by Jill Strickman – Founder

From Phone Books to Facebook

When I started my own real people casting and research company more than twenty years ago, my office was stacked to the ceiling with those big heavy Yellow Pages phone books, one for every city in the country. To find the right real people for commercials we literally kept calling and calling until we found someone qualified, or someone else who could help.

I never imagined how technology would transform our business, or how important real people would become for brands. With a billion people on Facebook and millions of videos streaming every second, the digital revolution has turned real people into your most effective marketers, taking word-of-mouth advertising to new heights, and with no end in sight!

Compassionate & Compliant

That makes my specialty even more crucial and exciting. With consumers looking to their peers for information and validation, your brands need the right real people to build trust. Over the past two decades I’ve figured out the “secret sauce” of finding the right real people for commercials ranging from Super Bowl ads to finely nuanced healthcare testimonials.

Along the way my team and I have become experts in research, casting, and interviewing to bring you the most passionate and charismatic real people out there. We’ve also learned the FTC and FDA regulations to ensure our work together always follows the rules, so you can have compassion with all the necessary compliance, too.

The Evolution of Real People Casting

But nowadays that’s not even enough! Our amazing multichannel media environment means you need real people content that can be repurposed across TV, digital video, and social media platforms. Your marketing is now mobile, social, and real time, so your real people needs go beyond just finding the right real people for a single spot in a single place.

Real people relationships have changed, too. Your customers now communicate directly with your brands, and expect your brands to reciprocate. The “social brand” is now social, personalized, and immediate. Your real people needs have similarly evolved from delivering a testimonial to creating and sustaining long-term relationships with your customers.

Welcome to GENUINE: The Real People Company

That’s why the time is perfect to evolve Strickman-Ripps into GENUINE: The Real People Company. Our terrific team is the same, now offering exciting services that address the changing needs of your brands. From innovative digital video interviewing techniques to exclusive Brand Advocate programs, GENUINE is a new kind of real people company!

I can’t wait to tell you all about our new vision, and how we can work together to get the most value from the real people whom have become your most efficient marketers! Browse our fun new website, take a look at our award-winning work, and give me a call. Together we can heighten your efficiencies and take real people casting and content to a whole new level!