454 Creative

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a business owner at Catalyst Technology Corporation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 454 Creative?

We hired them for our overall marketing strategy.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I really needed to put together who my target audience was and how I was going to reach them. They came up with a plan and created our branding in order to see our look, feel, and image. In addition, they also did that to get our message across in a very concise way. Once we identified our target market, they’ve helped us identify the different platforms and mechanisms to get our message out — to tell people about our services and our products — and to target a specific set of folks. 

We’ve used Google, but LinkedIn has been really big for us, and it’s probably the one that we focused on the most because we can get a very targeted audience there. They also create content for those platforms. In order to do that, we’ve given them bullet points and they craft messages that are appropriate to the platforms. They also created videos for our products, including the content of the script. On the other hand, they help us with our whole brand which includes the logo design, color schemes, and more. 

We’re going to keep working with them with our marketing campaigns and just any types of tweaks and things we need to do such as changing the brand if we need to.

What is the team composition?

We work with Paul (President) and Chad (Creative Director). We also collaborate with an account manager.

How did you come to work with 454 Creative?

I did a web search of a local company who I could talk to easily. I liked that 454 Creative had a couple of people that understood the business we were in and understood the couple of the products that we work with. It just felt like they really knew how to take us from where we were as a startup, and how to make our brand look more professional.

We liked that they came up with a straightforward plan and presented its cost. Moreover, I appreciated that they guided me as I didn’t come from a marketing background.

How much have you invested with them?

We've probably spent $40,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in January 2018, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We’ve had a great good start. We had an idea, and the team has just taken it next level. We have a bunch of leads that have led to product sales, which is really great. I don’t have specific numbers, but their work has driven the leads we’ve been looking for. Most importantly, when we show up and give presentations, we look professional.

They’ve enabled us to have a very polished look and we can have confidence that we’re not just the same startup anymore, so we can go head to head with anybody. They’re definitely our partners.

How did 454 Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

I think we used a tool at the beginning, but we don’t anymore. Now, they just gather the requirements and they go and get the job done for us. We also call as needed, but it’ll probably become a routine soon. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I don’t really need to remind them to get things done. They’ve managed a project for me when we were creating videos, and we had a designer who left the job at that time. That person was outsourced, so we had to go find another person to do the animation. Despite that, the team stuck with it and they found somebody else. Overall, they’ve managed the project all the way through.

I just know that they’re going to finish things and they won’t let them be undone. It’s really a very cut and dry relationship, and in the end, they just present the cost. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any criticism at the moment because I really like what they’re doing. Everything has been straightforward and it just leaves me in control, so I wouldn’t change anything at this point. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Whoever wants to work with them must be looking for a partner. I don’t think I’d go to 454 Creative for just some quick job because they can do a good job of analyzing the bigger picture. They’re probably more expensive than others, but you’re going to get what you pay for. With them, it’s definitely a long-term engagement.

In addition, I can approach them and they know exactly what to do because they’ll walk me through everything. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the national director of sales and marketing for the Adopt A Highway Maintenance Corporation. We do sponsorships for litter removal services throughout the country in 23 different states.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 454 Creative?

We hired them for a marketing campaign, along with other potential marketing services we needed support on. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their work primarily fell into the realm of digital marketing, with PPC, regional marketing, and advertising efforts across LinkedIn. They met with us to determine what our needs were at the beginning. 

Their services included working on an email marketing campaign, along with building some landing pages for our program called Adopt A Beach. They helped put together a campaign to build out that program. The content was built by them, and they were thorough in collecting data to support the content itself. 

What is the team composition?

Around four people in total worked with us. There was a lead teammate, an account manager, and other IT people working with us. 

How did you come to work with 454 Creative?

I believe we did an internet search for local marketing services. We were seeking a local flair for the marketing we wanted to do.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $15,000 on their services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Roughly, we worked together from December 2019–June 2020. The campaign was planned to run through the summer but COVID-19 hit, so our formal work has ended. They have a proposal on the table now to do some continuing work for us. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Throughout the project, we tracked referrals and conversions for traffic, leads, and sales. It was hard to measure their impact because of COVID-19, but we did see a spike in open rates and had a converted sale. However, the whole campaign was really hampered by COVID-19’s impact. 

How did 454 Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They were pretty good at managing the project. We had a few hiccups on both of our sides, but overall, they were thorough. Their team was receptive to what we needed. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their level of detail was most impressive throughout the engagement. They had a vetting process to understand our business, and it was very thorough. Their onboarding process for a new client was detailed and attentive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were a couple of meetings that they could have been a little bit more prepared for, but outside of that, it was a pretty good overall experience. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to be as prepared as they are for onboarding since they are very thorough in that process. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a premium blank t-shirt provider. We sell wholesale products to brands, groups, and music festivals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with 454 Creative?

