Idea Hall

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

RD Olson Construction is a general contractor focused on the hospitality and multi-unit industries. I’m William J. Wilhelm, president, and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Hall?

Idea Hall represents our ideals within the branding, media presentation, and the overall leadership perspective.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The primary focus for Idea Hall is to help put RD Olson’s name out in front of players and prospects within the industries — whether it be customers, architects, designers, or even community members. They more or less, take the lead on media project releases, groundbreakings, and successful turnovers.

They also support our ideals with the objective of pushing my name as an experienced and skilled individual, with a wealth of knowledge within these industries. It helps to encourage and enhance our brand, by having my name associated with what we do out there, as a kind of expert within various forms of our business. In addition, I provide the vision and objective and Idea Hall will come back and provide general outline recommendations. We will then strategize based on what I feel and fine-tune the message from there. I consult with them often about what we can do and where we can reach out, and they’ve given us some thoughts, general ideas, vision, and guidance.

Moreover, they’ve been helping us with the verbal branding that’s been taking place in a couple of forms. One is within the industry by thought leadership and proper releases that build the brand — which is largely supported by our people and culture. Six years ago, I really wanted to focus on our people, so we brought in a handful of people within the company at various levels, and we created articles and a cultural video. We’re really focused on our community involvement, so the people and culture are very important to our brand’s ultimate success.

What is the team composition?

We have an account manager who communicates with us on a weekly basis, but they have supporting individuals at Idea Hall — whether it’s one of their executives or even Rebecca (President & CEO).

How did you come to work with Idea Hall?

Idea Hall was introduced to us and was awarded a contract for our sister company on a marketing campaign — in which they did a great job. Then, I took over the construction company seven years ago, and I brought them in and had them help us rebuild and revitalize our website. What I liked about them is they were very boutique and very hands-on. I knew I was getting the top people of the company interested in our articles, and they weren’t just going to be handed off to an account manager. The true visionaries of Idea Hall are fully in the background.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in March 2014, and they’re under a contract with us on an annual basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Our company has tripled in size since our relationship started — we’ve doubled our employee count and that’s a big investment with great returns. The branding, recognition, thought leadership, and having my name as an industry expert, are all mechanisms that Idea Hall has been strategically developing.

In addition, our turnover ratio is at a very low percentage. Putting a focus on the culture within the industry and community is what our employees are looking for. They want a company that has the power within the industry they can be proud of.

Our branding materials have done a remarkable job from a recruiting perspective, to elevate our existing employees to want to grow within the company, and become part of something bigger. They’ve become a powerful tool in our marketing efforts, since a large percentage of our work is in hospitality and multi-unit affordable housing. Next year is probably going to be our biggest year ever, coming out of a pandemic. Whether Idea Hall makes up 10–15% of the results, they’re still instrumental in laying the foundations of who our company is.

How did Idea Hall perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve got no gripes with their approach to project management whatsoever — the new account manager is always around the account. It’s almost like they anticipate what I’m going to need, and I think a lot that goes back to Rebecca, their founder. They know our company as if they’re fully engaged within our organization, and that makes our partnership very smooth.

We do a lot of phone conversations and emails, but what I like about them is they’re not afraid to pick up the phone — they’re very proactive and they follow up. They display very effective leadership, and I’m proud to say that I try to use that same approach in educating our managers, as well as our customers. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I enjoy about them is they’re always prepared. Whether we’re having visionary meetings, or doing some kind of press release, they’re always prepared to where they can take the lead to get me focused on the right objective right out of the gate — I’ve got very limited time so they make my life very easy. That in itself creates a tremendous value that we didn’t have in the last PR company that I dealt with briefly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If I were over Rebecca’s court leading the charge with her, I would continue to really get to know our customers, because they need a change from different perspectives often. Being in business for over 40 years, and leading the company for the last seven years, I’ve learned that you have to adapt every day.

We’re only as good as the last experience we delivered to our customer. It’s not that they could do better at that, but that’s something I would give to them as advice. Don’t lose focus especially in the market today and the future. There’s a bubble out there and something’s going to happen, and when it does, they’ll be able to respond a little better and quicker.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise them not to hold back on their thoughts and creativity, and think outside the box. Let Idea Hall come back and give you options right out of the gate. I understood the value of marketing, but I held back a little bit because I had to see the power behind it myself. Think and dream big, and don’t be afraid to agree or disagree. They’re professionals who know how to take that kind of critique. They’re great communicators and that’s what I love about them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm VP of business development at C.W. Driver Companies. We are a general contractor and construction management company based in Southern California.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Hall?

