TalkingTree Creative, a small but mighty creative agency in Baltimore, Maryland, is celebrating three years of record growth and anticipating an even bigger 2019. According to Craig Weisbaum, Chief Creative Officer, the driving force behind their success is a mission to attack big-budget ideas with a boutique mindset.

“Our culture of learning and adapting cutting-edge technologies is really paying off for our customers,” Craig says. “We adopt technologies and capabilities from larger markets and integrate them into projects with smaller budgets.”

Some of these big-market products TalkingTree offers are virtual reality, virtual sets, and augmented reality—services that are becoming standard for large broadcast companies, but come with a big price tag.

“We package all of these services as projects, so right away there’s a scope and a flat fee rather than an hourly rate,” Craig continues. “Clients appreciate that because they know their price from the start. We prefer this route because it’s better for our style of creative work—working toward a goal that can be measured.”

Because of their size, they don’t have the hefty overhead that’s common in bigger companies. With a smaller team, they are more responsive, nimble, and invested in the success of their clients, compared to larger companies that are bogged down by structural and logistical obstacles that come with more personnel.

“We’re more like a small team of Special Ops/life-hackers. We’ll often look at something and think, ‘How can we do this better, cheaper, smarter?’ And we usually will find a way to do that.”

In fact, ten years ago, TalkingTree introduced virtual sets to the corporate arena.

“Back then, only big TV networks were doing these virtual sets because you needed tracking technology to keep up the illusion that the subject is on a set,” Craig explains. “We found a way to create the same effect without the expensive equipment.”

More recently TalkingTree designed an experience for Hughes in which people could put on VR headsets and be virtually transported into space. Normally this service would break many corporate budgets, but they devised a unique, cost effective plan-of-attack. The team employed a gaming engine to design a virtual space by modifying a solar system template.

“Ultimately, we created something compelling and visually stunning for a fraction of the typical cost.”

As TalkingTree looks ahead to the near future, they plan to continue evolving in the creative landscape. Aside from enlisting more augmented reality jobs, the team sets their sights on bigger events, bigger clients, and international work.

“We see ourselves doing more global projects. Not only do we like to travel but it’s fun and interesting work,” Craig says. “We learn how to work around obstacles that come with international work. But we like to challenge ourselves. It makes our team stronger.”

They already have a few international clients in their repertoire such as GlaxoSmithKline, for whom they provide custom studio productions for conferences.

With a reputation for delivering world-class productions, TalkingTree Creative has the legs to compete as a global brand.

“When people look at our body of work and then see the size of our team, they’re always shocked we aren’t a big company.”

Interested in talking about your next project with TalkingTree? Contact their creative team today.

Adam Parry
Author: Adam Parry

Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.