Continental Case Study

This is how we helped one of the area’s largest food management companies land several multi-million dollar accounts through video storytelling.

Overview

Tell Studios was tapped to shape the story of how in-office dining created a happier workforce at the North American headquarters of an automotive seating manufacturer as part of a digital business development marketing campaign.

The call came from Continental, a Metro Detroit-based food service provider, that sets the table for its 700+ signature clients with a variety of convenient, high-quality workplace dining options.

These solutions are an added benefit to workers; and, a key ingredient that helps organizations define culture, create community, and connect siloed teams.

RESULTS

• Tell Studios greatly enhanced Continental’s portfolio of visual sales tools
• Converted leads into new business through account-based marketing campaigns
• Helped sales close several multimillion-dollar, multi-year deals

"Tell has a way of pulling stories out of people that truly capture the things that make a business come to life and change the lives around them. Their team is top-notch: creative, empathetic, flexible, and collaborative. Best I’ve seen!"

- Heather Krentler
VP, Human Resources & Corporate Support Services, Continental Services

The Problem

Continental wanted to attract business in a new and relevant way; by creating a media-rich digital brochure. To really sell the value of in-office dining they needed a case study video front and center that told an impactful story and helped potential customers feel and experience the value of the service.

No stranger to video production, the Continental marketing team felt its previous video production partner excelled at shooting beautiful footage, but missed the mark in storytelling. The storytelling was going to be key to the success of this project, so they couldn’t afford to get it wrong.

The Process

It was important to us to tell a deeper story than just talking about the benefits of Continental’s in-office dining solutions. Through research and collaboration with the client, we determined the larger story would be about how food brings people together and creates a positive workplace culture.

From location scout to final cut, we responded by working in lock-step with the Continental, helping to guide the creative decisions with their input and ensuring everyone was on the same page throughout the process. 

"I’ve worked with the Tell Studios team for several years, and cannot say enough good things about them. As a team, they are talented and creative, and as individuals, you may not find better humans anywhere else in this business. I recommend them wholeheartedly!!"

- Shannon Conlan
Event Planning and Production Coordinator, Continental Services

Results

The tightly edited case study video, used in all the company’s sales efforts, was rich with a new depth of emotion that continues to persuade prospective customers to enlist Continental’s services. With its inclusion in the digital brochure as the primary motivator, the brochure prompted unsolicited feedback from a key account’s executive: “[The digital brochure] was the most impressive piece of marketing we have ever received and did a fantastic job displaying the added value Continental brings to the table.” He even went so far as to say how the company “looked forward to working with Continental in the future” even though an RFP for services had yet to be issued. Here are some other highlights that came out of this piece:

• Helped land several major multi-year contracts
  • Each contract ranging from 3-5 years
  • Each contract worth more than $1.5MM
• Included in 100% of all Account-Based Marketing Efforts/Campaigns
• The main attraction in all targeted digital ads
• Featured as the main video in all of our “customized” landing pages
• Account-based marketing (ABM) efforts have been proven to be very effective, allowing Continental to double the ABM budget going into 2020

"We don’t have a massive creative and marketing department internally, so leaning on your team as the experts in the video industry, to take our idea and enhance it, and really bring it to life, was a piece that we count on in a partner, and you guys definitely excelled there."
- Jacob Bloomhuff
Associate Director of Marketing, Continental Services

Cementing the Partnership

On the heels of the successful video case study, Continental called on Tell to film one if its most significant brand stories for its Great Mark Western business unit.

Uncompromising integrity and the quest for the consistently flavorful, fork-tender, high quality beef was the company’s catalyst launching Great Mark Western. The company exists solely for the purpose of growing ranch-raised premium reserve Angus beef for its own operations, and for a distinct collection of restaurateurs.

Continental CEO and Great Mark Western Founder Jim Bardy needed this inspiring story to compel restaurateurs to buy select cuts based on the best practices and high standards that achieve consistently flavorful, fork-tender beef for their white table cloth establishments. Similarly, Continental would use a short-version video to relate to customers the lengths the company goes to in order to procure the highest quality ingredients.

With the understanding that the final production needed to encapsulate the brand story with such emotion it would make people weep, Tell Studios packed up its crew and headed for Tallahassee, Florida.

Shot over the course of five 12+ hour days, the end result was an impressive 20-minute documentary for the restaurant industry that features how raising cattle and environmental conservation work hand-in-glove. Continental’s sales team also uses an inspired 3-minute promo reel to showcase how carefully the company procures its ingredients.

By achieving its mission of telling an emotional, informative story that reflects Continental’s commitment to full-cycle quality control, Tell Studios is now the go-to production arm for Continental’s marketing team, with several new productions on the horizon.