Sanborn

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Conde Nast is a media company and we publish many magazines, companion websites, and mobile products. I head up the corporate experiential division.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sanborn?

The first thing I called Sanborn for was to send out an email blast. Since then, I’ve called Sanborn for anything from virtual reality activation to activation of the backend for an event. I call them with all my crazy ideas and they love doing things that have never been done before. Sanborn has a team that figures anything out.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sanborn has built many microsites and produced many videos. Sometimes I tell them specifically what I need, but most times I don’t really need to direct them. One of our bigger projects was in 2009 when I was working at the Wired store, which was open a couple of months out the year. We had 200 products and had staff that knew everything about every product. I wanted to have an interactive experience. We had a collaboration with Mobi who created the backdrop of the store. You would touch different areas of the wall and different sounds would come out. Chris [President, Sanborn] created a video booth for people to go in and say what their one Wired wish was. Chris then worked with Mobi’s team to create a music video with all of the content. At the time, it was very revolutionary. His work is high quality and there’s a fast turnaround time. He’s one of those people that once I give him a project, I never have to think about it again.

Another recent project was for a client that created speakers out of wood sculptures. The Sanborn team watched and interviewed them, and brought the whole project to life. They created the microsite and the digital experience.

How did you come to work with Sanborn?

I worked with Chris Sanborn many years ago and then he started his own agency. I have worked with a variety of different brands and I have brought Sanborn’s team everywhere I go. He has a great feel for talent and his whole team is amazing. They’re smart and talented but also provide great customer service. They care about my business.

How much have you invested with Sanborn?

This information is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When I know someone who says they need video production work, social best practices, or anything else, I always recommend Sanborn right away.

How did Sanborn perform from a project management standpoint?

They make sure we stay on schedule. I love the fact that they provide the same team throughout the entire process. Their project management is one of their strong points.

What did you find most impressive about Sanborn?

They always come back to me with exactly what I was looking for even if I didn’t know how to articulate it. Chris is a cool guy to work with and always humors my crazy ideas.

Are there any areas Sanborn could improve?

Early on, my design team had to be more involved but Sanborn has ramped up his design team so that it’s really strong. When he sees weaknesses, he solves the issues quickly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m senior vice president of global communications for Clinique. I work for the Estee Lauder Companies, which is our umbrella corporation. I oversee editorial content for the brand as well as other functions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sanborn?

I’ve worked with them for eight years over multiple businesses. I first reached out to them when I was vice president of digital marketing global media and communications for the fragrance division of the Estee Lauder Companies. At that time, I had a portfolio of ten brands. Our involvement initially started with digital campaigns launching a particular fragrance.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sanborn has helped us with what seems like everything. I had them running our Facebook pages for several of our product lines. I had them handle campaign development for launches of different fragrances. When I moved to Clinique, I brought them on in a different capacity on the backend when we were launching and developing our blog. We designed the blog, but they helped develop the content strategy and optimize what we’re creating. Sanborn assisted with data analytics and established content relationships to partner with people outside of our company. Thanks to Sanborn, we have identified and adopted platform tools internally in order to create a more seamless process for content development. We also have them on retainer to do baseline creative projects.

How did you come to work with Sanborn?

They had worked with Conde Nast and I had several contacts there who made the introduction for me. I was impressed with their scale of work. Chris had been doing work for Vogue and Cosmo, who had an aesthetic like ours. If his work was strong enough for them, then I recognized it that it would probably pass the bar with our designers.

How much have you invested with Sanborn?

This is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t had anything that was unsuccessful. There were no benchmarks on the content piece he’s been working on the past two and a half years. He worked with us to help us figure out what those KPIs were going to be, based on industry thresholds. They were instrumental in helping us have a starting point. They helped us evolve our creative and content on a monthly, daily, and weekly cadence so that we are getting high traffic and performance. The content has extended past the blog and we leverage it in digital media and social media. We’re rolling it out globally to six or seven markets. The past campaigns in the fragrance division were all successful, which is why I still work with him.

How did Sanborn perform from a project management standpoint?

The number one testament to Chris’ firm is the fact that everyone is still there. My project manager eight years ago still works at the firm. We now have an amazing project manager named Liz. She stays in contact and she’s really adaptive. She’ll send videos for explanation and sees us in person. She’s very connected to the business. Other firms have so much turnover that the consistency is lacking.

What did you find most impressive about Sanborn?

Unlike other agencies I’ve worked with, Chris has always operated in a nimble framework. The process is complicated because the fashion brands also needed to approve the work, but he was very flexible. They were incredibly creative.

Are there any areas Sanborn could improve?

Not really. Chris knows who he is. I feel a lot of agencies will sell you the world and say they can do everything, but Chris is incredibly clear about who his agency is and what they’re capable of doing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Learfield Sports is the largest collegiate sports multimedia rights and sponsorship rep firm in the US. We represent over 125 college athletic programs. I’m the senior VP of digital media.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sanborn?

We needed a firm that could provide us with interactive concepts, solutions, ideation, creative approaches, and ultimately engineer interactive and digital work that will help provide deeper connections for our corporate sponsors to connect with their target audiences.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

There are two key vectors of the business. One is the internal operational structure; we needed to create collaboration and internal efficiencies through digital technology tools and services. The other side is to develop programs that work on behalf of our partners to produce revenue. Sanborn does a great job of standing in the gap between the consumer marketplace, trends in the marketplace, and span engagement on behalf of partners. Marketers increasingly want a digital touch. They want to add value to the overall experience. Sports and music are the two most passion-based consumer audiences that want to be part of the community, share those experiences, and want those bragging rights. Sanborn helps bring the action closer to the fans by developing these interactive solutions. They do that across the web, mobile, social media, and experiential activations across the board. They’re always eager to do something different than what was done before. I use Sanborn for a variety of roles. One is consultative and strategic, and the second is the development, architecture, and engineering. Based on the needs of the client and our budget, we will build it as originally proposed, but Sanborn is thoughtful in understanding our budgets.

How did you come to work with Sanborn?

I’ve been working with Sanborn for 12 years with previous employers. At that time, Sanborn was a new company, but they were always willing to come up with solutions for e-commerce, ways to enhance microsites or anything that created a more dynamic experience beyond the printed page across multiple media channels.

How much have you invested with Sanborn?

We’ve spent between $150,000 and $250,000 over the course of our relationship.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We build experiential programs to allow fans to engage, and partners to generate greater brand awareness or more quality leads. The whole plan is to make the client happy, get the message out, encourage and empower, and incent fans and consumers to share their experience with that campaign. Whatever our objectives are, we always meet those expectations and hit those KPIs [key performance indicators]. It depends on the goals of the clients. Sanborn can tailor and customize a digital program based on each client’s objectives. I wouldn’t be working with them for 12 years if the clients were disappointed with the results of the programs Sanborn develops for them. They’re great partners. They’re young, smart, and innovative. They make our partners feel like they’re connected to what’s current in the market.

How did Sanborn perform from a project management standpoint?

Sanborn assigned a project manager to all of our projects. We get an MSA, scope of work, and a detailed timeline, and they keep us updated throughout the project.

What did you find most impressive about Sanborn?

They’re smart, and they take their work extremely seriously. I think they’re a competitive team. The team at Sanborn always wants to do what hasn’t been done before. That allows marketers to feel that what they’re doing is unique. They’re a great group of people to work with.

Are there any areas Sanborn could improve?

Not that I can think of. I’ve hired them through 3 different companies, which is a testament to the quality of work they do.