ExtraHop - The Ministry of Cyberdefense
ExtraHop is the leading provider for network detection & response (cybersecurity). While their leadership in the category has not changed, the conversation about network security is constantly evolving. This introduced a problem for Marketing: how do we create compelling video content that can also be highly adaptable after we publish it?
Our solution? We created a set of illustrated fictional characters that could serve as instructors for various educational content. Leaning heavily on new experiments with generative AI tools, our characters could be animated faster than traditional illustration and animation techniques - and adapted incredibly quickly if solution messaging needed to shift. That also meant shorter production timelines - and a longer shelf life for the content.
As an added bonus, our characters would be more visually interesting than a traditional talking head video, which has stopping power in a social media feed.
To test the use of these characters, we got started with a set of simple ads (not videos). A carousel ad is really just a series of frames - not unlike a graphic novel. We ran with that idea to create carousels that are more engaging for audiences.
But this campaign was always designed around a set of videos that could bring detailed, longer form education to cybersecurity leaders.
To bring our characters to life, we leveraged nearly ten different GenAI tools spanning: character design, voice cloning, and many aspects of the character animation. The videos were designed to work in 30s, 60s, and long format versions (over 2 min) for use across channels like their website, LinkedIn and YouTube.