Signature Video Group

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Senior Director of Marketing at KUBRA, a customer experience management company providing billing, payment, and communication services to the utility, government, and insurance sectors. I oversee planning and execution of marketing activities for the company across North America.

For what projects/services did your company hire Signature Video Group?

Signature Video Group was hired to capture video at our 2019 iConnect conference in Nashville, TN.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to capture the spirit of the conference in a video that we could use to market the event in upcoming years and capture keynote presentations to share digitally after the conference. In addition, while our clients were together in one location, we wanted to capture client testimonial videos that could be used as individual case studies and in a "Why KUBRA" montage using footage from these client testimonial interviews.

How did you select this vendor?

We have had a relationship with Signature Video Group for several years. They were first hired by our HR team to shoot a video aimed at prospective employees. We were blown away by the creativity, execution, editing, and value. Since that time, we have worked with them on a number of videos including capturing video at live events and at our offices to support marketing campaigns and HR initiatives.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail.

Once we signed the contract, Signature Video Group met with us to understand our goals for the project. For the live event footage, they worked with us to define the parts of the event we wanted to capture for the marketing video, as well as our goals for capturing the keynote presentations.

For the testimonial interviews with clients, they helped us build Q&A scripts to be used during the interviews. Other than providing a schedule of events and scheduling times for client interviews, Signature Video Group needed very little assistance, even managing the interviews and capturing video consent for each interview on our behalf.

While not necessarily needed, we were on hand during the interviews to answer any questions and help steer the interviews in he right direction to get the results we were after.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

They sent a three person team to our event to help manage all aspects of the filming and production. This included a director/producer, cinematographer/ photographer, and production Coordinator. Following the event, they reviewed and edited all of the content and provided drafts of the videos for our review. We then had an opportunity to provide feedback and request any edits.

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

The iConnect marketing video was used to raise awareness and excitement about the 2020 event, which was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19. During our initial campaign cycles for the event, the video was views more than 200 times (which is great considering our client base of approximately 190 companies). The testimonial videos and Why KUBRA video have become the workhorse of our website and have received over 1500 views since they were launched.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Working with Signature Video Group is always easy. They are good communicators and, since we have built a long standing relationship, they really take care of most of the project without much input. During the review process, they used the Wistia platform to share drafts and new versions of the videos for our use.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We have been blown away by the quality and creativity of the work they have done for us. They can take a concept idea and figure out how to produce something magical. They are also extremely flexible to work with. They have even taken on some still photography for us at our events.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I think the project went as smooth as it possibly could have. The testimonial videos ended up costing a bit more than expected because editing costs for those sessions were not included in the original contract, but overall were still very reasonable for the product we received.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I own a company called Terracotta Foods Ltd. We do private ice cream and cookies. I’m the CEO.

What challenge were you trying to address with Signature Video Group?

We’ve done internal training videos with them. A lot of our internal process lines are somewhat complicated, and for our new employees, we give them a short video to watch before they enter our plant to do actual live training. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

The owner, Chris (Founder & Creative Director), asked us to train him on the jobs we’re trying to illustrate so he would have a better idea of how he would film it. From there, it had to be the right position in the plant, the light has to be right, and camera angles. Then we did trials with some of our long-tenured employees. They acted in the training videos so it was a bit more natural. Signature Video Group was in charge of planning and execution. Of course our operations manager on site was with them the whole time to answer questions.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with about 10 different people. I always deal with Chris for any inquiries and he has always been on-site during shooting.

How did you come to work with Signature Video Group?

Before working here, I owned a restaurant group, and that’s where I met Signature Video Group for the first time. I was introduced to Chris to create social media videos.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent over $50,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2015, our most recent video was in November 2019. We do plan to make a few more, though.

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

They’re great tools for reference. Our employees can come into the office and watch the videos anytime they want, if they switch jobs, or are covering a different position. As we add new positions, we’ve added more videos to our to-do list.

We’ve seen people get up to speed on their technical job or difficult plant position much quicker than they would have otherwise. This prevents a lot of distractions and trainers being pulled away. We definitely improved our onsite training and reduced the time it took to onboard new employees significantly.

