BayCreative

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Seclore is a provider of enterprise digital rights management software solutions, which is security software for enterprise customers. My role is as VP of marketing for global operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BayCreative?

We started out needing some help with videos. We do a lot of customer testimonials and some even product-type videos which can be quite creative. We needed help but didn’t want to hire someone full-time on staff. We were looking for a third party to help us with some of those marketing deliverables.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They primarily worked on the marketing videos, but they’ve also done some work with graphical elements for banners. We have done some consulting with them on branding since they have a lot of talent in brand development. I think one of their shining areas is in generating really creative and cool video content.

We’ll come up with an idea of what we want to do, and they come back with the script, storyboarding, and actors or voice actors. They handle the shoot, editing, and delivery of the final product. They provide everything end to end for us. We provide basic content and a description of what we’re looking to do. They take our rough ideas and put some flesh on them. They come up with very different, fun, and unique ways to tell your product or solution story. We’re the product experts, but they add a very nice spin to that and help us tell a great story about the value our product offers.

They’re the production unit for us. We use their deliverables on our website, in email campaigns, and in trade show booths. When we need something very specific for a trade show, they provide that for us as well.

We’re finding that video content is the best at putting some dimension into the product, whether these are demos, customer testimonials, or interviews with people on staff. We have a whole video series now that we’re creating with BayCreative which describes our four unique advantages. This will involve a scenario and character set that goes with our brand in order to tell the story of why we’re unique in the market. That’s a particularly cool and clever thing BayCreative is doing for us.

How did you come to work with BayCreative?

I think they were referred through a marketing colleague of mine. They’re very creative people, but they also have some very good corporate knowledge. I think it’s a perfect marriage; you get the creativity as well as the sensitivity to what is needed in a business-to-business market. I think they really do a great job with that.

How much have you invested with BayCreative?

We have spent in the range of $100,000, maybe over.

What is the status of this engagement?

The current project started in June of 2016, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I don’t have numbers, but we are finding that customers are staying on our website longer. We have higher engagement on our website because of the video content. The number of people willing to download our resources and give us leads has also increased tremendously. Even the email open rates and click-throughs are much higher as a result of the work BayCreative is doing.

BayCreative made me look like a superhero. Internally, our company loves their work, from the CEO all the way down. Externally, it’s brought an element of fun to what is a pretty bland topic, the security of documents. With the testimonials, I think they’re very good at bringing out the best in customers when talking about our product. The videos have been super helpful and useful in the market.

They also did another video for us that was very creative, which was kind of three-minute intro into what we do. That is the most downloaded element on our website.

How did BayCreative perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very good. I know they’re growing and have a lot going on, but I always have the attention of the two primary members of the team. They’re right in the midst of it. BayCreative brings on great talent, from videographers to content creators. Their project management is fabulous across the board.

They also hit deadlines, so there’s no problem there. When we’re in the midst of a project, we talk nearly every day. At other times, we might have a weekly meeting. It’s pretty fluid. They’re very good at laying out the project and setting the milestones. I never felt like I had to go find them and figure out what’s going on. It’s always been very proactive and fluid on their part.

What did you find most impressive about BayCreative?

They have a super creative and out-of-the-box thinking process. They’re not just trying to do things the same. They don’t give you average or even good work. They give you great, fun, interesting work. They truly have a creative spirit, and they go the extra mile to make sure they deliver something different. Plus, they’re really fun to work with.

Are there any areas BayCreative could improve?

I can't think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing for a health and wellness company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BayCreative?

I needed a marketing and design group that did high-quality work for infographics. We needed to develop a detailed sales aid to assist our internal sales force.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had initial meetings to outline our goals. At first, I provided the documentation and timelines for specific deliverables in order to set the pace. BayCreative evaluated our website and read the materials I gave them. After that, it’s become more of a collaborative effort.

How did you come to work with BayCreative?

I found them advertised on the site and looked at their portfolio. They’re local to us, so it was convenient. I met with the owner and we agreed on a fee.

How much have you invested with BayCreative?

I paid $14,000 for this first engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in March of 2017, and it is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

BayCreative asks questions and provides high-quality design. They’re able to meet our deadlines. The infographics they presented had the look and feel we agreed on, and we were pleased right away. Their work will not have specific analytics tied to it because it’s more about providing branded collateral materials to our sales force. They’re aiding our sales force in providing highlighted technical information to our customers. They were given brand guidelines to utilize and succeeded in turning that around. They carefully listened to what we said and met our objective out of the gate. They’re on-strategy and on-brand. Our executive committee, including our owners, is satisfied. I’m also satisfied with the quality of the work.

How did BayCreative perform from a project management standpoint?

They meet the deadlines we give them and were responsive through email.

What did you find most impressive about BayCreative?