We've been working with Idea Hall for six years, and the challenge that we wanted to address was increasing our PR reach on all fronts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Idea Hall provides strategic business, marketing communications, and counseling. They have supported us in reaching our key business goals and objectives since 2016. One of the projects that we've done with Idea Hall is our annual company PR and news bureau program, whose goal is to inform, engage, and inspire our employees for the coming year.

Each year, Idea Hall supports us in increasing our awareness with key internal and external stakeholders. They also work on enhancing the recognition of our projects and credentialing our executives. Other services they have provided are media pitching, interview opportunities, award writing, email marketing, and e-blasting social media content.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with at least nine different members of Idea Hall: Rebecca (CEO), Anita (Vice President PR), Bill (Executive Creative Director), Angel (Account Manager), and their video team.

How did you come to work with Idea Hall?

We came in contact with Idea Hall as a recommendation from a business partner. We contracted their services for our annual meeting. Once we had worked with them and figured out that our companies align very well together, we took a deeper dive into press releases, e-blast, and videos.

How much have you invested with them?

Yearly, we spend somewhere around $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2016, and we’ve been with them ever since.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

For the news bureau program, we get metrics quarterly and yearly. For 2020, we had $47.5 million earned media impressions. We saw a 10% increase in media impressions compared to the year prior. We have 119 earned media placements, and we had a $1.89 cost per 1,000 impressions, which is well below the industry benchmark of $4–$6 dollars. For our video retainer, our videos get a huge response from our clients, partners, and employees. The level of detail and sophistication in our videos is second to none, so we get a lot of great feedback from people who have seen the videos and people who want a recommendation.

Finally, our annual meeting is an event with all 300 of our employees, and the feedback we get from our employees every year is that they seem to outdo themselves. Every year the meetings just get better and better. We get more creative with the help of Idea Hall.

How did Idea Hall perform from a project management standpoint?

To communicate, we have biweekly meetings via Zoom and daily emails about releases, deadlines, approvals, and photos. Communication is constant, and they move very quickly. They're extremely organized, and everything is deadline-driven; for the past six years, we've been able to meet deadlines and hit the key metrics.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The level of professionalism and knowledge of their craft is second to none. I'm happy with the work that Idea Hall does for us. I am directly involved with the day-to-day of everything we do with them. They are the experts in their industry, and they're recognized for that. From the feedback that I get about our programs and talking with our peers in the industry, Idea Hall helps us make an impact throughout Southern California. They do such a great job at making sure we're at the front of everybody's mind, and we're utilizing that content to the best of our ability.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have knocked everybody else out of the park, so I don't have any improvement advice. Last year with the pandemic, they were able to pivot very quickly with the demands placed on everybody to work from home — they've exceeded our expectations.

Any advice for potential customers?

You're not making a poor decision; they are the right firm, and you won't be disappointed. Their creative team works together very well, and they support each other.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and president of the Cystinosis Research Foundation (CRF). The CRF is a nonprofit that is focused on finding better treatments and cure for cystinosis, a rare disease that affects approximately 2,000 people in the world, mostly children. We raise funds for research and to support families and patients through our programs, and educate the medical community about the disease. My daughter has cystinosis, and that was our motivation in starting the foundation. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Hall?

We’re a very small foundation, but we have a huge mission: to find a cure for cystinosis. We needed to frame our message and communicate more clearly, effectively, and efficiently to raise the kind of money required to achieve our goal. 

We needed help with our branding, logo design, and social media communication. We also needed assistance with our hard copy mailings, which include a bi-annual magazine. Ultimately, we needed a hand in building our donor base and communicating the success of our programs with our donors. We needed guidance in demonstrating the impact of the programs we were establishing and the research we were funding. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Idea Hall creates the design and the direction of our bi-annual magazine. We collect stories from our community and from our researchers, but Idea Hall does the copy editing and design. The magazine is our main communication tool with our donors, families, and even our research community. It drives interest and donations because people love the magazine. 