How did Signature Video Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve never had an issue with communication. Chris is readily available and is very responsive. He has always wrapped up efficiently and on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They add a personal touch that makes us feel really at ease with the project. I always feel like I’m getting a good value for our money, and our deals have been fair. They’re readily available and professional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

That’s difficult to say. We see different people at each video, and there are different introductions. Sometimes there’s a different camera operator, lighting person, or sound person. And then we have to get to know someone new and get them up to speed on our business. However, it never really slowed down out process.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of onboarding and engagement at The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national news organization.

What challenge were you trying to address with Signature Video Group?

We’re always looking for opportunities to build stronger relationships between journalists and subscribers. Our team is always testing different platforms and mediums in efforts to do this. We felt doing a video series that focused on interviewing our journalists would be a great way to help our subscribers connect with the people behind the bylines they see in the newspaper and online.

What was the scope of their involvement?

SVG created our video series, with each video running about one and a half minutes long. The objective was to create very pared down videos asking the journalists why journalism is important, how they approach their work, and what they’re looking to do in the future.

The filming set involved multiple cameras at different angles and beautiful lighting. Their executive producer conducted the interviews, speaking to the journalists off-screen. It’s funny that to make something look very simple and clean, we needed a lot of work to make it look seamless and minimal.

What is the team composition?

On the day-to-day, we work with two individuals. However, there were between 6–8 people on the set, this included the camera crew as well as hair and makeup people.

How did you come to work with Signature Video Group?

My boss was connected to SVG through their network. We set up a meeting to talk about our ideas and make sure both sides really understood what the project was. The kickoff meeting was great. We felt that we were heard, and they were going to bring our vision to life. Our team was confident to bring them forward at that time.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement lasted from October 2019­–June 2020. We shot the videos in two phases. Half of them were filmed at the end of 2019 and the remaining ones were during the beginning of 2020.

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

SVG delivered everything we asked for, all on time and within budget. The set and filming days were very professional, and the output was stunning. Every one of the journalists couldn’t thank us enough after because they felt the experience was so fun. They felt taken care of and that they had their moment to really talk about who they are and what they bring to their job every day. All the journalists loved this opportunity.

When it came to the finished product, showing the videos to our leadership team and executives was great. The feedback and praise were all centered on how excellent the content and video quality were. The videos’ quality is nothing less than what we’d expect to be put out by our organization.

Because the videos are evergreen, we want to maximize on the timeline we have for releasing them. The ones we have put out with our audience are already resonating with them. We’re seeing great completion rates and interest from subscribers.

In fact, we hope that when we start putting the videos on social media, we’ll start seeing interest from individuals who aren’t subscribers yet. We have hope that the videos will help with the acquisition side of our business. We’re coming to the end of our fiscal year and looking to see if there are opportunities to do more work with SVG next year.

How did Signature Video Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is very professional and friendly, which was lovely. They always had an answer and were well-informed. On top of that, they were willing to be understanding and listen to what we needed. If there were certain aspects we had to push back on — we would move a bit slowly at times in getting feedback and approval — it was never a hold-up on their side.

SVG always got changes back in a decent turnaround, sometimes even less than 24 hours, which is amazing. The engagement felt like a true collaboration, which was wonderful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The professionalism of and on the set itself was definitely a highlight. The individuals who were there running the filming were great; the experience felt so elevated. It came through that we were creating a pared-down, clean aesthetic. How they made everything come together was wonderful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. I didn’t have any challenges with them at all.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former vice president of creative and strategy at BRANDLIVE. We were a large scale special event production company.

What challenges were you trying to address with Signature Video Group?

As an agency, we worked with a number of different clients. For this project, we were working with Boston Pizza on their annual conference. We wanted to film a series of videos to showcase Boston Pizza’s franchise partners. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Through our work on the Boston Pizza account, we formed a creative partnership with Signature Video Group. For the videos, they took care of conceptualization, storyboarding, scriptwriting,  pre-interviews, production, and post-production. We also ended up using them to make a 60-minute video for one of our live sessions with the franchise partners. That video included 12 smaller videos that were edited to be like a sports newscast. 

The team came to the conference to film footage from the event. They edited it overnight so we could show it on the last day of the conference. 

