C42D

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing for Mandelbaum Salsburg, a full-service law firm based in Roseland, New Jersey. Founded in 1930, we’re one of New Jersey’s largest and fastest-growing law firms, and we have around 90 attorneys.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with C42D?

We were interested in rebranding our firm, looking to create a more dynamic, sophisticated, and yet approachable brand that would relate to our business and personal clients.

We hired C42D to work on our entire brand identity, including logos, color palettes, visual design elements, and stationery, printed, and electronic collateral.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Basically, C42D created our brand identity and all of the assets needed for the new brand rollout. For this task, they first went through a discovery process, where they had a couple of calls with me, our larger marketing committee, and our CEO.

C42D talked about their process, and they were very clear about the timelines for creating certain elements, how our collaboration would work, and what we could expect at various points of the journey. They did a great job of communicating all of that upfront to make us feel comfortable with the process.

Halfway through the rebranding process, we decided to change the firm’s name, which was a great deal for a 90-year-old law firm like ours. Thus, the project’s timeline extended, and we’ve not launched our new brand yet. However, we’re planning on launching it around January 2022.

What is the team composition?

We started working with David (Founder & CEO). Our current team also includes Christa (Project Manager) and Alison (Associate Art Director).

How did you come to work with C42D?

I found C42D on Clutch. I purposely didn’t want to work with a branding firm with experience with law firms because I believe that the work tends to get diluted when having a background on similar projects. We wanted something out of the box.

For that reason, I looked for a firm with experience with startups, entrepreneurs, emerging businesses, and dynamic brands.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around August 2020, and our engagement is ongoing. C42D has already delivered the assets of the original scope, but now we’re working on other projects.

Their initial engagement timeframe was extended because we have several stakeholders, and we wanted to make sure that everyone had a chance to weigh in. This slowed down the process, but it wasn’t C42D’s fault.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback on our new brand identity has been largely positive. Branding can be very subjective, and with 90 lawyers in our firm, we have many different opinions. However, we got to a point where a wide variety of lawyers agreed that this was a great work product. They’re happy with our new brand, which is very successful.

How did C42D perform from a project management standpoint?

C42D’s communication and project management skills are exceptional. Christa is amazing, and she sends us a PDF document with the project updates every week. This document shows what’s in process, when the deliverables will be ready, and whether we’re on time and budget.

In addition to that, Christa is highly responsive. I rarely wait for more than half an hour to hear back from her, and she’s great with moving things from email to phone or Zoom if we need to discuss something further.

What did you find most impressive about them?

C42D delivers great work products, and they bring a collaborative mentality to the table, which is rare in creative professionals. Usually, other companies in the creative industry are only collaborative to a certain extent. However, C42D is very willing to go in our direction. Their flexibility, collaboration, and great work product have made them an excellent partner for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that C42D could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open and honest during the process. C42D is a collaborative partner capable of hearing your feedback, taking a step back, processing it, and coming back with suggestions that will resonate with you. Share your feelings and opinions with them, and be collaborative as well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a performance marketing company serving the online sports betting space and the regulated gambling industry. Our company generates leads, helps operators acquire customers, and publishes comparisons that essentially allow consumers to see the difference between online gambling sites. 

I’m the director of communications and I oversee all external and internal communications. For a relatively small organization, this sometimes includes brand communications as well.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with C42D?

We were facing a corporate branding challenge. We’ve got a portfolio of B2C brands for the New York sports betting market, with our own corporate B2B brand on top of all of those. We had not done a lot to differentiate ourselves from consumer brands since we were only borrowing some visual elements. 

We’ve reached a point in our growth where we’ve recognized the importance of establishing our own identity to really elevate our peers and partners’ perception of us in the industry. We brought in C42D to help us with this challenge.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

C42D outlined the steps that were required in terms of developing a strategy for the corporate brand, getting into ideation for logo and imagery, and, ultimately, executing all those in our website and brand guideline. It was a pretty straightforward process once we described our needs and objectives.

What is the team composition?

