RFI & TSF • SaaS awareness campaign

strategic planning • brand management • creative direction • video production

Video production for CCLplus service understanding

I had the opportunity to lead a project for over 5 years commissioned by FS-Ferrovie dello Stato [the Italian National Railways] through TSF-Tele Sistemi Ferroviari [now Almaviva] and RFI-Rete Ferrioviaria Italiana [FS Group]. I supported them in creating awareness of their CCLplus system, the platform that monitors and manages train circulation across the whole of Italy, and delivers up-to-the-minute information to all the touchpoints, from control rooms to platforms.

In order to accomplish this goal, I designed and – in collaboration with diverse teams – delivered a multi-audience awareness campaign composed of a series of targeted videos focused on selected Italian train stations.

The videos produced have played a crucial role in communicating the functionalities of the CCLplus system to all the stakeholders, from management to customers. In addition to that, the videos have been an invaluable resource for RFI top management, allowing them to visualise and analyse how the hardware would impact the aesthetic of historic stations before the implementation of the CCLplus system on site, addressing their concerns about the system’s impact and helping inform decisions.

N.B. To honour my non-disclosure agreement, I have omitted and hidden confidential information in this case study. All information in this case study is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of RFI, TSF, or other companies involved in the project.

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Project duration

5 years

Business goal

SaaS awareness campaign

Industry

SaaS • transportation

Brief Analysis Strategy Awareness Campaign Test & Deliverables Results & Impact

Brief

RFI, one of the companies of Gruppo FS-Ferrovie dello Stato [Italian National Railways Group], needed to create awareness of CCLplus system, a complex combination of software and hardware created by TSF for monitoring and managing train circulation, delivering continuous real-time updates. The SaaS solution customises these updates based on the type of touchpoint to which they are delivered and their target audience, differentiating the type and content of the messages based on the area, the railway station, and/or whether they are addressed to operations room staff or passengers.

RFI faced a multifaceted challenge. First of all, they needed to promote the great innovation brought by CCLplus by communicating it to an extremely diverse audience of stakeholders which included everyone from top management to passengers. Simultaneously, they needed to overcome the resistance of some stakeholders to the implementation of the SaaS solution, raising awareness regarding the absolute priority of the project. In addition, they were looking for useful tools that could support the management in estimating the hardware requirements of each station and determining optimal hardware placement. The hardware positioning was especially crucial for the historic train stations, protected as cultural heritage by the relevant superintendence of fine arts.

At the time I was co-founder and senior brand strategist at Queimada, a small integrated communications agency that was making itself known for its ability to use creative methodologies and unusual tools to design and communicate business innovation. My agency was therefore involved in the project with the goal of defining a strategy that would promote CCLplus effectively while addressing various challenges. I was the project leader and strategic planner of this amazing and complex operation.

Analysis

The discovery phase was focused on collecting documents, data and information about the CCLplus system and a selection of railway stations, those which the project impacted most. My research team focused on gathering materials regarding the train stations, and the CCLplus official presentation materials. Simultaneously I concentrated on understanding the service design of the system and investigating the roots of the resistance exhibited by certain stakeholders.

As the project leader, I personally selected and interviewed the CCLplus key stakeholders, guiding them in explaining:
the functioning of the system as a whole
their role, or their company’s role, and contribution to the project
their point of view regarding the strengths and weaknesses of CCLplus
their insights regarding how the CCLplus solution was perceived by other stakeholders

I also orchestrated focus groups with local interest groups to gather their perspectives and possible concerns regarding the implementation of the CCLplus system.

As a result of this analysis we gained a fairly comprehensive idea of how the system works. In addition, from the stakeholder interviews and the focus groups, I learned that the perceived “resistance” to the CCLplus implementation was based on lack of communication regarding elements necessary for informed decision-making.

This and the fact that all the people involved needed reassurance that the hardware setup wouldn’t damage the historic architecture of some of the train stations, already protected as cultural heritage. Their concerns usually arose from a difficulty in visualising the results of the CCLplus implementation – especially in terms of hardware positioning – before the actual setup was in place.

The findings of our analysis, summarised in a comprehensive report, were instrumental in shaping our strategic approach and selecting the most appropriate media to include in our campaign.

