This California Agency Analyzes the Effectiveness of Campaigns and Adjusts in Real Time

Schiefer Chopshop mixes creative and media buying

September 6, 2017

(L. to r.) Svp, creative and ecd John Zegowitz; co-founder and CEO James Schiefer; svp, media Tim Walsh; president and CSO Jeff Roach; co-founder and CCO Zach Lyons; and COO Dan Mickelsen

Jeffrey Moustache

By Lauren Johnson

September 6, 2017

After running their own independent shops for decades, James Schiefer, founder of media agency Schiefer Media, and Zach Lyons, founder of creative content firm Chopshop, joined forces last December to form a new venture: Schiefer Chopshop.

Gathering data and research to analyze the effectiveness of a brand’s advertising and make real-time changes to creative and media buys, the Irvine, Calif.-based shop owns a 10,000-square-foot studio used to shoot and edit content for clients including Boost Mobile, Blizzard Entertainment and TCL Communication.

“We treat ourselves as a startup agency,” said Schiefer. “We’re designed to solve today’s marketing problems through real-time execution of integrated digital creative, content and media campaigns.”

For Boost Mobile, the agency placed QR code-like Snapcodes on out-of-home ads that linked to an 8-bit game in Snapchat when scanned. The agency says consumers are spending 10 minutes with the in-app game, which lets users team up with a character named Galactic Thunder Pony to battle the Evil Mobile Mega Corps and free customers from their current phone plans.

“In this day and age, people don’t want to be advertised to,” explained Jeff Roach, president and CSO. “We try to key in on who our target audience is and find the interests and passions that they have.”