CLIENT BRIEF
Frontier Advisors needed a concise and engaging way to introduce its business, people and capabilities to new audiences.
As an institutional investment adviser, Frontier has considerable depth to communicate – from its history and experience to its people, research, technology and breadth of investment services. Today, the organisation advises across sectors including superannuation, charities and foundations, government, insurance and universities.
The challenge was to bring those different elements together without creating a conventional corporate video overloaded with information.
Importantly, the film also had a very specific role to play.
It would be used primarily at the beginning of presentations by Frontier team members – including major conferences and business development opportunities – giving audiences a quick understanding of who Frontier is before the presenter moves into the subject of the day.
The video therefore needed to be concise, polished and energetic enough to command attention in a room, while establishing the credibility and personality of the organisation.
OUR APPROACH
Rather than using interviews or a voiceover to explain the business, we developed the film around visual storytelling and animated text statements.
This allowed us to distil a considerable amount of information into a short, highly visual company overview.
Key messages appear progressively on screen, supported by dynamic editing, carefully selected music and footage captured across Frontier’s Melbourne office.
The result is deliberately different from a presentation slide deck.
Information becomes part of the visual experience – with typography, movement, pace and music working together to build momentum and give the audience a sense of Frontier before the presentation begins.
Putting People Behind the Information
While the film communicates facts about Frontier’s business and capabilities, we didn’t want it to feel like a collection of statistics.
Over the course of our work with Frontier, Visual Culture has captured an extensive library of footage featuring its team within their working environment.
That footage plays an important role in the film.
Seeing people collaborating, meeting and working throughout the office puts a human face behind the information on screen and reflects Frontier’s own emphasis on the depth and experience of its people. Frontier describes its people as central to the business and highlights the diversity of professional backgrounds within its team.
The combination of people, workplace imagery and concise messaging allows the film to communicate both what Frontier does and who is behind it.
Designed to Evolve
Company overview videos can date quickly.
People change. Businesses grow. Services evolve. Statistics that were accurate when a film was produced may no longer tell the current story.
We therefore created the Frontier film with adaptability in mind.
Because the narrative is driven primarily by animated text rather than recorded narration, key messages and information can be updated as required.
Our growing library of footage also gives us the flexibility to refresh visual content and incorporate new people, environments and material without necessarily rebuilding the entire film.
This has allowed Visual Culture to continue adapting the video over time, helping Frontier keep an important presentation asset current and relevant.
OUTCOME
The finished film provides Frontier with a concise introduction to the organisation that can be used before the team takes the stage.
In just a short period of time, audiences are introduced to Frontier’s history, purpose, people, capabilities and breadth of expertise – providing context for the presentation or conversation that follows.
Its text-led structure also means the film can work particularly well in conference environments, where the combination of large typography, strong visuals, dynamic editing and music can capture attention without relying on spoken narration.
Most importantly, it wasn’t created as a video to be produced once and forgotten.
By periodically updating messaging and drawing on new footage captured with the Frontier team, the film can continue to reflect the organisation as it evolves.
It’s a good example of how a relatively short corporate film can perform a very specific business function: setting the scene, establishing credibility and giving the presenter a strong starting point for the conversation that follows.