David (Founder & CEO) was the one we initially worked with for the onboarding. Christa (Project Manager) kept everything on track and Alison (Associate Art Director) did a lot of the design work. We also worked with a developer for the website. 

How did you come to work with C42D?

I searched for the top brand agencies in New York and browsed the lists that came up. I checked each company’s website, portfolio, and case studies. I also reached out to agencies that were recommended to me by former colleagues and friends.

We did a formal RFP that involved six agencies, 3–4 of whom submitted more concrete proposals than the others. We were ultimately able to narrow it down to C42D through that process.

How much have you invested with them?

It was $55,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

My first correspondence with David was at the end of January 2021, and we got the proposal finalized the following month. We pretty much kicked off in March 2021 and launched the brand and the website yesterday.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s hard to quantify the impact of corporate brand work, so we based our metrics on the smoothness of the project rollout and C42D’s ability to interact with our stakeholders. All those factors were completely flawless. We launched our site on time without any issues, which is why, for the most part, we’ve considered it a success.

We’ve worked with other design partners and have struggled to get on the same page or point the project in the direction we wanted it in, but with C42D, there were never any hiccups. They did a fantastic job of interpreting and bringing to life what we wanted our brand to exude and represent. 

How did C42D perform from a project management standpoint?

In a nutshell, their project management was great. They really excelled at the scope of work; they stuck to it very well and were quite disciplined. C42D did everything to stay on track and hold up their end of the bargain. David was accessible and participative throughout the process as well, which was fantastic. 

We made a timeline back in March 2021 and said that we wanted to launch the website by June 2021. We were able to launch on the date. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The one thing that really stood out about their work was their ability to grasp our objective and quickly absorb our culture, mission, and approach as a business. They didn’t just read it all back to us; they turned it into a strategy and translated it into materials that completely resonated with our team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I threw some stuff at them that they probably could’ve pushed back on since it wasn’t in the scope, but they stepped up and delivered. We also offer a bit of extra budget for the additional stuff, so it's not an issue. There’s nothing I can think of that needs improving.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open and transparent with C42D. Trust their process, as this is something they really stress in their approach. When we were looking at the timeline and calendar for this project, we saw that we weren’t going to see any designs or logos until six weeks in. It seemed like a long time, but we trusted that they knew what they were doing and that they were really trying to understand who we are and what we want, so we let them do their thing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO and founder of a startup platform that connects young professionals and students with hosts that offer affordable housing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with C42D?

We needed help revamping our brand, messaging, and website. Our website was originally developed in-house very early on in our company’s history.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handled the entire WordPress web revamp from discovery to implementation. They interviewed our customers and us to understand our brand and provide a third-person point of view.

After that, we talked about what we felt the most important facets of the brand were. Then, they talked to us about how we wanted the site itself to look. Our host group is generally older adults, so accessibility is important to us.  For example, we wanted the color palette to be easy to read.

C42D came back to us with a whole brand book, which we reviewed and edited together. The brand book included both visual and messaging design. Defining the messaging was a highly collaborative process.

We went through several rounds of revising the site. The designer was really dynamic and able to take our feedback. Finally, they delivered our new site.

What is the team composition?

We worked with David (Founder) as well as a project manager, a lead engineer, and a designer.

How did you come to work with C42D?

We put out an RFP and we talked to several agencies that had experience dealing with testability. We narrowed down our pool to two top candidates. We chose C42D because of their portfolio and price. It also felt like the culture of David’s company matched ours more. They really worked with us to find a price that met the needs of an early startup.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2020, and we wrapped up in January 2021. We launched in early February 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The output they produced is beautiful. The messaging is on point, too. For the level of quality we got, I would’ve expected a much higher price tag. The feedback has been great.

With other rebrands I’ve had in the past, there have been some customers that were confused and frustrated because of the changes; that wasn’t the case here, since it was such an upgrade.

How did C42D perform from a project management standpoint?

