To help AstraZeneca launch an ambitious employee referral programme, we created an animated explainer video that captured the imagination of its global workforce.

Background

To continue to push the boundaries of science, AstraZeneca relies on experienced individuals with curious minds, who constantly embrace the company’s culture and values to achieve their full potential.

Always searching for people who are committed to science and passionate about playing their part in helping patients, AstraZeneca embarked on a global employee referral programme.

Challenge

As part of the internal engagement campaign we helped our client develop, we were briefed with creating an animated explainer video.

The animation would help launch the initiative across AstraZeneca’s locations, so it had to inspire and engage a global workforce, immediately capturing their attention and enticing them to immerse themselves in the employee referral programme.

Solution

A departure from tradition, we chose the audio track before work started on the animated explainer video.

Audio helps with transitions, introducing new sections and keeping momentum throughout. This helps maintain the audience’s focus and energy, and inspires them to take action.

Paying special attention to continuity and the way elements are linked, the animated explainer video achieves a constant and seamless thread, taking the audience effortlessly through the different steps in the referral process.

The style is simple yet powerful and effective. Different visual elements – striking science imagery, brand colours, graphic elements, people photography and clean white backgrounds – help identify the various stages within the animated explainer video, keeping the audience engaged as they absorb the process they need to follow to refer someone in their trusted network.

The +1 campaign identifier, created by our studio to support AstraZeneca’s global employee referral programme, leads the story.

The identifier is a lock-up of two components – +1 and descriptor – and perfectly encapsulates the message our client is trying to transmit: “invite someone special to something special”. The concept translates across different languages and cultures, supporting consistency and unity across AstraZeneca’s global workforce.

Within the animation, the +1 identifier is dynamic, moves in and out, transmitting a sense of action and energy to the audience. First an outline, it is later filled with colour. Layering adds depth and also aids with movement.

The juxtaposition of people and science imagery is the central visual theme for +1. People are at the heart of AstraZeneca’s leadership in healthcare.

The tone of the script we provided is confident and positive, and speaks directly to the audience; straight to the point, focused on action.

People images were carefully selected to represent a cross-section of AstraZeneca’s global workforce. 14 personas inspire familiarity and invite the audience to identify themselves, and those in their trusted network.

Throughout the animated explainer video, our team changed the scale and position of every individual character, giving them all equal prominence.

The introduction of colour and simple visual devices helps visually structure the animation, maximising the audience’s understanding of the global employee referral process.

The animation was a success for AstraZeneca globally. As well as the employee referral programme +1 identity, and the launch explainer animation, we also produced brand guidelines, leaflets, pull-up banners, posters, badges, and email templates. Branded office environments have also contributed to the success of the initiative.

(*) – An edited version has been included here for illustrative purposes