Contrast & Co.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founded in 2016, our company is an early-stage food-tech startup making healthy eating remarkably simple—fresh, flavorful, locally prepared meals and functional beverages delivered directly to your doorstep. We are an e-commerce, subscription-based, direct-to-consumer food company based in Washington, DC, serving health-conscious, intentional eaters throughout the broader DMV area. I am a Co-founder and our company's CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Contrast & Co., and what were your goals?

We engaged Contrast & Co to conduct a comprehensive rebranding of our existing foundational brand identity—including all visual brand identity elements, product packaging, and web design. We have been a largely bootstrapped company since officially launching in October of 2016.

As a result, our brand development, design, and content efforts (aside from creating an initial visual identity for launch in 2016) have been more sporadic than coordinated. Over the past several years, we have gradually introduced new products, including co-branded products with other local food and beverage brands, established new partnerships, and developed a deeper understanding of our core customer and general positioning within the competitive landscape.

And while we’ve tried to maintain a consistent aesthetic, there remained a lack of cohesion between the physical (e.g., product packaging suite) and digital (e.g., website) experiences we offer our customers.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We prepared a formal RFP that we submitted to seven prospective agencies. Once we reviewed each agency's proposal, we scheduled interviews with a list of three finalists. After speaking with the Contrast team, we knew immediately they were the right partner to bring our vision to life. The Contrast team spoke with such passion and clarity of vision and purpose, and we were particularly impressed with the team's focus on bringing their clients' visions to life.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

The general scope of work included:

1. Brand Identity Enhancement: Foundational brand identity enhancement, including a review and update of existing brand guidelines (i.e., logo, logo variants, brand words, typography, type usage, color palette, etc.).
2. Packaging Design: Complete packaging design for several food and beverage products, including fully prepared meals, tonics, cold brew coffee, wellness shots, energy bites, and more.
3. Welcome Package Design: Create a “welcome kit” that is to be included with each new customer’s first delivery (e.g., die cut sleeve envelope and bi-fold brochure).
4. Content Strategy and Identity Development: Develop comprehensive content strategy and guidelines that consider the customer journey—end-to-end—both digitally and physically.
5. Website Design and Content Refresh: Redesign Home, Menu and How it Works pages to reflect updated identity and content strategy.

Contrast & Co.'s process included the following phases:

1. Discovery
2. Brand Development
3. Brand Guidelines
4. Other Signature Brand Assets
5. Packaging Design
6. Welcome Package Design
7. Website Designs for Three Key Views

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We were assigned a project manager, who led all communication, but there were several others involved in the rebranding effort, including the agency's two founders along with several members of the agency's creative strategy team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In a highly competitive and fragmented industry, where "simple" often means complex, Contrast unleashed the power of connection by bringing magic to every moment, big and small. They took a holistic approach to our brand and translated our vision into a brand experience that reflects what doing good and living well looks like.

As a result of the effort, we now have a comprehensive and cohesive brand identity that seamlessly ties together our online/digital presence with our offline/physical experiences. Since launching our "refreshed" brand identity, we have received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from our team, our customers, and even our competitors. The Contrast team far exceeded our original expectations.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We communicated primarily via email, which is our preferred method of communication. The Contrast team provided consistent updates along the way and always erred on the side of over-communicating to ensure that we were aware of any progress, updates, changes, etc.

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

The breadth and depth of research conducted during the initial discovery phase. The Contrast team spent an exceptional amount of time understanding our industry and competitive landscape to ensure that our brand not only accurately represents our vision and values, but also stands out relative to our competitors in the space. We were also impressed by the team's humility (i.e., ability to set ego aside) and focus on what was best for our company.

In the creative space, it can be easy to focus on beautiful designs that win awards, but the Contrast team's sole goal was leverage their expertise to help bring our vision to life.

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

Literally can't think of a single thing. It was a true pleasure working with Contrast & Co, and we look forward to hopefully becoming lifelong partners with their team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Consero Group. We’re a conference production business that focuses on invitation-only events for senior corporate executives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Contrast & Co.?