I think they deliver a solid level of professional service, as I would expect from a group with their years of experience in the business.

Are there any areas BayCreative could improve?

I wish they had provided a few more creative options in the presentations. They could give us an A or B choice rather than interpreting the information we provided in only one specific way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a management company for a large real estate development in North Pleasanton, California. It’s a mixed-use development that includes retail and residential properties.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BayCreative?

We wanted to update a number of things, including our branding, overall marketing strategy, and communications program.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It had been some time since we updated any of those items, so we engaged BayCreative for a full range of marketing communications services. The first thing they worked on was a comprehensive evaluation of our brand, out of which came a number of recommendations. That was also combined with a communications exercise—looking at our current resources, techniques, frequency, and channels. Afterward, they made suggestions on how to augment those. A number of special projects came out of that evaluation, which ranged from traditional marketing pieces to things I would characterize as place-making elements. BayCreative also gave recommendations for the different thematic programs incorporated into the design of the project. Their work involved both strategic and design input.

Then, BayCreative updated our logo and the other imagery we use for our development. They created a brand book for us, which is a complete style guide on the presentation of our brand and how to use it. This includes everything from writing style and fonts to the new logo. The brand book also has usage guidelines for print and other types of publications. This even extended to our website, creating consistency in the presentation of different elements on that site.

They also evaluated our website and helped improve the layout, page design, and presentation of information. BayCreative did the creative work on a number of interesting video case studies we’ve employed on our website. They interviewed and filmed various representatives who spoke on behalf of our project and then used those pieces in a variety of ways. They also developed an AdWords campaign for us, which we’re currently using both as lead generation and tying in some elements with components of our site. We also had them produce a new brochure for us. They designed new collateral for our office, which we’re in the process of implementing. They’ve also designed some specialty pieces as inserts in local business publications.

How did you come to work with BayCreative?

We put out a request for proposal for services and interviewed several firms. BayCreative rose to the top for a couple of reasons. One of their principals previously worked for a company that had been in our development and was familiar with the location. That person had some familiarity with our project and had done a lot of tech marketing work. Another thing we found particularly appealing was that they had a good grasp of the mix of businesses we have and the type of place we are. Their skillset seemed very well-suited to our location. I was also impressed with the samples of other campaigns they presented.

How much have you invested with BayCreative?

We’re in the range of $200,000 to $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

The first contract with them was in September of 2014, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I don’t have specific metrics. However, the AdWords campaign has had some success. We have new lead generation from that, and it has definitely produced results. We’ve gotten very favorable responses from the smaller campaigns and initiatives they put forward. For example, they redesigned the signage we use in the park, and that new design has been incredibly well-received. From a place-making standpoint, that’s been really good.

We’ve also gotten wonderful feedback on the printed materials they produced for us, as well as the case study videos. Our board members are uniformly impressed with BayCreative’s creativity, thoughtfulness, and the analysis they used. They presented a very broad range of initiatives to consider and pointed out the areas where they thought we would get the most value for our investment. That type of approach has been greatly appreciated by our board.

How did BayCreative perform from a project management standpoint?

There were a couple hiccups here and there, but generally, the project management was very good. The team has brought talent to the project. They use a wide range of resources, and their people are all high-caliber. A couple of deadlines were missed, which was a little problematic, but they’ve done very well for the most part.

What did you find most impressive about BayCreative?

They’ve done incredibly well in bringing creativity and inspiration to our project. Also, they understand the people they’re working with and what their needs are. They understand the current environment, where there’s opportunity for change, and the limitations that might exist. They’ve worked well within those constraints.

Are there any areas BayCreative could improve?

Sometimes, it would have been helpful to have more adherence to contracting procedures, making sure paperwork is in place and that sort of thing. That’s minor in the overall scheme of things.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We're an American multinational technology firm headquartered in San Jose, California.

What is your role and responsibilities, please?

I’m a senior manager of business operations in our Raleigh North Carolina office, but when I was working with Bay Creative, I was a senior manager in our public service product management organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with BayCreative?

We were working on a very tight timeline for a new product offering that typically would have taken about two years to develop. We had to do it in one. We needed to work with a vendor that could match us in ridiculously tight timeframes to market the product, and figure out how to market the product as we were constantly building and changing it. They had to be as committed as we were.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

It started with helping us around messaging and collateral, and then moved into building some professional training videos for the product. 

One thing, in particular, they assisted with was the messaging around a certain aspect of the product we called the ‘dynamic and continuous cycle of improvement of delivering services’. I spent a lot of time internally with people, coming up with that concept, but it was BayCreative who helped us figure out how to get that concept into some graphics that we could build all of our product training around.

What was the timeline of the project?

I think we first brought them in at the end of March or beginning of April, and then we went GA [general availability] the following January. 

