CHUCK. Media

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a community media advisor for a national sports organization.

For what projects/services did your company hire CHUCK. Media?

We needed help to promote grassroots sports by sharing powerful stories about people in our community.

What were your goals for this project?

To raise awareness about the local heroes in our community and encourage more people to get involved with sports.

How did you select this vendor?

We heard about them through word of mouth. Our photographer recommended them.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Over the last 18 months, they're captured around a dozen stories throughout the country. First they researched and planned the output, then headed out to capture interviews and incredible overlay for the documentaries. 

What was the team composition?

I worked closely with one person throughout the planning, filming, and delivery. If needed, we would bring in an additional shooter or editor to help meet deadlines. Over time our working relationship has become more of a close friendship and we have a deep-seeded trust in their work and their portrayal of our brand.

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

They have a gift of capturing all the 'in-between moments' that showcase really powerful emotion. The documentaries really pull on the heartstrings and showcase rugby in a whole new light. Our first series with them reached almost one million people globally and had a huge ripple effect. We were inundated with people wanting to share their story or give praise.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication has always been a strong point. The team is efficient at meeting deadlines and is always happy to work on final edits.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their passion and the pride they invest in every project impresses me. They go the extra mile and put in effort to understand the full context of a story, which helps our people feel relax and know they are in safe hands.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Pfizer Australia is part of the large global pharmaceutical corporation. At the time of working with CHUCK. Media, I was the communications manager of the company, and I’m now a strategic policy manager.

What challenge were you trying to address with CHUCK. Media?

We’ve used them on and off over time, initially for a feature video with one of our organizational partners. We wanted to showcase the work done by our organization with patients with metastatic breast cancer.

What was the scope of their involvement?

CHUCK. Media’s work was fantastic. It was actually an award-winning feature video that they put together, showcasing the work of one metastatic breast cancer nurse in particular, at a hospital in Sydney. They spoke with her family about the importance of her role in caring for these patients, and the connection she makes with women with late-stage cancer. It’s a sensitive subject, but they worked extremely carefully to capture the importance of late-stage support.

We’ve recently relocated our offices from a larger university-style campus on the outskirts of Sydney to a state-of-the-art office in the center of the city. As part of our relocation, we ran a unique project for a digital canvas. We have large screens throughout the new office, and we engaged CHUCK. Media to manage that digital content creation project.

We came to CHUCK. Media with a few ideas. We knew the interior design of the building the content would be showcased in. We wanted content to showcase the Australian environment, but also wanted it to be unique and truly ours. CHUCK was part of the initial workshop. We brought them ideas for the content, and they executed it through a collaborative process.

We hadn’t run a project of this scale before. Given the budget and timeframe we were given, it was a significant piece of work. CHUCK. Media effectively managed the entire project in terms of content creation, liaising with us as the client.

The project took 12–14 months, and we brought on CHUCK. Media from the very start. We put together a digital brand, which included a workshop with key stakeholders and leaders, to create a structure and vision around what we were trying to do.

CHUCK. Media not only sourced original artists and artwork but also created content, including a video of our colleagues telling their stories in an interesting and unique way. They also produced content that captured the natural environment of Australia, which is a large feature of our new interior design. The content mirrors that.

The key part of the project was identifying the routines of our colleagues and creating content that reflected the time of day. When they were moving in the morning through the hustle and bustle and catching public transport, we would present energizing content to get them through the day. As they were preparing to get back to their families, we’d show more relaxing content, to help them be in the right frame of mind to leave work, switch off, and focus on their personal lives.

CHUCK created this bank of content over 14 months, and we’ve showcased it around the office. It’s truly unique.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Stuart (Director, CHUCK. Media) starting with the first video we did with them. There were around eight people on the team in total. They’re not a large organization, and Stuart is very hands-on as the director of the company. He brings in other contractors when it’s necessary to complete the work. He had contractors he’d worked with on other projects and he connected with them to create the foundation of the digital content. We got three digital artworks done by three CGI experts. He was also hands-on in terms of planning and production, as well as the filming and direction of the production.