What is the team composition?

Chris (Creative Director) was our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Signature Video Group?

Boston Pizza actually recommended Signature Video Group. Chris used to work on the marketing team at Boston Pizza. I interviewed several other local vendors, but I had the most rapport with Chris and his team.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from the end of 2015 and concluded our project in May 2016.

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

The client reported that people loved seeing themselves on screen and show off their success. From an engagement perspective, using video as part of the educational content at the conference increased engagement.

How did Signature Video Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. Chris took care of everything we needed and was always on top of it. They had technology where I could review their videos online and provide feedback. It made the process very efficient. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I liked that we had a creative partnership rather than a typical vendor-client relationship. The smoothness of editing and their turnaround time was also impressive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was one instance when we were filming the event onsite and editing the film overnight. I wasn’t happy with the first cut, but when I shared that feedback, Chris took care of it immediately, and I was happy with the final product. It was great that they took ownership of their work and were receptive to constructive feedback. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Let them do what they do best and allow them some creative ownership over the work. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Managing Director at Sellax Roofing. We are a roofing company located in the Greater Toronto Area. I am responsible for day to day company operations.

For what projects/services did your company hire Signature Video Group?

After several years in business we started to create a strategy to reframe the company. In that process we decided that video would be a great way to showcase our story.

What were your goals for this project?

We hoped that the video would help market our services and assist in the transformation of our company.

How did you select this vendor?

My team and I spent considerable time researching video companies on the web. After narrowing down the list to only 3 we decided to go with Signature Video Group. We chose Signature Video Group for their high quality video's and their superior customer support.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail.

As soon as we hired Signature Video Group, they began to gather information about our business and our needs for this project. Following the initial interview they put together a production plan and scheduled a date to film on site. The video shoot went very well. They were able to capture amazing images and produce an impressive video.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

Our clients have been very impressed with the video. All of our clients have commented on the high level of quality of the video.

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

Using the video and stills we were able to create a new website and step our marketing. This process flowed well into our strategy of reframing the company.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Signature video was very easy to deal with. They were always available to answer our questions and get provide support where needed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were most impressed with the service and quality of work with this company. They were always available and willing to work with our requests. The quality of video was very high and very professional. It made us feel like a new company.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We were overly impressed with Signature Video Group and would not hesitate to book another project with them. We did find that their services were slightly higher in price when compared to other companies that we looked at. However, we felt that the cost was justified given their top level service and superior video quality.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the events and project coordinator at HANSAmed Ltd. It’s a dental supply company based in Mississauga, Ontario.

What challenge were you trying to address with Signature Video Group?

We had built a new medical emergency kit for dental offices. Since we’d done a rebranding, we wanted to update the training video that came along with that, which meant we needed a video production company.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team shot a video. They had a full set up with cameras and a teleprompter. They supplied all the equipment.

What is the team composition?

I was in direct contact with two team members. On the day of filming, they brought 3–4 crew members.

How did you come to work with Signature Video Group?

When selecting a partner, I realized Signature Video Group did high-quality, professional work. One of the co-owners was on all email communications and calls.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial contract was signed in late July 2019. The video was finished by January 2020.

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

Since we filmed at a real dental clinic, their team had to adapt to showing up and setting up the video without disrupting anything. They were able to manage the actors well and adapt to different situations. The video was very professional and the product was great. They were able to adapt to anything that was brought up while making us feel involved in the process.

How did Signature Video Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great from a communication, cost, and budget standpoint. During revisions, they made us feel like part of the team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The crew was very skilled in their particular fields. The people they brought in for the teleprompter and sound were very effective.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s none that I can think of.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Marketing Specialist for a research and management consultancy firm and I strategize and execute on a number of projects related to brand experience.

For what projects/services did your company hire Signature Video Group?

We hired Signature Video Group to help us breathe new life into a long running awards ceremony that was cancelled due to the challenges of Covid-19. We worked with them to record our awards ceremony and disect it into 4 stand alone features complete with a promo video and several social media highlights videos.

What were your goals for this project?

Our annual awards ceremony is a much loved and highly anticipated by our clients event so we wanted to create something that would still bring us closer to our community despite needing to distance ourselves socially. It needed to be a fun, value adding experience that our clients would use to drive company wide engagement.

