BlackBean | Industrial Marketing

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of sales for Diablo Nutrients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BlackBean?

We had several challenges. Our marketing lacked a bit of focus and coordination because I was trying to do everything myself. They helped out with the things that you just don’t have time every day to do.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we prioritized our goals, which led us to start with redoing the website to make it more effective, user-friendly, and mobile responsive. We also added some features to it that we knew our customers wanted. Some of those features included an application chart and a dealer page where users could click on an area of a map to find retailers of our product.

Then, we focused on things like building a database for a newsletter by running a contest and offering a survey. If someone responded to a survey we provided them swag to incentivize them. Those things attracted people and increased our presence. They also helped us design a new tradeshow booth. It’s cool and professional. We’ll take it to major tradeshows in the future.

More recently, we’ve been working on creating the actual monthly newsletter.

What is the team composition?

They always had a lead person for us to liaise with.

How did you come to work with BlackBean?

I’m not sure, but I believe the owner of our company knew someone who knew BlackBean. That person facilitated some sort of meeting. I was involved in the second meeting where we hashed out a plan.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $25,000–$50,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since October 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Sales have increased without a doubt, and the same is true for our presence, our profile. In my mind, it’s been a successful engagement.

How did BlackBean perform from a project management standpoint?

We always knew the one or two people that we should be dealing with directly. It was always clear. It can be ambiguous with some companies — not knowing who we should be talking to; but, it’s always clear with BlackBean.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their response time stands out to me. When we set a target or goal, the work gets completed; it doesn’t go on and on forever. They’re professional. We set out the goals together — and things happen that can slow it a bit — but they always come through on what they promise.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not off the top of my head. They haven’t failed at anything so I can’t be critical. If I were to be critical about anything it would be on my side because I’m limited by staff size and the things on my plate.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Vault Haircare.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BlackBean?

I needed a brand image and logo. Now, we’re working on materials for the website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Along with creating branding collateral, their team performed market research to bring in fresh ideas to bounce off what I had in mind. Through creating the logo, we were able to figure out the packaging for the shampoo and conditioner. We moved on from there to craft the scheme for the business cards. This process also helped us figure out the look and feel for the website, which we’re currently working on.

What is the team composition?

I was always meeting with Laura (Owner & Creative Director) and Grant (Marketing Director). There were others behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with BlackBean?

BlackBean was referred to me by a local company’s owner. She carries a lot of natural brands, and she referred them because of the work they did for another client. After that, I searched for them online.  

I interviewed several companies, and BlackBean took the time to meet with me before discussing pricing. We talked about different ideas and what I was after in terms of my brand’s look and color scheme. After that, they sent me an email with three different strategies, and then we moved forward from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve roughly spent $2,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our engagement with BlackBean in May 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

What BlackBean created was far beyond my imagination and way better than anything I had in mind. Their team surpassed my expectations, showcasing that they’re experts in their field.

I was specific in what I wanted, but they still suggested things to move the work in the right direction. I was open-minded about exploring their options.

Their pricing is excellent, considering what they deliver. A little shop, about 40 minutes away, liked the look of our packaging. They want to carry my products in their store.

Feedback from customers has been great as well. The brand is drawing in people’s attention. Some said they don’t even care what’s in the product because they want to own it regardless. It’s been exciting.

How did BlackBean perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management standpoint, they’ve been phenomenal. Their team has directed me in the right way for so many different things. They even assisted with setting up our Instagram. Their team proactively showcases other sites to give me an idea of different options.

They’re incredibly responsive to requests, getting back to me in a few hours. We’ve also met in person a few times.

What did you find most impressive about them?

BlackBean makes their clients feel like family. They’re an excellent team to work with. Laura is ridiculously funny. Compared to other companies we spoke to, their team really opened up and broadened the possibilities. I’ve left every meeting so excited because of the positive vibes their team gives off. They want all of their clients to have a successful brand.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of a single thing.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I highly recommend people work with their resourceful team because they’ll guide any business in the right direction.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a school district in British Columbia providing educational services for students in grades K-12.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BlackBean?

Our Board of Education had come up with some strategic directions connected to our work and a new vision statement to go along with that, and we wanted to come up with a unique way of showcasing that transition while being as engaging as possible.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I sent them the work to see if they had any ideas about how we could best capture and present it. They were able to get back to us with a very unique model that incorporated our school district colors and logos as well as all of the strategic statements that we had come up with.

They incorporated that into a single physical artifact that draws people in and gives them all the information they need to understand who we are and what we do.

What is the team composition?

There was one person on their team who worked with us directly for all of our needs, from finding a printer to fixing spelling errors and determining the layout.

How did you come to work with BlackBean?

We came across them online originally, and they were relatively close to our area. I reached out, and we just kind of hit it off from there.

How much have you invested with them?

I believe the total cost was around $1,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together with them from January–February 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because of the pandemic, we haven’t been able to hand out the final product to a lot of people, but it has been shared with the board and it was, without a doubt, a 100% success. It does exactly what we wanted it to do and produces an incredible level of engagement.

There was an error made in the initial printing, but even though it was equally our team’s fault they took complete ownership of that mistake. They paid for the reprinting and everything and made sure that no incorrect copies were sent out, which we really appreciated.

How did BlackBean perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was always easy and quick because they were very responsive. In our meetings, they asked good questions and were always focused and professional. I can’t reiterate enough how good the experience was.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their prioritization of the customer experience is amazing. As a school district, we don’t work with graphic designers very regularly, so stumbling across a company that was able to walk us through the entire process end-to-end and deliver a product that we are very excited about and proud of was more than we ever could have asked for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Ultimately, no, there was nothing in particular that they could have done better at all.