The project ran a little long, but I’m not sure that was all on their side. Sometimes we weren’t as responsive as we needed to be. They were very polite and kind with us, but there was sometimes an entire week where they wouldn’t hear from us. C42D was very willing to accommodate our delays and it never became an issue.

The communication was handled through Slack. It was all well done. When we got to the implementation phase, I was able to contact their development team directly and they addressed any of my concerns. It really reduced the work I had to do in speaking with a middle person.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They worked really hard to understand and analyze what our needs were. Their designs are beautiful and the team was incredibly pleasant to work with. The team was always responsive to us.

David jumped in at the drop of a hat, even though I’m sure I was one of their smaller customers. I feel privileged that we were able to work with them. Even though we were a smaller client, they still treated us with the same responsiveness and respect as a larger account.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It took us a little while to get to a place where we had a really good flow working with the development team. Things became a lot more seamless once I interacted with the development team directly. I’m sure their first structure would’ve worked well for a client without a CTO.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to be as interactive and verbose as possible during the discovery and review phases. Those are critical points where they’re waiting for feedback and it leaves open issues when they’re trying to make progress. The team takes input well. The quicker turnaround you can make with feedback, the better.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief marketing officer for Uberflip. We’re a software for marketers that helps them take all the content they’ve created and get it in front of the right buyer at the right time.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with C42D?

We wanted to realign our brand with the ways we had changed our product offering and how we wanted to be perceived in the market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

C42D did a lot of research by talking to members of our marketing, executive, and sales teams to understand the sentiment in the market. From there, they presented mood boards to give us different options for the directions we wanted to take with the brand.

Once we narrowed down the winning mood board, the team came up with new, updated brand guidelines, and they made changes to our logo, icons, color schemes, and fonts. That gave us the right infrastructure to co-manage the process on our own. 

The second part of the project involved redesigning our entire WordPress website, from the homepage up to the contact page. They used the brand guidelines to map out what the website would look like, and they designed about 30 pages.

What is the team composition?

We worked with around six teammates, but my main point of contact was David (Founder & CEO).

How did you come to work with C42D?

I wasn’t the one who identified them; it may have been one of my teammates. We liked their pricing, and they seemed to have good design experience. There were a lot of good examples in their portfolio. They hadn’t done work for SaaS companies, so that was a bit of a risk.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from January–September 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They built a website that’s much easier for us to manage compared to the WordPress template and management set up that we had previously. We’re seeing a lot of value in terms of agility and how hands-on our team can be.

The feedback has been great. People say that the brand looks refreshed and better represents what we do today. A lot of people have written in saying that our website is the type of website they’re striving to create.

How did C42D perform from a project management standpoint?

We had twice-weekly calls, and when we needed it, we were also able to jump onto calls whenever. Their communication was a strong point.

In any project, especially one like this, there's a lot of opinions and you can hit roadblocks. Teams can get emotional or passionate, but David did a really good job at keeping people even-keeled and keeping them on track. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their branding work was really strong. C42D’s ability to introduce new elements to the brand without our having to completely reinvent it was great. The term we used at the end was that this was a brand realignment, not a brand relaunch or refresh. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Both sides probably agree that we could’ve done a better job of scoping out the details of the project upfront so that we better understood the details of what we were doing at each stage versus having different definitions of the scope at a specific stage, which pushed the timeline a bit. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We have our own graphic designer, someone who oversees brand guidelines. Having that is important otherwise you're not going to be able to continue the work that C42D does. 

They provided us with the right guidelines, the right templates, and the right infrastructure, but our team still needs to adapt that in the moment and going forward.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of BAOBAB, a direct-to-consumer (D2C) business that focuses on creating an undeniably better polo shirt experience.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with C42D?

We got an influx of new customers. We originally launched our e-commerce website in 2018 and we built it on Shopify ourselves. We also did the photography on our own. However, the UX didn’t match the quality of our premium polo shirt.

