C2 Creative Studio

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Communications Director at SEIU Local 1000, which represents over 96,000 State Government Employees in California, including office and administrative workers, librarians, engineers, and nurses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire C2 Creative?

We worked with Patrick on a number of design, branding, and marketing strategy projects over the course of 14 months, covering everything from flyers and brochures to branding backdrops for major statewide meetings.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals varied according to the job, but typically focused on driving awareness or membership signup.

SOLUTION

How did you select C2 Creative?

I worked in Chicago for much of my life and was familiar with Patrick through his work for several former colleagues.

Describe the project in detail.

We worked on too many projects to go into much detail, but among other things, Patrick and C2 helped us to define our brand guidelines and then use that to revise, refine, and integrate our look, feel, and messaging across every medium we touch.

What was the team composition?

Patrick and his team wore many hats due to the fact that I have a very small team. As a result, they filled many roles, including Creative Director, Design Director, Strategy Supervisor, and Project Manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

As a member-led and member-supported union, we're unlike most businesses. Success and/or progress is typically not as immediate as it is in the private sector, so much of what Patrick provided to us is still being measured.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was seamless. Patrick and his team became a trusted part of our team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were continually impressed with Patrick's ability to take a good idea we brought to him and make it better; smarter, clearer, more strategic, and a better fit for our objectives.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not sure; he never offered to cook dinner for us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the president of STATE. We’re an online personal growth business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire C2 Creative?

We needed to build a brand identity and strategy, so we hired C2 Creative to develop an animated short.

What were your goals for this project?

We were looking for a fun and informative animated video to show current and prospective clients.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I’d seen Patrick’s (Founder, C2 Creative) work in the past was always drawn to his unique vision and ability to communicate emotion succinctly. He also excels at stitching disparate thoughts together into a cohesive piece while supporting a many-person team.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail.

We started with a strategy phase where Patrick asked a lot of questions about our emotional and pragmatic needs. Then, they created storyboards and renderings quickly and submitted them for approval. We were also given the choice of several voice-over options. After the last round of approval, they continually sent us the animation for possible edits and tweaks.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

We were in constant contact with a project manager, who had a team working behind them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The video has received many more shares and views that we expected it to. It’s been immensely successful in helping us communicate with our clients and prospects.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We worked together effortlessly. Their team worked remotely and met every deadline. Our budget was hit correctly as well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their technology and art are great, but the people are what truly stands out. They’re capable of providing new and exciting ideas.  

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, not that I saw. The project went much better than expected.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a web development firm specializing in WordPress. Our company is based in Chicago. I am the owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with C2 Creative?

We are partnered with C2 Creative for digital projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

C2 Creative acts as our creative arm, working on brand development and design for our clients. This can mean anything from creating a brand story, brand messaging, and brand guidelines, to logo and website design. Typically, the final deliverable is a website. We only take over the programming portions.

How did you come to work with C2 Creative?

We have a reciprocal relationship with C2 Creative. They initially hired us in 2012 for development on one of their own projects. The relationship went well, and we found that we have similar values in terms of offering high-level customer service, responsiveness, and quality of work. Given this, our relationship grew naturally. C2 Creative is our exclusive partner, so anything we need in terms of branding and design will go to them.

How much have you invested with C2 Creative?

The cost of C2 Creative's services has been $60,000 per year, for the last two years. We don't mark up the cost for our end clients.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with C2 Creative in September 2012.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Client retention is an essential metric for us, both for our own clients and the ones from C2 Creative. We have continued to work with people on a long-term basis, either for ongoing changes, creative work for social posts or newsletters, and so on.

How did C2 Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

There isn't a strict line between our own project management and C2 Creative's. We work within the same systems and tend to be both fluid and rigorous in terms of processes. Not every project will have the same path from start to finish, so we adjust processes based on what the work entails and how the client likes to work. We are rigorous in terms of version-controlling files and keeping track of task items, bug reports, and client feedback. It's a nice balance between fitting every activity within the box, and not letting anything fall through the cracks.

What did you find most impressive about C2 Creative?

Overall, I've appreciated C2 Creative's responsiveness and client service. The base value which we shared from the beginning, of doing great work for great people, has been held up for everything we do. C2 Creative's principal is always there to pick up the phone.

Are there any areas C2 Creative could improve?

The opportunity we've identified internally for ourselves is focusing more on our own business growth and on who will be the next person we can hire. We tend to focus so much on clients that we overlook our progression in the long-term. From a project standpoint, I can't say anything about C2 Creative. We've grown nicely together, and they've been amazing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Foiled, Inc. has three brands under its umbrella, including a cupcake business called Foiled Cupcakes, a shippable line of sweet treats called Stacks, and we're also launching an offshoot of both businesses, offering handwritten gift notes for corporations. I am the owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with C2 Creative?

At the launch of our Foiled brand, we approached C2 Creative to create our brand identity, website, user experience, packaging, and visual identity.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

C2 Creative handled most of our graphic design and branding. This included our logo, tagline, and the overall messaging of the initial site. We did demographic research, making sure that what we were doing was appealing to the people we were trying to reach. C2 Creative designed much of our packaging, making sure that the web experience and the actual deliveries were synonymous, given that we don't have a storefront. C2 Creative helped with the production of the special events we did, some of which included big names. They executed the packaging associated with those and delivered creative ideas.

C2 Creative helped us with launching Stacks from the ground up. They had much of our casework already because they knew who our customers were from Foiled. That insight was parlayed into the next round of shippable products, reaching the whole of the US.

C2 Creative handled many of the touch points that we deliver with our packaging, including the gift notes and any promotional fliers, making sure it was all tied together and brand-synonymous.

How did you come to work with C2 Creative?