Strategy

I designed and delivered the strategic plan for the project, this included:

a summary of all the analysis findings
defining key values and features to highlight communicating the CCLplus system
the identification and segmentation of the target audience into smaller more consistent groups, each associated with the type of information on CClplus that they needed to acquire and understand
ideas and suggestions for how to translate main characteristics of the SaaS in easy-to-understand concepts even for non-experts
the schematic reconstruction of the CCLplus service design [service blueprint]
a strongly data-driven awareness campaign concept ideated with the support of the creative team applying both divergent and convergent creative thinking techniques

Awareness Campaign

The multi-audience awareness campaign strategy included the following elements.

The creation of white papers, case studies, and presentations

These served as an important asset to communicate the technical features of the SaaS solution to the top-management and various interest groups.

The marketing materials content strategy

Each document was tailored to the target segmentation outlined in the strategic plan. The strategy included specifications for document structure and format, the crucial pieces of information to be incorporated, the specific tone of voice to be used, and guidelines for the type of data visualisation and images to be included.

The production of a series of videos

Our proposal was to create two different sets of videos.

One was intended for platform display and a broader audience, including train station users. This first group of videos were conceived to be produced as a mix of live action and 3D animation and would use storytelling to explain and simplify how CCLplus technology works and improves the experience of both passengers and railways staff, from booking to arrival at their destination.

A second series of videos targeted RFI management and other interest groups. In this case, the focus was the aesthetic impact of CCLplus hardware on railways and train stations. The concept involved creating virtual tours of the train stations while the production would include a mix of live action, 2D animation and 3D props. Using the expedient of the before/after effect, each video would focus on showing the various environments of the station featured in the clip both as they were and as they would look after installing the new technology, so that it was easier for the viewers to visualise the hardware positioning and evaluate its aesthetic impact on the historic buildings.

Test

In order to test the appeal of the awareness campaign concept and to determine the most appropriate style to use in the videos, together with the concept, 3 potential scripts and storyboard hypotheses were presented to the stakeholders.

For each major city station involved in the project, members of RFI management, along with representatives of local institutions and frequent passengers assessed and evaluated the creative ideas and the storyboards. At the end of the planning process all the subjects involved were satisfied with the message, style, tone of voice, and deliverables of the awareness campaign and their feedback was unanimously positive.

The videos were themselves a test of the CCLplus hardware positioning in the train stations.

Deliverables

Analysis and strategic planning report
Ongoing strategic consulting and creative direction
Cross-functional teams coordination
Marketing materials [including white papers, case studies, and presentations]
Concept adaptation and script for each video
Video storyboards
Casting, crew and sets organisation
3D props creation according to FS institutional brand guideline, including the stationmaster brand mascot
Video production and post-production

Over the course of 5 years we produced a number of videos, the most important and appreciated being the ones related to the main railway stations in Turin, Monza, Bologna, and Milan.

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Alessandra Colucci & Vincenzo Bernabei - set

Results & Impact

I had the chance to lead the RFI/TSF project for over 5 years. My role involved assisting in promoting awareness of the CCLplus system, a SaaS solution overseeing and managing train circulation across Italy, providing real-time information to various touchpoints, from control rooms to platforms.

This project was inspiring and fun. I loved every minute of it: from the in-depth interviews with stakeholders and users, to brainstorming ideas about how to narrate the story of each railway station; from script to casting; from office meetings to freezing sets.

I coordinated and directly contributed to the analysis stage, and personally designed the overall campaign strategy. I was also responsible for the creative direction of all the marketing materials so as to assure their consistency with FS brand guidelines.

For me, the best part of the experience was the opportunity to lead and manage really diverse teams, different [at least in part] for every railway station we needed to cover: engineers, architects, screen writers, 3D animation designers, motion graphic designer, cinematic crews, graphic designers, and many more professionals. Some were core team members, others contributed occasionally.

Throughout the entire project duration, I executed the comprehensive multi-media awareness campaign targeting diverse audiences. At the core of the campaign was a series of videos strategically crafted for different purposes. Some focused on storytelling the functionality of the CCLplus and aimed at railway station users, some concentrated on representing the aesthetic of the train station buildings before and after the CCLplus installation.

The videos produced for platform display played a significant role in communicating the innovation brought by the SaaS solution, facilitating an understanding of how the system operates and enhancing the overall experience for everyone involved, from FS staff to customers, from booking to destination.

The second set of videos, designed for FS management, local interest groups, and other stakeholders before the CCLplus on-site implementation, proved to be an invaluable resource for decision making.

The before/after virtual tours of the station enabled these participants to visualise and evaluate how the hardware would impact the aesthetics of historical stations, protected as cultural heritage by the superintendence at fine arts. This addressed their concerns about system implementation, helping them to make well-informed decisions.

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