Axented

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of corporate branding for Cemex. We’re one of the major building materials companies in the world, providing cement, aggregate and ready-to-mix cement in nearly 50 countries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Axented?

We needed to complete a few branding projects, mainly related to positioning the company in front of different audiences.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first challenge we tasked them with was to develop the brand. That entailed the creative part of naming, logo design, and brand guidelines. They identified that brand for our customers.

The team at Axented developed creative materials for internal offices, and the production of different elements in our global newsletters. They also provide original content for that magazine.

They also help in global marketing in different languages. They develop creative communication, helping maintain consistency across brand guidelines.

What is the team composition?

Bernardo (Co-Founder & Experience Director) is our main point of contact. He’s the creative head that assigns tasks to his team. During projects, our team also communicates with them directly.

How did you come to work with Axented?

In the past, we had worked with Bernado at a different company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $250,000–$300,000. This includes the retainer, one-time projects, and support with creative elements for events.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with Axented started in May 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Axented goes above and beyond, without charging extra. We appreciate the high-quality creatives they produce. Their turnaround time is excellent. After working with us over the years, they also have a clear understanding of how to make it easier to communicate our desires on projects.

How did Axented perform from a project management standpoint?

They always comply with our time requirements. If we request something urgently, they can deliver in 1–2 weeks. The team is transparent and easy to work with; there’s never been an issue with their management or resources.

We communicate using email or WhatsApp. We ask them to visit once or twice a year to discuss changes or any other updates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In contrast with other companies, they produce quality content in a very short turnaround time. That’s impressive to me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could increase their creativity and think more out-of-the-box.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Provide a very clear brief that details your vision, expectations, and challenges.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a communications and engagement analyst at Hagamoslo bien — a legal NGO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Axented?

We wanted to upgrade our website to fit our current organizational objectives.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Axented designed and developed a new website for us from scratch. Their team also hosts and manages our platforms because we have several websites for our programs. They manage our domains. Their team continues to provide customer service and renovates our domains as needed.

What is the team composition?

I work with 4–5 people including the CEO and the project manager.

How did you come to work with Axented?

At the time, I wasn’t in my current position. However, I believe that a colleague recommended Axented.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $3,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began in January 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Axented inputted all of the information on our website and presented that information to our audience clearly. The quality of their work and customer service is excellent.

How did Axented perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via email and phone calls. Their team makes deadlines clear. We’re privy to that information. They’re efficient, so there isn’t wasted time. When we don’t understand an aspect of a project, their team explains it well. They’re transparent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication is impressive. They answer our calls and emails quickly. When a feature doesn’t work, Axented fixes it quickly. Their team’s always on time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything has been excellent.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about what you want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of internal communications at a financial intelligence organization. We’re an information sharing and analysis center. As a nonprofit member-driven organization for the financial services sector, our mission is to safeguard the global financial system by reducing cyber risks.

We do that through a number of tools we offer to our members that help them share intelligence with each other. Our organization hosts a lot of in-person and live peer-to-peer events that help to promote correspondence.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Axented?

We need Axented to help with our branding and web design efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Axented built our new website, created our visual identity, as well as adjusted our mission statement and how we communicate about our company. Their team also updated our website’s UX design. They did all of the design work and helped us devise concepts for the visual identity, which went through quite a few changes.

Axented designed our new logo and a new set of brand guidelines. Their team creates our signage and all kinds of mediums. The total number of assets is in the hundreds. They use the Adobe Creative Suite in producing these deliverables.

What is the team composition?

We work with about four main people.

How did you come to work with Axented?

My company hired a new chief communications officer and she had worked with Axented in previous positions. She wanted them to come on because she was leading this project of creating a new website and crafting a new visual identity. Because she had a previous relationship with Axented, she knew they could be trusted and were really good with sleek designs.

What is the status of this engagement?

The ongoing engagement began in February 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their work is always stunning, not to mention creative. Axented has brought a mark of professionalism and a very high quality of work. Their team members are all great and easy to work with. They’re always very accommodating and quick to act. Our identity went from outdated and cumbersome to sleek, modern, and vibrant.

There are times when we give our ideas and bounce them off of the Axented team. Other times, they’ll come up with or create concepts on their own and send them to us to look at. Their team is reliable and quick to respond to our little requests.

How did Axented perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re communicative, and we correspondent through Slack. They may be using a project management tool on their end. Axented always meets deadlines, and sometimes even delivers earlier than expected. At times when we communicate that we need most of their time focused on a bigger project, they’re always quick to act and get moving.

