Spiracle Media

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Associate Director, Memory Maker Experience of Broad River Retail

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a Furniture Retail Company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Spiracle Media to accomplish?

• To produce video footage from an in person event to use internally and externally

SOLUTION

How did you find Spiracle Media?

Referral

Why did you select Spiracle Media over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

What was the size of Spiracle Media’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

We hosted an in-person recognition event in which we had Spiracle attend to film throughout the night. Filming included connection moments throughout the night, winner speeches and interviewed with top performances and Executives. We used this footage to create 2 post event videos. One video was used for internal purposes and the other as an external video to use in recruiting and company advertising.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Competed Product
• Completed On-Time

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

Yes- this team is incredibly responsive and helpful throughout the entire process. They are always open for conversation and provide great feedback. The whole process is smooth beginning to end due to their exceptional project management.

What was your primary form of communication with Spiracle Media?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The care they put into their work. Everything was done with exceptional attention to detail and genuine care for the client.

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

None.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of Junior Achievement of Central Carolinas. Our nonprofit organization teaches K–12 students financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and workforce readiness skills.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spiracle Media?

Spiracle Media has been a longtime partner of ours for a range of video needs. The bulk of their involvement, however, includes filming the stories of prominent business leaders who are nominated to become laureates for the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame. Those videos are then shown at the induction ceremony.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our subjects often have busy calendars by the nature of their work, but Spiracle Media is always flexible. Once we determine a time for filming, their team makes the appropriate travel accommodations if they are necessary. Our sides come together to discuss the story and put together a set of questions. Spiracle Media’s team has a journalism background, so they are well-versed in finding the best questions to learn why people do what they do and why they lead as they do. On the day of filming, we speak with as many people as we can to maximize our time.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked closely with the founders, but I don’t think there’s anybody at Spiracle Media that I haven’t worked with yet.

How did you come to work with Spiracle Media?

I was one of their first clients when they started eight or nine years ago. They assisted me with a different business, and when I became CEO here, I reached out to them in hopes that they could support us in creating these stories.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked with them since 2013 and our engagement remains ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re excited to unveil our latest project, though it is not related to the laureate videos. The video reveals the name of our newest building, and we hope that the video will help engage the community with Junior Achievement.

How did Spiracle Media perform from a project management standpoint?

They have always been accommodating to what we would like to do. There are times when we feel we have to change something within 12 hours of show time, and they are willing to go the extra mile to help us. I don’t want to say they have flawless project management abilities, but I’ve never been concerned about missing a deadline. They clearly do a good job of managing their other work alongside our projects.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their best ability is to listen to ideas and deliver and exceed those expectations. They know how to create a story—a message—that captivates.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any areas for improvement. They’re a great group of people and do a great job.

Any advice for potential customers?

I would simply recommend using them. If your company wants to move to move to the next level and share your stories via video, Spiracle Media is a company you should pursue.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the executive director of marketing and communications at Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spiracle?

We do not have an in-house videographer on our team, but to make sure that we serve our population and our target audience, it is vital that we have video as a part of our efforts. We turned to Spiracle to serve as an extension of our marketing team to help with our video needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Spiracle works with us on a variety of content ranging from 30-second advertising videos to 2- or 3-minute videos for large campus events. Whenever we have a new project, we reach out to them and initiate an in-person meeting. Our graphic designer and I generally lead that effort. We present them with a project brief that details our target audience and our goals. Oftentimes, our stories will profile a successful student, so after our meeting, Spiracle will storyboard the video a bit and pitch us later on different story ideas and a creative direction. We review the ideas and collaborate to determine shoot locations and interview subjects. We let Spiracle run with their creative freedom on the project because we trust that they’ll have the best vision for it.

When we are done with shooting, Spiracle edits the film and sends us a rough draft using Wipster, which we appreciate because we’re able to review it and leave our comments and suggestions on the editing screen. It usually takes about two rounds of proofing and editing until we have our final product.

What is the team composition?

We work primarily with Jared, a co-founder, as our main point of contact whenever we have a project idea we need to get started. He helps us with the set-up and ideation. Whenever we move into the execution of the project, we work closely with David, who is the director of video production. He is our contact for the creative direction.

How did you come to work with Spiracle?

My supervisor worked with Spiracle in a previous role before coming to work at the university. She suggested we continue to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend roughly $25,000 a year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2014, and we currently have a number of projects in the pipeline with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We work with a digital advertising agency that gives us a report of how our advertising videos are performing, and we’re seeing increased lead generation from these videos. One video, in particular, had close to 2,000 people rewind to watch it again, which is amazing. The engagement with our videos is having a tremendous effect on our school.