We mail the magazine to our subscribers, but we also provide digital copies online, which is convenient for our audience outside of the US. That is our focus twice a year, and it's a large project. It takes months of coordinating with Idea Hall on the design because each issue is unique

We have two main events every year, the first is a family conference called the Day of Hope Family Conference. Idea Hall creates the logo design, graphics, and all other collateral materials for the conference. Each year is unique and has a different look and feel. 

The second event is our main fundraiser called Nathalie's Wish. Idea Hall develops and designs a suite of marketing materials and they help us coordinate the social media posts about the event. The materials promote our events, drive attendance, and help us communicate CRF’s programs. 

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we now have virtual conferences and fundraisers. Idea Hall designs the digital material we use for our virtual events.

Additionally, Idea Hall prepares our social media calendar so we can communicate effectively with our audience.  Idea Hall has become an extension of CRF — they are like family to us.

What is the team composition?

We work with Megan (Account Manager), Bill (VP & Executive Creative Director), and Sophie (Senior Associate). We also work with Dave (VP, Accounts) and Trevor (Senior Art Director), but it really depends on the project. 

One thing we love about Idea Hall is we're always able to reach anyone on their team. When we start a magazine, during the design phase we have some of their executives in our meetings, including Rebecca (President & CEO). As the project gets going and we have a lot of clarity on its direction, their team is reduced, but they remain available.

How did you come to work with Idea Hall?

We used to work with a PR company that had been sold, so we had to look for a replacement. We found information about Idea Hall through the Orange County Business Journal, where they ranked number one as a creative ad agency.  We had taken note of that, and through various business associates we had heard about Rebecca’s agency and their outstanding work. We were very impressed with Rebecca and her team, so we hired them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2015, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The results have been extraordinary. Our magazine reaches about 25,000 stakeholders in the community, and the more people we reach, the more successful we are. Idea Hall’s expertise provides a solid strategy for reaching a broad audience, which we never could have done on our own. We were totally naive on how to operate on social media, but they've introduced it to us and expanded our reach there. 

Our magazine has had an enormous impact as well — one family was so impressed that they donated $1 million to CRF. The magazine demonstrates the research we are funding and the global impact we have in the medical and science community.  

We reach more people due to Idea Hall’s guidance and planning. In 2020, we received 50–60 donations just from the magazine, which is very impressive. I think it's their design concept and creative vision that make the magazine so appealing. 

Idea Hall has done an excellent job framing our message. In our case, it's about storytelling and how to make the story compelling, because that's when people pay attention and donate to our research program.

We’ve been working with Idea Hall for six years and we have noticed an increase in interest and compliments. Our readers notice how the magazine has changed and they enjoy reading it cover to cover. 

How did Idea Hall perform from a project management standpoint?

Idea Hall is great at project management. At the start, we carefully defined our goal and endpoints — thus, they stay on schedule and on task. We've had no issues at all.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What we love about Idea Hall is their energy, creativity, and enthusiasm. Their team is cohesive, and they operate like a family. However, within their team, they each have specific areas of expertise, and we can draw on that at any time. 

Idea Hall takes the time to listen, and so in many ways they have become an extension of CRF. They are good at getting clarity from us in terms of what the objective is — that's when their minds really start working, creating, and helping us with their broad vision. They have helped us soar to new heights because of their ideas and what they've created on our behalf. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of any area that they can improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Repeat what we did at the beginning: take time to tell your story to Idea Hall, and put the effort upfront and share where you've been, where you are, and where you want to go. They are such great listeners that will benefit you in the end. The more they understand who you are, the better job they do on your behalf.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Laura’s House is a prevention and education center and residential and transitional housing program for people affected by domestic violence. We have a crisis hotline, as well as children and community programs. I’m the CEO of the organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Hall?

We first approached Idea Hall for PR and branding services for our capital campaign, which is to raise 10 million dollars for a building we purchased. We are trying to be a one-stop-shop for all the services our clients need in this new building. We needed them to put together video support, fundraising, and strategic business and marketing communications.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Idea hall developed a printed and digital brochure campaign, as well as collateral pieces that go with it, called “The Power of the Journey.” The team made the whole concept and the look and feel. 
 
