Activator Studios

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of BOOM Designs, LLC, a design consultancy. I also own a toy company called POPPIES Toys. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Activator Studios?

We engaged with Activator Studios for multiple things such as building our brand awareness, developing our website, and creating our marketing campaigns.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team built our BOOM Designs website from scratch, and they worked based on my vision. Activator Studios was also in charge of the front- and backend development of the website. Moreover, they were also performed copywriting. 

I did most of the graphics, but they applied animation to my work. For a while, they also managed my site, but then I took over the management because they focused on development projects. To do that, they guided me on how to oversee my site. After that, they also performed marketing campaigns for my company.

For the second website, we worked with the team to create an e-commerce platform integrated with Shopify for the POPPIES Toys company. The website’s purpose was to help us launch a Kickstarter campaign. 

What is the team composition?

We had direct interaction with 3–4 people from Activator Studios.

How did you come to work with Activator Studios?

I found Activator Studios through a family member who had worked with them and still continues to partner with the team. 

How much have you invested with them?

For BOOM Designs, LLC, we spent around $10,000-$15,000, but it might be more considering they also performed marketing for us. Meanwhile, for the toy company, we only spent a couple of grand. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2014–November 2018. We finished our engagement right after the Kickstart campaign.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They executed everything exactly how I thought it should be, and they went above and beyond my expectations. The Activator team also won an award for their design on our website. Overall, we achieved significant growth when they were involved as compared to when I managed things myself. 

Then, they were instrumental in enabling us to raise enough money for the Kickstarter campaign. In the end, we collected over $25,000. Their impact was remarkable because when we first started, they brought in a lot of people to our Kickstarter site. We also received many leads because of their work. 

I still stay in contact with Activator Studios because they still give me free advice. They really continue to support our venture even if our engagement ended.  

How did Activator Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

The team was very collaborative from the get-go, and they had great communication skills. We had monthly calls and they’d update me on the stats of the impressions we received. Whenever I had questions, they responded in a timely fashion, whether it was through email, phone calls, or chat. They also often reached out to us. 

They were much more personable than a lot of firms I worked with. We also talked to their big bosses on a regular basis, and we had a great relationship with them. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were able to simplify terms for us, and because of their effort, we were able to understand the ins and outs of our marketing campaigns. Activator Studios made an effort to ensure the project was seamless.

They were an excellent partner to have, and I'd still continue to reach out to them. Later this year, there may be an opportunity for me to start working with them again. With that said, I’d definitely recommend them to others. Moreover, I’d highly encourage a potential partner to build their relationship with Activator Studios because they were a fantastic company to work with.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had a couple of little issues along the way, such as when I caught mistakes when I visited our website. Perhaps, if they were managing things every single day, they would’ve probably caught those “little things”. However, they were checking things periodically. As soon as we noticed issues, the team would fix them right away — but this response was me critiquing them hardcore. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a personal relationship with Activator Studios. You can never go wrong if you choose their team — they’re very knowledgeable about everything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and president of Catalyst Game Labs. We’re a mid-level game publishing company in the hobby game trade.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Activator Studios?

I hired them to upgrade and recreate my website experiences for both my store and my company sites.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Activator Studios put together a marketing deck to show different options and how they could increase my design and efficiency. They implemented the package we selected to have done over the course of about six months. Our previous sites were all custom built before the time of Shopify or WordPress, so they upgraded about three sites for us. They delivered mockups and then after we approved those, they implemented the changes. The content is all based on the properties we already own. They just issued a complete refresh on the store this last month and they’re currently still managing the sites.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with Jake (Owner) for planning and Rene (Frontend Web Designer & Developer) for operations.

How did you come to work with Activator Studios?

An initial person, whose name I can’t remember, from the company contacted us saying that they could make our website better. We let them pitch the idea and we really liked it.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together at the end of 2018 and we're still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The transition was a little rough when we killed the old store and started the new one. We cut our sales by half, but that wasn’t Activator Studios' fault. It was because our old website was so bad. Now, compared to our old store, our sales are running three times better. It took us about a year to regain our customer loyalty after collapsing a bad piece of technology. 

We were running about $10,000–$12,000 a month in sales and now we're running $30,000–$40,000 a month in sales depending on the month. Some of that is due to us doing a better job of bringing out products, but also because the website makes bringing out new products extremely easy.

How did Activator Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

We have conference calls where we meet on Skype or over the phone. Since Rene came aboard, she seems to be extremely proactive and keeps things moving forward.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They work very methodically and they want to make sure the customer gets exactly what they’re expecting. They do a great job presenting ideas, implementing them, and taking feedback. I like that they bring new aesthetics that I would probably never have looked at myself. We don’t always use their designs, but I always think about it and they push me to do stuff I would have never done. They work hard to understand us as a company and give us new ideas.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes their ability to follow up lacks a little, but that’s it. Things could have been done and followed up with in about a week but might go two or three weeks. I’m the same way though so that might just be them realizing that we’re not in a hurry or they want to give us room to think about things.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re going to suggest some bold changes; don’t be afraid to embrace them, but also don’t be afraid to challenge them. Activator Studios is good about engaging in conversation so be sure to be involved in that.