We were looking for some design help to articulate the fact that our polo shirt isn’t normal; it’s better in a lot of different ways. We want to tell that story with recent-looking, advanced design. We also wanted to elevate our brand as well with a fresh, timeless look.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

C42D built a new Shopify website for us and gave us the foundation to build on top of the initial brand and website. They gave us a foundation to have consistent design elements across each of our pipelines.

What is the team composition?

We worked with David (Founder & CEO), Christa (Project Manager), TJ (Digital Designer), and a copywriter. 

How did you come to work with C42D?

I may have found them on Dribbble. I liked some of their work and called them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in March 2020. The bulk of the project wrapped up, but we’re going to work with them in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

C42D does quality work. I would put them in the top tier, and we got a lot of value compared to larger agencies. They’re not the cheapest, but when it comes to the value and getting quality work done, they did very well.

How did C42D perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was really good, especially given the pandemic.

What did you find most impressive about them?

C42D’s communication was good.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no suggestions.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Tell them your goals and be descriptive. They have the skills to come up with things on their own, so follow their process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of ProLeague.GG, which is an e-sports startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with C42D?

I had a structure for the business but needed the most essential part: a brand identity and a logo. Those are foundational to the success of a business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team created my business’s branding, which included my brand identity and a logo. They provided decks and copywriting services. Their team will also provide a landing page.

What is the team composition?

I work with four people from C42D: TJ (Digital Designer), Allison (Associate Art Director), Christa (Project Manager), and David (Founder & CEO).

How did you come to work with C42D?

I found them on Clutch and saw that they focused on logo design. I personally picked David based on his background. He not only had a background in gaming but also took the time to show that he appreciated the project. We could also have a casual conversation.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in July 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They hit the nail on the head with my vision for the logos. Their team did an overall stellar job with the branding. I plan to have them be a part of my company as long as it's operating.

When I ask for David’s opinion, he gives me an honest answer. He’s knowledgeable regarding business and design. It’s been great to work with him.

How did C42D perform from a project management standpoint?

C42D created a project schedule, and it’s been smooth. Their team regularly emails me and keeps me up to date. They’re a remote team of four but they seem like a remote team of ten.

Their team’s also straightforward. When I ask them questions about my tasks, they simply send instructions that are easy to follow. Although I didn’t give them any deadlines, their team has been time friendly. It’s been smooth.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed by their communication and openness. It’s hard to find a company that understands e-sports, and I’m sure that they took time out of their days to research the industry.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, C42D is a great team. They work together well, which is an accomplishment for any business.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust their process and follow their recommendations because they’re the experts.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a B2B SaaS platform that does annual subscriptions. We help our clients with content distribution for social media.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with C42D?

We are early-stage and we had some really good high-profile customers and case studies and really solid technology, but we weren't doing very much with differentiating ourselves from our competitors.

So, we wanted to start from scratch and do true brand positioning for the first time in preparation for launching our new website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

C42D did an audit of our platform to understand who our customers are, what they say about us, and what differentiates us. They did phone calls with and interviewed different customers, and the deliverable was choosing our brand positioning document. 

The team also provided a visual representation of our brand and helped us with the copy for our website. We put together the content and they polished it up by rewriting it. 

What is the team composition?

Dave (Founder & CEO) was my main point of contact. We also worked with Christa (Project Manager) and other teammates on the visual side.

How did you come to work with C42D?

I think I found them on Clutch or another ranking website that had insights into the project budgets. I reached out to 4–5 companies, and Dave was one of the first ones to get back to me and schedule a call.

After my first call with him, I knew that C42D would be a good fit because of the other work they’d done and their grasp on what we were looking for.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in Q4 2019, and we launched the website a month ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My team and I are in the weeds almost every day, and we were lacking that big picture mentality. C42D was able to grasp our business, customers, and the value we provide and then communicate all of that. Additionally, even though we felt that the website looked great, the copy that they wrote made such a big difference. 

How did C42D perform from a project management standpoint?

Christa was great at keeping us on track and in line with deliverables. She kept me on certain deadlines and tasks so that I wasn’t holding up the project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Agencies are usually known for having bureaucracy, over-scoping, and lots of details just to get you to a certain point.

