Scenic Road

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner and creative director of a marketing agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Scenic Road, and what were your goals?

I've had Scenic Road produce several broadcast spots for our credit union client this year. They were heavily animated spots that needed to feel fun despite the complicated subject matter.

SOLUTION

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

Scenic Road is our exclusive partner in all things video. I trust them implicitly to care about the project and do a great job, whatever the challenge is.

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

I worked with the client to establish a concept based on the marketing needs. Then I collaborated with Scenic Road to set a budget and a production plan and suggested improvements. After the client approved the budget, Scenic Road produced the spot according to the production schedule, which allowed us to revise and finalize according to the client's feedback.

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

I talked with Darren early on in defining the project. Then I worked directly with the shop during the process and feedback phases. Giving feedback was easy. We discussed update requests, and timeline expectations were already built into the production schedule.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The client loved the work, which helped us build trust in the relationship.

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

They delivered a production schedule early on, so I only had a few questions during the process. If I needed anything, I just emailed or called my point of contact at the shop.

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

The content and concepts I was dealing with were challenging. Scenic Road went above and beyond to work with me to make sure the message made sense while keeping it all compelling.

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

I don't have any improvement feedback. Everything went great!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a fintech company aiming to help small businesses raise capital by connecting them with investors interested in purchasing bonds.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Scenic Road?

We wanted to build brand awareness toward our products through a mini commercial and create a strong impression.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Scenic Road did video production for us. They made one-minute-long branded content commercials and three FAQ videos to help potential investors and general people to understand our business and what a business bond is so they could join us. We started by having initial meetings with their team to explain our needs, mainly focusing on our brand story and introducing it to the market.

After that, their staff copywriter wrote a preliminary script for the video based on the materials and info we gave them, which we collaboratively edited until we reached the final product. Consequently, we scouted locations and connected with the talent we wanted to have in the commercial.

After that initial process, they began with the filming phase of the project, which included testimonials from our co-founders and business owners that were raised on our platform — we asked them to capture the authentic essence of every testimonial. The following step was to choose the music, and record voiceovers to then continue with back-and-forth iterations until we reached the final deliverables.

Regarding equipment, they provided their own gear and even gave us a location for some of the shots. Moreover, they took care of video editing and audio mixing.

What was the team composition? 

We worked with around eight Scenic Road team members, including a cameraman, an assistant, a production coordinator, a branding content director, an interviewer, a lighting specialist, a scriptwriter, and a team of editors.

How did you come to work with Scenic Road?

I personally knew one of their leads and chose them because we liked their previous work and felt confident with their expertise.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around $110,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May–August 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We published the video on LinkedIn, and we had around 15,000 impressions. Also, they wrote a great script based on our vision and ideas and matched us with a director who understood what we wanted — it was the best storyboard I’ve ever seen. Scenic Road’s quality work made a difference in how people viewed our brand and how seriously they took us. In addition, we noticed an increase of 2,000–3,000 new followers on our Instagram, which was important for us. 

Moreover, we did an op-ed in a magazine, and one of the tipping points was how people started to look at us due to our branded content. Additionally, we were named one of the top ten fintech startups.

How did Scenic Road perform from a project management standpoint?

They stuck to schedules, delivered within budget, and were wonderful at adhering to our goals. Regarding tools and communication, they used Vimeo, Zoom, phone calls, and email — they were very adaptable to the process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had previous experience with fintech platforms, which was helpful for us. Moreover, they were committed to proactively giving ideas guiding us to achieve our goals while staying within our budget. In addition, there were many men from their team, and we liked that, as a female-led team, we felt very respected, comfortable, and safe throughout the process, which was something we valued.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I had a great experience with them and even hired them again for a new project — I was very confident with their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the integration director of Ascend Learning Healthcare. I take companies we acquire and integrate them into the larger business infrastructure in a cross-functional manner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Scenic Road?

We needed a partner to support us with video production for our brand-building initiatives. With these initiatives, we wanted to take the characteristics of our business that are different, unique, and special, and bring them to life in a memorable way for our audience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Scenic Road has been providing us with media production services to support our brand-building initiatives for our different businesses. Currently, we’re working for a nursing business aimed at helping nursing students pass their boards through a variety of educational tools, including question banks, tests, online simulations, and intensive test preparation services.

Our aim with each project is to help our businesses stand apart from the competition and create an emotional connection to our brand. For every project, we contact Scenic Road and talk about the business problem at hand. Then, they ask about the objectives we want to achieve, which later helps them with the conceptualizing and ideating phase.

During this phase, Scenic Road also asks about our ideas for solving our business problem, which helps us initiate a creative brainstorming process. Their team takes our ideas and helps us take them in different directions related to our video production needs.

After 1–2 calls, we reach a good scope of work for the project ahead of us. Once that scope has been budgeted and approved, we move into an active preproduction phase, and we work with Scenic Road to identify the upcoming event. The preproduction phase serves as the basis for their video production efforts.

We’ve worked on so many projects with Scenic Road now that we now basically leave the production process up to them. Their team handles the entire shooting environment and the challenges that come along with certain environments. Additionally, they bring their own equipment.

Our projects with Scenic Road also vary in complexity. Some videos are very simple, such as shooting a video in a hotel conference room, and others are very challenging, such as filming in extreme subarctic weather conditions.