It’s important to note that they’re doing all of this in a second language — it’s extremely impressive. Not just that, but they’re effectively communicating through design language, not just regular vocabulary — which makes it even more impressive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s their quality of work in bringing a different spark of creativity to not just our department, but to our organization as a whole. Axented has really helped in building our organization’s brand directly because of their design work on our new visual identity and the assets. They’re a hallmark of professionalism, timeliness, and creativity.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything big. There are a select few times when we tried to explain something via text and because there’s a lingual difference that correspondence was misinterpreted a little bit. This is due to the design language, jargon, idioms, and expressions.

We’ve learned to devote a little bit more time to handle this. Our team has to be more concise with our feedback and keep in mind that this isn’t their native language. A good bit of this is on us too. This has been the only hiccup.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the global head of marketing operations and analytics at FS-ISAC. We’re a nonprofit member-driven industry consortium for the financial services industry and we do information and intelligence sharing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Axented?

We were unveiling a new brand identity, so we needed branding assets and a website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Axented designed and developed our website from scratch. After presenting a more conceptual version of the website, they came to us with wireframes. They also created a new logo for us as well as assets for print, visual, and digital. They were working with other vendors in a non-competitive environment to help push the project along. The team is now acting as our design firm.

What is the team composition?

We work with Bernardo (Co-Founder) and about five other people.

How did you come to work with Axented?

My boss had worked with them previously on some other projects and they came highly recommended. Once we saw what they proposed, there was just no question. Their work was leaps and bounds above what I’ve seen and I’ve been working in marketing and graphic design for more than 20 years. They brought some of the best creatives to the table.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in January 2019 and the collaboration is still ongoing; however, they launched our full rebrand in June 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within a year, we saw about a 150% increase in direct traffic and have had a lot of positive feedback from our membership. Across the board, the new brand has brought so much value and it has changed the perception of being kind of old school to being fresh, innovative, and successful. It’s because of their concept of vibrant colors and the brand they’ve built for us that has helped us move into that next level with our membership and we’ve been looking to expand because of how much we’re growing. What we’ve been able to do with our current brand, we would’ve never been able to do with our old brand.

How did Axented perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re really easy to work with and their designs are always on time. The team is very conversational and they ask all the right questions. They use Slack and other programs to keep in touch. It’s a great working environment. We know that if we sent a note it would be taken care of and they’d come back to us with comments. We never feel like we’re waiting or that we’ll never get feedback. They’re super responsive and the whole team comes with this amazing professionalism and creative tact. They’re always available and willing to jump on calls if we have questions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re good at what they do and everybody on their staff gets it. Being a designer is challenging because there are so many opinions to fit into one product that expresses them all. Everyone that I’ve worked with is so smart and their goal is to make the client happy and give a product that not only makes the client proud, but that has a life off the shelf.

There isn’t a language barrier at all and their designs are able to reach all languages. They’re able to take our ideas and expand them. I can’t think of any design they provided, even in draft form, that didn’t have the elements we were looking for. This has been one of the best relationships with a vendor in my 20 years in the industry; they’re phenomenal.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I really can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open, honest, and don’t be afraid to tell them you don’t like something. The more you can do that, the more you can get exactly what you want from them. Have a working dialog and ask questions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of a jewelry company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Axented?

I needed help with the development of my online shopping website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the beginning, they asked a lot of specific questions about what I wanted. I gave them two examples of websites I loved, and I told them how I wanted the site to flow. They merged ideas from both the sites I suggested, and we exchanged images and discussed colors.

They designed everything from the ground up for a Shopify site, and they added a blog, a facts page, and a helpful dropdown menu. They gave a lot of useful advice about what would work best, and we made some small changes after the site went live. It's a really good concept, and we haven't had any problems in years. Four years later, the design is starting to look a little dated, so we're discussing working together on a new one.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with three members of their team.

How did you come to work with Axented?

One of my main contacts there is a relative of mine. I had no idea how big Axented was, so the project grew to be much bigger than I originally thought it could be.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent approximately $1,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together for about two months in early 2015, beginning around February.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After they developed my site, online sales went through the roof. The design was very approachable and user-friendly, which led to some really impressive increases in revenue. I loved the look of the site and was so happy with the result.

How did Axented perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was perfect. They had access to Shopify, and they dealt with everything quickly. We communicated through email and occasionally met in their office in Monterrey, Mexico.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They delivered exactly what I wanted, and continued to provide excellent service after the project was finished.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I'm excited to remodel the page. My only regret is waiting so long to work with them again. I don't have any recommendations for improvements.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do your research before you hire them. The whole process will be easier if you have a clear, specific idea of what you want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of a construction materials company. We use recycled materials for decoration.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Axented?