I had worked with two different designers before hiring C2 Creative. One of those didn't seem able to adapt their style to our needs, and didn't hear our vision and what we were trying to execute. Our second designer worked in conjunction with C2 Creative for a while but moved on to another job.

C2 Creative's principal initially reached out to us on Twitter in 2008, wanting to talk about some of the things we mentioned there about starting a cupcake business.

How much have you invested with C2 Creative?

The cost of our work with C2 Creative has been between $4,000 and $5,000 per year, over the last 6 years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with C2 Creative's founder at the end of 2008 before the company was formed. I was rolled into C2 Creative afterwards. We have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All of our business has come through the web. The fact that we have revenue is an indication that C2 Creative's work has been successful. We have received multiple comments (including Yelp reviews) from people outside of the industry, who have mentioned that our packaging and website integrate well with our product. All the notes that we send out are on C2-Creative-designed notecards, which is something that yields a high ROI for our company. We have also won a couple of logo design awards on our Stacks campaign.

How did C2 Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

I appreciate the fact that C2 Creative has given me deadlines and kept me posted on the progress of the work. Their follow-through is always impeccable and on-time. If we're behind, it will usually be because of something I've done, like not sending C2 Creative something that they needed. C2 Creative's team is polite, thorough and quick. I know that they have a lot of business, so C2 Creative is obviously doing something right to manage it.

What did you find most impressive about C2 Creative?

I may get emails out of the blue from C2 Creative, mentioning that they've noticed a detail on my site which can be improved in a certain way. We manage our site coding through another vendor, so it's nice to see C2 Creative's input in this regard. C2 Creative has been really good at recommending vendors for printing; we often have varying needs for printed material. Unlike with other partners, I don't second-guess C2 Creative's recommendations.

Are there any areas C2 Creative could improve?

There have been times when C2 Creative really hit the mark, but also moments when I've had to go back-and-forth with the team. This can also be my fault because I'm not as thorough as I should be in my explanations. Because we had such mediocre experiences in the past, C2 Creative has stood out more. I don't have any complaints.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a sales coordinator within one of the segments of a beverage dispenser manufacturer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with C2 Creative?

Our master website looks outdated and plain, so we wanted to create two microsites that would be colorful, innovative-looking, and would highlight two new products That’s why we approached C2 Creative. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

C2 Creative has done a tremendous job in letting us promote and market these products by creating what we call a “microsite” for each one. The microsites are geared toward current customers so they can go in, fill out, and submit their contact information. Afterwards, they can grab the software updates they need, download them to their computers, and then put them on their units. We also wanted the new pages to highlight all of the key features of our products. We looked at the websites of big players in the industry and chose aspects of Apple’s website and Nike’s website that we wanted to include on our own websites. C2 Creative helped us to create a homepage, a page for each of the products, and a couple of other pages.

How did you come to work with C2 Creative?

We were referred to C2 Creative and a couple of other businesses by a company called Big Teeth. Big Teeth does video shooting, video editing, and photography. We had a brief conversation with C2 Creative in which we explained what we wanted to do. They were friendly and responsive. We then looked at some of their previous work and we were fans of their portfolio, so we decided to choose them over the other two providers Big Teeth recommended. 

What is the status of this engagement?

In July 2015, we started working with C2 Creative to develop and design the websites and prepare the content for them. Since then, we’ve asked them to add and remove items. They always have been responsive in doing so, often delivering the changes within 24 to 48 hours. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In a perfect world, we would like to know how the views on these microsites translate into direct sales, but that’s hard to do no matter what industry you're in. The only way we know people are on the websites is if they go there to download our software updates. C2 Creative linked it for us so that information gets sent automatically to our website. That way, we can see who is visiting the site and seeing our products. That’s how we see the marketing behind it.

How did C2 Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

C2 Creative performs perfectly from a project management standpoint; it was always easy to communicate with them. Sometimes, we didn't know what we wanted something to look like or how we should frame the content, and they basically guided us through every step and offered us examples. They would even make the changes right away, so we could see the end result in person rather than talking through it and everyone having his or her own idea of what the final product would look like.

What did you find most impressive about C2 Creative?

I would say their responsiveness is the most impressive thing about C2 Creative. I can't imagine another provider giving us the updates as quickly as C2 Creative has. They’re also great people who are nice to work with. I enjoy calling them to ask for something and catch up with them. I call them my friends at this point. The rapport that they build with their customers is outstanding. It’s been great working with them.

Are there any areas C2 Creative could improve?

I really can't think of anything they could improve. They’ve exceeded our expectations.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with C2 Creative?

I would tell them that C2 is responsive. We also like how they helped us create the website instead of just asking us, “What do you want?” There were some instances where we didn't know what we wanted. They came to our facility when we first met, they looked at our products, they got engaged with them, they got a good feel for them, and then they were able to help us develop the content as well as the design of the website.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company developed a new product and product category to manage hair shed wile bathing. I am an owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire C2 Creative?

Being a new product category, we needed a sales slick to quickly explain the problem we are solving and the benefits of our product to potential distributors, licensees, and investors.

What were your goals for this project?

A visually striking product that provided understanding of both problem and solution in one page

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

C2 Creative was recommended to me by our printing professionals. They have consistently found C2's work and collaborative efforts to be of the highest quality.

Describe the project in detail.

C2 designed two sales slicks - the first a visually impactful explanation of our product and the second a more verbally dense follow-up.

What was the team composition?

We worked with Patrick to execute our vision.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We have just started using the product and find that people are instantly understanding the problem without us giving any explanation.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Meeting were scheduled quickly and easily; Patrick was very responsive to emails and calls.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were amazed how easily C2 understood our vision and quickly developed a product that included nods to other pieces of our marketing to fit our branding.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No- product was delivered on time, on budget, and on point.