Sandwich Video: The company that makes nearly all startup videos
sandwichvideo.com
sandwichvideo.com
However, I have to admit, if I was forking out the big cash for a sandwich video for my startup (https://commando.io), I'd insist to not star Adam, because it is somewhat distracting from the message of my startup. He is basically everywhere, and it sort of gives me a strange (but negative) sensation of devaluation of the startup. Am I the only one who feels this way?
I suspect the vast majority of viewers are in the same boat, especially if your product's audience isn't startups.
Perhaps, something akin to actors getting typecast into certain types of roles throughout their careers (grumpy-bloke, evil-bitch, hipster-douche, vaporware-shill).
BTW, these are just examples and not a reflection on Adam Lisagor or his work!
I do have a reputation for picking strong contenders, and that has probably been my best asset in bringing interesting new projects. If it starts to happen a lot, that my clients fail to deliver on the promises they ask me to make, then I have to adjust. But for now, my track record is pretty shiny.
For the record, I've liked your work since the days of the first Square video. If I were Roger Ebert, I'd say: "Two thumbs up!".
Now, one last question, who do I write to for an autographed DVD with all your vids? (Or even some shiny autographed schwag from some of the strong contenders?).
Why, if you must ask, is because advertising is a personal interest of mine and you are creating your own new niche there.
For some reason when I see a startup video I associate the main "actor" as the CEO/founder vs when I see a TV commercial for some MegaCorp I instantly know they are actors.
Maybe it is just a bad stereotype I hold of beard+glasses = techie
Your best approach is to go in an entirely different direction.
That seems like a very inside baseball concern. I really doubt your typical consumer has any memory of the actors in a typical consumer web product video. I mean, going through this list, I've seen a lot of these videos over the years and didn't realize they were all made by the same people until it was pointed out here. I'd also venture to guess that he appears in a lot of them to cut the costs of the video. More people involved in making a video means higher costs.
I'm nearly 100% positive is it intentional that Adam stars in most of the videos, and it not due to cutting costs. It is calculated marketing and probably a requirement by Sandwich. Their clients: Ebay, Groupon, AirBnb, Square, Coin, Warby Parker, Jawbone, and Lyft can afford to pay for an actor or actress.
commando.io is a server management tool. I would imagine it's fairly likely that a nontrivial percentage of their customers (developers) pay attention to startups.
* - wait, isn't that the guy from that 1-in-all credit card startup that got featured on HN about 6 months back? ...I thought he was an employee or owner of that biz. - *
I couldn't remember the startup's name, but I sure did recognize the guy's face. And associated the startup's brand with something that is being used on many other projects.
But then again, 99.95% of the people that view these vids might not be in the HN or startup space.
Do you think you could create a video that would help us do that?
They explain both on their How It Works page: http://sandwichvideo.com/how-it-works/
That said, when a project with a small startup without much capital is interesting enough (read: first of its kind, first to market, best in class), there are other arrangements to be made. We figure out some sort of equity and/or revenue share with more than half of our clients, where it makes sense to forego some of our markup and other fees in exchange for opportunity to participate in the future success of a product.
Heh, I first become aware of Sandwich with the Navdy posting yesterday, I wasn't even aware of the other videos.
My initial reaction from the Navdy thing was, hmm, this is a very likable talent they have there, they guy is impossible to hate (unlike say, Justin Long), and (script aside) very good and casual in explaining this thing.
So, then I checked the company who made the video, and I was surprised seeing you're also the director, plus, you're in tons of other startup videos you've made. So, I found that cool and amusing, hence the post.
That being said, there's a lot of other very innovating and smart videos made by other studios/startups, and if you're curious about them, a good place to check out is http://startup-videos.com (disclaimer: I'm one of the cofounder of the site).
Also - it's free to list a project.
Sandwich video are f* awesome, but not every startup can get a video there.
It was short and simple shots of making coffee. There is no narration, hardly any music. Subtle stuff.
However, I'm not sure this style really works well with all their clients. I watched a bunch of their example videos, and in some cases where the startup's fundamental concept is... welll.... kind of weak, the combination of a super slick video with a dumb startup idea tends to make the latter's flaws reallly stick out. It ends up seeming as if the video is mocking the startup rather than trying to sell it....
Also I can't remember if Adam does this, but most the industry will have different price tiers based on what you want to do with it. Running something on your homepage is a whole different ballgame compared to homepage + TV ads.
We made a video with €3.5k, by contacting a local theater / cinema center, and got overwhelming positive feedbacks with the result. In retrospect, we are very happy with the quality/cost ratio.
I'm linking it here so that people can judge the difference in quality (which is visibile, but worth 10x the cost?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODFHTN45vmo
Two things that struck me were the lighting (amateurish) and the DOF (or abundance of it).
Difficult, and probably not that well advised, but..
Sure the 1-in-all credit card is so funny and powerful that I can remember the story and what the actor (Adam) kinda look like. That's because the actual selling product resonate with the viewers and the ad itself is both dramatically and realistic.
You probably can arrange your contract with Adam such that you can be the voice while his team does all the acting. Think of Apple's videos, usually Jon Ive is the one talking (probably due to his English accent) and his appearance only last 1-2 seconds in the video.