Contrast & Co.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

As CEO/Founder Emeritus Strathmore Music Center, we present, produce and educate our 1 million population with excellent product and service in all aspects of arts programming. We nab age a 2,000 seat Concert Hall, Education Center, Mansion, and 18 acre site.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We engaged Dharma an his talented team to brand and develop materials for a comprehensive new outreach initiative in East County, Montgomery County MD. Working with our staff, the final presentation of BLOOM stunned me with the clarity, vivid imagery and compassion we sought to convey. They listened, empathized with our intent and simply got it right.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to introduce a whole new product line of classes, shows and resources to an area of the County which had not been able to afford nor access our work on a regular basis.

So, we went to them. IT WAS IMPORTANT TO SPEAK TO THEM IN NEW WAYS. We wanted to build a new database, feedback channels and lay the foundations for long term engagement.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our VP of Marketing knew of their work and brought them in. They were much newer and smaller than now. Every staff member echoed the care, concern and responsiveness demonstrated by their leader throughout the process.

Upon my retirement, I recommended them to Five Square Development who appreciated their work while branding a major project at the Metro station next door to Strathmore.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Essentially exquisite listening, careful data collection, regular concept testing, visual graphic reviews, draft presentation with critique, final approval and rollout.

What was the team composition?

It was a small shop at the time but 3-4 people were highly active, to my knowledge. I see they have grown quickly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The brand has been refreshed, regularly tuned, promoted in all our chances of communication and wears well.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I was excellent, candid and always positive. Rarely have contractors performed so flawless with our staff.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their creativity and empathy was beyond any other thatI've seen in my 40 years career.

Are there any areas for improvement?

no

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

This project was a rebrand for a healthcare client of my PR/Marketing agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The company had a dated brand identity. Their website, collaterals, presentations, trade show presence lacked sophistication and failed to convey key attributes of the company, such as its innovation.

What were your goals for this project?

To develop a new identity, website and other executions that were distinct, modern and attractive.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I have worked with Contrast & Co. on several projects. Their work is exceptionally creative and sophisticated and choosing them for this work was an easy call.

Describe the project in detail.

Under tight deadlines, the Contrast team conducted in-person discovery session, developed and presented a stunning new brand, redesigned hundreds of presentations and collaterals.

What was the team composition?

We had one primary point of contact, but at any point, 3 or 4 Contrast team members were involved in the project based on the work being done, including the founder of the firm.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The work is extraordinary. Not only is it aesthetically beautiful, it meets (exceeds, really) several strategic goals for the company. The client is thrilled. The launch of the brand has been delayed due to unrelated developments in the client's business, but I am confident that when it is, it will be transformative. This will change how both internal and external audiences view the company.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They are professional and excellent to work with. They keep their word and deadlines. For such a large and complex project, it could not have gone more smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The creative is brilliant, sophisticated, and on point. This is a very talented team. And they never lose sight of the client's business objectives.

Are there any areas for improvement?

You do need to plan ahead with Contrast. Because they are in high demand, they cannot always start a project right away. Once they do begin work, however, I know I have their full attention until it is complete.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of global brand management for Spirent Communications, a software company. We deliver industry-leading solutions in wireless, positioning, and lifecycle assurance. Our innovative products, services, and managed solutions help customers address the testing, assurance, and automation challenges of next-generation technologies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We brought Contrast & Co. in to completely refresh our brand without fully changing our logo. They quickly moved from that project to being our agency of record for creative and campaign design. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Contrast & Co. has created a beautiful, clean logo based on our original one with an exciting new color palette, updated fonts, and design elements. They’ve also provided a clear set of brand guidelines and templates for everything from social posts to website pages. Their work has enabled us to move forward in a new digital-first marketing direction quickly and easily.

In addition to that, Contrast & Co. has worked with our web team to create new exciting designs and refresh our brand messaging.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 2–5 teammates from Contrast & Co.

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

Our new CMO brought them into the company in 2020.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in January 2020, and our engagement is ongoing and expanded. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve used Contrast & Co. for many additional projects, including product naming and launches, full integrated marketing campaigns, event themes with supporting design and assets, updates to messaging, and new expanded design templates.

Moreover, the team led by Wes has helped us achieve our goals of truly digital-first integrated campaigns for the company and beautiful websites, which has helped us increase our value as a marketing team — both visibly and with pipeline increases that could be attributed to us.

They’ve also helped enable Spirent to be such an exciting brand that two major competitors have placed bids to acquire us. We’ve now been acquired by one of the companies, and the other has received a portion of our product line as a divestiture. Every penny was worth it. 

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

Not only do they deliver on time, but they’re usually the ones who help us move forward to meet our timeframes. We communicate via virtual meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re true partners. Contrast & Co. has learned about our company’s technology, which is extremely complex, to be fully engaged. Wes is an extension of our team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not that I can think of — they’ve always delivered.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Melwood is one of the nation's leading advocates, employers, and service providers for people with disabilities and their caregivers. Melwood, Inc. is comprised of two other companies — Melwood Enterprises and Melwood Community Services — and employs more than 1,600 workers, over 900 with disabilities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We initially hired Contrast & Co. to support us in designing a strategic plan, launching a new partnership to rebrand our summer camp - Camp Accomplish - and eventually our strategic reorganization where we separated into three entities under the Melwood family of companies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For the strategic plan, it was largely design and distillation of our corporate goals. For Camp Accomplish, it was developing a new mark, logo lock-up, brand story, marketing tagline, assets, look, feel, voice, and imagery. For the strategic reorganization, it was a family of interrelated logo marks, a full brand kit, including colors, logo marks, guidance, brand messaging, messaging at a glance, typography, voice, brand shapes, and elements.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 2–3 teammates from Contrast & Co. at any given time.

