YHA Digital Strategy: Case Study Video Production
An interview led YHA digital strategy film for Wildfire PR and Acquia, supported by a second customer journey shoot and motion graphics.
Turning a digital partnership into a human story
Wildfire PR and Acquia wanted a film explaining YHA England and Wales’ digital partnership with Acquia and Microserve.
The subject combined technology, organisational change and customer experience, so the narrative needed first hand voices and scenes that connected the platform work with a real YHA journey.
Stakeholder interviews and a filmed customer journey
We interviewed YHA Head of Digital Jon Smith and Ecommerce Manager Ben Griffiths to form the narrative spine agreed in the creative briefing.
A second day at a youth hostel supplied customer journey mini narratives, which were combined with the interviews and motion graphics in post production.
In numbers
Video production for YHA’s digital strategy
YHA England and Wales was moving from a fragmented group of websites to a unified digital platform. Acquia and digital agency Microserve led the historical migration from Drupal 6 to Drupal 8.
Wildfire PR and Acquia commissioned us to communicate that partnership through film. The story had to connect technical change with the people making it happen and the customer experience the new platform was designed to support.
A creative briefing established the narrative
The process began with a creative briefing that identified the central story and the people best placed to tell it. This gave the production a clear editorial route through a project involving YHA, Acquia and Microserve.
The finished structure kept each organisation’s role distinct. YHA could explain the operational need and customer experience, while the technology partners provided the context for the digital work behind the change.
Stakeholder interviews formed the spine
We interviewed YHA Head of Digital Jon Smith and Ecommerce Manager Ben Griffiths. Their first hand contributions formed the narrative spine agreed during the briefing.
The interview led approach gave the film authority and a human pace. It allowed the people closest to the work to explain the strategy, implementation and practical decisions in language shaped for an external audience.
A second shoot followed the customer journey
A second production day at a youth hostel created short narrative scenes around the customer journey. The location material gave the interview story a physical setting and connected the digital platform with the experience of planning and taking a YHA trip.
Those mini narratives also gave the edit visual movement between contributors. The building, customer activity and journey moments made an organisation wide digital project easier to understand on screen.
Interviews, mini narratives and motion graphics
During post production, we combined the stakeholder interviews with the customer journey scenes and motion graphics. Each element had a defined job: interviews carried the account, filmed scenes showed the experience and graphics supported the digital subject.
The result was a focused piece of case study video production for Wildfire PR and Acquia, built around YHA’s own people and places.
Digital platform results with clear ownership
Acquia’s YHA customer story reports a 200% increase in website traffic, a 30% increase in mobile traffic and a 60% decrease in bounce rate. It also records delivery of the new site in under four months.
Those figures measure the wider digital platform project delivered by Acquia and Microserve. Our role was to produce the film that explained the partnership through stakeholder interviews, a customer journey and motion graphics.
For practical planning advice, read our guide to starting with the right brief. Explore our Intelex customer films for related production work.
Frequently asked questions
Who commissioned the YHA digital strategy film?
Wildfire PR and Acquia commissioned us to produce the film about YHA’s digital partnership.
Who was interviewed for the YHA film?
YHA Head of Digital Jon Smith and Ecommerce Manager Ben Griffiths were interviewed to form the narrative spine.
How many production days were used?
The project used an interview shoot and a second day at a youth hostel for customer journey mini narratives.
What results did the wider YHA digital project achieve?
Acquia reports website traffic up 200%, mobile traffic up 30% and bounce rate down 60%. These figures describe the digital platform project delivered by Acquia and Microserve.