How did Spiracle perform from a project management standpoint?

Their ideation sessions are phenomenal, and they are extremely organized on shoot days. More recently, they’ve added a project manager who has improved their workflow. Everything is timely, and they’re very responsive through email and on the phone whenever we don’t meet in person.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We can really count on them for their creativity. They truly deliver when it comes to telling a story in an unexpected way. Whenever we work with them, I feel we are going to get a video that will elicit viewers’ emotions—whether it’s laughing or crying. Storytelling is absolutely their strong suit.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It can sometimes be a challenge for them to respond to clients through email when their team is traveling as much as it does, but we gave them that feedback, and I think that’s why they recently added the project manager. They’ve done addressed that matter, and we’ve seen a notable change. They do an admirable job of asking for feedback and determining if they have any gaps in the service they provide.

Any advice for potential customers?

It’s important to rely on them and trust them when it comes to their creativity. It can sometimes be difficult to build that trust with a new partner, but if you let the experts do their thing, that’s when their work will truly shine.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of marketing for an education technology company. I work with our current clients to help them really tell the story behind their partnerships with us.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spiracle Media?

Companies partnered with us to provide digital education in schools across their communities. We needed a good way to showcase our partnerships’ impact and stories with our clients through video.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started by storyboarding using Excel to understand what we were trying to achieve. Now that we've gotten the hang of it, we typically have one phone call meeting prior to filming. We walk through what our goals are depending on what kind of education our client is providing. I send them a briefing to summarize our vision. Then, their team films and develops our creative aspects like our setting. I conduct the interviews, but they'll definitely chime in if we need more content. Then, they develop the first drafts using a Wipster editor and change the video according to our feedback.

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with one of their co-founders and their CEO. We also work with other specialists as needed.

How did you come to work with Spiracle Media?

One of our senior leaders knew their founder.

How much have you invested with them?

We invest $10,000 per project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in 2008 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their storytelling videos are some of our strongest assets. Our clients ask about which vendor we used for our video and renew their contract with us. The senior executives of our client’s companies really can see the impact of their partnership with us.

How did Spiracle Media perform from a project management standpoint?

They already have a preferred structure, but they’re also very responsive through email or phone. They always let me know when they’re going to be available and listen closely to our feedback. They use a Wipster to receive our comments.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re our one-stop shop. They can do all the creative execution, voiceover, and production. They're excellent at creating powerful stories, editing, graphics, and design. Their quality is higher than many other vendors we’ve previously used. Their technical skill and insight are exceptional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was a small period when their staff was too small for us, but this was a minor issue and solved as they grew.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about your vision and communicate well. Don’t worry about like the individual pieces of the video. Just explain your big ideas and they’ll take it from there.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a Marketing Executive and VP at ECS Southeast, LLP. We provide geotechnical, environmental, construction materials and facilities engineering. My role is concept development and creative execution for marketing and branding efforts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spiracle Media?

We developed a recruitment campaign that needed an impactful ending. Spiracle Media helped us take it to the next level. They enabled us to capture our team in the most authentic and honest way that was powerful and left a lasting impression.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have worked with Spiracle Media on three separate occasions. Each campaign was different. With the GRIT campaign, we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to capture. The A Day in the Life campaign was much more a joint effort for storyboarding. This round with the Explore campaign, we relied much more heavily on Spiracle Media for insight and direction.

What is the team composition?

We strategized with Jarod (Co-Founder, Spiracle Media) and David (Partner/Director of Video Production, Spiracle Media) in the beginning stages. During production, we mostly worked with David and a handful of other people we’d meet with throughout the process.

How did you come to work with Spiracle Media?

I grew up in the same town as Jarod. We ran into each other a few years ago and met back up to discuss how we could work together. Our vision aligned and so we didn’t even consider any other companies.

How much have you invested with them?

Our current investment falls in the $25,000-50,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2016 and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our videos have been recruitment and employee engagement based. The internal and external feedback received is much more than we could have ever expected. The campaigns created would not have had the same impact without the involvement of Spiracle Media. This year, we have won 9 regional and national marketing awards related to these campaigns.

How did Spiracle Media perform from a project management standpoint?

In my experience, their team is respectful, professional and responsive. We’ve communicated through email, phone calls, text messages, and face-to-face.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The fact that we spent 10+ hours dragging them all over DC in the hottest day of the year without a single complaint was impressive to me. We even had them outside on a roof for hours and they always maintained a friendly, positive attitude. Spiracle Media listens and then creatively help you exceed your goals -- they go above and beyond to capture the shot.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go in with an open mind and ask questions. Collaborative brainstorming resulted in the best possible end-product.