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

We were referred to Contrast & Co. by a legal partner for a coalition we helped found. We ended up hiring them directly for working with Melwood. Contrast & Co. had some of the most innovative design concepts, and the way they captured our story in language, including incredible calls to action, was the best we found.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first started working together in June 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have an extraordinary new, fresh, and innovative feel to our brands. It was a huge step forward in how we speak about our work, our partnerships, and our future. In terms of feedback, this is the best we have looked in 60 years. Our assets are cleaner and more engaging, donors are more interested in our strategic plans and annual reports, our brand is more consistently expressed, our websites have more than tripled in views, and social media continues to grow 10% month on month.

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

Contrast & Co. was extremely responsive and kept us on task. We never felt rushed and never fell behind. They had really great project management skills. We primarily communicate via email and weekly check-ins.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Dharma (Founder & Creative Director) is a language genius. The way he distills and translates things from discovery to the first draft is frankly extraordinary. Taryn (Senior Designer) has an incredible eye for detail and brilliantly incorporates our feedback.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. We loved working with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marcom lead of an it services company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We support the federal government with IT solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Contrast & Co. to accomplish?

• website development

SOLUTION

How did you find Contrast & Co.?

• Online Search

Why did you select Contrast & Co. over others?

• Great culture fit

How many teammates from Contrast & Co. were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Started with research of understanding our current (old) site and our competitors, next came the creation of our desired outcome for the new site through information architecture andUX wireframing. Once that was established and tested we moved into design comps and layouts and them it was the job to bring it all to life through front-end development, content integration and content creation and migration. Once it was all created the integrated we moved into testing and then finally launch.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Regular meetings, email updates and then the dev sites

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

For the most part- in the middle of the agreement there was some delayed responses but more towards the end the team was very responsive and helpful.

What was your primary form of communication with Contrast & Co.?

• Virtual Meeting

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

The end result was great. Very helpful during launch and thereafter

Are there any areas for improvement or something Contrast & Co. could have done differently?

I would've loved to see more creativity in regards to images, more focus on search and AI elements

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Principle Broker of a real estate company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Real Estate Brokerage

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Contrast & Co. to accomplish?

• Brand

SOLUTION

How did you find Contrast & Co.?

Referral

Why did you select Contrast & Co. over others?

Taryn

How many teammates from Contrast & Co. were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Provider of real estate related services

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Complete brand and website

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

Very responsive and on time

What was your primary form of communication with Contrast & Co.?

• In-Person Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their creativity was impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Contrast & Co. could have done differently?

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a director at Rissman Law

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Law firm

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Contrast & Co. to accomplish?

• Rebrand our firm

SOLUTION

How did you find Contrast & Co.?

Referral

Why did you select Contrast & Co. over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Contrast & Co. were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Contrast helped us rebrand our entire website experience and logo, as well as provided us with marketing materials for conferences, thought leadership articles and social media marketing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I am not familiar with that.

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

They were incredibly responsive and went above and beyond what we asked of them.

What was your primary form of communication with Contrast & Co.?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They were super easy to work with and they just get us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Contrast & Co. could have done differently?

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

When joining Q'Apel Medical, Inc. as the Vice President of Commercialization my first goal was to create a more cohesive brand experience.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Q'Apel was a newly started company with only one product at the time I joined. We had numerous challenges with the existing messages and brand experience. It was quite disjointed and did not clearly define us as a company nor effectively communicate the features and benefits of our products.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We needed a way to blend the old with a new brand experience and I chose Contrast & Co because I had worked with them on another project. C&C is a top-notch agency that can tackle any challenge in an effective and magical way. My background in graphic design, advertising and photography makes me more critical of amazing design work, and C&C is a standout! Just like there name, they will find a way to create a brand experience like no other agency I have seen!

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

C&C has an amazing team of people who make the process seamless for any organization no matter how large or small. They are so detail oriented and extremely organized. They deliver on time and exceed expectations on every project!

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

I worked with their project manager, their web designers, their creative team, billing team, web hosting team and print house.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Q'Apel Medical went from an unknown Medical Device company to catching the attention of an entire industry in a short amount of time.

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

Their project managers are very organized and execute each project with precision and efficiency. We would have weekly meetings on existing projects and if new needs arose, they would weave them into our timelines to ensure all deadlines were made.

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

They are magical! No one transforms brands like C&C!

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

NO. Hands down the best in every way!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a digital creative agency, and I am the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

They were responsible for the design and brand elements for this client.

SOLUTION

How did you select Contrast & Co. and what were the deciding factors?

We selected them based on a referral and their amazing portfolio.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Contrast really lead this whole project, providing wireframes, prototypes, design and implementation oversite.

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

The creative director, and lead designer were daily contact for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The site was a tremendous success on a national level, attracting kids to sign-up from across the country.

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

Contrast created an open-ended communication channel, backed-by a clear schedule with detailed deliverables and expectations.

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

Far and away their most impressive quality was their level of creativity and imagination.

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

I really can't think of any, that's why I wanted to do this review, they deserve all the credit in the world for the work they do.