Project SWIFT: We've all had journeys like this... [Cisco]

ROLE: Account Director/Senior Producer, Harvard

CLIENT: Cisco

My team worked on an exciting innovation project with Cisco around its new "Superfast-WiFi-In-carriage-for-Future-Travel” technology - Project SWIFT - which is revolutionising the train experience as we know it for both passengers and train operators. Tasked with producing a stand-out piece of content that resonated with a wide target audience - from rail operators to government officials and everyday customers – our strategy was to make it relatable and provide a human perspective, rather than one filled with technical jargon. We felt if we told the right story, the interested parties would make the connection and seek out the fine print.

Mirroring the 'Sliding Doors’ film concept, we created a short film which narrated the journey of a young business woman on her train journey home, showing the journey from two perspectives simultaneously. One featured SWIFT and all the benefits it brings; the other focused on the worst versions of a journey many of us have taken before…

With the client brief: "Google common rail issues", we focused on insights I had previously jotted down from conversations with their Head of Innovation Technology to choose three scenarios to demonstrate the major pain points in the current rail experience, using the film to highlight how those are being eliminated - all thanks to a trusty WiFi connection. I specifically helped concept, script, storyboard and coordinate the voiceover narration. I also co-directed the two-day shoot in Stratford-Upon-Avon at Cisco rail partner Vivarail’s train depot on a brand new train and sat in studio with the production company to direct the edit. 

It was the biggest video project our agency had produced at the time, and delivery was a beautiful two-minute 4K video, along with a subtitled version and three social cuts - one for each scenario. The client’s expectations were surpassed and the debut was a hit, both at events and internally. It was used to debut the technology at the largest rail conference in Europe, RailTex, and also at IoT World Forum 2017 in London.

Well-received externally via a small social media push, accompanied by a blog post, which garnered 148K collective media views across all channels in the first 2 months and 310K impressions. We’re now currently helping Cisco with a bigger digital and social strategy to optimise the video's reach and impact as Project SWIFT moves into a more general public and commercial phase of launch. This project earned us the trust with the client to produce an even bigger budget, 360 VR video experience for a new innovation centre it is opening in Manchester.

Listen to the podcast we produced about Project SWIFT as well here.