Born & Bred.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Communications of UCSF

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

CODEX serves as a national coordinating entity, engaging the diagnostic excellence community to promote novel findings, catalyze action, and advance the field. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Born & Bred. to accomplish?

• Create a brand for CODEX that aligns with UCSF's overarching brand guidelines.

SOLUTION

How did you find Born & Bred.?

Online Search

Why did you select Born & Bred. over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Great portfolio

How many teammates from Born & Bred. were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Born & Bred provided the following buckets of work:

• Creative direction
• Art direction/brand design
• Messaging/verbal identity
• Project management

This included a visual concept (logo/wordmark, color palettes, typographic system, iconography, art direction) and mockups (homepage, event environment, signage) as well as a verbal identity (voice and tone guidelines, key messaging narratives, brand manifesto). They also delivered asset templates, including a presentation deck, one pager, email template, email signature, and social media post. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Deliverables delivered by the SOW's completion date or timeframe. 

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

They were very responsive to inquiries and flexible with scheduling, delivered items on time, and provided high-quality products. 

What was your primary form of communication with Born & Bred.?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Everyone was wonderful to work with. Apart from being very on-point with their project management, they also were incredible at parsing technical information about our field of work and what were probably unclear streams of consciousness thoughts/ideas/information. They drew succinct and accurate insights from workshop/info-gathering sessions to capture an appropriate and effective direction for our brand. Everyone on the team clearly had extensive expertise in their areas, and they all worked so well together and had such respect for one another. They also were so understanding for our team and where we are in building our center, and they were supportive and thoughtful in listening to our perspectives throughout the project. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Born & Bred. could have done differently?

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Marketing 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Bringing a personalized, predictive, and preventive approach to pregnancy health.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Born & Bred. to accomplish?

• Develop a brand visual identity for a new product
• Develop a brand verbal identity for the product
• Design a new website and copy for the new product website

SOLUTION

How did you find Born & Bred.?

Online Search

Why did you select Born & Bred. over others?

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

How many teammates from Born & Bred. were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

We needed a distinct brand for our new product that would connect with patients on an emotional level and build trust in the latest science for predicting pregnancy complications. 

Brand deliverables: 

1. Verbal identity 
2. Visual identity 
3. Website design with copy 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Acceptance of deliverables by various external advisors with subject matter expertise. Execution on time and on budget. 

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

The project management was excellent, with clear communication regarding challenges and potential solutions. They did a fantastic job forecasting when strategic decisions would need to be made, allowing us to plan for the right people to be on calls and available to keep the project moving forward. They were always on time, or very nearly on time, with deliverables and kept our organization focused and moving forward. 

What was your primary form of communication with Born & Bred.?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They had a fantastic combination of creativity, strategy, business acumen and execution. In my experience, this is very rare, and most agencies excel at only one or two of these things. They understood the needs of startups particularly well. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Born & Bred. could have done differently?

We ended up with a beautiful and scalable website design with a strong foundation which was the most important aspect of the design. However, we quickly altered the design templates to adhere more closely to digital marketing best practices that we didn't predict we would need. Fortunately, the design was flexible enough for us to follow the data and quickly update what we needed to.  

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing Manager of Malena Produce

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We sell and distribute high quality, fresh and reliable produce all over the USA and Canada. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Born & Bred. to accomplish?

• Have a catchy naming for our new consumer brand
• A strong and consumer centered branding of this consumer brand
• We need a team who understand our needs and have the knowledgement to communicate to the US and Canadian consumer

SOLUTION

How did you find Born & Bred.?

Online Search

Why did you select Born & Bred. over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Experience

How many teammates from Born & Bred. were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

We asked B&B if they could think and work in a potential consumer brand for snacking produce and sub-names for three different products, so we get ALLDAY brand who pretends to be the favorite of our consumers. 

After getting the brand name and product names (for mini tomatoes, mini cukes and mini peppers) we started with the Logotype and the guideness so we get the whole system of the new brand. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had an specific timeline with the deliverable dates and meetings, so we had to respond in time to continue working. 

