EXL Media

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival is a summer event that attracts over 30,000 people, including visitors, tourists, and locals. We perform a pair of club productions and repertory as well as showcasing a series of regional arts organizations. 

As the director of marketing, I work with EXL Media on our marketing efforts, from developing to executing our media plan.

What challenge were you trying to address with EXL Media?

Our festival is unique in that our audience is a mix of locals and visitors from outside of the region. We rely on EXL Media to engage both audiences to bring together our marketing.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Each year, EXL Media works with us to discuss how to attract our various audiences to our venue. The work focuses on identifying a budget, defining our target markets, and working through a media plan that fits without our budget. Their team controls the entirety of our media spend.

Tactically speaking, they deploy our plan via print, digital, and other media channels to accomplish our goals. We work with them to track our campaign progress, meeting at the end of the year to analyze how everything went and plan for the next festival.

Overall, it’s a collaborative and organic process. Although we operate on a plan, they’re responsive to changes in the market and evolve as we go along. Most of their work focuses on maximizing the effectiveness of the content they’ve generated.

What is the team composition? 

I work with one person on all of the tasks, but there are generally others who join the conversation along the way as the need arises. That’s one of EXL Media’s strengths — their capable bench team is able to step in at any time and help us deliver.

How did you come to work with EXL Media?

Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival has been working with EXL Media before I even joined my position. They’ve consistently helped us exceed our goals and are great to work with. That’s why we continue to partner with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend about $100,000 each year, so it’s over $1 million in total at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

Personally, I’ve worked with their team since 2010.

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

They’re resourceful and creative in finding new channels to reach our target markets. I appreciate that they take a data-driven approach. The team is efficient, which makes my time efficient.

How did EXL Media perform from a project management standpoint?

From the president all the way down to my main point of contact, everyone is fantastic to work with. They’re always responsive if something isn’t working and will address issues collaboratively. 

They also deliver everything on schedule, often submitting items ahead of me. We use a shared project management system in place to enable me to do my job without being cumbersome.

What did you find most impressive about them?

EXL Media is the Swiss Army knife of digital agencies — they can pretty much do anything. That could be digital consulting, prints, and even billboard advertisements. That’s what really sets them apart.

It doesn’t hurt that they have a strong sense of humor, too. The team is professional, reliable, and efficient. It’s great to work with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything off the top of my head.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of a branding design firm and oversee all business and creative execution as well as manage partner relationships.

For what projects/services did your company hire EXL Media?

We work with EXL to fulfill our media planning and buying services.

What were your goals for this project?

To make the best strategic media buying choices for our client and to maximize the budget. Also to fully manage expectations and provide clear and concise data wherever possible.

How did you select EXL Media?

We have worked with EXL Media for over a decade as they are the most reliable partners that we have ever worked with.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

To handle all aspects of the Media Plan, Management, and Media Budget. This included:

• Strategic Media planning and placement
• Development, implementation, and management of media-related promotions.
• Budget forecasting and allocation
• Account management and client services
• Creation of advertising production-spec sheet and creative ad trafficking services
• Evaluation, communication, and validation of all paid and promotional media inquiries
• Campaign performance measurement and reporting including creation and maintenance of an advertising performance dashboard
• Billing and media buy reconciliation.

What was the team composition?

The team included:

1. Media Supervisor
2. Digital Buyer
3. Outdoor Buyer
4. Traditional Media Buyer

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

We have worked with EXL Media on this transportation/destination client for 11 years and they continue to bring new ideas and enthusiasm to the table. They have been a trusted partner to our agency and to the client and we trust them year after year with their talent and experience.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

EXL is a partner who works fluidly with agencies and helps make us better and smarter on the media front.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Of all the media agencies we have ever worked with, EXL Media is the most responsive, flexible and clear, which is everything we want in a partner to make the process flow. We are EXL Media's biggest fans and trust them fully.

Are there any areas for improvement?

EXL is a team that continues to evolve, grow and bring new ideas to the table. So right now I cannot think of anything to improve on, but I am sure they are already internally figuring out for themselves how to provide even better service to their partners and clients.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Director of Marketing at Catalina Express, a boat transportation company That takes you to Catalina Island.

For what projects/services did your company hire EXL Media?

EXL was hired to manage and implement media buy for various campaigns including a co-op campaign between three major stakeholders bringing tourism to Catalina Island, a Boat & Hotel annual campaign that they have managed the media buy and analytics for over 10 years and our own stand alone Catalina Express media buy for boat transportation.

What were your goals for this project?

The goals for all of these projects was always to increase passengers and tourists to Catalina Island mid-week as well as weekends.

How did you select EXL Media?

EXL was involved in RFPs every couple years and they always stood out with innovations and market research knowledge.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

EXL really takes time in coming up with the best and most effective plans for any campaign. They take the budget number you have and come up with dynamic ideas on what is the best ways to spend those dollars.

They closely watch the analytics and suggest changes when needed in order to get the best value for those dollars and achieve high ROI. At the end of each quarter, and monthly if needed, they go over the results of any running campaign and suggest changes if needed.

For the Boat & Hotel packages the team would always come out to present the results to our partners in our annual meeting that is held on the Island.

What was the team composition?

I worked directly with Wendy, Susanna and Lisa. They are all always available and get back to you right away when needed.

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

Using EXL for over 10 years, our trust in the team is always the reason we come back. They stand out from all media buy companies with how much passion they put into their work and the choices they make with placing the right buys. All of our projects had consistent YOY growth.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow is always great as they are always ready to hop on a call if needed and can always address any questions with research they have done, or are willing to do.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their knowledge and connections in the industry. They know every single billboard that is out as they drive by them and take photos when doing research. They are really diligent about their work and placements in any media.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Expanding offices so we can see them more often would be great.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Partner and creative director/brand strategist for ad and branding company.

For what projects/services did your company hire EXL Media?

Seeking dynamic and nimble, experienced team who can offer robust, smart, and insightful methods to improve marketing reach -- cost effective and responsive thinking that competes for our clients and conversations.

What were your goals for this project?

Increase leads, inquiries, and broaden our brand awareness.

How did you select EXL Media?

Referral and scope of work response.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Media that includes analog and digital framing; paid search, smart keyword recommendations presented by budget watchdogs. Senior living communities, very upmarket brands with national presence.

What was the team composition?

Media teams of 3 or more

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

Big traffic increase and happy clients

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

All good, which is why we continue to work with them

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed with their experience and collaboration efforts, listening then doing is a strong and enviable skill set.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None