We needed help with developing a marketing strategy.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did a review of our business landscape, including our current marketing tactics and our competitors. From there, they used their findings to devise a more effective marketing strategy. They also built out our existing website to make it appear more modern and help it run more smoothly. 

They continue to focus on digital marketing. They’ve created some content, working in partnership with our in-house creative team. 

What is the team composition?

I work with Sharon (Brand Manager), Chad (Creative Director), Brooks (Director of Business Consulting), Taylor (Brand Coordinator), Joe (Technology Director), Victoria (Director of Brand Strategy), Libby (Marketing Manager), Randy (Project Manager), and Savannah (Jr. Marketing Manager).

How much have you invested in them?

We spent about $100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2020, and our relationship is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They made us more professional and identified key metrics to track for measuring our success. They’ve helped us grow our customer acquisition. 

How did 454 Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

We use the Google Suite of products. We receive a monthly review, and Sharon always keeps us up to date with the latest happenings. They’re proactive. We never have to ask where they are with something. They’re good at meeting deadlines. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their organization skills are solid. I appreciate their strong communication and the rapport I’ve built with their team, especially in this virtual environment. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It's hard to say because they deliver. The only thing that's hard for us is that they're not always flexible. They work in two-week sprints and prefer that approach over other methods. However, they’re organized and always deliver. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of product brand for a heating utility company. We manufacture outdoor gas and electric, fixed mount as well as portable heating ranges and we distribute across various markets around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 454 Creative?

We were looking for a digital agency to assist us with marketing on the whole, but with a digital focus and everything that is encapsulated by digital marketing. We were looking for someone to provide funnel management, lead capture, web development and improvement, SEO work, and creative content.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

454 Creative introduced various frameworks into our business. They allow us to understand customer personas, value propositions, brand statements, customer journey funnel, and various marketing activities. This ultimately captures prospects that may or may not be interested in our product and pulling them through the funnel in a systemized fashion.

The team is disseminating content across our social media accounts and creating digital ads for us. They provide creative work, marketing automation tools that we haven’t worked with before, content creation, lead magnet creation, data statistics reporting, and project management. They are managing the mapping out of a new website redevelopment.

They also provide content SEO, EDM (electronic direct mail) segmentation and communication, and running paid ads across social media channels. We’re at an initial stage of discovery in terms of web development. We’ve mapped an RFP by visiting pages of existing sites.

454 Creative has gone off to the market with the RFP essentially acting as a CMO to get other agencies to pitch to develop the website. We’re not yet in a stage where we settled on technology, but we’ll have that done by the end of this year or the middle of January.

We started out just focusing on the US market, but we’ve now expanded to Canada, Australia, UK, New Zealand, and our marine segment with plans to further expand.

What is the team composition?

I engage directly with eight team members from 454 Creative. We work with an account manager, a CMO at a strategic level, Chad (Creative Director), and an EA for meeting bookings. We also engage with Randy (Project Manager) for marketing automation, Brooks (Director of Business Development) for websites, Libby (Marketing Manager) for digital marketing, and Taylor (Brand Coordinator).

How did you come to work with 454 Creative?

We recognized the need to have a digital agency assisting us with our digital marketing specifically in the US market. We went out with our requirements in terms of what we were looking for. We had 10 agencies pitch to us which we then fine-tuned down to three and finally selected 454 Creative.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $350,000–$450,000.
 
What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with 454 Creative in May 2018 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Lead generation has been our clearest measure. We went from being an extraordinarily low base to a key component of the overall business with lead goals consistently being outperformed.

How did 454 Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

454 Creative is very good. I’m running this web project through them at the moment and every day I engage with them. I’m happy that they’re running it and we’re not running it. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the things we liked about 454 Creative is that they are very accountable for performance. The team recognizes the fact that every dollar counts. They understand the balance between long-term and short-term goals. They are producing results and showing a return of investment in the short term which allows us to invest for the long term.

454 Creative has a real understanding of not being able to do everything at once and picking up the most important things that will give us the best return. The current frameworks that they’ve introduced into the way they do campaigns or projects helped us tremendously. They have a strong talent pool, they all play a part and they are a strong team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

On the whole, we’re pretty happy with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to have regular check-ins, split up strategy from tactics, and allow them to run their discovery on your business.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the Assistant Director of Recruitment and Partnerships with the School for Professional Studies at Vanguard University.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 454 Creative?

We have been focused on creating a strategic marketing plan to increase lead generation while simultaneously developing new avenues that the School for Professional Studies and its degree programs can access to raise overall brand awareness locally, nationally, and globally.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

To start, 454 Creative took our department through their lean marketing framework process. It provided the time and space for our staff and faculty to come together and carefully consider who we are and how we want to be known locally, nationally, and globally. It also provided us with the opportunity to see what our competitors are doing in the marketing arena, giving our leadership a clear understanding of where we fit within the current marketing landscape and identifying opportunities to make our marketing more effective.

