Forge & Spark Media

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Producer, Writer and Director of a digital series. I received funding from The Bell Fund, IPF and Telus to produce our series in 2018.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Forge & Spark Media Ltd.?

I engaged Forge & Spark Media Ltd. to run our social media and marketing campaign for the pre-launch and launch of our Digital series.

What were your goals for this project?

1. High view count
2. Engagement from fans
3. Industry recognition.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was recommended to them by the graphic designer that works with them (who I knew).

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Forge & Spark Media Ltd. signed on in the initial stages, before I received funding for the series, and helped with the initial proposal. I had never produced a digital series like this, and they had never marketed one - so this was new territory for both of us.

First, there was a level of transparency and honesty that I appreciated from them as we made our way through the process together. Once we received funding, they began by documenting the set experience with stills and video which we would later use for social media posts. From these stills and videos, and from finished footage from the show, they generated wonderfully creative IG STORIES to tease at each episode before their release.

Through careful and creative planning, their posts built our social media presence from the ground up. They were enormously successful - over Youtube, IG, FB and Twitter we ended up with roughly 10k followers and 500k views on our channel. They were also instrumental in the launch as we navigated Youtube, helping to upload videos, install closed captions and create buttons and tags that led viewers to other videos.

Finally, they were in charge of the ad buys. This was a huge endeavour. We had an initial bump on the ad buys that created the need to pivot from the direction we were going, so they replaced their ad buyer with someone new, and the new ad buyer helped deploy ads and generate views with incredible expertise.

One of the things I appreciated most about working with them was their ability to acknowledge when something wasn't working. They weren't afraid to change directions and let someone go, which was critical to our success. In fact they did this twice during our process.

What was the team composition?

Shannon (Forge and Spark's owner) oversaw and produced the process. Taryn Hardes ran the weekly social media posts and helped with any process involving Youtube. She also oversaw ad-buys and budgeting. Lara Kroeker was our graphic designer and social media content creator. And Alina Anghel was their media buyer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

10 K new followers and 500k views over a 3 month period on our Youtube Channel.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. They used a scheduling program that made it easy for me to review and approve their work.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were honest and transparent. Willing to try new things. Ability to pivot and change direction if something wasn't working out. Creativity. Above-and-beyond effort and contributions to the project because they were passionate about it.

Are there any areas for improvement?

no