JibJab - Achievement in Management

Company: JibJab, Los Angeles, CA
Entry Submitted By:SalientMG
Company Description: JibJab is a leading provider of social expression content through branded satires, e-cards and music videos whose products enable millions of people to create and share personalized content to celebrate holidays, capture moments, or share hilarious greetings. Founded in 1999, the company has been pioneering new forms of digital fun for more than two decades.
Nomination Category: Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Achievement in Management - Media & Entertainment

Nomination Title: JibJab CEO Furthers Mission to Make Billions of People Happy Everyday

Founded in 1999, JibJab is a beloved digital entertainment brand whose roots are long and deep; 21 years later, the e-greeting card and digital content brand is thriving and now officially old enough to spread its wings and impart some of the wisdom learned along the way.

After the original founders departed JibJab in 2019 to focus on another venture, the brand was acquired by a private equity firm; with this shift, JibJab’s Chief Operating Officer Paul Hanges was named the new CEO. As an accomplished digital media, marketing and technology leader with a wealth of experience overseeing growth strategies for large-scale content production studios, Paul was perfect for the job. At that time, he had been on the forefront of digital branded entertainment experiences for more than a decade.

However, faced with the challenge of trying to emerge from the shadow of revered company founders, as a first-time CEO, and during a global pandemic, Paul had to carve a path for himself that allowed for both learning and growing.

Since taking the helm, Paul has been the driving force behind the brand’s impressive growth and resurgence by bringing back beloved and “retired” content, taking a stand against Facebook and the spread of misinformation, growing the brand’s music offerings to further connect with younger (more digital) audiences, and leading the brand through a global pandemic and remote work situation.

Paul immediately began working with his team to establish a product roadmap that would incorporate the brand’s mission to “make billions of people happy,” that would drive their efforts to build smart relationships that grow engagement and intent with new and current customers.

Prioritizing staff engagement and relationship building, Paul elevated roles to be more flat and put in place a policy that encouraged feedback and input from all areas of the organization. After his first year, retention remained high and support from top management was strong.

And in 2020, while navigating an incredibly challenging environment, Paul not only elevated the brand’s visibility but positively impacted the company’s growth trajectory.

When the official quarantine started in April 2020, Paul refused to let physical distance affect how his team “connected” with their 1.5 million subscribers and 40+ million annual visitors, and decided to release uplifting, relevant, stay-at-home focused digital content. The results paid off.

His entire staff thrived while working from home, releasing 58 new pieces of content between April and June, 2.5x normal production volume! This helped drive revenue to the highest amount seen in years.

Between April and January 1, 2021, JibJab’s brand new “Happy Quarantine Birthday” greeting was created 749,642 times across all of their digital platforms, which is nearly 5x the amount for a non-quarantine related e-greeting - solidifying it as the most popular birthday greeting ever for the brand.

And in July of 2020, with the support of staff and shareholders, JibJab became one of the only Direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands who took a fast and hard stance against the spread of misinformation, pausing all advertising spending on Facebook. Paul did this even though he knew it would have a negative impact on revenue and brand visibility as nearly 40% of their customer acquisition comes from Facebook each month.

As a brand known for its political and pop-culture satire, Paul was faced with a hard question at the end of 2020: should we release a Year-in-Review video, and if yes, how? Paul and his team rose to the occasion in a way thatnot even YouTube could handle by bringing back their beloved Year-in-Review - something that had been retired since 2014.https://www.adweek.com/performance-marketing/youtube-bowed-out-of-its-year-in-review-jibjab-said-hold-my-beer/

Paul will take JibJab into new territories in 2021 by expanding to other areas where personalized products can further help people celebrate important occasions, people and events. He is also looking forward to building the business to include content that resonates with international audiences, beyond English- speaking followers.

-Grew company subscriber base nearly 30% since becoming CEO in 2019, growing from 1.2 million active subscribers to 1.5 million.
-Took a stand against the spread of misinformation and paused all ad spend on Facebook for one month in 2020, knowing it would negatively impact the bottom line.
-Successfully transitioned the entire staff to a work-from-home situation at the beginning of the stay-at-home mandates, revving up production and content creation to more than 2.5x what it would normally be during that same timeframe.
-Led teams to their highest production levels ever, decreasing turnaround time by several weeks during the early months of the 2020 quarantine, compared to a typical two-to-three month turnaround for content releases; “Happy Quarantine Birthday” e-greeting was named a finalist in MediaPost’s Creative Media Awards in early 2021.
-Instrumental in the process of securing the sale of JibJab to a private equity firm in February 2019 and subsequently making the decision to move the entire staff to another headquarters location in Los Angeles to save costs and offer staff a modern, updated and creative space to work; maintained retention of employees during the private equity sale and new leadership transition.
-Worked closely with the company’s chief creative officer to bring back beloved and nostalgic content while further building their strategic partnerships with brands, celebrities and artists; branched out into the international music scene in 2020 with the release of a video in partnership with K-Pop singing star Jamie Park.
-Successfully launched brand new political satire in 2020 with the “Go Vote” video, created to encourage Americans to do their civic duty and vote; JibJab had decided to pause the creation and delivery of political satire in 2014 (pre-CEO tenure) because the political atmosphere had become too controversial. JibJab followed up with its immensely popular Year-in-Review video, another piece of content the brand had stopped creating in 2014.
-Launched internal initiatives to invest in and launch two new products within the company by the end of 2021 - both of which will be brand new business units for JibJab.
-Serves as a mentor for undergraduate and MBA students at California Polytechnic State University and the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
-Re-financed JibJab’s corporate business debt in 2020 in order to consolidate it at a lower interest rate, allowing the company to invest in new projects and initiatives moving forward.