Creative2

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of VR Creative Concepts, which is a full-service digital agency. We produce virtual and augmented reality content, websites, mobile apps, and videos.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative2?

They help us with all of our web development projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Projects vary based on our client’s needs, so we’ll initially meet with Creative2 to exchange feedback on the creative elements of each project. After that, our in-house team puts together the designs and turns those over to Creative2, who build and launch the sites for us.

Our most frequent projects involve highly customized WordPress sites, but we also get projects that require Drupal, Joomla, or even .NET. One of the major things our clients want is sites that give them total control over backend content management, and then we’ll also get requests for site enhancement or supplemental mobile apps. Creative2 handles every aspect of the technical development, from wireframing to writing documentation for clients. They take the lead on everything, including interfacing with the client or the client’s contractors about technical elements of the project.

What is the team composition?

I have three main contacts: our project manager, a technical lead, and a developer. Occasionally they've also brought in one or two extra people.

How did you come to work with Creative2?

While at a previous job, I hired them based on a referral. My former employer had gone through around 10 development companies and we were struggling to find someone who was a good fit. I had a lot of high-profile clients at the time, so we needed developers who could deliver excellent work very quickly. Creative2 successfully managed to stay on time and on budget despite those challenges, so when I moved on to VR Creative, I wanted to keep working with them.

How much have you invested with them?

At this point, we've probably spent at least $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since 2014 and that relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When I first started my business, we were handling maybe three clients at a time, and we’ve been able to scale up to 35 without any problems at all. Creative2 has never hesitated or suggested that they can’t keep up with our workload. They’ve also done a great job of building sites that even non-technical clients can use effectively with very little need for additional site maintenance or follow-up.

They’re also very adaptable and will respond immediately to any client emergencies that come up, even if they’re in the middle of something else. I’ve worked with many development teams over the years and that’s very rare to see, but it’s been vital toward keeping our clients satisfied.

How did Creative2 perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re highly communicative, reliable, and always on point with their budgets. They’re also very flexible if a client changes the demands of a project and adds more features that will extend the workload. I’ve worked with them for so long that it’s a very comfortable partnership.

In terms of our day-to-day routines, their team works remotely from a variety of different locations, so we only meet in person a few times a year. We’ve had specific cases where a client has needed us all together onsite, but we mostly keep in touch via phone and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

When I noticed that they had a profile here on Clutch, I volunteered to leave a review because I’ve had such a great experience working with them. Out of all the web development companies I've ever worked with, they're the best. They never make me feel like they’re too busy with their other clients, even though I know they have many other demanding projects. They respond immediately and adapt to whatever our needs are.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They're fantastic to work with, so give them a try.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a partner at EFB Advocacy, a lobbying and strategic communications shop located in Washington D.C. There are three of us in the partnership who all work together at another firm here.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative2?

We needed help with multiple development projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve had an ongoing, successful, and productive relationship with Creative2 for nine years.

We’ve had a number of really big successes, including a billion-dollar defense acquisition contract, advocacy style campaigns, and a lot of thought leadership. All of these have been developed and ran with Creative2’s strategies. In addition to all of the client work, we’ve had them service us with company websites and social media management for our own personal thought leadership, which includes a blog and a podcast.

They developed a website that acted as a vehicle for a propeller-based, non-jet attack aircraft that a Brazilian aircraft manufacturer was offering to the United States Air Force. It represented their first foray in selling to the U.S. defense base. They had some very steep competition, so we developed the strategy and the tactics.

Timing was critical in getting it up and moving forward in terms of engagement with Grassroots, as well as optimizing it with news and keeping clear and thorough track of visitor analytics. Creative2 was responsible for all of these tasks. They turned it around in three weeks, which was a remarkable accomplishment. This is when we really came to know their strengths.

We’ve had them create a custom website for the RATE (Reforming America’s Taxes Equitably) Coalition. That website upgrade was an enormous success and something that some of the member companies emulated in their own advocacy work. We wouldn’t have been able to do that without the partnership and creativity of Creative2.

They brought new elements to the websites like moving video backgrounds and multi-vectored Grassroots advocacy that third party partners (e.g., VoterVoice) are capable of doing. They integrated those elements to the site to allow individual coalition members to utilize them within their networks. These are dark pages on the websites that aren’t part of the navigation. Creative2 has led us into all kinds of innovations through working with third parties and their own designers.

The Science Coalition, for example, is a group of 60 or more research universities around the nation that needed more than just a regular web connection. Creative2 helped tell their stories through video integration, podcasts, and audience interaction.

What is the team composition?

Shawn (Managing Partner, Creative2) and John (Managing Partner, Creative2) are our primary points of contact. We’ve become very familiar with other team members over the years as well, including their digital marketer and interface designer. We end up working collaboratively with 5–6 different people through the course of a given project.

How did you come to work with Creative2?

I had a colleague with a similar background who knew Shawn. It only took one meeting with him and his partner to see that they not only knew the value of doing a good job, but also of hearing what the client wanted and doing it on a really deadline-based schedule.

The technology and elements of web design were totally different nine years ago than what they are now. Creative2 has been with us or in front of us the whole way. We started working with them because they were great people who totally understood what we were trying to do. They kept delivering and showing us new and better ways to do things.

