their understanding of the process.

Strategy

Our approach was to make this a presenter-led series of videos with the founder of Passivhaus Homes Jae Cotterell. This was a logical choice on many levels because Jae has an encyclopedic knowledge of the system, a strong sense of what information to convey and is a confident presenter. Perhaps the trickiest part was waiting for the right opportunity. We needed to be midway through construction with all the right elements exposed and have the site to ourselves. Therefore we remained patient and tried to be as flexible as possible.

Challenges and solutions

As we often film on construction sites we regularly run into the challenge of noise. When recording videos you don’t want to hear radios blaring and equipment rumbling in the background, which can also make the production harder to edit, so this had to be after hours or at a weekend.

A quiet site provided a much better environment for the technical recording and put Jae at ease. We also decided not to use a script because Jae knew this material back to front and it would seem a lot more natural delivered off the cuff. A checklist was, however, important to make sure we didn’t miss anything.

With a lot of content to capture a key decision was to record complete takes in each set-up and not worry about little mistakes. These could be addressed in the edit with cutaways, etc.

Results

Passivhaus Homes now have these videos as something they can immediately share with customers. As their business is selling a system the videos just become part of their offering, adding to the professionalism and streamlining their process. There may be questions that arise from watching these videos and noting them down could provide a starting point for further content creation.

Building up a marketing archive

We have worked with Passivhaus Homes several times over the years and this generates a brand archive that they can draw upon for new purposes. Whether social media reels, exhibition stand monitors or as part of a presentation it is a massive advantage to have this footage at your fingertips.