Studio Center

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is called Solvay. We’re a large multinational company with roughly 41,000 employees and annual sales of around $10.3 Billion. We service the chemicals industry, both in aerospace, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and what they call specialty chemicals. My position is on the global business unit as the quality director and the third-party manufacturing director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Studio Center?

Our business challenge was the creation of internal awareness programs for our employees, as well as external awareness programs for our customer base.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Since we’re a materials science company, we don’t have a lot of expertise in video productions and visual communications in general. We originally went to them for our Zero-Defect project, which is essentially a program to improve our overall product quality and showcase that to our customers. They also run a reward program called Bling that offers giveaway items to our employees and customers.

They guided us through a series of video production steps, allowing our head executives to have a video presence for the first time. They help with storyboarding, provide voice actors in English, Chinese, Spanish, and several other languages, and continue to do all of our digital editing. Every year they help us modify the information to reflect what is new.

What is the team composition?

We work with six core employees. We have what we call a producer assigned to our account, as well as two account managers, and a larger digital support team. We also interact with Woody (CEO, Studio Center) on a semi-regular basis. Just about a month ago we were at their Virginia Beach location and Woody took the time to have dinner with us, which we appreciate.

How did you come to work with Studio Center?

We found them and started working with them in 2013 based on their reputation and their ability to work with almost every branch of our company.

How much have you invested with them?

Our spending with them ranges, based on our projects, between $250,000 and $750,000. In total, we’ve invested several million dollars in their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in 2013 and our projects are ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve won multiple supplier awards for our Zero-Defect program with them. Based on their input in that program we went from a 60% percent engagement of our employees to over 96% engagement. That’s a big deal because the quality of our products is very important to us, and a majority of the program focuses on internal training.

They also did a “100 Year in Mining” video for us which has been shown around the world and was highly received by our customers.

How did Studio Center perform from a project management standpoint?

I would say that they excel in project management. Again, we’re a material science company, and we’ve had multiple times where they’ve been working on videos for major chemical conferences around the world where the deadlines got pulled up.

They are very good at hitting agreed-upon milestones in the first place, but they’re also always very flexible and willing to put in the work to get anything completed early for us if we need them to. The best part is that their flexibility does not decrease the quality of the content in the videos they provide.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I would say their biggest strength besides their overall quality is their communication. They’re very interactive with our teams, and despite projects stretched across years and between multiple different departments in different companies, they are always on top of their work. We assess our suppliers every year and they are always ranked number one by all of my employees that interact with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think they need to improve on any of the processes they are doing now, but it would be great if they could expand the services that they offer. They’ve been growing as a company since we’ve been interacting with them, and we actually found out recently that they are able to take care of other projects for us that we weren’t aware they had the capability for. I would love to see that continue going forward.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

At Consult 1, we help business through project management, training, and editing services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Studio Center?

Working with CYTEC/Solvay, we use Studio Center for creative video production in the areas of training and new initiatives. We need a platform that is both captivating and informative; Studio Center makes it happen!

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal for our continued work on Zero Defect is that our message is engaging for employees and customers alike. Studio Center has been able to provide us with exceptional and personal service throughout the journey.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

For us, it was important to have a vendor who is as committed to excellence as the companies we represent. On time delivery of projects and price competitiveness are also important; Studio Center keeps delivering.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail.

The staff at Studio Center has been and continues to be dedicated to us throughout the process. Our relationship with Studio Center started with videos and is now branching out to other areas, namely print and marketing.

Senior Producer Erik Schirmer, as well as the Studio Center staff, has helped take our videos from concept, scripting, design, imagery selection, voice overs, to editing and final production. As a consultant, they keep me involved through the entire process and have delivered exceptional quality over the years.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

Studio Center has always kept us in the loop throughout the process of project completion. Staff has made themselves available for our questions and needs. Studio Center makes us feel like we are always a priority!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For us, the ultimate test of our Zero Defect videos is employee engagement. Studio Center has delivered!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Exceptional! The team working on our projects is involved and reachable; we always feel like we are part of the process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Studio Center is most impressive because of its continued commitment to both quality and personal service.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Please keep up the great work and relationship as it makes Studio Center truly stand out above the rest!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

Erickson Living Management has built and currently operates over 20 retirement communities across the country. As the associate director of TV and digital, I handle all of the marketing. This includes TV commercials, digital videos, and internal videos.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Studio Center? 

Our operation is unique in that we do regional commercials for each of our communities, but these are often different versions of a single ad. Since we rotated between the same voice talent, it became difficult to keep track of the administrative tasks and royalties, so we approached Studio Center to streamline the process.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

For over a decade, Studio Center has streamlined our production processes, providing actors and actresses for all of our commercials. We have a yearly agreement that allows us to choose a voice talent and call on them whenever needed. This lets us bypass the administrative tasks that would otherwise bog down our workflow.

We typically give their team a set of requirements for each commercial or video. They then find the appropriate voice talent, records the lines, and send us the polished audio. Recently, they’ve started to branch out, providing on-camera talent and handling some of the production as well.

What is the team composition? 

Maria (Account Manager & Casting Director, Studio Center) has been our voice talent representative for as long as I can remember. If we’re looking for camera or production services, they’ll assign another dedicated resource.

Beyond the reps, we’ve also worked with quality voice and on-camera actors as well as producers and engineers. The latter go above and beyond to help us edit some of our audio clips, which is great when we’re short on time. 

How did you come to work with Studio Center? 

We’ve been working with Studio Center since before I joined my position, so I’m not sure how the engagement started. However, we regularly review our service providers to evaluate their performance.

Compared to other vendors, Studio Center has consistently been at the top of the industry by far; there’s no contest. They’ve exceeded our expectations in terms of talent, cost, and processing.

How much have you invested with them? 

We spend between $50,000–$100,000 annually.

What is the status of this engagement? 

The partnership started in 2006 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It's been a great working relationship so far. Our internal team is particularly happy with the quality of their talent; the voice actors are top-notch, and they do a phenomenal job with their assignments.

I also appreciate how efficient the process is. Whether it’s a tight deadline or a special request, Studio Center has always pulled through. Their team has a good sense of what we’re looking for and can cater their services to our needs.

How did Studio Center perform from a project management standpoint?

The whole staff is great, from top to bottom. Although they have several offices spread throughout the country, they excel at coordinating between their teams. This has resulted in a single, streamlined process that really helps us with our needs.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

I’m impressed by their client management skills. We have a great working relationship with Maria. It feels like she’s always on call, and she handles our issues in a timely manner.

Are there any areas they could improve? 

No, nothing comes to mind. It’s a pleasure to work with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
 
Check in with them to understand the breadth of their services and make sure that you’re taking full advantage of all of their offerings. I wasn’t initially aware of all the ways they could help us, but they’ve been really supportive throughout. When it came to finding voice talent on short notice, they’ve been great at quickly get us numerous auditions.