Phoenix Haus
From breathing issues to a company revolving around wellbeing
Phoenix Haus' origin story is vastly different to the type of films you see in the built environment. And that's exactly why it works.
Story Archetype:
Origin Story
Impact Summary
• Told the family-oriented story around the origins of the company to accompany a rebrand
• Included in a campaign that increased SQLs by 300%
• 4 years later, clients are still mentioning the film on sales calls
Story Keywords
Our first Milestone is defining five Story Keywords that encapsulate the essence of the story. These keywords help us stay aligned on what’s most inspiring about the story, the emotional tone, target audience, and the key action we aim to drive. This alignment ensures we have a clear objective for your story before we make any creative decisions.
Inspiring Keyword
Resilience - Bill's resilience as a child and growing up, dealing with severe allergies, allowed him to build a business rooted in purpose.
Uniqueness Keyword
Disruptive - Phoenix Haus is going against the status quo of how things 'have always been done'.
Audience Keyword
Progressive - The audience is one that is open to new ideas and willing to be early-adopters.
Feeling Keyword
Connected - We wanted the audience to feel a sense of connect with Bill's story and his family, building trust before building a home.
Action Keyword
Share - sharing ideas, conversations, thoughts and feelings, as a result of a film that invited you into a new conversation.
The Why
Phoenix Haus came to us for help in telling a better story within their brand. They knew they needed to, as they were going against the grain, challenging the status quo within the built environment. While we worked on them in various aspects, uncovering their strategy and bringing partners on-board to assist with copywriting and website design, the core focus of our efforts was to create a timeless asset.
The Challenge
The biggest challenge we experienced in this film was honoring the correct story at a pivotal moment when the company was investing into brand and storytelling efforts. Both Bill's mother and sister had strong connections to the business, so we had to take those requests into consideration, and ended up honoring both Hilde & Kate as supporting roles. This isn't something we would typically do on a short 5 minute piece, but we trusted the alignment each person had with each other to bring the story home. It still allowed us to bring in the core conflict Bill experienced, which was the catalyst for creating Phoenix Haus.
The Approach
From this point, every creative decision was made with intention. Working closely with our Director of Photography, we mapped out the emotional language of each scene through colour, from in the grade, the lighting, the wardrobe, to even the furniture choices. Whether a scene carried the warmth of multiple tones or was stripped back to near-silhouette, colour was never decorative. It served as emotional architecture.
The Journey
We travelled to Grand Junction to begin production, eventually making our way up to Powderhorn Resort, where Phoenix Haus had one of their homes. What we didn't anticipate was the snow. Grand Junction had been warm and clear, but overnight the mesa changed entirely. What could have been a logistical disruption became a great addition to our set design, allowing a touch more depth in our final scenes with the whole family. Wrapped in jackets, and stepping out into the unexpected snow that added a layer of depth we simply couldn't have scripted.
The Result
This Origin Story has become a core asset for Phoenix Haus, and the goal of creating a timeless asset that wins the hearts and minds of clients has been a success. Our storytelling efforts increased SQLs on average by 300%, even up to 900% in the quieter winter months. Now, almost 4 years later, we still receive updates from Bill telling us that clients book calls specifically referencing having watched the film, and being moved by it.
The biggest challenge we had was getting our message out there in an authentic way. We tried a campaign here and an email there. With IMPACT we have a clear path forward. Consider the efforts you have made and how effective you’ve been in telling your story. We didn’t do the best job and it lacked a common thread, and IMPACT helped us bring it all together and get the attention we’ve desired.
Bill McDonald - Phoenix Haus
What We Loved Most
The McDonald family are some of the kindest people we have ever met. Due to Phoenix Haus' approach to wellbeing, and going against the status quo, they have remained to this day some of our favourite clients. Sometimes our clients feel a pressure around needing to say the right thing, or are afraid of being vulnerable, but our dialed story-first process ensured that both our contractors and clients had a smooth and wonderful experience throughout.
It was such a smooth shoot for everyone, lots of smiles!
Intimate interview moments require care and attention.
Director & Producer at work.
Dialing in the colour grade.
