Web Dev, Branding & Design for Advertising Solution Company
Featured Review- Branding Graphic Design Other Design Video Production Web Design Web Development
- $200,000 to $999,999
- Oct. 2020 - Ongoing
- Quality
- 5.0
- Schedule
- 4.5
- Cost
- 5.0
- Willing to Refer
- 5.0
“Working with Algert, we get assets that look very good in a short amount of time.”
- Other industries
- Chicago, Illinois
- 11-50 Employees
- Phone Interview
- Verified
Algert - A Branding Agency is the creative partner of a B2B advertising solution company. Their scope has included web development and design, branding, graphic design, video production, photography, and more.
Algert - A Branding Agency has delivered beautiful creative assets over the years, receiving positive feedback from end customers and exceeding expectations. The team is communicative and collaborative, offering a hands-on project management approach. Additionally, they’re very creative and fast.
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
BACKGROUND
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the head of brand and product marketing within the marketing team of Metadata. We help B2B marketers automate their paid campaigns on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Ads, and Display so that they can solely focus on strategy and creativity.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What challenge were you trying to address with Algert - A Branding Agency?
In September 2020, we were still a two-person marketing team in the organization, so we were looking for a small agency that could help us with some general branding and design.
SOLUTION
What was the scope of their involvement?
Algert has helped us with our branding needs. Initially, we engaged with them on a three-month trial period where they helped us with some smaller design work, such as ads and graphics on our site, to figure out what type of brand design we had in mind. It was a test-and-learn process.
After the trial period, we hired them on an annual retainer basis. Now, Algert handles all our creative work. Their scope includes designing creative assets for our ad campaigns, producing videos, creating out-of-home advertising, and designing and developing anything related to our website. They create their designs on Figma.
As part of their work, Algert has helped us create our brand guidelines. After the initial three-month process, they took what they had learned from our efforts thus far and turned it into a documented set of guidelines. These guidelines included our primary logo, our secondary logo, the color palette, the fonts, and the icons for our site.
Around April 2021, we also had a website redesign project Algert helped us with. They took the branding they had helped us create and designed the site we have today. We already had a website before that, but the backend configuration on WordPress was so bad that we had to set up a new environment. Thus, they basically built a new website from scratch using WordPress and Elementor. We also hosted it on Kinsta per their recommendation, and they helped us with that migration process as well.
Recently, we engaged with Algert on a project we called Brand 2.0, for which they’re helping us take our brand design to the next level. For this project, we wanted to do a custom photoshoot, so we first storyboarded what we wanted to do. Then, they brought in a photographer and a videographer to help take very tailored shoots that we will be using in our campaigns and on our website. These deliverables include static images, animations, and videos. To produce these assets, they partner with a video production agency, but they’re in charge of coordinating everything.
What is the team composition?
We’ve worked with 5–7 people from Algert, including Algert (Founder & CEO) himself, Ximena (General Manager), two senior designers, a junior designer, and two developers.
How did you come to work with Algert - A Branding Agency?
I posted on a B2B marketing Facebook group, looking for a marketing agency that we could hire on a retainer basis. Still, we first wanted a three-month pilot contract before signing a potential renewal for an annual contract.
From that post, I was introduced to Algert. I had never met him before, but we hit it off very well — he thinks with one side of the brain, and I think with the other. The trial period was amazing, so we continued working together.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent close to $350,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started our pilot phase in October 2020 and hired them on a retainer basis in January 2021. We renewed our contract in January 2022, and we plan to renew it again at the end of this year.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Algert has made us look incredibly good over the years; I’ve been nothing but impressed with them, and I can’t recommend them enough. We’ve had countless positive comments from people on our website and designs. Whenever people ask who we work with, I’m the first one to recommend Algert and direct leads to them; I never hesitate to say who helps us.
It’s been so long since we started working with them that we don’t keep track of statistics anymore; we simply know that it works. Still, one of our early metrics comes from a case study we did after the first three months of going live. In 30 days, we saw a 250% increase in qualified demos through our website.
As qualitative feedback, Algert delivered a very modular and easy-to-use website so that we didn’t depend on them to do small changes, as opposed to what our previous developer had built. On our site, they implemented a page called Why Metadata, which is the best page we’ve implemented to date. It is very interactive and has an outstanding design, pushing the boundaries of the standard B2B site. I haven’t seen anyone do this kind of work before.
How did Algert - A Branding Agency perform from a project management standpoint?
Since Ximena joined as the project manager, our project has run smoothly. Initially, she wasn’t as involved as she is now, and although Algert is excellent on the creative side, planning isn’t his strong suit. Now, we’re very pleased with Ximena’s involvement because she is excellent at planning. We’re thrilled at how she pays close attention to everything, manages the workload on their end, and acts as the main point of contact.
We manage our entire project in Asana. We also try to communicate almost exclusively asynchronously via Slack, email, or Asana. Still, we also have a 45-minute weekly status call on Thursdays to go over high-priority tasks and ask questions. Whenever we have an emergency, I send a Slack message to Algert to have a quick meeting on Zoom, and he’s always happy to do some time for me. It is awesome to know that they’re a true partner for us.
What did you find most impressive about them?
I consider Algert to have two main strengths. Firstly, their speed and turnaround times are excellent; they quickly iterate on things and deliver. Secondly, the quality of their deliverables is outstanding. Usually, companies offer either speed or quality, but not both at the same time. Working with Algert, we get assets that look very good in a short amount of time.
Additionally, we have an amazing working relationship. One of the things that make our team work so well with Algert’s team is that we let them push the boundaries of what people think is acceptable for B2B businesses, giving them complete creative control. Occasionally, we have them tone their designs down a little bit, but it happens very rarely. Overall, it is a great working relationship where they know they can have fun doing forward-thinking design — we let them do what they’re good at. Another great aspect about working with Algert is that they usually come prepared with excellent recommendations based on their vast experience and eye for design.
Are there any areas they could improve?
Occasionally, Algert’s work seems to be a little disorganized, which is understandable because they’re growing, and their team is distributed all over the world. Still, I know that they have our best interests in mind, so whenever we feel like we’re not getting enough from them, we have good, healthy, and constructive conversations about it.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Firstly, ensure that you assign a key decision-maker on your side because Algert works best if they don’t have to have their work approved by various people on the client’s side. Secondly, provide them with clear boundaries to stay in so that they know what you want them and don’t want them to do. Once they have those boundaries clear, let them run free and be creative. If you provide them with boundaries and creative freedom to work within those boundaries, they ultimately deliver magic results.
RATINGS
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Quality
5.0Service & Deliverables
-
Schedule
4.5On time / deadlines
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Cost
5.0Value / within estimates
-
Willing to Refer
5.0NPS