What was your process for selecting BayCreative?

My marketing manager had worked with them before on some smaller projects. When I met them, and shared with them what a challenge it was going to be, they promised me they were up to the challenge – and they were.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project?

We really demanded a lot of them, and they never let us down. Everything from assisting when we were trying to build our training program for the product, and at the beginning when we were trying to get our messaging around the new offering. 

It was a brand new concept, and BayCreative grasped what we were trying to do and translated it into amazing marketing really quickly. They lent a level of professionalism to our messaging, our collateral, and our training that we wouldn’t have had. They’re amazing. As a matter of fact, we’re got some people in Australia who are trying to do a project, and I told them it would be worth it for them to work with BayCreative even with the time zone difference.

Do you have any stats or metrics on the project?

We launched on time. The training videos, they helped us build currently have over 2,000 views, which is pretty significant. This particular new offering is directed at our top tier customers. I don’t think I can't give you specific sales numbers, other than to say we’re meeting our internal goals on converting existing customers, and selling to new ones. 

Is there anything unique or special about BayCreative that really makes them stand out?

The things I just loved about them, from the president down, they were always available, and they heard me when I said, ‘These are the deadlines.’ Due to the timeline, my whole team didn’t take their Christmas break, and neither did Bay Creative. The thing I can’t stress enough is that my priorities became BayCreative's priorities. They were as committed as me, and I’ve never worked with a vendor like that before.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

Not really, and that’s unusual for me. If there was ever a bump in the road, they were available for a phone call. We were able to course correct within 24 hours on anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

I've recently transitioned to a new company, but I worked extensively with BayCreative at my previous company. We were a software company based in the San Francisco Bay area, our main products were designed for the supplier information management space. 

What is your role and responsibilities, please?

I was vice president of marketing. My responsibilities covered all the things you might think of in marketing in terms of demand generation, PR and AR, messaging, website management etc. Pretty much the face we put onto the world, as well as how we fill the sales pipeline.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with BayCreative?

I reached out to Scott and BayCreative when our firm went through an identity crisis of sorts, and we decided we wanted to rebrand the company.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

They helped us redesign all our forward-facing marketing materials. This included building all our collateral templates, PowerPoint templates, and content creation especially in the area of customer success stories. The most significant aspect of their work was a full redesign of our website.

What was your process for selecting BayCreative to work with?

I had worked with Scott [Danish, President of BayCreative] several years ago when he was at a different company. When it came time for this project, he was obviously in my mind, but I also took a look at several of the other agencies in the Bay area. What I found was that BayCreative brought the right combination of creative process and execution. So a lot of the firms I talked to were really strong in one or the other, but I felt Bay Creative brought both to the table.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

In total, we probably spent between $70,000 and $100,000 with them, with the majority of that going to the website redesign.

What was the timeline of that engagement?

Our timeline was fairly relaxed. In total, it was probably around a year between 2012 and 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any stats, or metrics, or general feedback to show the success of the project?

The results of the project were great. We were able to have a public-facing presence that made us look like a much larger company than we were. Since our target market was the Fortune 500, that was very important to us. It allowed us to align both the look and feel of our website and the content, and the actual value propositions that I worked with BayCreative on crafting, to resonate with that target market, and to help us increase our growth not only in our pipeline but in closed deals.

We were able to increase our site traffic by over 200% in the first year. It's hard to measure, but I would say that the improved sales collateral and customer success stories they developed, helped us shorten the sales cycle by probably 20%.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

BayCreative really helped us in terms of being able to take the ideas and the directions that I had about the company, and combine those with some solid creativity and out-of-the-box thinking in terms of how we might present those ideas and build them into the overall look and feel of the company. Also, the talent of their people is first-class.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

I can't think of any areas of improvement, and I think that’s bolstered by the fact that I’m planning to engage with BayCreative at my new company as well. I’ve been very happy with my work with BayCreative.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive of Next2Me, LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The company develops, manufactures, and sells supplements.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire BayCreative to accomplish?

• Recreate a website from files
• Provide specific API updates
• Provide consultation

SOLUTION

How did you find BayCreative?

Knew the owner

Why did you select BayCreative over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from BayCreative were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Uploading the website to Digital Ocean and Django, transfer SSL, ensure all front-end web assets were correctly updated and rendering properly, and integrate forms to Hubspot Sales Hub, and Marketing Hub. They provided consultation on moving from one hosting service to another, and adding what issues may occur based on the hosting service protocols, requirements, and unavailable services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We got what we needed in a timely manner, and the professionalism was outstanding.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Response and deliverables were great. Communication was always open and timely. They immediately understood what was needed.

What was your primary form of communication with BayCreative?

Email or Messaging App

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

We were impressed with their communication and expertise.

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

No