Rocket Farm

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the strategic development officer for D.I.S.C Sports and Spine Center which is a medical practice in Southern California. We provide spinal care, orthopedics, and pain management services. I handle all of our business initiatives and marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm?

We had been owned by a corporate partner surgical care affiliate, but we decided to buy back the business. Part of doing that was a complete rebrand. We used Rocket Farm to help relaunch and reinvigorate the brand, both from a visual perspective and from a storytelling perspective.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we first started the contract, we started them more so focused on video services, and that was our meet the doctor interviews, interviews with patients, and telling patient stories. We have a contract with Red Bull North America, and we had them do all of our “athlete back to health” stories.

I had worked with Jeff (Founder/Creative Director) a couple of times over the years just on one-off video project needs. As we rebranded, we kind of wanted to get more consistent and frequent content coming out regularly to really launch the new brand that was going to be more focused on video and storytelling. As we got that in place, we expanded their roles on how we were working with them. 

They pretty quickly took over social media, so they do all of our posting for Instagram and Facebook. They also generate original content.

Recently, they took over our HubSpot website portal and are creating editorial blog content for us.

We already had a color scheme and a logo, so they didn’t touch that, but everything from graphic overlays for videos to stills and quotes, they took care of. 

What is the team composition?

Routinely, I work with probably three people. I work with Eric (Creative Web Developer) who is the web manager. Jeff joins all the weekly calls that we have so it is kind of a team effort between Jeff and Matt (Digital Marketing Specialist) who is my daily coordinator. 

As far as filming and when they bring crews on set, usually we have the same person, who is the director of photography, as I have requested to have him every time. He runs the team and depending on the shoot or the scale of what we are doing, then they bring in an audio person, photographer, or an assistant for the photographer so we may have four to six people on set when they are doing that. 

we have HubSpot that runs the website, so they are doing a lot of automated marketing campaigns through that. For social, we have had a host of different social tools from Hootsuite to Later, and we are exploring a new one right now.

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm?

I had a marketing consultant working for us years ago. She had introduced me to Jeff. I hired him originally to do a campaign series that we were working on for the Los Angeles Kings. That was the first time I worked with them, and that was in 2012 or 2013. I kept in contact with Jeff over the years. When we were going to rebrand the business, I went to Jeff.

How much have you invested in them?

Right now, we spend $5,900 a month, but I am increasing their roles and responsibilities and we are looking at adjusting that upwards.

What is the status of this engagement?

We brought them on retainer in December 2017. Our relationship is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When it comes to the growth and the health of the business, we have more than doubled our surgical volume at the surgery center. Our business makes money off of performing surgeries. Essentially, they have doubled our revenue since we started with them.

I think we have hired about 20% more staff to support new needs and we were even able to stay open during COVID-19 and grow during these times. 

How did Rocket Farm perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been great. Matt is in place as my dedicated account manager, he keeps everything on track. I have a weekly recap call with him. 

I find that as a whole, they are able to move quicker than I am able to so they are always one step ahead of me, pushing me to get more content out. I have been very happy with their ability to stay on track and manage projects.

We pretty much do all of our meetings through Zoom video calls. As far as project management software, They are always trying to bring in the best, latest, and greatest on how we can efficiently make and improve content. They have a full library of assets for me through Dropbox. Once we create finalized content, they categorize and archive everything for me there.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their quality and attention to detail are most impressive. I feel comfortable putting them in a room with a celebrity patient or high-profile athlete, or any of our doctors. I don’t feel like I have to be there to micromanage them.

I wanted to work with them because I followed the level of content that they were producing and their ability to tell a story or make an emotional human connection. Ultimately, the fact that they’re willing to do that within a budget, stay on track, and stay on target has proved to be very valuable. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think there are always ways that you can improve a relationship. That is a conversation that is happening all of the time. Matt and I were on the phone today talking about how we can make this process a little bit easier to improve social posts. I think that is part of the value of what they bring to the table. 

I don’t have anything negative to say about them as far as things they could have done better. They are constantly trying to reinvent and reimagine how they can make more effective workflows and I think that is something that we are continuing to work on until this day.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As you enter into a new relationship, having clear goals and objectives is important. I would say that my best advice would be to have a good understanding of the business and what you need to get out of the content, and then let them try to storyboard and figure out the different and creative ways on how to do that.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My company makes commercials, PSAs & corporate videos for global brands

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rocket Farm, and what were your goals?

We have an ongoing contract to produce recruitment videos for a large tech company, and we hired our long-term collaborators at Rocket Farm to take on a large portion of the post-production effort.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We have a long history with Rocket Farm and we value their quality, speed and the work interaction.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail, including the project steps and all stages of production.

We send raw footage to Rocket Farm, and they edit together interviews, b-roll, and other assets, and add music, graphics, color grading and audio mixing.

Who did you work with and what was the feedback process like?

We worked with Jeff, David and April and the feedback process was fast, efficient and effective.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our tech client needs a large volume of high-quality videos to meet their hiring needs, and Rocket Farm has enabled us to reach all goals and deadlines.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Communication is mostly over email, and is fast, concise and efficient.

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

Rocket Farm gets what you're looking to do — they dive right in, learn fast, and deliver what's needed.

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

I wish there were more Rocket Farmers, for even faster results