Scenic Road also helps us with postproduction, including animated graphic design, editing, and audio mixing. Additionally, they’ve helped us with other aspects of video production, including copywriting, subject interviews, and subject coaching so that interviewees can deliver the right message in the right way.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with Darren (Managing Partner), who has acted as an executive producer; Jolean (VP), who also serves as a producer; Kevin (Partner & Managing Director of Photography), who works as the camera operator; and Rob (Director of Postproduction), who helps us with the editing and postproduction.

How did you come to work with Scenic Road?

I originally started working with Scenic Road over 10 years ago. However, they were already working for our company when I joined. Originally, they came as a recommendation from an advertising agency.

How much have you invested with them?

An average project with Scenic Road costs around $35,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around March 2012, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Scenic Road is a pleasure to work with. They’re extremely client-focused and remarkably hardworking. Their team spends a lot of time with us at the events that we produce. Moreover, they’re tremendous creative partners, constantly thinking about ways to make the product better than the original idea.

How did Scenic Road perform from a project management standpoint?

Scenic Road always approaches our different projects from a business perspective, which is very important for us. We primarily communicate via phone calls and emails, although we also use Google Meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Scenic Road excels at creative brainstorming. Moreover, they’re very experienced in the video production processes and the challenges that come along with certain locations and environments. Usually, they’re well aware of the challenges for certain projects even before the client ever is, which is great because it’s one less thing to worry about.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything Scenic Road could improve on; we really enjoy working with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I can highly recommend engaging with Scenic Road as a way to address business-level problems, communication challenges, and brand challenges. Allow them to brainstorm ideas with during the preproduction process so that the final result turns out to be much better. Don’t treat them like a service provider; treat them as a creative partner.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am President of M&C, a Kansas City-based marketing communications firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Scenic Road, and what were your goals?

We have hired SR for multiple videos for a range of our clients. We needed video content to build brand awareness, raise funds and take other actions.

SOLUTION

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

We are tied in closely to the marketing network here, and they came highly recommended from multiple trusted colleagues. We were looking for a firm to deliver quality content, work well with our clients and meet the timing goals.

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

We started by looking to SR to suggest a concept. Honestly, we expected to identify the concept ourselves but SR had stellar ideas. From there, they provided a script and storyboard. We set a schedule. They filmed the videos and delivered a final product. Few edits were needed, so they delivered early.

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

We worked with several members of the team, including both principals, as well as a project manager and technical editor. It was a seamless process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The videos have consistently exceeded our goals for fundraising or actions taken. They produce powerful content that we can use on an ongoing basis.

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

I never wondered where my project stood. They are good communicators, produce a quality product, and meet schedule expectations.

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

At the core, their product is stellar. That's what matters most. But the process of working with them is great. "Good enough" is not good enough -- they strive for excellence in everything they produce.

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

No -- they are my "go-to" video partner.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Manager for our company. I am responsible for basically anything with our logo on it and for all marketing projects for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Scenic Road, and what were your goals?

We never had a company introduction video. We have company "About Us" slicks, but we know that people's attention spans are pretty short, so we wanted to be able to send a video to customers, prospective customers, vendors and prospective employees.

SOLUTION

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

We looked at and had initial calls with about 8 providers. We then narrowed down those to 3 providers and had the second set of calls with those companies. We presented our findings to our Executive Team and Scenic Road was ultimately chosen due to their ability to capture companies (we watched example videos of their previous work) essence in a way that the audience could really relate to them - it was authentic, personalized and not your typical out-of-the-box video that a lot of other logistics companies have as their company video.

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

We started with filling out a creative brief and a discovery call where we told them about the purpose of the video and more about our company's history/work. They came to our headquarters and shot video for 2 days: b-roll shooting and individual interviews with a few of our Execs.

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

We worked with the VP, who worked with us from the initial proposal, to the actual video shoot, and to the final product. She was very responsive to our feedback and kept our project on track, always willing to jump onto a call or ZOOM when we had questions about the process. They shared their first and second drafts through vimeo, so it was easy for us to stop the video and make comments about changes on certain designs at different timestamps.

We also worked with their great videography team on the day of shooting. They adjusted per our feedback and was able to accommodate any requests we had for specific shots. The entire team was so professional and was super respectful of all and any safety precautions needed as the live shooting was done during the pandemic.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We used the video and continue to use our introductory video to prospective customers when trying to make a sale. We also have included this in our new employee onboarding process, so they can learn more about the company right as they start their career with us. We were able to share this on our social media platforms as well to garner more attention and boost our page views. We are also going to highlight this video on the new website we are currently building.

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

The VP, who oversaw our project from start to end, was super easy to communicate with. She provided us with tons of updates and followed up with us constantly. We mostly spoke over ZOOM and over the phone due to remote work. We also communicated our changes through the vimeo comments and through email.

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

What was most impressive was that Scenic Road doesn’t specialize in logistics’ company videos. They took the time to really understand our business. By doing that, they were able to shoot relevant b-roll footage and ask the right questions during the interview process. The VP also came up with great ideas on how we could convey our message to the audience in a way that we didn’t think of.

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

There’s really nothing that they could’ve done better to make the process any easier or successful.