I loved C42D because, even though we had clear deliverables and scopes, they didn’t have a long, drawn-out process just to get us to the proposal phase. Their willingness to take on an early-stage startup was also valuable for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. We’ll go to them again for certain projects. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s important to do the work with them and get them everything they need even if it may be a burden. Our project was on the smaller side, so if you have a wide range of deliverables, make sure that it’s something that C42D has worked on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of marketing for a behavioral health company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with C42D?

We’re a new startup in the healthcare space specifically focused on pediatric behavioral health. When I came into the company back in mid-March, we were going through a renaming. We also knew we needed to do a rebrand. We really wanted the right partner to bring this vision of brand personality, that we had, to life. We really envisioned it as being this warm, friendly, relatable, really real company that would address behavioral health for children and support families every step of the way. We wanted a brand that was really warm and inviting for kids as well.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did our whole branding. They were basically creating our brand from scratch. That was everything from the logo to the full visual identity and then extending to actually creating some applications for us. It was pretty straightforward. We added a few more deliverables which they were really amazing with flexing and adapting to what we needed most. The scope was pretty much set from the beginning though.

They really took the time upfront to spend with our team members including our CEO and stakeholders across the country. They were really thoughtful about their processes by listening and learning. They did a deep dive with the team before they began to come up with ideas. We really felt heard and that they understood our vision and took the time to deeply understand what we were trying to say and to try to understand the real value of our brand and why it was so important.

What is the team composition?

I worked closely with their core team which included their designer/art director as well as an account manager, a digital designer, and the founder of the company.

How did you come to work with C42D?

I knew of them because they did the branding for a digital health startup that has done phenomenal things and they have an extremely strong brand. I then went to find out which agency they used and was introduced to C42D. We decided to go with them because of the great work we’d seen them do particularly in the healthcare space. We really felt they’d be the right partner for us to bring our brand to life.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April–May 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was a super-fast project. I was thoroughly impressed. We gave them an incredibly tight timeline and they rocked it and delivered even more than we asked for on time and in budget. They delivered a fully comprehensive visual branded entity system including all of the elements. They even went to the level of creating treatment elements for us that I could take and use to create beautiful designs with it.

How did C42D perform from a project management standpoint?

They were fantastic. They were incredibly responsive. Their account manager, Christa (Project Manager) was on top of everything. She was immediately responsive and always had the answers. She was amazing at keeping everything on track and delivering on the agreed upon deadlines and deliverables.

They were unbelievably organized. I’m impressed with how tight their team was on project management. They were highly engaged and were all working super collaboratively with us. We brought them onto our Slack channel and we were able to work really well through that. They made everything really easy on us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They became personally invested in it. They were a really important part of the team. They clearly cared about us, our brand, and bringing it to life. They listened to us as opposed to coming in and telling us what we should do. They wanted to work deeply with us, understand what we were doing, and become a part of it. The team was wonderful and easy to work with.

They delivered a beautiful brand that really brought to life what we had envisioned. They’re technically skilled and know what they’re doing but they also have a really good sense for understanding brands as well. Some agencies have their own style and design that comes across in the different brands that they do. I felt that C42D was particularly strong in that they didn’t seem to do that. They really developed something that felt fully us and not like anything else out there.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I was really impressed. The whole experience was fantastic. I’m really grateful for the work that they did and their partnership in it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I highly recommend them. They are an excellent partner that does extraordinary work for brands and bringing them to life. I highly recommend them especially if you’re looking for real collaboration and working closely with the team. Take advantage of their willingness to learn about your brand and spend a lot of time getting to know you and understanding what you’re trying to achieve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a women’s health platform that develops tests that quantitatively measures fertility hormones. Our main goal is to empower women with information about her health as to no longer make for fertility a black box.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with C42D?

We didn’t have a brand when we hired them, only a color scheme. It was important for us to make our brand more consumer-facing and give it a great look and feel.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created brand guidelines, reworked our messaging, designed our app, and handled both product and package design. We decided on the total scope from the beginning and stuck to that plan. 