I hired them to work on a variety of our digital efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve worked on our website and marketing strategies, as well as personalized our Shopify site.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with the founder and commercial director for the most important items. Their team followed up on other more basic tasks. 

How did you come to work with Axented?

They are very well known in Monterrey. I personally know some people that have worked with them, so I knew they were one of the best options in the city for web development.

How much have you invested in them?

I don’t have an exact amount yet because we haven’t finished the project, but we’ve spent less than $10,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in June 2018 and continue working with them. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their services have been excellent. They’re always responsible and available. The designs have been great, and they’ve really adapted to what we need.

How did Axented perform from a project management standpoint?

We mostly use email and WhatsApp. They’ve met all deadlines and their team is always on its way to meeting everything we need. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Everything is great. They’ve provided excellent service from the first moment. Specifically, they’re patient enough to explain all the process to us with detail so we can understand the concepts easily

Are there any areas they could improve?

I haven’t had any bad experiences with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the co-founder of a retail app focused on high-end fashion. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Axented?

We needed them to develop an iOS app for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built an app in which users can buy and sell clothes. They used Angular and Ruby on Rails.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three or four team members.

How did you come to work with Axented? 

They were recommended by some friends who had worked with them and had an app that we liked. We compared them with other options and they seemed best to us.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around one million Mexican pesos (about $50,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app is the base of our business and we weren’t operating before we had it, so I can’t compare it with anything else, but I think we have done pretty well since launch.

How did Axented perform from a project management standpoint?

They are always improving for their clients. We sometimes had issues with the waiting times, but we understand that is something that happens with these kinds of projects. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They work hard to understand what their clients want. They have good chemistry among collaborators.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should keep working on listening to their clients and their needs. They could also improve at meeting deadlines.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m in charge of growth marketing at Alimentos Funcionales, a food snacks company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Axented?

I’ve worked with them on several different projects. One of them involved the development of our website and online store.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Axented developed our website and online store, focusing on the UX/UI design.

What is the team composition?

Their staff team had about four people. I was in direct contact with their general and operations managers.

How did you come to work with Axented?

I was looking for companies that had the right experience and could adjust our budgets. I found Axented during this search.

How much have you invested in them?

The project cost $2,000–$3,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Axented started in 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our users can easily navigate the website. Axented’s work has helped grow our business and reach more people. They’re skilled at UX/UI design. I’ll work with Axented on any of our digital products because their work is of top quality and they always meet deadlines.

How did Axented perform from a project management standpoint?

Axented delivers on time, sometimes even earlier than expected. Their team puts our needs first. They’re professional, dedicated, and readily available.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their design and development skills are top-notch. I always receive comments about how beautiful our website is.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve never had any complaints.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

When I had the project with Axented, I was the founder of a food delivery company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Axented?

We needed a vendor to build our food delivery service app.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed my mobile app from scratch. They also leveraged social media networks for marketing purposes. The development itself took 4 years, but they continued provided maintenance for a period as well.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 5-7 people.

How did you come to work with Axented? 

At the time, there were not many companies in our city that could take a project as big as ours After asking around, Axented was presented as a viable option.

How much have you invested in them?

We invested $100,000­– $300,000 USD.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in 2014 and wrapped up in 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything was excellent and they were our right hand on technology matters. They solved everything and were always available. They really got involved in the project and took it on as their own.

How did Axented perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed well and met our expectations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very available and solved any issues that would come up as soon as they arose.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Perhaps they could delegate a bit more. They could also include more executive employees in the projects and not just junior ones.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO and co-founder of Doctu, a mobile telemedicine platform. We treat medical patients through video call and chat.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Axented?

I came to them with my idea and my business model.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us to create our brand identity, and afterward, they worked on the platform itself. The team built mobile versions for Android and iOS and a web platform. They used Ruby on Rails, Phantom, and Java, among other technologies.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with around five or six people.

How did you come to work with Axented?

I found them through online searches. I liked their website and that they are based in the same city as us, so I contacted them and we had a meeting. They made a proposal, and I decided to start the project with them.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2018 and completed the project this year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work was very important for our business.

How did Axented perform from a project management standpoint?

The team thoroughly explained their processes so that we could understand the project. They also did sprint planning and were always showing us things in advance. Axented met every deadline, which made for a satisfying experience.

They used Jira and Slack to communicate and to keep track of the progress of the development phase. We also had meetings after every sprint. When we encountered any setback, they would always come with a solution and fix it.

The process was very smooth. I would definitely work with them again.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are a very thorough agency. They manage branding, UX, and platform development. The team is also very well organized and excellent in terms of communication.

 Are there any areas they could improve?

None that I can think of right now.