In this era of downward advertising revenue, Blitz has found success by brand promoting. Here they created the look for Atari Apex. All images courtesy of Blitz Digital Studios.

So what do you do when it’s getting harder and harder to produce independent animation for television programming? Or you’re trying to make a living from animated entertainment on the Internet, but ad rates have dropped through the floor? You can either keep hoping — or you can read the handwriting on the wall and look for more profitable opportunities. That is what the folks at Blitz Digital Studios have done, with animated content for advertising, Internet games and professional presentations. They’re successful and they have tons of work. What’s their secret?

First, let’s get clear on what they’re not doing. They’re not creating advertising-supported stories for the Internet. They’re not creating games with the hope of duking it out for shelf space at the local Wal-Mart. And they’re not trying to create TV shows in the hope that the FCC changes its mind and mandates that broadcasters outsource more programming. What they are doing is creating brand-promoting content (online marketing campaigns and TV commercials), games (advergames, viral branded games, and downloadable games) and Website and presentation content.

The bedrock of Blitz Digital (from left to right) Gregg Apirian, Ivan Todorov, Ken Martin and Mark Cohn, have earned the trust of corporate culture.

Blitz clearly has a lot of creativity on its staff, and enough rounded talent to produce almost anything in-house, including any and all phases of modeling, animation, gaming and music production — they even have their own recording studio. Other companies may claim to have the same capabilities, but there is one area where Blitz is clearly outstanding, and that is in its deep understanding of branding and brand development for major corporations. Whereas many other content creators generate content just for entertainment purposes, Blitz is deeply dedicated to the bottom line — its customers tend to be Fortune 1,000 companies that pay for content up front, but need to be convinced that this content fits into the overall marketing strategy and results in a return on investment.

You notice this dedication the minute you step into the company’s North Hollywood, California headquarters — the talk in the halls is not so much about what 3D or 2D tools are being used (animators are given wide leeway for what they prefer individually) on a new scene, but on how it fits in with the wishes of a customer or their ad company, and how it can best be pitched. You are never quite sure whether you’re in Hollywood or Madison Avenue. Gregg Apirian, the vp of business development, notes, “We used to be known, like many other houses, as an animation studio, but if you’re going to hit these big clients and big budgets, you can’t do it as an animation studio – you have to do it as an agency.”

The understanding of corporate culture (both by Apirian and by founders Ken Martin, Mark Cohn and Ivan Todorov) has paid off handsomely. Blitz customers include household names such as General Electric, Warner Bros., Showtime, Cisco, Atari, Best Buy and Kellogg, which have trusted the studio with their precious (and highly protected) brand images.