JLB Media Productions

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I founded my company about six months ago. The company is Solera Senior Living. We are a developer and operator of luxury senior living communities. I am CEO and founder.

What challenge were you trying to address with JLB Media Productions?

I worked with them when I was at Senior Lifestyle. We were an owner-operator/developer of senior living communities. As part of my responsibilities as an executive, I was in charge of the sales and marketing department. We were relaunching our website, and we wanted to create digital content. I was the Senior VP of business and organization development. I oversaw sales, marketing, human resources, and food service.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We did property level videos of all our market rate properties. Generally, they were several minutes long. They would go onsite to each property. They would shoot about 8 hours of footage and then edit down to several minutes. Then they'd present us with an edited version to review, and then we’d provide them feedback on the footage, and ultimately we would upload a final version to the property landing page on the website.

They also created custom videos for us. Each year we honored five individuals in the company with an award called the heart of caring which recognized individuals that best lived the mission and the core values. We would select from hundreds of nominations, and then we would identify these five individuals that were generally caregivers, housekeepers, or servers. They would go on site and interview family members, employees, and residents. They would bring to life why these individuals were deserving of the award. We would then reveal them at the annual conference. We’d present the individual with the award by showcasing their video and then upload them to our YouTube channel.

In addition to creating video content on our website we also were building out digital content via our YouTube channel. They were very involved in the process and very collaborative. We’d provide them our vision for what we wanted to accomplish, and they would take it from there. They would present us with a guideline of the type of questions they were going to ask. Often we wanted to keep it as informal as possible, and they did a great job of executing on that goal for us. While they would loosely ask some questions in these videos, we didn’t want to seem like these videos were scripted because they weren’t. Honestly, the best content would come about when it was off the cuff comments. They did a great job just capturing that moment.

We also created our orientation program for new hires. They worked with us on video select members of the executive team which was several days in Chicago. They did a great job of helping us with those videos as well and edited down three days’ worth of content into a 5 to 10-minute video.

How did you come to work with JLB Media Productions?

I can’t remember how we found them. I want to say they were a referral from someone in the industry. I got connected with Ivy. I got a feeling that she had high integrity. They were very responsive and transparent and provided what I felt was a lot of value. Even when we first hired them, which was probably 2012, when we were growing our digital library, we would occasionally interview other providers. Often we would get some video of companies that had great credentials behind them, but they would come in at four times the cost for what JLB could do it for. Their pricing was always very fair.

Let’s say we were going into a market where we had never done a video before and we didn’t like the outcome; they would put as much time as needed to make sure we were satisfied. They would even reshoot if we wanted. They put in a lot of time during the editing process to make sure we were satisfied with the outcome. Whenever we had issues, they would help us solve them. That’s why I always went back to them because no matter what happened they always stood by their promise and commitment to us to deliver the best product.

How much have you invested with JLB Media Productions?

Each shoot was around $3,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It was probably since October 2012 and ongoing.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Engagement overall on our website has increased. We could see people were watching the property level videos on our site. They say that it improves your SEO. We did a lot of things during that time to improve traffic to our site, so it’s hard to say what drove that uptick but it was probably one of the factors. More importantly, we saw increased engagement - people stayed on the site longer and it probably even increased the caliber of the leads. By the time people inquired after watching videos they had a better sense of whether the property was a fit for them or not. The best thing I would say is when we would acquire properties or develop properties, we always continued investing in the videos. It worked for us, and we continued with it.

How did JLB Media Productions perform from a project management standpoint?

Very good. I think that’s [project management] probably one of their [JLB Media Productions] strengths. They’re timely and have very good communication. I have no complaints from that perspective. They always met deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about JLB Media Productions?

For me, my experience with Ivy was notable. She was one of the better account reps of any of the vendors that I’ve worked with. That stood out for me; the relationship with her, the trust that we built up over the time, and the trust she built up with my entire team. I felt like overall they delivered the best value.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

IOGEAR is a manufacturer of consumer electronics and some B2B products such as KVM [Kernel-based Virtual Machine] and audio visual products. We have lab computer accessories - some gaming which is Kaliber gaming and mobility. I am the Marketing Manager.

What challenge were you trying to address with JLB Media Productions?

We needed help with branding our individual product categories. They’ve done videos for us. The first one they did was for the gaming category; for Kaliber gaming. They’re working on a series for the KVM now which is more the B2B product. It’s a branding and educational project.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We write the script, and then we get their feedback on it. We have a room here where we do our recording in. They’ll send a videographer in with all of the lights and cameras. Usually, Ivy or someone from their office will come along as well. They take an afternoon or a day, depending on the number of videos, and just spend time with the people who are the actors and being recorded. They go through it with them, record and redo if it is needed. They have a terminal that has the script on it. They’re very patient and very good and make the videos look incredible.

How did you come to work with JLB Media Productions?

It happened while working with a previous company. Our PR agency found them. What we liked was the quality of the video and the attention to detail. They were very hands-on and collaborative. We didn’t feel like we were throwing them something and then we had no say-so or anything.

How much have you invested with JLB Media Productions?

We have spent between $5,000 and $10,000 depending on the type of video and the length of the video. The shorter it is the less expensive.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’re working on four additional videos right now for our KVM product line. Those are educational as well as branding projects. We have been working with them for a couple of years now. They did quite a few videos for my previous company as well. We’ve got other videos for them to do as well.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

For the gaming video, in particular, a lot of our retail partners put them on their website. We've received feedback about that from the partners. Internally the product manager that is responsible for Kaliber gaming was very happy with it. The director of product management was very happy too. We’ve gotten great results.

We’ve had the Kaliber gaming video up for a month. We’ve got 3,249 views and 200 subscriptions. We’re happy with those numbers especially since we started from zero.

How did JLB Media Productions perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great and very collaborative. They have a checklist of things they need with deadlines and when we need to complete things. They check in and stay on top of things and work very well with us.

What did you find most impressive about JLB Media Productions?

The hand holding and patience they have and the willingness to collaborate are great. You feel like you’re being led by a group of professionals that know what they’re [JLB Media Productions] doing. If it’s your first foray into making videos you don’t have to worry, they’ve got it. They let you know that, and you feel very comfortable with them.