They’ve provided general PR services and helped us position ourselves as an authority. They’ve also supported us by highlighting online and physical key events, programs, and initiatives that we do, like our 25th-anniversary gala where they did a great job marketing it. 

What is the team composition?

We work primarily with Angel (Account Manager) and Kristina (Account Director). We sometimes work with Rebecca (President and CEO) when needed. We have access to the whole team depending on what we’re looking to do. 

How did you come to work with Idea Hall?

A colleague from another organization had worked with Idea Hall and recommended them to us. My development director and I decided to interview a few people. We spoke with the team, and they were very responsive. They seemed like a young, enthusiastic group, so we decided to work with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

Our organization has invested $210,000.  

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement started in January 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The results have been amazing. We got 304 million media impressions and had 27 earned media placements, covering Laura’s House events, programs, and insights during COVID-19. We’ve also had a cost per impression (CPM) of 29¢, whereas the industry average is six dollars. Thanks to their guidance and strategic vision, we are now past the halfway mark of the 10 million dollar campaign. 

How did Idea Hall perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a workflow where the team sends us the agenda and outcomes, so we know exactly how much we’re spending. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the best aspects of Idea Hall is its grasp on proactive and reactive media pitching. The team has a good contact list to get our information out there. 

We needed a fresh PR company to help us, and they’ve been excellent. They are a cohesive group who supports each other when some task is outside one person’s expertise, so there’s never a gap in services.

The team has very creative ideas and is focused on their work; they get to the point and deliver results. They have great listening skills and ask questions to better understand the project. We’ve done so much better with them; they treat you as a partner, and the response times are immediate. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything for them to improve.

Any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise them to communicate exactly what they need and are trying to achieve so the team can give the best guidance and direction.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the general manager (GM) of Irvine Ranch Water District, a community-based water and sewer service agency. We provide drinking water and recycled water. We also collect, treat, and process sewage and urban runoff. Our community consists of 20% of Orange County, or about 500,000 people, and we’ve been around for 60 years. As a GM, I basically head all of our staff and report to five publicly elected board members. Overall, I’m like a city manager or a president in a private sector setting.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Hall?

We worked on a few things with Idea Hall over time, and the first one was about coming up with a new logo. The water business had been traditional like a lot of government entities, and changing our business’ logo had been steeped in tradition. Right before I joined the agency in the early 2000s, it had gone through a similar project and fell on its face. However, I decided to do it again, and we did it in a whole different way with Idea Hall. We also did some videos with them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For the logo project, Rebecca (Founder & CEO) hired a couple of interns from Chapman University to work with them. The students learned how to make a pitch, listen during interviews, and acquire other skills. In our initial interaction, we talked to the team about what was important to our agency, what we did, and what was good or bad about our then-current logo. In the discussions, we thought about the importance of colors. For our agency, a certain shade of purple was important in terms of water treatment. The team also worked to understand our community’s sustainability and environmental ethics. 

Long story short, we used green, blue, and purple. The design also captured the tradition of our logo’s shape, which was a trapezoid. This was important because we've had 300 years of history tied into that shape. After that, the team gave us 5–6 mockups, and we then narrowed the choices down to 2–3 options. They designed the mockups again, and we had at least three meetings for that back-and-forth discussion. Before we pitched the ideas to the board of directors, we ran them through our planning commission, which was in charge of our customer communications. Two of my board members dug in, and Idea Hall was there with me as we explained how to go about this proposal. When the two board members loved the idea, we went on and presented it to the entire board, and the interns did the final pitch. 

The logo project was back in 2016, and we’ve done some major video production engagements with Idea Hall since then. We wanted our customers to understand that water quality was on top of our minds. As such, Idea Hall helped us create a video to explain what we called the journey of a water sample. Idea Hall highlighted my staff from across a dozen or so departments. They handpicked some people from our 400 or so staff members, put them in front of a camera, and made them look like professional actors. 

We’ve done three videos in total with Idea Hall, and they were about telling our stories. I was much more involved in the branding process, and our public affairs department worked directly on scripts, deliverables, and coordination. My idea of marketing for a public agency was conveying trust, which was what I hoped our customers felt about the water district. I wanted them to know they could rely on us, and that was our goal in our video projects with Idea Hall. 

What is the team composition?