Once the initial analysis was presented, we looked back at the keywords we were using and compared them to our competitors’ to see if we wanted or needed to change our brand messaging in order to distinguish our marketing efforts further.

Currently, we’re in the implementation phase, and we’re seeing how our first round of messaging and landing page edits are performing. The goal is to generate high-quality leads and more applicants. 454 Creative also helped us launch our first chatbox, so now we have a chat function on our web page. Additionally, we have launched our LinkedIn account with Sales Navigator which is something we haven’t used before and are excited to build with them.

Moving forward we have further webpage optimization, ad spend campaigns, and some new copy projects to bolster our digital presence and outreach.

What is the team composition?

Initially, we worked with Paul (President) and Brooks (Director of Business Development) to move through our initial talks. Once our contract was in place, Sharon (Brand Manager) became our full-time account manager and we work with her and Taylor (Brand Coordinator) on all our projects and they bring in the other key members of their team as needed.

How did you come to work with 454 Creative?

454 Creative has a history of working with Vanguard University on various projects over the years, so they were a natural group to reach out to when our department needed to develop a strategic marketing plan to meet the objective of increasing our lead generation.

Through the process of talking with 454 Creative and other third-party vendors, we chose 454 because they offered us a complete package with the flexibility of upward or downward scalability based on our financial abilities and the outcomes we are seeing.

It has been a fantastic partnership thus far and after seeing some promising results in the first 60 days since implementation began, we’re very excited about the direction we’re moving in.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested just over $30,000 at this time and we plan to continue on a retainer with 454 Creative for the foreseeable future.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing relationship started in April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

First, with the launch of our new LinkedIn sales account, we received over 60 leads in two months. Just having this one new avenue more than doubled our new leads during this time period and that is a big win.

We’ve been getting a decent response after a month of running keyword ads, but it is the analysis, feedback, and flexibility to pivot to and from the keywords that have been missing from our past marketing efforts. Overall, we've seen an increase in clicks and interest, and as we continue to refine where and how we apply our ad spend, the results should continue to improve.

Another simple but impactful change was for 454 Creative to suggest we move the placement of our buttons on our landing pages to provide potential applicants with more options at the top. We had nine inquiries come through the 'visit' button in the first week of it being moved up on our page when we might normally see one or two a month.

It’s such a small thing but it’s a huge help for us and these are just the beginning fruits of our work together, so the tangible evidence we’ve accomplished in such a short period is incredible.

Everything 454 Creative has helped us re-tool or produce from scratch based on our Lean Marketing Framework has been well-received and we look forward to this next 6 months of refinement and creation.

How did 454 Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Sharon and Taylor have been fantastic, they are incredibly responsive and even great at keeping our department on task when we get sidetracked by competing priorities during the school year. We are scheduled for 2 meetings a month to stay on target with goals and due outs, but they are always happy to connect as needed. To date, we have not missed a single hard deadline for a project and that level of reliability is priceless.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed by their transparency. They’re clear on what they can do, what they want to do, and how they can get us there. They are also incredibly flexible and imaginative, which is a huge help when we need to be able to accomplish everything on a strict budget.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are always some areas to be worked on. This is a partnership that relies on our organization's ability to provide 454 Creative with the parameters for success, so it took a few tries on a few project pieces, but they have taken every opportunity to know and understand our university and then our specific department within the university to best serve our needs and the needs of our future students.

So, even if it is not always perfect the first time, the partnership has been fantastic. The employees at 454 Creative are always more than willing to work with us to improve on what we currently have in place.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice for anyone who’s considering working with 454 is to just be open and honest with where they’re at and where they want to go. They are there to support, nurture, encourage, and equip anyone that they work with for success. Everyone I’ve worked with from 454 has been completely professional, encouraging, and positive. I always look forward to meeting with them because it’s a total pleasure.

We understand ourselves and our clients better because of our work with 454 Creative, and we look forward to a long and prosperous partnership for years to come.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Webmaster at Mariners Church in Irvine. Manage our website, streams and podcasts

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 454 Creative, and what were your goals?

To build out a new website with a strategy focused on the end user

SOLUTION

How did you select 454 Creative and what were the deciding factors?

We sent out a few RFPs and we liked their values and that they were able to do it within our timeline

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Building out a brand new site on Wordpress and integrating it within out database(Ministry platform).

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

around 5, the account manager, couple of developers, few technical strategy positions

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

helped create a site that was not depending on search functionality, increasing our overall time on site and pages per visit

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

Slickplan for wire framing, Asana for project managing, slack/email for communication

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their speed and efficiency in the workflow were impressive. As well as enjoying working/communicating with the,

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Not that I'm aware of