Animation communicates advanced, modern recycling

GENAN

If the question is how to communicate complex information to many different target audiences, animation may well be the answer. Recycling company GENAN in cooperation with advertising agency Happy and animation company Tumblehead has created an animated film that manages to communicate complex information in a way that is both easy to understand and meaningful.

GENAN is the world's largest tyre recycling company. Through a complex process, the tyres are taken completely apart and reduced to rubber granulate, steel, and textiles that may be used as raw materials for a broad selection of products. GENAN enjoys considerable success in selling its various services worldwide, but explaining the many steps of the process is complicated – not least because GENAN deals with several distinct target audiences.

Companies facing challenges like GENAN's have traditionally relied on text-heavy PowerPoint presentations and other static means of communication to explain their business. Such methods of communication are often perceived as heavy-footed, however, and GENAN wished to employ a more immediate and meaningful communication.

The Animation Hub as a match-maker
This is where the Animation Hub entered the picture. The innovation network acted as a match-maker and set up cooperation between GENAN, the advertising agency Happy, and the animation company Tumblehead. After some initial meetings at which GENAN's business and needs were presented to Happy and Tumblehead, Happy and Tumblehead drafted a possible communications solution for GENAN.

The solution consisted of a three-minute animated film that clearly conveyed GENAN's message: that by recycling tyre materials, they may create raw materials that are able to compete with new raw materials. And that the recycling is environmentally optimal – and makes sound business sense.

The informational film was produced in modules so that GENAN may take elements from the film and use them in other contexts. For instance, selected clips may be used in presentation material, and the figures used in the film may be taken out and used in other media.

"Animation can communicate complex information in a simple way that is easy to understand", says Peter Smidt of the solution created by Tumblehead in cooperation with Happy and GENAN. With animation, complex and dense elements are made concrete in such a way that many different recipients would immediately be able to understand the message. In addition, animation is perceived as a meaningful form of communication because the characters in the film provide the message with images and emotions.

Animation, however, can do a lot more than that. GENAN operates in a fiercely competitive market, and the company was consequently not interested in showing precise accounts of the exact workings of their production line. If the information material had taken the form of e.g. a real film, visualising the process would have been hard. This is another great advantage of animation.

"We can simplify the individual elements of a process pretty quickly so that you can easily perceive what it's about – but the elements do not correspond entirely with reality", explains Peter Smidt.

Cooperation with creative companies
When GENAN entered into cooperation with Tumblehead and Happy, two items were prominent on their agenda. First, the creative level had to be high. Secondly, however, and equally importantly, the creative companies had to deliver on time and within budget. On both counts, GENAN has nothing but praise for the cooperation.

"Tumblehead met us with genuine curiosity and openness towards our thoughts and ideas – while offering creativity on a very high level", says Lars Raahauge, Director of Business Development at GENAN. "This curiosity helped raise the quality of the final product, because it allowed us to draw from both their creativity and our knowledge. That certainly also heightened the process."

GENAN themselves primarily see the film as an informational film that may help spread their message on recycling at a high international level.

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Comments (1)
Helt enig
Det er fremtiden med at vise det via animation

Mvh.
Kristian, http://animu.dk