Orkestra

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for the Telfer School of Management, which is the business management faculty of the University of Ottawa. I’m a content strategist, and I oversee the strategy for the marketing and communications team of our faculty.

What challenge were you trying to address with Orkestra?

We wanted to showcase the impact that our members have on our communities. Our goal was to create a series of five videos that would generate interest in what we do as a school without it being a marketing and sales push. As a result, we wanted to put the spotlight on the members of our community who’ve made an impact.

That's how we started working with Orkestra. Since then, they've been our partners for a lot of our creative videos and other design work.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The majority of the work that we do with Orkestra is video work, such as creating explainer videos. Usually, it'll be a video series that all tie into a theme. We’re very much involved with them from the planning stage to the development and execution of ideas. 

When we need to augment our staff, they also work with us. For instance, they designed and developed brochures for our undergraduates. We’ve also done a few workshops with them where they teach our in-house team ways to better capture content. 

The workflow depends on the project and its purpose. For a lot of them, we start with an overall idea of the project and then we brainstorm. After that, they send us a pitch. There have been other projects where we simply send them information about the program we’re trying to portray, and they come back to us with ideas.  

What is the team composition?

We often work with a team of 3–4 people, but there have been shoots where more people are involved at different stages. We sometimes work with a full team of 5–6 people. 

How did you come to work with Orkestra?

I've worked with Orkestra in the past for another video project at another company that I worked at. We met mainly through our connections and by having the same groups of friends. We went to university together, and we kept that network since then. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October 2018, and the partnership is ongoing.

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

From our recent series of videos posted across our social media channels, we’ve already generated over half a million views. Since then, we’ve definitely increased our awareness and engagement. 

The videos have good quality and people talk to us about them. We also know that students have joined clubs because they’ve seen videos of the clubs we’ve featured. We’re redefining what it means to produce content. The people don’t necessarily see the purpose of the videos, but since we’ve been able to have so much success with them, we’re pushing a lot more at the school. 

Orkestra has been a great partner to us, so we always go back and work with them. For instance, we’ve done a feature video for one of our alumni when their business was only taking off. To this day, the owner of the company still uses that video to introduce herself when she speaks at conferences. 

How did Orkestra perform from a project management standpoint?

Orkestra knows their work and they're organized. We make sure that whatever it is they’re working on fits the scope so that they can deliver. They’re also amazing at setting realistic expectations, which they manage to hit every time. We mainly communicate through email, and then we do Zoom or Teams meetings. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their creativity and their boldness are what set them apart from other companies. They push the envelope. They don’t do things that have been done before, so all their ideas are always very fresh and different from what people are used to seeing. That’s why we love working with Orkestra. They’re also very grounded and fun people to work with. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

For what they are right now, I can’t think of any areas of improvement. They’re still a small company but they’re growing. As they continue to scale, it’ll be interesting to see what they end up becoming. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If the customer can define their objectives clearly, and if they’re open to not coming in with a predetermined idea of what they want, Orkestra will present creative things. It’s worked for us every time. If they already have an idea of exactly what they want and they simply need someone to produce it, Orkestra is still going to do a fantastic job. They’ll still be very happy with the results. 

However, Orkestra’s strength is that they see the customer’s purpose first, and then they adapt it to the video format. They start with the client’s goals and objectives. Then, they come back with a proposition that clients will love even more.