We had relied on the same website since the inception of our company, so we hired them to build us a new site that accurately reflected our business and operations.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Contrast & Co. started with a completely new concept in building a new website for us from scratch. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with a handful of people from the Contrast & Co. team, but we worked closely with Dharma (Founder & Creative Director) and the project manager. 

How did you come to work with Contrast & Co.?

I was referred to Dharma by someone who worked closely with him on a previous project.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them on this project from June–November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After launching our new website, we saw more traffic coming in and our business continued to grow.

How did Contrast & Co. perform from a project management standpoint?

They did an exceptional job in terms of project management — they communicated proactively and did a very nice job of setting our expectations about timelines and the things they required from us in order to keep the project on track. They also operated very efficiently, which kept things moving forward at a pretty rapid pace. In a nutshell, we were extremely happy with how they handled the project.

We communicated with them via email and occasional phone calls, going over any updates about the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was very impressed with their creativity and ability to understand our business as well as we do. They spent a lot of time getting to the heart of what makes our business special, and it took a lot of effort to weave that into the fabric of our website.

Are there any areas they could improve on?

I can’t think of anything they need to improve on; we’re uniformly satisfied with their work, which was outstanding.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to all of their ideas — they gave us very creative and innovative concepts.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Chief Marketing Officer at Altum. We are a SaaS platform for research grants management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Contrast & Co., and what were your goals?

We hired Contrast to lead our rebranding effort, which included the development of a new logo, style guide, branding guidelines, vision and mission messaging, and web design. Our goal was to elevate our brand positioning and ensure that it reflected our corporate mission.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed several firms and selected Contrast for several key reasons:

1. The level of empathy and personal connection they created with our leadership team
2. the quality of the presentation
3. the creativity and precision of their work and proposal.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

Contrast runs an every effective process that is highly efficient. Unlike many agencies I've worked with that can tie up leadership teams for days, they come prepared and facilitate quick, impactful intake and requirements gathering sessions. They ask the right questions, study the brand, study the competition and come equipped with ideas and compelling recommendations quickly. After quick iteration with the team, they developed an amazing brand guide that blew us away and required very little tuning. From there they applied the new brand to our web redesign effort and led the rollout of our new website from start to finish. Over the last year, they've worked with us as we've continued to enrich our digital / marketing toolkit. They've helped us create case studies, ebooks, custom landing pages, a social media system, and more.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We have 1 primary point of contact (Wes (complete rock star)) who manages our account but is also my creative partner. Behind the scenes the team has an array of talented design experts who make magic happen.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've seen a significant increase in every possible marketing metric. Site visits, leads, engagement, pipeline, etc. All of that is directly attributable to the hard work we've done on the digital/creative side working hand-in-hand with C&C.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Effortless. Responsive. Flexible. They'll work with whatever tool(s) you're most comfortable with. We use both Asana and Trello and then meet every couple of weeks to dive into progress.

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

The quality of the team and the way they work. They deliver first class design work but without any pretentiousness or wasted time. They were incredibly easy to work and we really did feel like an extension of our team.

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

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of OTOT Technologies. We’re a digital transformation and monetization company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Contrast & Co.?

We needed help with our branding efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re a new company that’s one been founded in 2019, so we needed Contrast & Co.’s help in establishing what sets our brand apart from our competitors. Their team helps us come up with our own brand narrative and the necessary marketing strategies we need to boost our clientele.

As a digital company, a huge part of our branding efforts depends on our website, so we need Contrast & Co’s expertise in augmenting the UX of our platform to help us define our brand identity.

What is the team composition?

We work with Carin (CEO), Dharma (Founder & Creative Director), and their designers.

How did you come to work with Contrast & Co.?

Contrast & Co. was referred to us by a similar service provider that we previously worked with. I looked their team up and found that they had an impressive portfolio, so I decided to hire them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $75,000–$100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off the engagement in October 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Contrast & Co.’s efforts have elevated our website’s user engagement rate. They’ve done a great job in making our brand stand out in that our clients can also resonate with our identity — I don’t have numbers to report as of now, but that’s been our main success metric for their work.

