Jessica Valenzuela, Empress of Mavin Digital reflects on the past year and the reasons why she started the company and why we’re excited about the future!

When I started Mavin Digital in 2008, there was one goal: to deliver memorable creative body with the sophistication of evolving technology. In the beginning, we positioned the company as a production partner to traditional advertising agencies who were seeing movement of brand marketing dollars to digital. When Madison Avenue decided to wet their feet in digital, there was a big learning curve in the production life-cycle. Improving efficiencies and resource management were a few of their obvious challenges. Accounts suffered from a continuous shortage of resources while account teams were constantly churning with new faces. While I was on staff as a producer for various campaigns, I witnessed a few $600.00 per hour charges by top ad executives (who knew nothing about the account) on already over budgeted accounts! I was shocked!

I thought I could help change the inefficiency of Madison Avenue by offering creative and production services through flexible resources. At Mavin Digital, launching two content sites in one night or producing an audience activation site for a superstar in two weeks is very doable. We fill-in and fix things where internal account teams falter.

A number of agencies were delighted about our presence. Then we experienced a shift. We were seen as competitors.

I took a year off (sort of. I was moonlighting for a few consulting companies and learned to kiteboard). I wanted to take a step back and think about what I wanted to do next. Do I continue as a solo-preneur? Look for funding (we’re 100% self-funded)? How do I grow the company? These are the burning questions that fill the days of every entrepreneur.

The epiphany for Mavin Digital 2.0 came while I consulted for a number of clients. I witnessed how small, medium and enterprise businesses struggled with storytelling and creatively applying technology as a channel and distribution platform. This is what Mavin Digital is really insanely awesome at telling stories using relevant content and memorable creative design, while applying the sophistication of technology. We’re communicators in the social web and a mobile first world. Our passion for technology and design gives us the edge to create, curate and connect your brand stories with your audience using rich visuals and compelling story lines for audience activation, brand recognition or even to support your news stories.

I gathered the troops. Laid out my plan for a re-launch. And carved out the vision. So what can you expect?

We believe in the beauty of simplicity. This is what we strive for in every creation. To start with, we have a shiny new website! We’re in soft-launch so pardon the dust. We’re showcasing our body of work in web, user experience, design, advertising concepts, mobile, print and more! The juiciest part: The Collective in New York City and San Francisco joining forces in both Coasts! This was the reason for my bi-coastal lifestyle: bring together exceptional talent to create insanely great work! More importantly, we have aligned with partners you can trust including Wildfire App and The Open House Gallery. New partners and wonderful surprises will be shared in the coming weeks!

Mavin Digital is here for small, medium and enterprise brands to create compelling stories on the social web and mobile platforms. We want to help you get your users excited about what you do and communicate the change you want to help make the world a better place. Don’t be shy, say hi on Twitter! Let us know what you think of our new site – we’d love your feedback.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica Valenzuela is a natural entrepreneur with twelve-years of experience delivering in product development, marketing and digital advertising. She was an integral part of the team that launched Kaplan’s financial education online university. During a subsequent job consulting for Accenture, New York City lured Jessica and her passions for creative, design and technology, leading her to produce award-winning integrated campaigns at Madison Avenue’s top advertising agencies. In 2008, Jessica flexed her entrepreneurial muscle by creating Mavin Digital, Inc. working with Forbes.com, Moet Hennessey, Gwen Stefani and more! When she’s not producing or curating Jessica is looking for her next adventure whether it’s travel, kiteboarding, snowboarding or climbing. She studied Business Information Technology at DePaul University and has a BS in Hotel Restaurant Management from the University of the Philippines.