New Neoscape Website

[Nils Norgren]

Please enjoy, at the bottom of the first page is our Holiday film (parody of Mean Girls, Neoscape style)

 

https://neoscape.com/

 

-Nils Norgren, Neoscape

[RyderSK]

Would you be willing to talk ( one or two sentences only really ) about the transition to this general creative/branding agency direction (very clear vibe I got from the web) ? Was it a natural result of studio's evolution and client's demands or did you always wanted to focus away from architectural visualization ?

 

It's general curiosity. I have lot of admiration for bigger studios. But it interests me how they change, some kept clear focus, some have varied interests and some try to position themselves where visualization seems like a tiny partial side-product, almost an afterthought, despite their portfolio heavily dominated by architectural work.

 

Or maybe it's me reading the 'Studio'(About) page wrong given they all start to be bit ambiguous. Perhaps it's branding, positioning,etc.. connected only to architecture/urban planning/real-estate. And not in general terms (for any sort of brand, from Ketchup to Verizon).

[Nils Norgren]

Would you be willing to talk ( one or two sentences only really ) about the transition to this general creative/branding agency direction (very clear vibe I got from the web) ? Was it a natural result of studio's evolution and client's demands or did you always wanted to focus away from architectural visualization ?

 

It's general curiosity. I have lot of admiration for bigger studios. But it interests me how they change, some kept clear focus, some have varied interests and some try to position themselves where visualization seems like a tiny partial side-product, almost an afterthought, despite their portfolio heavily dominated by architectural work.

 

Or maybe it's me reading the 'Studio'(About) page wrong given they all start to be bit ambiguous. Perhaps it's branding, positioning,etc.. connected only to architecture/urban planning/real-estate. And not in general terms (for any sort of brand, from Ketchup to Verizon).

 

Sure Juraj, I don't think I can get through it in one or two sentences tho' I should also point out that I am not directly in sales or marketing. When we started Neoscape, our plan was to do renderings/animations for the AEC industry (this was 1995) for the most part we were selling a service that was not yet commonly used, the only competition we had was with hand renderers. We were not the first, but most of our clients were un-familiar with our services.

 

Over the years we added more breadth of services (interactive, design), our clientele and industry stayed the same. As the industry matured there were many “this is the end of the outside renderer” moments, as happens now, every generation of the tools is marketed as being SO EASY, that our clients would chide us by telling us that our services is going to be obsolete. I have relayed the story before but we had a client (an Architect) say in an off-hand way “I need to take a weekend and learn this stuff”, meaning he was going, over the course of two days, become an expert 3d artist and renderer. This displayed the lack of respect he had for us as professionals and our craft.

 

We started to see that many treat renderings as commodities, and were willing to get low quality renderings for cheap and throw them away after their intended use. We knew that we could not compete with low-cost providers, and we needed to establish ourselves as creative partners, not just a provider of renderings, or films, or websites, etc. Also along the way it became clear that we would be best off if we had a place at the decision making table.

 

As we had opportunity to work on larger projects and providing a greater breadth of service we became much more savvy in the industry and realized that we had all the tools needed for full campaigns, we still do almost all production in house, but on occasion we have been in meetings with a potential client who will ask, who we use for renderings, and when we say we do them ourselves, they don’t believe us.

 

One piece of advice we had early was “sell new services to old clients and sell old services to new clients” this is mainly what happens as we organically grew to encompass more skills and breadth of service. When it comes to whole campaigns, such as, naming the project, positioning the project, identity, developing a marketing plan, renderings, film(s), print collateral, marketing suite, super graphics (building wrap), website, interactive tools, VR, and soon AR, it can get huge, and very drawn out, but the more one is in charge of, the more freedom (and hopefully the larger the fee), which will allow for a better outcome in the end, for the client and for us.

 

As for the Verizon, or Ketchup, we have done some projects that are outside the Real Estate market, most of those projects are out-of-the-blue opportunities, our reputation is within this industry, and our contacts, our example projects are all primarily with the built environment, there are some related industries we have had the luck to work in, (furniture, industrial design, building products, etc.) but most of those contacts came to us through our primary industry.

 

Nils Norgren, Neoscape

[simonm]

great read - thanks.

[RyderSK]

Thank you so much for honest and in-depth answer Nils, always very valuable to get his sort of insight. The 'one/two sentences' was just to make sure I don't waste your time but still possibly source some info :- ).

[Ernest Burden III]

Nils,

 

Thank you for the thoughtful post and sharing your new site. I love the look and feel and the not-uptight language. I have always had the highest respect for you and your company. Whether or not a renderer thinks big studios should rebrand as creative agencies, there is a way to do things right, or not. Neoscape has done things right. Congratulations.

 

Being a small player I always had to have diverse skills, starting with production of renderings and marketing materials by hand and photographic means, then leading the way into digital adaptations of those skills to a new market reality. In the commodity market for rendering, that diversity is not valuable. So it is interesting to see how you are putting those offerings forward as a feature and identity for your company. Bravo! What it tells me is that I should have made more of an effort to join you along the way. I could have been putting my portfolio of skills to good use on bigger projects than I can land as as a small shop.

 

This makes the point that small renderers can offer clients a diversity of services and creative thinking as a foil to commodity, all-the-same, cut-rate companies.

[heni30]

Thanks for all the info, Nils.

 

But how do you feel personally?

 

I take it you went into rendering because you had a passion

for image-making and now you're having to deal more with more mundane Marketing/Advertising issues.

Edited December 23, 2017 by heni30