Transavia Studios is Transavia’s in-house content, design and advertising agency, which supports the various disciplines within the company. This ranges from designing posters to producing adverts. Transavia Studios was established in 2017 as part of a strategy to focus communications more effectively on young people in a smart and creative way through YouTube videos. During the COVID-19 pandemic, certainly a difficult period for the aviation industry, Transavia decided to part ways with many external partners in the fields of communications and creative work. Studios was asked to take on these activities as well. As a result, Studios grew from 0.5 FTE to 10–15 FTE and has since become the central hub for all content and communications at Transavia, both internally and externally.
The odd one out
Roland Drewel, who was in charge of social media at the time, and his colleague Rob Abspoel set up Transavia Studios. Roland, now a Creative Strategist, explains that they work “secretly in the most beautiful spot at Schiphol”. Studios is based in Hangar 5, running parallel to the East Runway, where you have a view across the whole of Schiphol and can see private jets taking off and landing.
How did Studios end up at Root3? “We started out quite small, of course, and grew relatively quickly,” explains Roland. “And content creation means you generate a huge amount of data; with videos, we’re often talking about terabytes. On the one hand, this presented us with a challenge in terms of properly archiving all that data, so we were looking for a server solution. On the other hand, as creatives, we’re the only department within the company that works with Apple, which means we also have different devices and different IT needs. In that respect, we’re a bit of an odd one out.”
Spot on!
Roland explains that they approached the discussions with their IT colleagues in a transparent manner, outlining their challenges and ambitions. The discussions also involved their current (non-Apple) supplier and a number of external parties, including Root3. It soon became clear that Root3 was the best solution for their situation, a real “bull’s-eye”, according to Roland. “From the very first minute, they were proactive and transparent about what was and wasn’t possible. Their quality, costs and communication, I would 100% recommend Root3 to others!”
Since 2022, Studios has been benefiting from Root3’s comprehensive support through Apple Managed Services. “ Following Root3’s advice, we now have a server that allows us to archive all those terabytes effectively. Root3 handles the full management and maintenance of that Studios server. They also manage our Apple devices and ensure we comply with the rest of the company’s security requirements. Everything is managed through Apple Business Manager, and if we have any support queries, we can always get in touch. Finally, we have regular meetings and dedicated support days, either online or here on-site.”
Root3: approachable
If Roland had to sum up Root3’s communication style, the word ‘approachable’ is the first thing that springs to mind. “They’re informal in a professional way; something I really appreciate and which also suits Transavia well. For us, the whole IT side of things is, of course, a bit of a mystery, but they make it understandable and sort out any issues we come across. That’s definitely the biggest ‘win’. No question is too odd, even if it’s one that perhaps goes just a little bit beyond what they’re actually responsible for. They’ll always do their best to advise you and are a really good sparring partner.”
Another major advantage for Transavia Studios is that the creative team can now simply focus on being creative. Roland explains: “When we started out as a start-up within the company, we ended up having to deal with a lot of IT matters. These are peripheral issues that you’d really rather not have to worry about, so that you can focus on adding value, and that’s now possible thanks to Root3.”
The future of Studios: adding even more value
Studios is highly ambitious and enterprising, and Roland remains keen to explore other sports for in-house content production or creation. “I also hope that, by using tools or templates, we can support the organisation even better, enabling colleagues in the office to take care of certain matters themselves. That way, we as the Studios team can focus primarily on the things where we can add value, such as larger campaigns, more complex issues, and matters that require a bespoke approach.”
Finally, Roland says he thinks it’s great that Root3 has helped them become a bit more professional as a team. “Thanks in part to Root3, we’ve continued to grow, and I can see that, in that sense, we’ll keep growing together in the future. I think that’s one of the best things there i, learning from one another and getting better as a result.”