Creative Brand marketing agency The Frameworks sped up the script writing and storyboarding process by 2x after adopting WellSaid as their voiceover tool.
As Partner of The Frameworks, a creative brand marketing agency, Chris Beavis manages a large team of creatives, including video editors, copywriters, designers and developers. Specializing in B2B content for major enterprise companies like IBM, Adobe, Maersk, and Siemens, the team is frequently tasked with developing complex marketing content and brand strategies.
With many of the company’s resources going toward advertising assets and website development, they often outsource their video production needs before bringing the editing process back in-house, which can often get costly and harm their profit margin.
“If I send someone into a recording studio [for voiceover needs],” Chris noted, “It’s going to cost hundreds of dollars, which hurts our margin. As an agency, we make money by doing work as efficiently as possible.”
To increase their efficiency and save on cost, the team works to complete the script and storyboard and get client sign-off before outsourcing the voiceover so that they can do as few takes as possible.
“One bottleneck [in this process] is that you have to pause between finishing the script and completing the voiceover. You have to get the voice recorded [by an external vendor], get the recordings back, then edit them.”
However, the process isn’t always linear. The client may make last-minute adjustments, such as changing how a certain word is pronounced or tweaking their already approved script. In this case, a significant bottleneck is created in the production process. Video delivery is slowed down, and production costs are increased. Not only are there script adjustments, but the storyboard must be redone to reflect those changes, and the voiceover must be re-recorded.
“The last bottleneck is that once you’ve got the voice…there’s a difficult and sometimes awkward phase where, if [the client] is unhappy with the voiceover even though they previously signed off on the script, you have to go back and forth or even say ‘no’ to the client’s feedback.”
Chris said that the last thing he wants to do is say “no” to a client. However, with the current processes, sometimes it’s unavoidable to accommodate the client’s needs.
Chris knew they had to find a solution. They tested several AI voice platforms but found that voice quality was often subpar. That’s when Chris and the Frameworks team found WellSaid.
“Other AI voice generators are gimmicky with character voices or voices that aren’t good quality. We found that WellSaid’s voices were professional,” Chris remarked.
The Frameworks tested out creating voiceovers for a client project in WellSaid Studio, and saw an immediate improvement in not only voice quality but their ability to be more flexible when it came to implementing post-production feedback.
“When we tested it with [a client], there was plenty of feedback we were able to accommodate that would have traditionally been a nightmare. There was no way we could have done that if we had used [traditional voiceover]…it allowed us to have a more collaborative relationship with our clients.”
As a result of using WellSaid for voiceover creation, the team discovered that video production efficiency immediately increased, speeding up the script writing and storyboarding process by 2x.
“The revelation we had in using WellSaid for [video creation] was that as soon as we finished the script, we put it through WellSaid and had complete production-quality voiceover. This process took one day, where it would normally take a week.”
The overall quality of the content improved as well, as the team could make real-time edits to the storyboard and script based on how the voiceover sounded; something that would have been impossible via traditional voiceover methods.
“[WellSaid] is a game-changer because now our workflow is: write the script and finish the voiceover at the same time, then make real-time edits. After, we send it to the client for feedback and approvals, then make adjustments within days without the cost of sending someone back into a recording studio.”
When it came to the overall impact that using WellSaid had on The Frameworks’ production process, Chris mentioned that using WellSaid was “so much easier” and more efficient. WellSaid allowed The Frameworks to produce a high-quality video more quickly and at a lower cost.
“You know that classic Iron Triangle where you can either have something good, have it fast, and have it cheap, but you can’t have all three at once?” Chris said, “WellSaid disrupts that triangle. Speed, cost, and quality are no longer issues. When you use WellSaid, you can have all three.”