How did you select this vendor?

We had been searching online for a vendor that had the ability, quality and attention to detail that we needed to execute successfully. This project came together very quickly and needed to be executed in a short time frame. I needed a vendor who thoroughly understood the concept and who could guide us through the steps we needed to take to make it happen.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail.

Once we decided that Signature Video Group was going to be our partner for this important project, we set up virtual meetings to discuss our brand in detail and get down to the finer details of the project. We then booked 4 hours of recording and met the following week. The crew turned up briefed very well, were wholly professional and did a great job at guiding us in how to present ourselves and get more comfortable in front of the camera (there were no takes too many!) When we wrapped up recording, we discussed our timeline again and were given expected delivery dates (which in fact, exceeded our expectations). We then got down to business and did several rounds of amends (lots of fact checking on our end) and just 2 weeks later had all of the deliverables in our hands before the final deadline.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

The project managed in an excellent manner, our Producer and Creative Director gave honest, helpful feedback that enabled us to drive the project forward. They managed our expectations well (there were a lot!) and despite the many rounds of amends, kept an entirely positive and enthusiastic attitude to working with us.

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

We had a huge number of views on the project overall, almost double what we thought we might achieve.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication with Signature Video Group was a complete breeze. They were very thorough and always made sure to check that we had a clear understanding of next steps and whether the task was easy or more complex.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Right off the bat, they understood the vision behind our concept and were able to make suggestions that would elevate the project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

In the end, we were very happy with how things turned out.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former manager of strategic marketing for the Niagara Region, a government agency that operates in over 12 municipalities. My role was to highlight Niagara as a place to live, work, invest, and visit.

What challenge were you trying to address with Signature Video Group?

We needed to create digital video content to help us tell stories about our residents and business and to attract investors and potential residents.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Signature Video Group helped us create two different types of videos. The first type was informational; using voiceover, it outlines the key advantages of Niagara and highlights specific areas of economic development. The second type was success stories as told by real residents and business owners. These consisted of quick clips of about 50 people we used their content to create our digital marketplace.

We started with a list of 100 different videos that we wanted to create over next year. We drafted storyboards and narrowed down to 70 videos that were possible within our timeframe. We set realistic timelines, expectations, and filming dates. Signature Video Group really helped in organizing some of those details. For each video, it was sometimes a team approach. Other times, we gave them a green light to go ahead and get whatever they needed.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Chris (Creative Director) and Madelaine (Associate Producer) on a daily basis. When it came to filming, we worked with more members of their crew.

How did you come to work with Signature Video Group?

We had to do an RFP process because we’re a municipality. The project budget was for $125,000–$150,000, so we expected a lot of competition. I did some research and connected with 30 companies online, including Signature Video Group. We received 16 proposals from across Canada, which we whittled down to 3–4 to interview. Signature Video Group wasn’t local but still came out on top in our scoring process. They won the contract based on their original submission, strong interview, and spot-on budget.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started at the end of December 2017 and ran through all of 2018.

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

We did almost 100 videos in a year, which was quite an aggressive goal to achieve, let alone on time and on budget. Before, we didn’t have video assets to drive people to our website and get them interested in our calls to action. Now we do. We’re also able to share positive stories with investors and use them to get additional investments. 

We do have foundational pieces about who we are, but the real value is in our people's stories. None of the stories are scripted; Chris knew what questions to ask to get the answers we wanted. I think that’s because he really understood the goal of the project. 

How did Signature Video Group perform from a project management standpoint?

It was great to have them on my team; they got things done on time. Anything that didn’t arrive on time was late because of other reasons, and Signature Video Group always found a solution to get it done anyway. For example, we had an interview with a subject that backed out at the last minute. We already had booked the time and film location, though. Nevertheless, Signature Video Group found someone else, saving the day. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Signature Video Group helped us focus on what we wanted out of these videos and then achieve that in as little time as possible. We cut down the video time to better accomplish our goals. They really made us focus and sometimes gave us something better than what we wanted. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

In every case, there is room for improvement, but I don’t think I ever had an issue with them. In fact, they kept the project going even after I left the organization in September 2018. 

