We are The Ideas Studio, a creative content agency for healthcare with a specialism in film and digital video.
What do we do?
Case Study: Award-winning campaign for Roche and Anthem PR
The challenge
When Roche and Anthem PR came to us with a brief to encourage people to keep their smear test appointments, it was clear one of the biggest challenges was that the procedure is uncomfortable for many patients. Research also showed hesitancy amongst specific communities, including those of South Asian heritage, trans men, and women experiencing menopause.
Our approach
Cervical screening campaigns often gloss over the discomfort of the procedure, but, working with Anthem PR, we decided to flip the script, and confront the issue in a frank and honest way. Acknowledging what smear tests are really like (often awkward and uncomfortable) we knew we could make something more persuasive than if we pretended these realities didn’t exist.
The result
We developed a format that centred around open and honest conversations and then cast outgoing contributors from all over the country, making sure we represented those groups most hesitant about getting screened.
The result was a film that was authentic, emotional and funny, and that took off on social media. Roche called it “creative and thoughtful” and it won a PM Society Award and Communiqué!
Who are we?
My name is Brendan Miller and I am the Creative Director of The Ideas Studio, leading the team of producers, editors and animators that put together each project.
I started my career in current affairs television with many roles on BBC and Channel 4 programmes, such as being Series Producer of Question Time, the BBC’s flagship political debate programme. I then moved to digital video where I created the award-winning Things Not to Say, one of BBC Three’s most successful and award-winning video formats.
My experience in both traditional broadcast and the new world of social video has helped me understand how to make content that is high-quality and that attracts large audiences.
Who we’ve worked with
We have worked with everyone from traditional publishers like the BBC and The New York Times to brands like Astellas, Roche, UCB and Sanofi, making emotional, intelligent content that has connected with tens of millions of people.
Case study: Viral video series for BBC Three
We have strong experience in using short films to understand different communities and patient groups. An example of this is the award-winning series for BBC Three called Things Not to Say.
Each episode featured people from a different group talking about the misconceptions they face and sharing insights about their experiences. Instead of speaking as victims we encouraged and presented them as empowered, confident and funny.
Some of the experiences covered in the series included autism, down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, stammering, facial disfigurement, blindness and being HIV positive. (Watch more videos)
The series was hugely successful with audiences, with episodes consistently going viral on social media and accumulating tens of millions of views. The series went on to win a Broadcast Digital Award and a Mind Media Award.
Case study: Explainer for Oxford University
We regularly make explainers at The Ideas Studio for health clients. By bring together journalistic rigour, strong scripting skills with compelling visuals to make explainers that are clear and well… not boring.
In this case study the client was Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science, who had developed OpenSAFELY, a new way of discovering medical insights from patient records.
The challenge was to come up with a way of communicating the benefits of this project, whilst also reassuring the public that their data was kept secure.
To help solve this problem we came up with an animation style that framed OpenSAFELY as cute and friendly and mixed this with clips of Ben Goldacre talking to camera, in a style that was clear and engaging.
Selected other projects
A lot of the projects we produce we can’t share publicly but here are some other films we have produced for clients such as The New York Times, the BBC, and campaign charity, 38 Degrees.
