mesa
Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA) supports advancing and adopting digital transformation in the entertainment industry via 25 global industry events, ten daily email newsletters, and the bi-annual M&E Journal.
the call
We need marketing, communications, and editorial support to communicate our services and offerings to members of the media and entertainment industry.
the solve
- Branding
- Marketing
- Communications
- Creative
- Digital
- Social Media
MESA is an international coalition of media and entertainment insiders who drive digital transformation at companies such as Amazon, Marvel, Apple, Adobe, The Walt Disney Company, and others.
MESA’s integrated offerings meant building a multi-tiered strategy to connect with various audiences.
Challenge number one was understanding how each leg of the company — communities, events, newsletters, publications, and webinars — supported MESA’s mission of educating and inspiring change in an industry that was inching toward a digital future.
We attended community meetings (MESA works with ten unique communities dedicated to specific areas of interest), read back issues of its newsletters and publications, and attended webinars with industry experts.
It became clear that MESA was more than an informational clearinghouse—it was a collection of passionate individuals looking to collaborate on a smarter, better future.
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An audience hungry for information and ways to engage is the easiest and most challenging to plan for. They wanted all the information while being deeply involved in the subject matter, so we needed to ensure our strategy matched those twin needs.
While not an excuse, we worked with MESA during the COVID-19 pandemic, so some natural plans for community gatherings, in-person seminars, and social gatherings were out of the question. We leveraged what we had, including online meetings, virtual get-togethers, communications, and advertising.
marketing
MESA’s senior management offered clear KPIs — increase MESA membership, sponsorship, newsletter subscriptions, and engagement.
Our integrated marketing approach included email campaigns, LinkedIn advertising, and webinars. We also had the opportunity to leverage virtual events to raise awareness around MESA members, which helped show off the benefits of membership.
digital
We worked with MESA’s web team to rebuild the company’s home page as an information funnel. We developed a system that moved the reader from MESA’s promise and strengths to opportunities for members and event sponsors.
We touched many of the site’s other pages during our engagement, optimizing for website traffic and information flow.
communications
MESA boasts a solid editorial team that produces multiple weekly email newsletters. Yet, we found that readership and click-through rates were low. Leveraging industry best practices and our experience, we recommended creating a different look and feel for each newsletter to encourage readers to engage more deeply.
Our marketing team designed, wrote, and distributed email communications for upcoming MESA events. Our cadence included an introduction to the event, information about keynote speakers, opportunities to sponsor the event, and sign-ups.
relaunching the M&E Journal
Over the years, MESA’s M&E Journal has been the place for thought leaders to outline the challenges and solutions for the media and entertainment industry. Each publication featured articles from industry heavyweights responsible for building the future of behind-the-scenes technology.
The biannual publication needed a complete refresh, from editorial planning to design.
We tore everything down, including the logo, editorial direction and design, and editorial flow. We refocused the editorial well to match MESA’s key pillars of Data, IT, and Security and cleaned up what topics merited a feature-length approach rather than a shorter article.
On the design side, we reworked every page, including department headings, folios, typography, colors, and article layouts. We were inspired by MESA’s corporate rebrand, which had been completed the previous year.
The redesigned Winter M&E Journal won the prestigious APEX “Award for Excellence” honor. Read more about that award here.
Social Media
Our social media team developed a calendar of regular posts, pulling information from MESA’s email newsletters, community news, and member press releases. Our goal was to increase engagements across LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram and increase the number of fans/followers for the company’s social networks.
We also used MESA’s LinkedIn pages to share information about community meetings and key milestones for each of their initiatives.
Because we were not gathering face-to-face, we were limited in how we could approach Facebook and Instagram with content featuring people meeting face-to-face. We did our best to foster connections and drive conversations.
advertising
MESA had spent a year undergoing a dramatic rebrand, pushing the company to an edgier, modern look and feel.
The company’s president asked us to take that spirit and design a LinkedIn advertising campaign targeting potential newsletter subscribers to let them know that MESA was the place to get the information they needed.
We leveraged imagery that would feel comfortable to the audience with direct messaging to get them to click through to the website’s sign-up sheet. We saw a 10% increase in newsletter subscribers at the end of the campaign.
MESA today continues to grow in membership and stature, helping push the industry forward. We’re proud of the work and our relationships with that team.