How did Contrast & Co. perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via email and have regular virtual meetings. Contrast & Co.’s team has definitely exceeded our expectations in terms of project management. They respond promptly and stick to deadlines without troubling us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Contrast & Co. has the ability to capture exactly what we want — we have a lot of ideas we can’t execute, and their team handles that for us by bringing our vision and narrative to life. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing else Contrast & CO. can improve — they always deliver impressive results.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Plan ahead of time. You’ll be able to give them all the information they need if you visualize your goals early on, and they’ll be able to implement everything according to your liking in return.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m VP of corporate marketing and communications for SmartSky Networks. We’re a startup creating new technology for aviation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Contrast & Co.?

I was brought on board to launch SmartSky into the market. In my assessment, the brand was basic and not highly professional. I saw the need for not only refreshing the brand but also refreshing the logo. I sought a branding company that could understand our innovative technologies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Contrast’s core task was to refresh our brand, specifically improving our logo, website, and how we talk about ourselves. Based on the technical language that we used to talk about the company, their team created a new language for us to use when talking about the company that succinctly communicates our innovations. They held a series of interviews with people at our company and came back with a significant transformation plan for how we should talk to the market. Their team created a new brand, which included new colors, a new logo, and a new language.

What is the team composition?

I worked with three people from Contrast.

How did you come to work with Contrast & Co.?

I heard about them through their work with an airline association, which was excellent. It was a competitive process, and they won the competition.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent roughly $70,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

I hired them around October 2019, and we finished in March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new brand is universally loved inside the company. I haven't heard any negative comments about Contrast's work. They got the language right from the beginning. The team 100% accepted the language that their team created for us to use when talking about our company. Our leadership embraced their work and wants to use it.

How did Contrast & Co. perform from a project management standpoint?

To begin the project, they gave us a detailed outline. They followed through on every stage of that outline even though we were a bit disorganized at the time. It was a challenge on their side to deal with multiple stakeholders, but their team stuck to the plan and delivered on time. We had regular phone calls and email exchanges with them. They also did a whole series of presentations that were useful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Contrast marries great design and great language abilities. Their team figures out a way to communicate complex ideas in the most simplistic form. That’s why we hired them. They boiled down our ideas into succinct phrases that resonate. There are many companies that focus on design and many other companies that write copy. Contrast does both extremely well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have presented more than one core image for our logo. We ended up adjusting it after their final presentation. Contrast basically banked on one approach but I was in favor of having a choice.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before starting the project, ensure alignment inside your company. Alignment is critical to a smooth process. An in-person meeting with Contrast will tell you that they have a phenomenal ability to understand complex issues and communicate them well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior VP of sales for HHM, a hotel management company with 120 hotels across the US. We have several large brands and a portfolio of independent hotels that we’ve designed ourselves.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Contrast & Co.?

I approached Contrast & Co. to help us cross-promote our brands and independent hotels.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created customizable promotion templates for print and digital channels. Each template reflected our company’s overall brand, but my salespeople could customize the content to reflect their specific region and cluster of hotels. They developed a persona that conveys professionalism so people felt safe doing business with our hotels, but it also needed to have a creative flair that would intrigue customers.

Then Contrast & Co. put an autonomous system in place where each salesperson could access all of the content.

What is the team composition?

I worked with about four people — one on creative, and 2–3 on the process itself. I’m sure there were others working on it internally as well.

How did you come to work with Contrast & Co.?

They popped up on my radar after a hotel acquisition. They had done some of the creative for other companies and accounts in the market. After talking to them about my needs for that particular hotel, I liked their approach to creative work. They were very hands-on and seemed to work in a grassroots way. They seemed open to trying new things and they offered a solution that met all of our needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began around October 2018 and we rolled out the new system in January 2019, but my hotels still utilize them for content.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Contrast & Co. created a completely seamless digital process that we were able to roll out across our hotels. There are about 200 salespeople that rely on this system, and streamlining their workflow wasn’t easy, but they delivered a scalable solution that I can build on. I’m extremely pleased with the quality of their work. They set a high professional standard, which has enabled us to showcase our brand.

How did Contrast & Co. perform from a project management standpoint?

We request everything digitally and their turnaround time is very quick.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with their ability to think outside the box. I deal with several comparable firms, but Contrast & Co. stands out because of their ability to look at something objectively and propose an extremely creative solution.