Any advice for potential customers?

It’s a real collaborative process, and it’s about being flexible on both sides. Signature Video Group was extremely flexible. If we wanted something that they didn’t think we should do, they weren’t afraid to tell us. However, if we put our foot down, they would do it anyway. I’d also say to listen to them: they gave us advice to make our products better. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was a strategic content manager at Autodesk. I was in charge of developing and producing content for our digital art package.

What challenge were you trying to address with Signature Video Group?

We were looking to create a series of videos centered around our app, Sketchbook, and another software we worked on.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Signature Video Group produced a series of videos for us. The videos centered around a selection of users, who showcased how they use the products and how they help them achieve results. We brought in a lot of designers, comic book artists, and other artists. 

The team created six or seven different videos about these ”heroes,” which were 7–8 minutes long. Their team would create multiple edits so we also had 30-seconds of pre-roll for YouTube and 2-minute cuts for other marketing campaigns. 

The Signature Video Group team handled casting and scriptwriting. Their director fo photography interviewed our heroes. They’re very hands-on in terms of the production side of things. On shoot days, they always made sure to hit key touchpoints and get us sound bites. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with Chris (Creative Director, Signature Video Group), Madeline (Associate Producer, Signature Video Group), and other members of the team. Generally in the planning stages, we would work with 3–4 people at a time, and while on-site we would work with 6–7 people.

How did you come to work with Signature Video Group?

After getting a budget for the project approved, I looked for video production firms on Google. We found four that were worth a call. Signature Video Group was the most impressive over the phone, and we committed to them based just on their website and that first phone call.

How much have you invested with them?  

We have invested about $180,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Signature Video Group ran form September 2015–November 2017.

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

After our team produced the content, it was pushed out by another team at our company. While some of the projects didn’t perform as well as we wanted, others did. We are very proud of the work we did and have been able to leverage the videos in multiple ways. The videos were phenomenal, and we always went back to Signature Video Group.

How did Signature Video Group perform from a project management standpoint?

From start to finish, Signature Video Group had excellent project management skills. From pre-production meetings to email communications, they always kept us on track. On shoot days, their project managers kept us on schedule. They always finished post-production work according to our timeline.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Signature Video Group is a fun, young group of people to work with. They’re very professional, and our teams got along very well. We were generally impressed with the work that we recieved given the money we spent. The engagement was great from a cost-benefit perspective.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re a good group of people. Everything went great from start to finish.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Sit down with them and get to know them as people first. That’s a great way to get a good impression of them. We also started with a very simple, single day, single location shoot and then later moved on to traveling with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a digital product analyst at a company that backstops new home warranties in the province of Ontario.

What challenge were you trying to address with Signature Video Group?

We had an issue with availability with our other video vendors, so we reached out to their team to help create content for our YouTube channel.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first project that we worked on with them was a full day of shooting for a video explaining things we thought people should know about conciliation inspections. We’ve also recorded various interviews with our staff for one of our annual public meetings, as well as an informational series as well.

What is the team composition?

We always work with three particular members of their team, one of whom is the leader of the company, which is really assuring for us. There are usually 5–6 people in total, some of whom are freelancers who vary from time to time. The other two regular employees handle contact post-shoot for us.

How did you come to work with Signature Video Group?

I had worked with them at a previous company and was really impressed with their work at the time, so I was willing to vouch for them when the need came up at my current company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $50,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them on a variety of projects throughout 2018–2019.

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

Their support for our team has had a huge impact on my staff’s stress levels just by being consistent and providing a vendor we can always count on for really high-quality work. They also go out of their way to source really cutting-edge camera technologies for our shoots, which helps make us look incredibly professional. We really appreciate their effort in that regard.

How did Signature Video Group perform from a project management standpoint?

I can’t speak to any project management tools they use, but they help us to plan out the shoot days very thoroughly. Their level of organization has made all of those processes very smooth. Communication is also always a priority, so it is very easy to reach them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their crew makes our employees feel incredibly comfortable regardless of whether they are on camera for the first time, which makes for even better videos in the end. I think their personal touch is not something you could find with almost any other vendor.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I am a huge supporter of these guys and have really loved everything they’ve done for us.