Apart from Rebecca and the interns, we worked with 6–7 people from them. It was a pretty small group of individuals. 

How did you come to work with Idea Hall?

I’d known Rebecca for a long time because we served on the board of Chapman University. I called her and asked her about my logo idea since I was familiar with her firm and the branding services they did. We thought about bringing in their team and applying an entrepreneurial mentality in our approach even though we were a government entity. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $200,000 across our projects with Idea Hall.

What is the status of this engagement?

The branding and video projects lasted from May 2016–October 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We didn’t only accomplish the logo project; we also had the opportunity to help young people under the wise and watchful tutelage of Rebecca and her staff. I’d never done that before, but I couldn’t have been happier with this process. We worked with those young students and helped them see what was out there in the world. The final pitch that they did was awesome and great, and I knew that Idea Hall was coaching and directing them behind the scenes. As excited as I was about helping young people, I also understood that Ideal Hall wanted the presentation to go exactly as we’d liked it since their brand was on the line, too. In the end, the experience couldn’t have gone better. It was phenomenal, and it exceeded my expectations. 

In terms of the videos we produced, I constantly received strong and high-quality comments from people, whether they were customers or people from other water agencies. I loved the look on their face when they saw our team on the videos. On top of that, people who had no reason to call me actually called me out of the blue to say that our videos were the best. It felt good to know that those comments came on without them knowing how and why we did the videos and who we produced them with. It was a complete affirmation of a job well done. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I looked like a genius because we didn’t do in-person meetings anymore — we did things on video. We showed our videos to people in the Zoom meetings that we did. The clips had professional quality and were just jaw-dropping. These videos showed that Idea Hall had the ability to pull things together to help me and my staff tell our stories. 

We used the Ideal Hall team for many projects. Because of that, we had the opportunity to move the business forward quickly this past year. They understood our values and ethos, not to mention the scope of work that we wanted to cover; they understood what we were trying to put out there and what we were trying to say whether through a logo or a video. In all of these projects, I’ve heard very good feedback. 

How did Idea Hall perform from a project management standpoint?

Idea Hall’s project management was great. I delegated this process to the manager in our public affairs department, and I worked with him closely on it. I often checked in to know whether we were on schedule and if we were getting what we needed, and the answers were always very positive. Since I worked with Rebecca in other circles, it was easy for me to circle back to her; she was very responsive. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They captured what we wanted to accomplish. Even in the first logo project, Idea Hall worked hard to understand what we wanted. With the videos we produced, they asked what takeaway message we were trying to send. In the end, the final products that were put in front of us were exactly what we wanted. 

They drew out of us the information they needed to develop an excellent product, and they delivered. The whole process was impressive; they pulled what we wanted out of us and implemented it in a way that exceeded our expectations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there weren’t any. I was new to this whole marketing process, so I didn’t really have anything to compare the engagement against. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Gauging it based on specific backgrounds, the most important thing in the engagement is laying out expectations. This goes for so many things, but it’s especially important in marketing. Make sure that Idea Hall knows what you want, and make sure that you know what you yourself want relative to what they’re going to provide. 

On top of that, whoever you answer to — whether the president or the CEO — make sure that they’re buying into the project. This also works the other way around: make sure your staff, project manager, and marketing team are buying into the expectations, too. When everybody has a buy-in in terms of expectations, the implementation will be accomplished well. In other words, spend some time upfront so that a common expectation is articulated and written down very well. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chief Operating Officer of an industrial real estate company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Established in 2021 as a best-in-class industrial real estate operating platform, our company specializes in the acquisition, improvement and property management of light industrial business parks and industrial service facilities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Idea Hall to accomplish?

• Launch Property Web Site
• Generate leasing activity

SOLUTION

How did you find Idea Hall?

Previously worked with

Why did you select Idea Hall over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from Idea Hall were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Launch Web Site

Create marketing content such as photography, videos

Create ad campaign to drive targeted traffic to web site

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

A great deal of views for our program, a lot of web traffic that translated into tours being booked and ultimatley, 2 leases being executed. 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Idea Hall is professional and great to work with. They keep projects on task and timeline.

What was your primary form of communication with Idea Hall?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Great customer service

Are there any areas for improvement or something Idea Hall could have done differently?

NA