It was just so easy to work with them. They stuck to the process and delivered exactly what I needed. I definitely received what I was looking for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There wasn’t anything they need to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They didn’t have direct knowledge of the hospitality industry, so I provided an overview of what we were looking for. Going into the project, I think that really helped. So it’s important that new clients articulate their overall goals for the project and provide background information on the industry

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of an international leadership organization that tackles some of the most challenging problems facing the world. The fund works to get more women elected by investing in organizations that are breaking down barriers and then training and recruiting women.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Contrast & Co.?

Prior to my joining, the company had done a very rudimentary internal branding process and we needed more of a professional brand.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We connected with Contrast & Co. to do that. As part of that process, we also asked them to design a fundraising prospectus that we could use with potential donors. They designed a logo and theme for us, as well as supporting collateral that goes with it. More of their work included a memo template, report template, and PowerPoint template, complimenting images, and provided the brand standards for all of our material.

What is the team composition?

We work predominantly with four people.

How did you come to work with Contrast & Co.?

They were recommended to us by a fundraising consultant that we had worked with previously after going through an RFP process and thought they did excellent work. Contrast & Co. did a pitch for us and showed us their previous work, which was compelling. Also, they connected with us on what our mission was and they were equally committed to that which was important. A combination of those things is why we decided to move forward.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $30,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2020 and the relationship is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received really positive feedback from those who have seen the collateral they designed. It’s such a sharp contrast to what we had before and it’s just visually stunning and attractive. We loved their first idea right out of the box but tweaked some of the colors. 

The branding process was very smooth and straightforward. We were immensely impressed with how the brand captured both the feeling of our organization and the emotion behind it, but it’s also very clean and professional. They were responsive to what our vision was.

How did Contrast & Co. perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent from a communication standpoint and they keep us up to date with the timeline. We actually gave them a pretty short deadline for the first round of work and on the second round, they put additional designers on it to deliver faster, which was helpful. They’re also always great about getting online since we can’t meet in person during the pandemic. They walked us through their vision and where we were. We just used email to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Not only were they excellent at putting together our logo, but they also showed us how we could utilize it across various pieces. This really helped us envision it as something bigger than we had originally anticipated. It's their passion for their work, their vision for a project, and how they connect the two that’s most impressive. 

I could tell by their initial pitch all the way through to the end and the quality of their work and commitment to us being happy, that they shared our passion and wanted us to have the best tools at our disposal to be successful. Knowing that we have a partner makes it all the better.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In our initial contract, we were to provide the written content for the prospectus and they got so excited about the project that they ended up writing all of the content, which led to having to do a lot more revisions and back and forth. I loved their enthusiasm, but that process was a little sticky and slowed us down a tiny bit. Having a little more communication on both ends would have been more helpful.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Contrast & Co. had a really thorough deep dive process upfront, so I think that the more your organization can commit to that process, the more they will absorb and soak up every bit of information. Don’t be afraid to give them the kitchen sink and let them work through it because I think you’ll get better ideas and better outcomes as a result.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Head of the Knowledge Management and Communication Unit at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, an 8-country intergovernmental organisation working for the environment and the wellbeing of the people of the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region. With one foot in research and one foot in development, ICIMOD is an organisation unlike any other.

For over three decades, we've worked tirelessly across the HKH to create a prosperous and environmentally secure region where people thrive. And with an incredible network of partners and peers around us, we continue to seek new solutions to the challenges that face the people and mountains of this region.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Contrast & Co.?

With the world-wide release of one of our major research reports, we realized that we needed a new look and some new branding that would help position us and our issues more centrally on the global stage. With a highly successful branding process, we then engaged with Contract & Co. for a complete make over of our website. Contrast & Co. have exceeded our expectations throughout both processes in terms of their individual attention, fabulous listening skills and superb design talent.

We felt well understood as an institution and were deeply impressed with the team's attention to detail, willingness to engage any and all questions, thorough and clear planning and implementation processes and their honed ability to keep the projects on track. The clear language, classy designs and attractive layouts have improved the look across all of our products including our website and all publications.

What were your goals for this project?

Our previous branding process was essentially a design process for our publications. Although we wanted a bit more from this branding project, we were initially unsure what it could be. We were a bit concerned about losing the gravitas of our mission if we adopted more PR-like approaches.