What is the team composition?

We had two primary designers, a project manager, and someone in charge of their copy.

How did you come to work with C42D?

I found them on Clutch. However, the real reason I decided to go with them was a blog post that they shared with them. It was a review of several cliches that larger companies are doing in their branding today. I appreciated him calling out these cliches and showing me that they work differently. We could see that in their work. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $25,000–$50,000 on their work.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our work in March 2019, and it officially ended in November 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

People love the brand. Our goal was to create a feeling of comfort to indicate to women that they’re not alone on the journey of trying to conceive. It can be an isolating experience, and that feeling of comfort really comes through in their work. 

How did C42D perform from a project management standpoint?

We were constantly communicating over Slack. In the beginning, we weren’t seeing as much of the work in progress as we wanted. That was unsettling because we wanted to make sure they could incorporate our vision into the work without wasting their time. Once they started updating us more frequently, the project became more dynamic. They were also able to incorporate work very quickly.   

Their project manager was really on top of things. She made sure that everyone hit their deadlines and would loop everyone in for weekly meetings. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I liked their personal touch. They seemed to engage with our goals, and our mission resonated with many people on their team. They’re passionate about what we were building. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The messaging wasn’t as punchy as we may have wanted while entering a crowded market. However, they did a great job for the initial launch of a new brand. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about what you want in the work. This was a big learning experience for me, and I ended up wanting things I didn’t think I did at the start of the engagement. I spoke honestly with them, and we collectively determined the scope together. Then, before you engage, make sure you have all of that ironed out.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a purchasing organization and a consulting firm that works within three main areas of non-compensation spend: travel, insurance, and market data and information services. We aggregate our clients’ spend to get them discounts on hotel, car, and insurance services.

Our team also negotiates renewals and advises on product procurement to help manage subscription services more generally. Our clients tend to be boutique, mid-sized financial services firms that benefit from our purchasing and benchmarking programs. I’m the VP of the market data side of the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with C42D?

We were looking to fully rebrand our company. With that, we wanted a new name that reflected all of our focus areas without siloing us into any one of those areas. It was also important for them to allow us room for growth.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In addition to providing us with a new brand name, they helped us create a mission and strategy statement as well as a new logo. Their branding efforts also resulted in overall branding guidelines that dictate our fonts and colors. It also provided information relating to how to apply that information onto business cards and memos. 

They provided us with stock photography and helped us create business cards. Their team showcased how the brand would look on the web by providing a mockup for a web page with icons that would guide our web design and presentation decks. 

Typically, they would brainstorm before coming to us with several ideas for deliverables. We’d discuss together to guide the development. After they delivered, we’d circle back to offer feedback. For instance, we went through about six naming rounds before selecting one.

What is the team composition?

We were working with three people, including designers. Christa (Project Manager, C42D) and David (Founder & CEO, C42D) were helpful in organizing all of our work.  

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$100,000 on their work. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from June –December 2019. After that, they were just helping with one-off emails.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were very happy with the process. I know it can take years to effectively rebrand, but we managed it in just six months. We were happy with the new name, and they handled all of our feedback very professionally. They took our suggestions seriously, returning with work that reflected that. Our team loves the name, collateral, and branded slide deck. It all took several iterations, but they were very patient about that.  

How did C42D perform from a project management standpoint?

Christa always replied to us within the hour, which gave us confidence that they were making progress. Their responsiveness was great. They used a file-sharing app to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated their timeliness and responsiveness. They took on many iterations of work to make sure that we got the end products that we were aiming for. Their patience helped them take all of our feedback into account. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We struggled with coming up with a tagline. They provided us with about 100 options, but we couldn’t decide on one on our end. That wasn’t a huge deal, though, because we work in so many different industries. It would’ve been great if they went deeper into the presentation deck development as well. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure your streamlining feedback on all the deliverables because there are tons of assets that go into this kind of development. That’ll help make the process smoother.