While I don’t spend much time looking backward, JPL’s 35-year anniversary gives me an opportunity for a quick reflection on our path to this moment. It’s been a journey of relentless evolution while not losing sight of what matters most—clients, team members, culture and community.
Focusing on people
When JPL started in 1989, the video production business was capital intensive, and most video companies were caught up in an endless race for the latest and greatest equipment. I met our founder Michael Horgan about six months after he started JPL, and fortunately, he was taking a different approach. Michael looked beyond the equipment and focused on the people, beginning with our clients. He knew clients wanted to work with people who cared about them and what they were trying to accomplish. They wanted a creative and effective product and a positive experience.
Current JPL president, Luke Kempski producing a live event for Rite Aid back in 1990.
Embracing interactive technology
Working with Michael and the early JPL team, I found myself enamored with making video interactive—first through laser discs, then CD-ROMs, and eventually the internet. As we became adept at using these new technologies and overcoming their challenges, it became clear that our creative and production capabilities could grow and accomplish more than we had previously thought. It wasn’t about selling additional services; it was about integrating creative, media and technology to help clients market their products, communicate with their target audiences and provide training to their people.
Current VP, Client Solutions Matt Daly joined JPL in 1997 and began advising clients on digital marketing strategy.
Transitioning to full-service agency
By the early 2000s, we started advising clients beyond creative production solutions. We recognized that we could deliver more value by helping them integrate media and technology into their marketing campaigns, live events, websites and other communications efforts. To do this, we needed to build our capabilities further, adding research and strategy, advertising creative, account management, and eventually media strategy, buying and analytics. As it still is today, my role was to be the integration evangelist helping team members look beyond their media specialty to discover ways to combine what they can do with what others can do to accomplish even greater client results.
Bill Kobel, EVP, Strategy and Integrated Communications joined in 2006 helping lead JPL to become a full-service agency.
The journey continues
As the marketing and digital landscape relentlessly evolves, so do we. Today, we are most often partnering with our clients to help them develop and execute a strategy-based integrated campaign or program to achieve their goals. We still also do projects like websites, live experiences and videos, usually enhanced by the capabilities that we have in other areas. Today, our team includes strategists, data analysts, creative directors, user experience designers, content creators, web developers, technology experts and other roles. We also have strategists and consultants in areas where we specialize, such as enrollment marketing, health care and internal communications.
Just as it did 35 years ago, my inspiration comes from working with talented people who love what they do. While technology, data and AI are essential to our work, it’s still about people—JPL team members, our culture and our clients, their people and their customers. The relentless evolution of it all is what makes it challenging and fun.
