State Farm®: 'New Normal'

The Colonie’s remote capabilities were tapped by The Marketing Arm for a State Farm® broadcast spot with a timely message to customers facing financial burdens during the current pandemic. With production not an option, the company edited, color graded and finished the live-action spot remotely.

Joe Clear edited the commercial on Adobe Premiere. Focused on finding the best approach, he reviewed the wealth of content selecting spot-on footage that brought home State Farm’s message. The editor weaved together an engaging visual story that viewers can relate to as they go through this unprecedented shared experience.

The spot, entitled ‘New Normal,’ features typical scenes of families engaging in the kinds of activities that fill the days of a homebound population. We see people working at their computers, staying connected to friends with video chats, and spending more quality time with their family - playing, dancing, and cooking with their kids. The commercial closes with the voiceover acknowledging: ‘Our world is suddenly different. But one thing stays the same - State Farm® is there.”

The Chicago-based company's team rallied, pulling volumes of stock shots, user generated content in conjunction with Catch & Release and even augmenting footage by filming their own families at home in scenarios that have become the new normal.

Addressing issues created by the mix of footage from different sources, The Colonie’s Jennifer Gaida used DaVinci Resolve to color grade the spot and created a unified look. Tom Dernulc finished the commercial on Autodesk Flame.

The Colonie has been working remotely with editors and artists for years, communicating and working as team with talent at home, as well as on-sets throughout the US. The company's experience provided a tested approach to integrating editors, motion graphic artists, color graders, finishers, and producers working from different locations into a cohesive, collaborative team.

The Marketing Arm’s home-based creatives worked directly with The Colonie’s team. The job came in on a Saturday afternoon, and they took it from script to air in five-days. The seamless workflow provided the efficiency needed to deliver a compelling campaign that met the client’s high standards and tight deadline.