Here’s our selection of the latest in video communications from surfer/climate activists to blood donation on Mother's Day to renewable energy. For more from #CommunicateLens, follow @Communicatemag.

8 Northumberland Avenue

Events venue 8 Northumberland Avenue has always focused on events technology in order to improve the impact conferences and awards events have on their audiences. Its most recent development is a partnership with Lumentium, which had its UK debut earlier this month at the Trafalgar Square venue. Featuring advanced projection mapping technology, Lumentium used 8 Northumberland’s existing lighting technology to introduce a video-based dining experience crafted around a narrative-driven journey around the world.

Charles Boyd, owner of 8 Northumberland Avenue, says, "8 Northumberland Avenue is very proud to continue our work as leaders for the development and innovation of event technology that adds distinct value for customers. The work that Apex and Lumentium are doing with table tapping projection is revolutionary for the events industry and we're proud to be working so closely alongside them.” By integrating experiential elements into lunch- or dinner-based events, the venue is ensuring higher levels of engagement and delivering more creative options for corporate events planners.

Department of Health (Ireland)

The Irish Department of Health launched ‘Time to Act’ as part of its Covid-19 short video series. The video, a short explainer on why the upcoming seven days are crucial to flatten out the curve in the Covid-19 global pandemic, uses animated infographics to make the explanations simple, clear and accessible for all. The video features a graph to highlight how control measures will slow the spread of the disease and reduce a burden on hospitals, comparing it to the healthcare system capacity including intensive care units and emergency room visits. The narrator the video describes each animation, which show the audience the safety measures that should be taken, such as reducing social contacts and using a two-metre distance. Health departments have the obligation to communicate about public health. Using an animated style and clear narration allows the Irish government to better communicate with its populace while tackling the spread of misinformation about Covid-19.

Moonpig and NHS Blood and Transplant

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) partnered with personalised card maker Moonpig to create a video as part of its Mother’s Day campaign that encourages dads and sons to give a gift that matters by donating blood. The one-and-a-half-minute video features case studies of different women who survived difficult pregnancies because of blood transfusions, raising awareness on the 4,000 women a year that suffer severe bleeds at childbirth. The women are shown having a photoshoot with their kids and husbands while they recount to the audience their experience with difficult pregnancies. “I received two units of blood in 2014 after I’d given birth to Ethan,” Tara Burk says as she poses with her son.

 Moonpig, which in addition to the video has launched a limited-edition range of cards for this campaign, wanted to use Mother’s Day to help the NHSBT highlight the difference dads can make to their family by giving blood. “Registering as a new donor may not seem like a traditional Mother’s Day gift but it really is something meaningful you can do to celebrate mums and save lives. Giving blood is amazing and so we hope the cards will encourage more fathers to save lives by signing up to donate,” says Tom Aggett, lead for male blood donor recruitment at NHSBT.

Ovo Energy

Energy supplier Ovo Energy has released a new climate change video ‘The Home Front’ to appeal to ec- curious customers and highlight that there is reason to be optimistic about the climate crisis. With the help of creative agency 20something, Ovo Energy wanted to improve its brand recognition in the crowded energy sector. “We are in a war, a war on carbon,” begins the narrator, as the video shows clips of different people, young and old, staring into the camera highlighting how everyone is stronger if united to fight a one, common problem- climate change. “There are 66 million of us and together we have so much more power than we think,” the woman narrating says, emphasising that the change starts from the individual home. The video adopts an optimistic outlook on the crisis, urging the audience to make one step to reach a collective goal as statistics show that if all UK households became carbon neutral it would save 101 million tonnes of carbon a year. It positions Ovo, which has long had fully renewable and partially renewable energy plans as standard, as a leader in the renewable utilities space.

Patagonia

American clothing company Patagonia released ‘Voices for the Ocean’, a five-minute video on how the climate crisis is impacting the ocean through the eyes of three women. Belinda Baggs, Liz Clark and Moon Whyte share the ways in which their lives as surfers and their love for the ocean have led them to a life of activism. The video beings between scenographic shots of the ocean with clips of the surfers as they catch waves, the video recounts what the ocean means for the women who have grown up in it. “I really believe that if more people could just enjoy their natural surroundings that they’ll learn to love our mother earth and want to help care for her” Sumbawa says.

The video quickly becomes personal, following the surfers around the ocean to let the audience into their lives understand what nature, their habitat of choice, means for them and why it deserves protection. The women are shown having climate change protests with other surfers around a buoy in the ocean, with one holding up a sign ‘Act on climate’ while she surfs, drawing a parallel between their hobbies and the fight for a common cause. Since its founding, Patagonia has emphasised a sustainable lifestyle and urged consumers to have a better relationship with the natural world. Its film communications enhances this positioning, further exploring Patagonia’s relationship with the environment.