Image Base celebrates 25 years

Image Base Celebrates 25 Years

What a difference 25 years makes. Stacks of racks (slides, that is) and cumbersome video editing equipment were the tools of the business communication production field when Image Base was founded in May of 1984. But that was 25 years, and over 20,000 projects ago.

IB’s founder, Ralph Murnyak, appreciates the speed and efficiency of today’s digital video technology. “I’m amazed at our productivity - we can deliver better, faster and more creative programs than we dreamed of 20 years ago. For a recent sales meeting, we produced 23 videos that covered six brands…all in about three weeks. That would have been almost impossible, even 10 years ago.”

Since client number one, the Meat Board, the food & beverage industry has been a strong segment of the company’s client base, including Kraft, the National Restaurant Association, the Dairy Industry, the Beef Industry, and PepsiCo. IB has expanded to include clients in the technology, consulting, association, medical, & marine industries, including Siemens, Accenture, and Nintendo.

Under the leadership of partner Kevin Blake, Image Base now has a 15-person in-house production team. For most of the 25 years, an 11,000 sq. ft. River North studio space has been home base.

“We’ve become unique in the industry,” Says Murnyak. “We are a self-contained producer group that can handle entire video and event programs. As a result, about 60% of our business is direct with clients and the other 40% comes through producers, agencies, and other production companies. It’s a model that few have succeeded at.”

Blake and Murnyak agree that the company’s greatest strength is the scalability that they offer, especially for major corporate meetings, where late changes and additions are the norm. “It’s our distinguishing market advantage,” says Blake.

Throughout the years, Murnyak can truly say that his team has seen it all, from videotaping a copy of the Gutenberg Bible to wearing a head to toe “clean” suit inside a food manufacturing plant to interviewing hundreds of executives and business leaders.

Murnyak comments, “The tools are different, but it still comes down to one thing…telling stories effectively.” Client Bridget Brennan, former agency head and current Female Factor CEO, agrees, “Image Base delivers remarkable results in seemingly impossible timeframes. Bottom line - they helped me deliver my message, hit my numbers, and made me look great in the process!”