Check out our Brand New Commercial Vignettes featuring Ada Health!

 

Introducing Ada Health

Ada Health was created to bring powerful and accurate symptoms assessments to the masses. Since 2016, their App and intelligent AI technology has helped millions all across the world  access the healthcare guidance they need. In 2022, they came to Grey Sky Films to create a series of commercials to create brand awareness to help improve severe COVID-19 health outcomes in the US thanks to their new Ada Eligibility Questionnaire, which not only can indicate if users meet risk criteria for progression to severe COVID-19 – including those with pre-existing conditions like asthma, diabetes or COPD –  but also help assess their eligibility for severe COVID-19 treatment. Thereafter, if eligible, Ada can also help users quickly and seamlessly connect to doctors via telehealth to learn about their treatment options. 

Creative Conceptualization of the Commercial Vignettes

This innovation needed to make a splash, and they wanted to create something lighthearted and memorable. During our creative research and development, we discovered that Ada was a real woman. Ada Lovelace was an early pioneer of computer programming and led some of the earliest explorations of the potential for computers back in the 1800s. Her legacy is what inspires the team at Ada Health to use the power of AI to improve health outcomes – they named their company after her! We found that to be truly inspiring and immediately had the idea of bringing Ada to life. For this series of commercial vignettes, we wanted to hyper focus on the target audience – folks at high-risk for developing severe COVID-19. With guidance from Ada Health, we wrote commercial vignettes that featured four different individuals – someone with diabetes, someone with COPD, a senior, and a caregiver responsible for her elderly parent’s health. In each of these scenarios, the individuals exhibit signs of a cold, flu, or possibly, COVID-19. They don’t know that they are at high risk for developing severe COVID, so “Ada” enters the scene like a loving mother, offering her warmth, compassion, guidance and support. She is Ada Health personified. Then she hands each person a phone with the new Ada Eligibility Questionnaire, encouraging them to take it e. Each user then learns about their risk criteria and is able to assess eligibility for treatment and thereafter if eligible connect with a doctor via telehealth to learn about  treatment options and get the help needed, fast. After a few rounds of creative pitching, the idea was approved and we jumped into pre-production!  

Pre-Production

Talent

With 4 different commercial vignettes to set up, this was a big production, and perhaps one of the most important pieces was finding the right talent. We needed to cast talent to be each of the high-risk individuals, and of course, we needed to find our Ada. We also needed to be mindful in terms of diversity in age, gender and ethnicity when it came to casting our high-risk individuals, because COVID-19 can affect everyone differently. Ada Health did a lot of research and discovered that certain ethnicities are more affected by certain pre-existing conditions, so we did extensive casting to find actors that fit the bill.  

Wardrobe

While our high-risk individuals would be in comfortable, casual clothing, we really wanted to make Ada pop. Taking guidance from an illustration of Ada Lovelace on the Ada Health website, we incorporated a flower crown, and delicate, feminine textures to her clothing. It was our intention that she would be a beacon of hope, light and love in each of the spots. We also wanted to gently incorporate brand colors into the wardrobe design, so our stylist was mindful to pull through various tones and textures that matched. We aimed for more muted, or less saturated versions of their color palette, knowing that our set designer would also be bringing the brand colors into their designs.

Set Design

Because our intention was to film in only one location and be able to create four different “looks” out of the location, we chose Butter Tree Studios. They are flexible, spacious and have a plethora of shooting locations within one studio location.  We scouted the location to decide where we would film each commercial vignette, knowing we would be bringing in new furniture and textiles to bring each scene to life. We found the existing living room set would be perfect for the Diabetic Vignette after bringing in new furniture pieces and textiles to create a cozy bachelor-esque living room for. The existing upstairs kitchen set would work for our Senior Vignette once we brought in some more character with a new table and background props. We decided to build a second living room set for our Caregiver Vignette as that scene had the most characters and it needed room to breathe. We built two new walls along the white cyc and added in windows and french doors to give the space a feeling of a shared environment like an assisted living facility or large older home. And finally, our favorite scene was for our COPD Vignette. We brought the outdoors, indoors, by building a floating deck, lining it with temporary fencing, trees and a large outdoor backdrop. We also brought in patio furniture and a grill to add some more authenticity to the setting.  

Production

We filmed over the course of 4 days with 1 build day, so 5 production days total. Each film day was focused on a different high-risk commercial vignette. There were some challenges with a production schedule this tight. We needed to make sure every set was finished being built and propped out in time. In order to make our schedule, we did include a build day on the Saturday before we began principal filming due to scheduling. But a single day wasn’t enough to build four separate sets, so we focused our build day on the first two set-ups we intended to film that week. And since we were not recording any sound, we continued to build the other 2 sets as we began filming that Monday and Tuesday.  Additionally, because we did not have a break down day at the end of our production, we planned for longer shoot days so that once each commercial vignette was filmed in its entirety, we had time at the end of each day to break down the sets. The pressure was on to ensure we got everything we needed for each commercial vignette in a single day because once the sets were dismantled, there was no going back! Lastly, another challenge was Ada’s hair, make-up and wardrobe. She was the only character who carried over from one vignette to the next, so her look needed to be consistent across every production day so that she looked identical in each spot.

Voice Over Recording

We mentioned earlier that we were not recording sound during the production. That’s because the spots were written to only include a voiceover and sound design (music, sound effects, etc.). Typically we finish production on the picture and then record the voice over. That gives us time to tweak the script with the client if needed, based on changes or alterations that may have occurred during filming. With this production, because of our post production timeline (more on that in a bit!) we needed to have 100% approved scripts before we got to set, so that we could record the voiceovers during the 5 production days. Fortunately we were able to conduct the voiceover sessions with the chosen artist virtually, and had the entire Ada Health marketing team on the session with us to make updates as we went. During the voiceover session we discovered the need to potentially A/B test the tagline or Call To Action as well. Having those taglines recorded as we went into post production really helped streamline the editing and approvals process.  

Post Production

As there often is, we were facing a very tight deadline to get these commercials out and on the air as quickly as possible. From a health crisis standpoint, it was important to have the messaging and the Ada Eligibility Questionnaire publicized and ready to be used by those who truly needed it. But there was also a need to complete the project before the pandemic was officially announced as “over”. Our goal was to complete the compilation spot first. Filmed during the week of April 17th, 2023, the first set of spots needed to be completed by April 28th. That means we were actually editing on set! At the end of each day, while the crew broke down the sets, our editor would ingest the footage and begin pulling pieces for the compilation commercial. By the end of the week, on the last day of shooting, we already had a rough cut of the compilation spot ready to go. That gave us a real headstart on approvals.  

Deliverables

At the end of the day, we created 5 commercial vignettes with multiple variations, one for each of the high-risk individuals, and then a compilation commercial that included all four of the characters. We created :30 spots for each, and :15 spots for each. We also created A/B versions of the end slate for every spot to see what performed best – a directive to download the App or to visit the website. Additionally, we created a secondary version of the COPD Vignette. The first featured a telehealth visit or video call, with a physician, and the second was a standard audio call with their physician. This was done to be inclusive of those who may  not be comfortable or unable to make a video call. We also created social versions of each spot in a square or 1:1 ratio for Instagram. Lastly, we created Spanish versions of all these spots. The grand total of commercial vignettes came to 96!