HTX's weirdflexbutOK - how I would rework the KVs

🥴💪🤔👌

The #wfbo campaign

As part of my organisation's recruitment efforts for the Jan-Apr'22 round of our HTX S&T Associate Programme, the team worked on a fun and quirky campaign that centred around a hashtag: #weirdflexbutok!

The overarching campaign narrative was to spotlight talents so passionate about S&T that they "live and breathe" it, by applying their expertise in unconventional (read: weird) ways - and to say hey, HTX is a place where they could pursue their passion and contribute to a meaningful purpose. This narrative is brought to life in the following video, which ran as ads on various social and digital platforms.

This campaign was an integrated one that included out-of-home platforms. Adapted from the campaign video, the KVs featured the same talents and scenarios:

• An engineer accepting a delivery package using a hologram.

• A scientist decorating a cake with a multi-channel pipette.

• An engineer walking a dog by flying a drone attached to its leash.

I thought it would be a nice challenge to take a stab at "reworking" these KVs and share what I might have done differently!

My personal take on the KVs

Unfortunately, with amateur skills and limited resources at hand, I'm unable to deliver mock-ups that would perfectly reflect what I have in mind. I'll have to rely mainly on words to communicate that across, which may not be as effective! (note to self: brush up on Photoshop skills haha)

There are 3 main things I would change:

Visually emphasise and exaggerate the weird flex.

For a campaign that centres on the #wfbo hashtag, it makes sense for the weird flex to be the first thing that grabs the viewer's attention. In terms of photography direction, we could make use of perspective to emphasise the weird flex - which means giant hologram, giant multi-channel pipette, and giant drone with dog in the foreground. This effect is somewhat achieved by the original drone KV.

I would also "spell out" the weird flex. It's weird, so it is natural that people might not get it on first glance. So why not make it easier for that lightbulb moment to happen, by having it written explicitly into the copy?

Keep the copy concise and readable.

In the original KV, there is a paragraph that expounds on the campaign message and HTX. Keeping in mind that these are for out-of-home platforms (bus stops, MRT doors etc.), viewers are unlikely to scrutinise such chunks of text for various reasons, whether it is lack of time, accessibility or interest.

By stripping down the copy to a bare minimum, the message could be more effectively delivered. And if the viewer is captivated and ready to find out more, they can then scan the QR code or visit our website.

Introduce a tagline that viewers can "hear".

"Weird flex" and "HTX" end in rhymes, and not by coincidence. It felt like a wasted opportunity to not have a CTA that incorporated that - something like, "Own your weird flex. Join HTX." (Other iterations include "Embrace your..." and "Hone your...")

There were other considerations that led up to the final tagline, including the need to nuance a career with HTX as a meaningful and purposeful one (therefore, "Flex your potential where it matters."), and this was important for the organisation as it was something that sets us apart from other organisations in the S&T industry. Still, from a pure creative standpoint, I would have went with the rhyme :P

And just for fun, I added a little Easter egg in each KV - 🥴💪🤔👌. Initially, my idea was to introduce social media elements to tie in the use of the hashtag. For example, having the scientist peer out from an Instagram post, with heart button icons, and the string of emojis incorporated seamlessly into the KV as chat messages. The only reason why I didn't attempt it was time (spent my Sunday working on this!) and no control over the photos (more specifically, the photo angles) I'm using :")

Bonus - Multi-channel pipette for efficient hotpot sauce-making?

One of the brilliant ideas that came up during the brainstorming session (for the campaign direction) was to have the scientist use a multi-channel pipette to make the dipping sauces we usually have with hotpots. Personally, I thought it would be more interesting to feature this scenario compared to the baking one, since HDL and BIAP are such trendy places to visit and would definitely capture attention among our TA! It would have been an interesting scene in the video as well, to have the scientist customise sauces for her group of friends with the pipette while they watch her curiously, and maybe even have the dancing noodle man in the background doing his dance while sending her weird looks haha.

If you happen to be a recent or soon-to-be STEM graduate looking for a meaningful career in a vibrant organisation, why not check out the HTX S&T Associate Programme? The current application round is open till 30 Sep 2022!

Weird flex but kthxbye.