Eaton Vance case study

In the highly competitive investment industry, brand awareness and thought
leadership are critical in driving business growth and client retention.
Television appearances and online video communications are essential tools
to explain the complex topics associated with financial markets and bring
to life the nonvisual aspects of the business. When Robyn Tice, Director
of Media Relations, began leading the media relations efforts for Eaton
Vance, she was determined to introduce video to enhance the company’s
reputation. She found video to be the best way to humanize Eaton Vance’s
brand story.

“Because we are a relationship-driven business, using video to introduce
the people at the firm who are the investment managers and stewards of
the business is a really helpful tool in delivering complex information,” said
Robyn. “Video helps people understand who we are and what we do.” The
firm didn’t have the technical capabilities or video production expertise in
place when Robyn began her tenure with Eaton Vance.

She explored options to outsource video production and transmission or
hire internal resources. After reviewing many alternatives, Robyn chose
AVI-SPL VideoLink’s ReadyCam Studio to provide the best of both worlds
– an affordable, easy-to-use broadcast studio and the video expertise of
AVI-SPL VideoLink.

Eaton Vance purchased VideoLink’s ReadyCam on-site studio to drive media relations efforts and accommodate more TV appearances. Since the news cycle moves quickly, Eaton Vance wanted an on-site solution, like ReadyCam, to offer their investment professionals the opportunity to respond very quickly whenever there was news interest. Prior to having a studio in their office, company spokespeople traveled to local studios for TV interviews and commentary. With their ReadyCam Studio solution, Eaton Vance analysts and spokespeople could simply show up a few minutes before the scheduled television appearance.

“I think our ability to deliver our experts’ commentaries through television has really given us a competitive advantage,” explained Robyn. She notes that, since installing the studio, they have never turned down a television interview opportunity. At first, the ReadyCam Studio was used mostly for TV interviews and to create simple talking-head videos to share with employees, customers, and prospective clients. Once Eaton Vance realized the impact video was having on their media relations efforts, they quickly ramped up their use of it. They now use video to support other business applications such as video news releases, sales messages, and internal communications. Eaton Vance even uses this solution for multi-camera “road show” panel discussions, which VideoLink shot, produced, and edited at their Newton, MA headquarters. “Implementing ReadyCam Studio was really easy to do. And, from a cost standpoint, it was pretty simple, because I didn’t need to hire staff,” Robyn said of their video production process.

With multiple single-camera studios in place, the on-site producer is now creating regularly produced high-quality video content. Time for studio set up is largely eliminated. All camera lighting, audio, and backdrop controls are managed remotely via the VLGateway web portal. Settings for lighting, shot composition, and audio levels are saved and recalled for each production, saving setup time. Using the same interface to choose their preferred streaming platform, the video is encoded and transmitted to YouTube. For productions originating from the Michigan studio, our client’s video producer runs the production from North Carolina using VLGateway and records the video on their receive station, enabling immediate editing.

“I got an email late last night saying, “Can we film first thing in the morning?” We were able to do it. It was on YouTube within two hours of walking into the building.” – In-house Producer

Our client is now producing much more internal video content, including leadership announcements and press releases, previously done via written email. Externally, our client produces thought leadership interviews on CNBC and other broadcast networks.

With faster production turnaround times, lower costs, and greater consistency in quality, the executive team is enthusiastically embracing video as a primary medium for marketing communication.