How did you come to work with CHUCK. Media?

I was introduced to Stuart through my network, and we gave them an opportunity with a piece of work for a foundation. It went well, so we expanded the collaboration. CHUCK. Media is now one of our preferred providers for digital content projects. We’re continuing to refresh the content each year, and we’re going to engage CHUCK. Media to do a second round of that in 2019–2020. A number of our business units have engaged them for brand work and video production. All of that work has been to a very high standard. We’re extremely satisfied with the work they’ve put forward.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $100,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from January 2018­–March 2019.

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

We’ve heard from colleagues that CHUCK. Media’s work added an additional dimension to the office experience. Internal colleagues engage with the screens, and they like and have a sense of pride in what’s displayed, knowing that it’s showcasing the best of Australian environments. We use the screens to entertain external visitors, telling them about the artwork and how it was put together. The initial reaction that people have is great when seeing the large screen walking from our main area and onto our floor, on level 15. The overall screen canvas is 4.5 by 2.5 meters, and, combined with the content being displayed on it, it’s really eye-turning.

CHUCK. Media definitely grasped the brief extremely quickly and knew what we were trying to deliver. One of the things I liked is that they came up with their own ideas and added value to the project. I appreciate Stuart’s input into what we were trying to achieve. He brought his experience and insights to the table, to determine what would work and what wouldn’t. He had to familiarize himself with the hardware we were using at the office, and he worked through it fantastically.

CHUCK. Media’s main strength in terms of content production is being able to tell a great story. A lot of the original content we developed has a great narrative that enhances the Pfizer brand in Australia.

How did CHUCK. Media perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re looking to refresh the content for 2020, and we’ve had a lot of discussions around that. They’ve delivered the final piece of content for 2019, and we’re in a planning phase for 2020. We’re in different cities, so most of our discussions have been over phone and email. Stuart is available any time of day for a phone call, and, if we need him at the office, he’s only an hour away from Sydney, and he’s happy to drive and meet with us and talk through things. We’ve had a great relationship, so much so that I’ve recommended CHUCK. Media to a number of people and business units. I’m sure they’d say the same thing.

Stuart is easy to work with, extremely professional, and somewhat of a perfectionist, in terms of the content he creates. We have great comfort knowing that, when we hand something out to him, he’s going to take great care of it.

We had milestones for the project, and a project plan to track those. Everything was delivered digitally. They put together the project brief, which was also used to get concept approvals from our senior leadership. As we were moving through the project, they presented the vision across the organization, knowing that, had we started the artwork creation, we wouldn’t have had many possibilities within our budget to change it at a later stage. It was an important piece of work done by CHUCK. Media, and we were able to get approval, which reflected on the quality of their work. Once we went through approvals once or twice, people were more than happy to sign off on additional content, knowing it would be of high quality.

Not only is CHUCK. Media competitively priced, but they’re very flexible. One of the reasons we’ve got such a trusting relationship with them as a provider is that they understand our needs as a company. They’ll help us meet a deadline if necessary, and they’ll work within our budgets.

They punch above their weight in terms of producing work with a small team of employees and contractors. They’ve continued to meet our expectations at every step, and we’re looking at a number of other potential projects for them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re competitively priced, which was one of the reasons for choosing them. We knew that we’d get a lot of content out of them, for the budget we had. They’re incredibly personable, relatable, and fun to work with. Everyone who worked on this project had a lot of fun working with their team. Once we developed a rapport, we were happy to keep it going.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. We’re looking forward to a long-term relationship with their company.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Having a vision of what we want to execute will help. Not that Stuart can’t come up with ideas and concepts from scratch, but they certainly want to resonate with the client, and I think that having a clear vision in place can add value and enhance the connection we have with them as a company. They can take our vision to the next level, and having parameters and expectations minimizes the chance for disappointment.