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

Definitely yes. 

She always respond to my needs and questions, even by email or call.

What was your primary form of communication with Born & Bred.?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

A perfect combination between formal and creativity. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Born & Bred. could have done differently?

May I suggest more time in the client decisions, may be two more weeks in specific deliveries. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work in communications and marketing at a cannabis delivery service.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Born & Bred?

If we have a project we want to bring to life, we contact them. They handle different marketing, branding, and advertising projects for our startup.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We originally hired Born & Bred to help with design aspects of a cannabis-themed marketing campaign two years ago. Since then, we’ve kept them on retainer to create marketing copy, data reports, and logos. When we do events, they create educational content and materials for us to distribute.

Right now, we just kicked off another project with them. We give them an idea of what we want to stand for, and then they perform a discovery exercise to dive deeper into the look and feel. They then present us with a logo and naming concepts. After that, they have a copywriter and social media designer create online or physical ads, depending on what we need.

What is the team composition?

They have a creative director and project manager. For the projects that need messaging, they have a copywriter who is also in discussion with us. The project manager consolidates all the feedback and liaises between us, the designer, and the copywriter.

How did you come to work with Born & Bred?

I’ve worked with one of the founders of Born & Bred in the past. Other people in the cannabis industry also spoke highly of them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested close to $100,000. The amount has fluctuated throughout the length of the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July of 2018. They have ongoing projects with us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Born & Bred helps our brand recognition, creating a very professional and approachable brand to aid in destigmatizing cannabis. They’ve achieved a professional look and feel and made our brand cohesive, whether that’s in a big campaign or partnering with a band.

How did Born & Bred perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a Slack channel for us to submit any creative requests when we’re on retainer. We fill out a creative brief and email it to them. They have an Excel spreadsheet that they keep for me once a month, and I can also check progress on Google Sheets.

We have set deadlines and established timelines, but sometimes unexpected tasks come up. They’re very fast workers—we’ve assigned projects a day or two before they’re due, but they’re very flexible. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of their work for the price is incredible. They’re better than some big-name agencies I’ve worked with that offer subpar work at a high price. They’re very flexible and deal with our startup-induced craziness. It’s been a pleasure to work with them and they go with the flow. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

When we started, there was some disconnect with what we wanted and what they’d produce. However, when we implemented the creative brief, they got better at aligning to what we want to see.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The biggest thing is making sure that decisionmakers at your company are brought in from the beginning and know their staff. Sometimes, we have them work on a project, but as it climbs the ladder, decisionmakers who weren’t initially in the process are confused or noncommittal. In order to not waste anyone’s time, you need to have engagement at all levels them from the beginning of the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Co-Founder of OMG Commerce

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Building Profitable, High-Growth Brands through Performance Marketing

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Born & Bred. to accomplish?

• Assess our brand positioning
• Advice on changes to our presentation decks

SOLUTION

How did you find Born & Bred.?

Referral

Why did you select Born & Bred. over others?

• High ratings
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Born & Bred. were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

Full analysis of three different presentation decks including coaching on what we should be doing differently and how we are positioning ourselves. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Clear deliverables and clear steps to take to improve our decks. 

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

Yes, timely delivery

What was your primary form of communication with Born & Bred.?

Email or Messaging App

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

I was impressed with how much detail we received. Also, the level of insights for the first time looking at our brand and services.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Born & Bred. could have done differently?

no

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of a Social Media Management company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Social Media Management and Consulting 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire GVG Agency to accomplish?

• Growing my brand through press visibility

SOLUTION

How did you find GVG Agency?

Other

Why did you select GVG Agency over others?

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

How many teammates from GVG Agency were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• Brand positioning strategy 
• Brand launch PR campaign 
• Business development strategy  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Successful brand launch and messaging
• Grew business 200% in 6 months 
• Creates sales enablement materials 

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

Yes, very efficient. 

What was your primary form of communication with GVG Agency?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• They are an amazing, dedicated team.
• Hard working.
• Passionate. 

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

No