"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
Curiosity is the engine that propels the most creative minds into new ways of thinking. Every new invention or new business is a byproduct of a curious mind.
"Power the curious" is the mission of SurveyMonkey. With that in mind, they've launched thousands of surveys to puts the power of discovery and learning in the hands of their customers. For businesses, these insights are extremely valuable as they learn more about their own customers and prospects.
As the brand grows, Lydia Baillergeau and her video production team are paramount to the marketing team at SurveyMonkey. Their ability to tell stories through visually captivating videos and case studies sparks the curiosity of their customers and helps SurveyMonkey acquire new ones.
Recently, the demand for video has been so high, Baillergeau was looking for a way to keep up. We caught up with her to learn more about the complex process of creating video, the obstacles she faces, and how she overcomes those obstacles and continues to power the curious.
Q: What's the culture like at SurveyMonkey?
A: People who want to join the troop here at SurveyMonkey have an intrinsic natural curiosity. We're an extraordinarily curious bunch of people. It's right in the DNA of who we are as a company. We are encouraged to consistently ask questions, to consistently be thinking about how to approach things in a creative, innovative way, and, most importantly, how to take data and insights and make informed decisions based on all of the things that we're able to glean from surveys. So you can say, SurveyMonkey is where the curious come to grow. Our mission is to power the curious, and so curiosity is something that is really celebrated company-wide and in our culture. It's really easy to ask questions, challenge ideas, and come up with fresh perspectives, and as a creative leader, for me that's really invaluable.
Q: What is the process for creating video at SurveyMonkey?
A: The process of creating any video is time intensive. For me here at SurveyMonkey, we actually have two different flows: one for live action and one for animation. They both can take a lot of time. But take, for instance, a live-action shoot that we might be doing somewhere. There are so many things that we need to coordinate. We need to coordinate the location. We need to coordinate all of the prepping prior, say, to an interview. There might be casting. There might be travel involved that's needed. There's a chain of approvals that has to happen. All of those components would be really difficult to juggle without having one central place like Wrike to put it all together.
Q: What made you realize you needed a solution to help streamline that process?
A: There are so many things that need to happen to end up with a good completed video. And when I started at SurveyMonkey, and I saw all the different project requests coming in, I knew immediately that I needed a tool that I was going to be able to create really robust project schedules so that I was able to communicate out with stakeholders, communicate out to my senior video producer, and to my senior animator so everybody would understand what their role and piece was and just to have that transparency and accountability.
Q: How do you use Wrike to kick off a project?
A: We have the distinct pleasure of being able to work with lots of different areas of the business at SurveyMonkey. When somebody wants to kick off a project, they basically start by filling out our creative brief. From there, we schedule an initial kickoff meeting where we'll talk through that brief, talk through goals and objectives. And then the very next thing that I normally do is to build the schedule in Wrike, and that will just have all the milestones that will carry us through to the very end of the project.
Q: What would life be like without Wrike?
A: So without Wrike, I would be in email so much more and Slack. I would have people pinging me and saying, "Hey, when can I expect this next edit? When can I expect to see the final animation, or the final customer testimonial, or whatever final project it is?" I would have to be sending weekly status emails, which are really time-consuming because then I've got to also run around and sync with everybody who's involved in a video project. So I have to meet with the copywriter and say, "Hey, where are you with the script?" And I've got to meet with my animator and say, "Where are you with this piece?" So just having the ability to have all of that in a tool is really incredible. I can't imagine doing it without Wrike.
Q: What has been the biggest benefit of adopting Wrike?
A: One of the things that's really amazing about Wrike is it really gives me very quantifiable data about a project, and it is something that I'm able to reference after a project's completed. And it sometimes is related to how I set up the following project. Did that project stay on track time-wise? Did we really need to scope it for eight weeks instead of six weeks? Looking back at the history of how projects are completed, I'm really able to take that data and optimize and create the ideal project schedule with the lessons learned.
Q: What would you say to someone who says creatives don't need a process?
A: I think it's definitely a myth that creative people can't be both organized and creative. I actually think being organized enables you to be more creative. The fact that you know the order of everything that you have to do gives you time and freedom to really focus on the fun stuff, on the creative stuff.
