Inspiring Stories through Trying Times

A festival of five hope-filled films in the middle of a pandemic.

When shelter in place orders and social distancing became the norm throughout most of the U.S., the Attention Span team kicked into hyperdrive to support the efforts of the Hormel Foods team to provide meaningful and exciting experiences for their employees, customers, consumers, and fans.

With people spending more time than ever online and at home — and so much negative news being shared across media platforms — we knew that finding ways to spread levity and inspiration became more important than ever. Our team thought up a number of ways to do just that with the Hormel Foods corporate communications team. Notable among those that came to fruition: The Hormel Film Festival.

Telling Stories

Over the last several years, Attention Span’s editorial, film and design teams have been collaborating with the Hormel Foods studios and communications teams to tell incredible stories about inspiring people and their connection to the company and its iconic brands. From San Francisco, California to Putnam County, West Virginia, we were all inspired by these people and their stories.

We first penned these as Inspired Fan stories, but were then given the green light to create accompanying films.  Instead of waiting for the opportune moment to share each of these films with the world, especially during COVID, it struck us all that the moment was in fact here.

The Award-Winning Stories and Films 

There’s Something About Grace | Inspired | Hormel Foods

The Fifth-Grader Who Fed Putnam County, WV | Inspired | Hormel Foods

Cooperation Beyond Words | Inspired | Hormel Foods

Chuck Baker’s Table of Honor | Inspired | Hormel Foods

How Austin Became Autism Friendly | Inspired | Hormel Foods

Making Digital Feel Personal

Capturing the feeling of a live film festival experience was important. To that end, we modeled the event after a live film festival and took a number of steps to create an experience as similar to an in-person event as possible. First, event posters were made for each of the 6 films being shown. These posters were also available to print out at essential locations still in operation and to download for those working remotely.

Film Posters

Reaching our Audience

We promoted the event across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and internal Hormel food communication streams. The Attention Span team planned and executed all creative, working closely with the Hormel Foods team to see that each promotional material was utilized most strategically.  Unlike a traditional film festival, we wanted to center messaging around the heartfelt stories themselves, rather than a brand. With this goal in mind, we created iconic, personal film posters to target digital audiences and communities that appealed to that specific film instead of the festival as a whole. In leveraging the communities that would have the strongest tie to each fim, we emphasized honoring the inspiring individual while making sure that the audience would have a genuine connection to the story. For instance, “Chuck Baker’s Table of Honor” highlights a special group of American veterans who all love SPAM® brand products. Therefore, we targeted an audience of veterans, active service members, their families, and of course SPAM® fans. Because this panel was unique in that it represented all five branches of the military, we knew that it would be most meaningful to share that story with others who could relate to the kinship that the Table of Honor shares.   

How it All Came Together

On May 11, 2020, we began a five-day, 100% online film festival, debuting six short films that told compelling stories of the company, employees, and fans. The films premiered live on YouTube and were followed by a live dialogue between the filmmakers, Hormel Foods teams, and the films’ subjects. Our team helped Hormel Foods coordinate speakers, organize the Q&A sessions, and co-moderate each of the panel discussions. 

The most notable case of skilled technical production planning was illustrated in the discussion panel for the film Cooperation Beyond Words. In addition to 2 of the speakers on the live Q&A being deaf, one of the other panelists was an ASL interpreter for the discussion. In successfully navigating this unique panel, we helped generate a particularly dynamic discussion that, like each Q&A, deserves a watch.

The Results

As of May 2021, a year after the Film Festival, the films collectively garnered nearly 100,000, including 8,229 live festival viewers. Additionally, more than 12,000 visited the Hormel Film Festival web page to read more. On social media, the film festival resulted in more than 15,000 engagements.

Media Coverage
The Film Festival also earned press coverage in a dozen media placements.

Why a food company threw a virtual film festival.

Hormel Foods released six original short films amid the pandemic


Awards

The Hormel Film Festival
Gold 2020 W3 Award for Branded Live Video Experiences
Silver 2020 NYX Video Award for Food & Beverage Web Based Production

There’s Something About Grace
Grand 2020 NYX Marcom Award for Brand Journalism
Gold 2020 NYX Video Award for Corporate Image
Gold 2020 W3 Award for Branded Documentary

The Fifth-Grader Who Fed Putnam County, WV 
Silver 2020 Communicator Award for Video a Documentary

Cooperation Beyond Words
Gold 2020 NYX Video Award for Branded Public Interest
Gold 2020 NYX Marcom Award for Brand Journalism
Gold 2020 W3 Award for Branded Documentary
Gold 2020 Davey Award for Documentary
Silver 2020 W3 Award for Branded Social Impact
Silver NYX Marcom Award for Featured Article
Silver 2020 Communicator Award for Documentary
Silver 2020 Communicator Award for Featured Article

Chuck Baker’s Table of Honor
Gold 2020 NYX Video Award for Corporate Image
Gold 2020 W3 Award for Branded Documentary
Gold 2020 Davey Award for Documentary

How Austin Became Autism Friendly

Gold 2020 Communicator Award for Documentary
Gold 2020 Communicator Award for Social Issues Film
Silver 2020 NYX Video Award for Branded Public Interest
Silver 2020 W3 Award for Branded Social Impact