The usual components of a Personalized Video are video, audio, photo and graphics files selected and organized to marry up with data about a specific person’s interests.
PennWest wanted something unusual. The new university is itself unusual, formed by a merger of three state universities in western Pennsylvania and a global online university. And it is launching in an unusual time for higher education when major changes are taking place.
The solution was animation. The vibe is cool and different. The visual style supports the message: “At PennWest, the way we educate is changing. And that’s a great thing! We are able to adapt to the world as it changes.”
As with all Personalized Videos, the creative process starts with a script and ends with data-driven deployment. But instead of selecting or shooting video assets, the team showed the client a variety of 2D and 3D animation styles, and an animator was chosen.
Collaborating with the creative team, our animator created characters and various campus scenes. It all came together in interchangeable segments with a dynamic voiceover.
PennWest Marketing Director Adam Reynolds is excited to add the animated Personalized Video to his team’s growing list of personalized communication vehicles. “Marketing with personalized assets lets students know we care about getting information to them in ways they are excited to receive it,” he said.
You can view the Penn West video here.
Meet our team member Pete Bretz
Pete is captain of the technology that drives Allied Pixel. He is the chief architect of our Personalized Video service, with oversight of the data, rendering, webdev, deployment and reporting teams. He also oversees our video rendering equipment housed in two data centers.
As Vice President – Technology, Pete has been an integral part of Allied Pixel for close to 25 years. He and I have been friends since high school and colleagues since the 1990s. In our roles as the business person and the tech person, I come up with ideas to grow the company and Pete figures out the execution.
In 2016, my idea to create a specialized niche in Personalized Video presented Pete with an intriguing challenge. At that time, video personalization consisted of “Hi [insert person’s name here].” Our vision was to go beyond variable text to true variable content— a broad array of dynamic elements that could be controlled individually and married with data.
It took Pete nearly a year to make the vision a reality. He adapted and integrated pieces of existing software to create a unique tool that allows us to produce the desired complexity. Then he designed the entire workflow, building in the scalability needed to serve clients who have target audiences in the hundreds of thousands.
Six years later, Pete is still expanding upon and automating various aspects of the technology. In his spare time, he’s an avid Philadelphia sports fan and musician.
We’re proud to work with these new clients
- George Washington School of Nursing
- WSFS
As always, I appreciate your thoughts and comments. Email me anytime: bill.haley@alliedpixel.com.
Warm regards,
