SideCar 32 :: videos

motorcycle moto ride road trip Rent Algarve

🙶 SideCar 32 is a small family business

with a fleet of Motorcycles, Scooters, and Bicycles

available to give you the best tips, suggestions,

and places to visit in Algarve.

We take pride in not just renting...

we rent experiences!" 🙸

— how the client describes itself

____________________

tHE CHALLENGE

SideCar 32 works in motorcycle rentals since 1999.

In order to be known as a solution for those who would like to visit Algarve on two wheels, this company from Lagos, Portugal, decided to improve its communication in 2017 with a new visual identity, a new store decorating, a new website and two videos:

— a promotional video to be shared on social media — It should stimulate the desire of enjoying a motorcycle trip in Algarve and to get know SideCar 32 as a point of reference for motorcyclists and motorcycle lovers who go on holiday in Algarve and Portugal.

— a catalog video to be displayed on the store screen — It should present its range products and help its customers and potential customers to choose their vehicle and accessories.

RECAPU would make those videos and I would add and highlight relevant information with animated text and graphics.

The concept

In the promotional video, we will follow a one day trip of a group of friends in the Algarve's countryside and coast. The journey starts in SideCar 32, Lagos, where they rent their motorcycles and equipment. Delighted with the experience, they don't return the motorcycles on time.

In the catalog video, the products are not presented in action and it contains shots from the promotional video.

THE COMMUNICATION

To get a better picture of visiting Algarve on a moto, RECAPU created a possible dialogue between three friends. The speech is informal and shows the fascination for the discovered landscapes. The sound design helps to understand it's possible to chat with our fellow travelers with an intercom which can be rented in SideCar 32.

In the catalog video, the communication is more formal.

The main language should be English but these videos should be also accessible in other languages such as Portuguese and German.

/// Logo presentation

Looking to its name, you would imagine that SideCar 32 has sidecars but it doesn't have one.

Although the name is not the best, I thought its new logotype could be very interesting in an animation. It could highlight that the company is related to means of transport with two wheels.

My ideas for the logo animation

Logo animation for the situations we just want to show the logo

/// Products presentation

The beginning of the promotional video shows us 3 people with a different motorcycle. First a wide shot and then some close-ups of the motorcycle.

I was asked to show motorcycle model names in those close-ups and show their specs when those motorcycles were moving but the time span between those shots (between 30 and 40 seconds) wouldn't be helpful to associate the specs to the model. Although using a custom color for each motorcycle was helpful to remember and distinguish them, it would be clearer if the specs were showed just after the model's motorcycle. Moreover, those first shots were the best shots to appreciate those machines. And on the other hand, the motorcycle specs would be hard to read in few seconds if the text was lying on the road in the requested shots.

In the text animation, I wanted to transmit the velocity and the power of the motorcycles, but it would only work in the promotional video because if it is overused, it becomes excessive and very intrusive. In addition, this flash text would not be suitable for showing road bikes, for example. As a consequence, it should be smoother and subtle in the catalog video.

Animated styles: promotional video (left) VS. catalog video (right)

/// Location

The logo should appear in a big size in the front of the landscape of Lagos but it would break the story of the promotional video. So I decided to show it a subtle way and inside the context of the story in the beginning and highlight it just in the end.

The story shows us one of the group motivates his friends to visit Algarve on a moto, so I thought the location could be presented as a sent message to those two friends: an invitation with geographic coordinates.

The idea of tracking a pin to locate the store was good (we used the pin that SideCar 32 already had) but the text "We are here" was very formal so I suggested the message could be more exciting like "The adventure starts here".

In the catalog video, I had to change some things. People would watch it in the store and therefore it was useless to show where Lagos is on the map. Instead, we should welcome them for visiting Lagos.

To generate curiosity and comments about the filmed places, I suggested we do not show their names in the video.

Animated elements: promotional video (top) VS. catalog video (bottom)

/// Key messages

The text messages emphasize our invitation to motorcycle lovers visit Algarve. They must be short, emphatic and should not be misunderstood.

"Come ride a moto in the tail of Europe with SideCar 32" may not be a good expression to locate Algarve in Europe, because "being in the tail of Europe" is often associated with being in the last place ranking of something in Europe. If the client has good sentences like "Two wheels move the soul", we should use them.

These messages appear sequentially before we show the logo and contacts of the company in order to not break the rhythm and to end the video with a call to action.

The vintage aesthetic is a tribute to the motorcycle culture.

/// Contacts

SideCar 32 has a good presence on Facebook and it appreciates and asks its costumers to write an opinion on TripAdvisor. Thus, it would be relevant to mention it is on Facebook and it has testimonials that prove its service quality.

Instead of presenting all contact details at once, which could let your attention wander, I chose to show them individually and integrated into these videos.

In jest, RECAPU wanted to show an employee waiting for the group to receive the rented motorcycles and equipment and it thought to picture that with crickets chirping and an animated clock ticking. To avoid misunderstandings like "It has no customers", one of my suggestions was to give voice to the employee's thoughts ("Where are those guys?") and to justify the group's delay with an opinion on TripAdvisor.

/// Other contributions

Equally important, I recommended:

— do not mirror some shots — These aesthetic transformations could motivate dangerous driving;

— change the song — The first song of the promotional video didn't express adventure, it was disconnected from the story and it would make sense to have a song with a rock mood, with a moderate rhythm;

— add environment sound — Videos with environment sounds are more surrounding. Listening to the motorcycles, the countryside, the sea, ... stimulates to travel in our memories and makes us wish to experiment the same sensations;

— add sound effects — When they are associated to text animations, they become good triggers to pay attention to the information. Plus, they treat text like characters.

— add captions on social media (Facebook and YouTube) — The dialogues would be only in English, so it would make no sense to create a video for each language which the difference would be the footer text;

— improve the text posts on social media — People don't want to watch your ads, they want to watch stories. So avoid announcing your promotional video as a promotional video. That is not very interesting for the people who don't know your company/ brand and find your video in their feed news. Tell them that's about a motorcycle trip in Algarve.