Creative Action Advertising Agency

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the head of Marketing for Unified Lubricants company for selling and Marketing Petronas Lubricants in Saudi Arabia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Creative Action Advertising Agency, and what were your goals?

Petronas Lubricants was introduced in KSA in 2015. Despite being the Global brand, there was hardly any brand equity in the country. With global giants like Shell, Mobile, Fuchs dominating in the region, it was imperative that heavy investments were to be done in branding exercises. Henceforth any agency was required to develop creatives and installation of signage and other branding materials in various workshops.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Three companies were shortlisted based on credentials, review and pricing. Finally, Creative Action was finalized based on overall evaluation.

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

Agency was briefed on the objective. They were given branding guidelines. They were told to develop content focusing on Petronas and its partnership with Mercedes for F1 race.

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

Account Director Creative Head Field Manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had branded 104 shops through the country over the period of two years. Furthermore various POS material like display stand, mirror stands, danglers and posters were developed which were implemented in almost 300 outlets. This has created significant amount of brand trust and brand equity among the consumers.

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

Weekly updates on email and Daily communication on the WhatsApp group.

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

We have been working with Creative Action since last two years and our partnership has strengthened and prospered. They are always on the toes to give the best desired results in the stipulated time. They are always all ears and comes back with excellent and commendable deliverable.

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

They need to spread their reach in small cities and towns especially for execution of branding works (if required by the client)

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former head of operations for Quintessentially, a lifestyle management firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Action Advertising Agency?

We had our own branding requirements but didn’t have an in-house design team. We work with a lot of corporate clients and needed a creative agency to take care of all our branding and design needs. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Creative Action took care of all our internal branding, like office stationery, letterhead, and business cards. They also managed all of our design elements when engaging with our clients. Invitations, gift items, and general media items like e-vites, were all designed by Creative Action. Their team executed the actual delivery of the products as well.

What is the team composition?

We had one go-to team member, but there were 2­–4 people involved in communication, creative, or accounting, at any given time.

How did you come to work with Creative Action Advertising Agency?

I personally knew one of their employees. We’d initially reached out to quite a few agencies, and they hadn’t initially been our first choice. We were eventually impressed and moved by what they demonstrated as a genuine passion in creativity.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere between $10,000–$25,000 with them over the course of the engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in Mid-2016, and although I left the company, I believe the relationship is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were fantastic to work with. The quality of their work was outstanding. They quickly became our go-to resource for anything creative. Some of our clients even asked us to refer them to Creative Agency—for their internal design needs—since they were so impressed by their work.

How did Creative Action Advertising Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

The overall communication was excellent, and they always delivered on time. There was a lot of back and forth just to make sure everything was well understood—and that ensured that they got it right, every time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Unlike other creative agencies, who often operate as “Yesmen”—Creative Action isn’t afraid to push back on your ideas. They have a genuine passion for creativity, so they’ll make suggestive approaches for what would be best for the client. That was absolutely critical for me.

I’d also argue that they’re very competitively priced. We were so happy with the work that we blindly trusted them with their pricing, but even still, their prices were extremely fair in contrast to the market.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If I really had to nit-pick, I’d say that as a smaller-sized company, they’re a little limited on resources.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Definitely give them a shot. Also, communication is key with them.