But Contrast & Co. helped us to see the high value in adopting a rally cry for the institution, which has served us extremely well. Beyond that, in all of the design for the new branding, it is clear that Contrast well understood our basic need to communicate gravitas while also allowing ample space for using our vast repository of visual photo assets. This is also reflected in the web design that they provided for us, which is extraordinarily flexible, adaptive to our needs and user-friendly.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Through a very rigorous international request for proposals process which was also supplemented by our use of some branding search firms and some initial exploratory interviews with prospective agencies, we eventually shortlisted 4 companies for presentation to our senior management. From the initial presentation, it was clear that Contrast & Co. had done their homework, understood much from their review of our public information, communicated very effectively in strong, simple and persuasive language and managed to do all of this with huge doses of humility and authenticity.

From the very beginning of the process, we felt that they took their relationship with us very seriously and were committed to ensure that the relationship was open, transparent and positive, just as the work was professional, on time and so well captured what we needed.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We began with an extremely effective discovery process based on an analysis of the main stakeholders for our institution. In-person sessions were coupled with online surveys and Wes and Kayla traveled all the way to Kathmandu from Maryland for the exceedingly well managed process where colleagues from across the institution participated in focus group meetings. From there, Contrast demonstrated incredible synthesizing, analytical and marketing skills in the branding presentation that they put together. The design elements they proposed were reflective of their innovation, creativity and design talent. After that highly successful project, and based on their demonstrated understanding of our mission, we invited them to apply for another contract for a total overhaul of our website.

Having won that competitive bidding process, we were again amazed at the depth of Contrast & Co.'s experience as they guided us through a step-by-step process including a massive information architecture review and revision. Having emphasized promotion of our richness of photographic assets in the branding process, they also brought that into our website design. The navigation, user-friendliness, built-in redundancy, and ease of backend management have been particularly effective for us.

What was the team composition?

Senior management worked initially and for all approvals with Dharma, and a small core team from my unit worked administratively with Carin and then operationally with Kate and mostly with Wes throughout. Kayla and Wes made a visit to us, which was an important face-to-face meeting. Since we are located half a world away from where Contrast & Co. are located, we had assumed that we would need more visits from members of the Contrast team. But the communication was so pro-active, open and the team were always immediately responsive, so even just a 3-day visit was enough to solidify an excellent working relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our branding has met with resounding success and our rally cry has been cited in global arenas such as the United Nations' High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in July 2019 and the World Meteorological Organization High Mountain Summit in October 2019 and across multiple fora in our eight member countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. Our website has seen a dramatic increase in engagement and length of time spent on the site, as well as increases in the reach of the site outside our region especially to the US, Australia and Europe. The new design for our publications have also been well received by our Board of Governors, colleagues and external audiences.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

This is one place where Contrast & Co. demonstrate honed expertise and professionalism. The project management was openly communicative, clear and extraordinarily well designed such that it all appeared effortless. Contrast colleagues took the time to introduce us to some new tools so that we could review work together and were always immediately responsive to any questions or feedback that we presented. Wes, with whom we worked very closely, has a positive and appreciating personal communicative style that helped everyone on the team to feel well appreciated and understood.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Everything about working with Contrast & Co. was impressive - from the manner in which the entire company gave attention to our project, to the effective communication, to the vast artistic and design talent, to the efficiency of all administrative work, to the friendliness of everyone on the team. We have been deeply appreciative of their bringing to bear their significant expertise to help us in our mission and we're more than happy to provide very detailed recommendation to anyone who might seek it.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We have been totally satisfied with every aspect of work with Contrast & Co.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is Altum, Inc, and we build a grant management software for the research community. We host a platform that lets research funding organizations post their funding opportunities so that people can apply for research grants.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Contrast Co.?

We’ve been in business for about 23 years and have done many different things over that course of time. Our goal in hiring them was to take a step back and develop a new brand positioning and website to go along with the new direction that we were taking the company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project kicked off with a brainstorming meeting where we really dove deep into what we cared about as a company and what was on the table for the refresh. In the end, we decided we wanted to really rethink the company from scratch, and ended up going for a whole new logo, branding, messaging, typography, and everything around our image as a company.

