Piro

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a management services company that provides training tools and platforms for individual investors and traders. We also provide banking and lending products. I handle a lot of advertising and branding work around our campaigns.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Piro?

As a financial services company, there are limitations around what we can and can’t do in terms of content and messaging. We were looking for a partner who could do excellent work in terms of brand and content. That included a lot of online videos, as well as educational videos and content to make finance more engaging and interesting.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We brought them on board kind of to add a little bit of a spark and make our financial products, the way we market them, and how we speak to them a little more engaging for the everyday trader and investor. They continue to create content for us.

When they first came on board, they worked on some retirement work for us. We’ve been doing a lot of retirement advertising over the past couple of years and we wanted a different spin on it. They reviewed our current strategy and came up with a bit more of a humorous approach, almost poking fun at the way the way that financial companies speak in clichés when it comes to the topic. We asked them to come up with a couple concepts, which ultimately, we did move forward with, and then released an online video.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Tim (Writer/Director & Founding Partner, Piro) and Daniel (Founding Partner, Piro).

How did you come to work with Piro?

Our CMO had worked with them in the past and had a good rapport with them. She’s familiar with their work and we’d been wanting to bring in someone to think more out of the box.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was more of an awareness campaign, but there was a lot of positive feedback on the retirement video that they produced. We’ve engaged them for more content around education, but we haven’t seen those results yet. In terms of our overall satisfaction, the project's definitely a success.

How did Piro perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re a pretty small, nimble shop. There's no problem getting hold of them or asking for timelines. We use email and phone and meet for dinner for conversations around different strategies.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality, the creative thinking, and their speed are impressive. They’re able to create great ideas very quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The area for improvement is understanding timelines. They’re very quick to get work to us, but the issue in terms of production, understanding, and allotting the correct amount of time—considering lots of legal details and different teams and procedures. They need to understand the timeline of a project on a production schedule and to establish realistic timing within that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re very good at what they do, ensuring that the client isn't too prescriptive. Trust their process: give them a quality strategy and let them come back to you with ideas. They will come back with lots of good ideas and you’ll have to narrow them down.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the VP of digital and direct marketing for Lovesac, a direct-to-consumer furniture company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Piro?

We engaged Piro to help us create a TV spot for one of our product categories.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Piro collaborated with our team to storyboard some ideas for our TV advertisement. They then provided full production and voiceover services to complete the project.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Daniel (Founder, Piro), as well as a project lead and another team member who helped with creative conceptualization and production.

How did you come to work with Piro?

They were recommended to us by a friend, so they were one of a few agencies we sent an RFP to. After they met with us and presented some concepts, we were very impressed by their ideas and decided to award them the business.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on the ad from November 2017 to March 2018, and we just met with them recently to discuss potential projects for 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The TV spot tested extremely well before it aired; people found it to be memorable and it communicated our product effectively. Although it didn't generate a positive return on investment, we weren't disappointed by the results since we were testing out a new concept. The experience helped us figure out how to improve our return policy for customers, which turned out to be a big win for us. It ultimately helped us gather enough information to understand how adjusting that policy would be financially viable for us.

How did Piro perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team was very responsive and clear in their approach throughout the project. There were a lot of their staff involved to ensure everything went smoothly. They also provided some great feedback on ways we could potentially improve our digital work, which we may pursue with them in the future.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They presented a lot more concepts for our TV spot than other agencies we engaged, all of which were very strong. They went above and beyond our original RFP, providing ideas for ways to improve our digital initiatives.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It's important for both sides to be responsive throughout the process. We had a pretty short amount of time to pull our TV spot together, so it required our own team to be readily available to answer any questions Piro's team had. It's a collaborative process, so clear and consistent communication is key.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a global digital industrial provider. We build, move, power, and core industries, from transportation to energy and healthcare. I am the global director of innovation for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Piro?

For some time now, we have been navigating our way through the digital transformation of our company, in terms of the services provided to customers, the way in which digital changes how we go to market, and how we think about talent in this area. We have been changing our entire business model and culture. This is critical for many companies, especially large ones. We first started talking to the Piro team about getting help creating some interesting storytelling around our corporate culture, as a way to inspire and empower other people, who are themselves dealing with this transformation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The goal of our work was specific from the beginning, and consisted of a handful of digital videos, the length of which was open to creative interpretation. In order to achieve this, we had a set number of production days, rounds of feedback, and input from various stakeholders. The core goal was delivering video assets centering around a character, for which the Piro team supplied strategy and thought.

Piro was in charge of the storyboarding. They excel in terms of production, but also brought in development, strategic thinking, creativity, copyrighting, and all other skillsets for creating a really good story.

They delivered 3 videos in the end, all of them 2-3 minutes in length. They’re being used internally as a way to inject some humor and poke fun at our own culture. We aim to inspire people to understand how all of these digital technologies are changing jobs, and the way in which we go about our work. They help people understand their responsibilities and roles in this transformation.

How did you come to work with Piro?

We were introduced to them by another vendor, which Piro has a close relationship with. We did consider other companies, but Piro was chosen based on their work, particularly what they made for Shredded Wheat. They showed an understanding of how to tell a story with the right comedic notes, and the right kind of humor. After seeing that work, everyone on our team became excited about hiring Piro and harnessing that same kind of humor.

How much have you invested with Piro?

This information is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Piro in January 2017. The engagement concluded in June.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

They were very funny in all the right ways, and did an amazing job helping create the character, and tell the story based on our direction. We gave them a lot of leeway to execute off of the outcomes, goals, and messaging points we wanted to convey. Piro did an amazing job of capturing it all, and doing it in a very relevant and funny way.

How did Piro perform from a project management standpoint?

Everyone from their team who was introduced to us was thorough, on top of everything, prepared for meetings and creative reviews, captured meeting notes, addressed our feedback, and had good, open discussions with us. There might have been some feedback we gave which probably wasn’t the right fit creatively, but we had good dialogues around it. Overall, Piro is a fantastic partner, down in the trenches of execution.

What did you find most impressive about Piro?

The way in which their principals, Daniel Rosenberg and Tim Piper, see the world is Piro’s greatest asset. They have unique perspectives on big companies, brand storytelling, and the fundamentals of how to tell a good story. They have deep expertise with a variety of mediums and partners. Thinking about Piro in relation to other companies, it’s really about Tim and Daniel. I find that their background and perspective is very valuable.

Are there any areas Piro could improve?

Adopting technology and emerging platforms into their arsenal of content creation and distribution would serve them well. Piro needs to continue to evolve their offering and model.