After that, we moved on to rebuilding the website from the ground up as well. They provided all of the design and development for that process and have helped with a variety of small projects with relation to the site since getting it off the ground. We are planning to do more branding and marketing work with them for a conference and our platform UI in the future.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a relatively small team on their end, but I know there were more people in the background working on the project. Our main point of contact was Dharma (Founder) throughout all of the work.

How did you come to work with Contrast Co.?

They were referred to us by another company that we work with who vouched for their abilities and professional approach to their work. Once we started talking through the process with the, there wasn’t really anyone else we considered working with. We felt very comfortable with them from the beginning.

How much have you invested with them?

Both projects have cost around $35,000, so we’ve spent closer to $70,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together started in August 2017 and we have collaborated on a number of projects since then.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was a huge success. We were all thoroughly impressed with the team, their work, and the creative that they were able to provide for our brand. I had somewhat medium expectations going in because I knew how hard it would be to find alignment on an entirely new identity. From the beginning, however, we were all blown away by their imagery and designs.

How did Contrast Co. perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re a relatively small company, so we haven’t implemented any specific project tracking tools to stay on top things, but we touch base on a regular basis through both calls and in-person meetings. They are always timely in sticking to the deadlines that they set and keep us very informed of how the process is going throughout.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The thing our team kept talking about was how well they were able to grasp the subtler nuances of our business and industry within such a short time. It was clear that Dharma especially, but also his whole team had taken the information we gave them and studied it. They researched other websites on their own to learn about the industry and figure out how to make us most stand out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was nothing in particular that they could have improved. We have had a good relationship with them throughout our work together.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think face-to-face meetings are one of the best things you can do for your engagement. Our offices are not that close together, but I had no problem going up to their offices to discuss the more important topics throughout the project. For the initial discovery and presentations, it really helps to have everyone on the same page.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO and co-founder of Bixal. Our company provides communications, design, and technology support to the federal government.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Contrast & Co.?

We were having trouble effectively positioning our company within the federal sector. We worked with them to clearly differentiate ourselves and make our branding reflect our values and why clients should select us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Contrast & Co. team started by gathering small groups of people within our company and doing brand research to ask critical questions about the core elements of our brand. They honed in on our key trends and values and were able to pull those together and present them back to us as a leadership team.

They did a draft iteration for the branding solutions, starting with their initial ideas and going back and solidifying them as we provided feedback. They developed the messaging first and then when that was settled built the visual branding on top of that

We also worked toward a number of other small deliverables to go along with the brand assets, including general guidelines and support for the brand rollout. They’ve helped develop the first iteration of our new website, as well as content for our social media, a presentation deck, and strategy for our newsletter announcement of the new brand.

What is the team composition?

At various times, we have worked with between 5–7 members of their team.

How did you come to work with Contrast & Co.?

We’ve known them and Dharma (Founder) for a number of years and have worked with them before, so we knew that they would be able to provide high-quality for us.

What is the status of this engagement?

The branding project with them ran from May–November 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because of the recent developments in the business world, we haven’t been able to run a lot of the launch operations that we were planning to, but our public-facing version of the website has received highly positive feedback so far.

I also wrote and shared an article on my LinkedIn profile that served as a sort of smaller brand announcement, and that has generated a lot of engagement and a positive response from everyone who has seen the new materials.

How did Contrast & Co. perform from a project management standpoint?

They do an excellent job of staying on top of all of the work and deadlines that you establish for each milestone. Carin (CEO), in particular, is extremely effective in her job. She’s a drill sergeant, but in a good way, and is always diplomatic in her approach. She’s very good at keeping everything on track, so we were always confident in their ability to hit the deadlines we established for them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to listen, dig deep, and then come up with absolutely brilliant recommendations is second to none. They were able to embody everything we were trying to convey, and I cannot express how proud I am to be able to share that work with the world. It exemplifies our diversity, our mission, and our focus on people perfectly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think they just need to keep growing, and I am excited to see them go through that process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re an undiscovered gem in a pretty big space, so whoever runs across them now and takes advantage of their brilliance is getting a truly fantastic deal.