We’ve grown in the way they’ve grown and they’ve become our friends. They’re people we turn to for advice on things before we even pitch ideas to them. We work with them at early periods to prospect the work and determine if its something we could do well together.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $100,000–$150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2009 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve picked up business that’s probably two or three times what we’ve paid them just by affiliating with us and working directly with our clients. Our clients have developed an ongoing, unilateral relationship with Creative2, which means they’ve generated new clients of their own who we either share or who they continue to service after we’re done. It’s just another thing that shows us we made the right choice in investing in them for our services. It’s a forced multiplier for us and the client.

Our work with them is best quantified by how much revenue we’ve been able to bring is through partnering with such a competent and quality provider. We’re a retainer-based company that’s bringing in Creative2 for a lot of our own efforts. We find, in many cases, that the work we provide with them leads to even more product requests.

We automatically go to them when a client is looking to improve or differentiate from their first concept. They help us propitiate more billable hours and work than any other partner we have. There’s so much of what we do as a strategic communications and lobbying shop that requires Creative2’s work. Having a partner we can turn to that’s trusted, a genuine part of the team, and able to deliver consistently are the metrics that prove their value.

They help us improve our business, make money, and satisfy clients. We’re growing because of their help and our clients are paying us more because of the way their involvement increases our delivery.

How did Creative2 perform from a project management standpoint?

The strength of their communication workflow is the greatest part about working with them. We can have a conversation, an in-person meeting, or email back and forth with them about different tasks or questions on how we might accomplish something. They’re bringing their whole team into it. It’s seamless.

We produce a biannual report for a group in D.C. that we try to do as a sort-of digital play rather than a physically printed book. We do the content, but Creative2 has really given us great design concepts for the layout and ways to make it more interactive. They really drew us in and gave us wireframe constructs for what they thought might work. They also handled a lot of the graphic design and user interface work on their end while keeping us informed on a daily basis.

They are really quick to turn proofs around to help integrate feedback from our client partners when we brought in the content we produced from other vendors or our own shop. They are often in front of the deadline schedule they give us. These are all reasons why we continue to work with them. They’ve provided good feedback on how we can do a better job with social media in order to market content. They’ve added great value to our company.

They provide suggestions on how we can do better jobs on things that aren’t even in their scope of work. That’s a big win for us to have someone who cares enough about the total project and not just their end of it. People should know that this is the type of group Creative2 is when they get involved with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Shawn and John are outstanding digital professionals. They assimilate really complex and time-sensitive requirements from clients and translate them into something that’s visually stimulating and effective as a web product. This is what keeps us working with them.

They’ve become our friends. Their company has a great culture. They’re honest, creative, and vibrant people who are engaged in all kinds of intellectual pursuits beyond just digital ones. That’s one of the things that makes them very valuable to us as both friends and collaborators.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are always improving. They’ve already taken us to some new stuff this year. They’re leaders and they don’t just make suggestions. They show ways that they’re trying new things and how they’re working. They’ve also shown us why we can’t replicate things we did in the past because of different standards or new techniques. They help us improve. They’re innovating and helping us do the same.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You have to be engaged and desirous of finding a way to succeed in order to figure out when something isn’t working. Creative2 is a real partner for success, but they’re not going to do your work for you. They match the energy you put into the project. They’re not going to be in your face every day if that’s not what you want. They can be in the background while servicing your needs.

At the same time, if you give them more, they’re going to give you more back. If you engage them holistically in the project that they’re working on, you’re going to be able to see a lot more return on your investment. They’re not that expensive and they know that. If you think you’re only going to get what you pay for with Creative2, you’re wrong. You’re going to get what you put in. The more you work with them, the more they will help you and lead you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of MtoM Consulting. We’re a boutique digital marketing agency that specializes in social media, digital content creation, and influencer marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative2?

We’d done small website projects in-house for WordPress in the past, but didn’t have full development capabilities. We were looking for a partner who could develop websites at a much greater scale than what we could do, as well as work on a variety of clients’ website projects with us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We built them into a number of proposals where we had clients who needed completely new WordPress websites with e-commerce capabilities. One has full e-commerce capabilities, and the other has an online registration and checkout process. The latter is also integrated with an external registration process for other locations.

They did the initial design, graphics, logos, branding, wireframes, building of the site’s capability, and actual implementation. There have been times when we’ve provided them with branding elements, but they always figure out a creative way to put them into the site. They’ve done the bulk of the design and functional work.

We assisted a bit with the marketing and design components based on content we were creating for the client (e.g., photography and video assets). We also helped them with client liaison. Creative2 really managed that project from end-to-end.

They’ve since brought us in for marketing services with various clients they already do website work for. We currently work in both relationships and bring each other in on a partnership level.

What is the team composition?

I’ve interacted with 4–5 members of their team. I work with their managing partners most regularly, but one of their lead designers will sometimes send questions over. Our team members interact on a regular basis.

How did you come to work with Creative2?

Someone who knew one of their managing partners referred me to them. We’d either done everything internally up until that point or had a single freelancer who couldn’t keep up with the work or deliver the capabilities we needed. It was a critical time where we really needed a partner, and Creative2 ended up being exactly that.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve invested over $20,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in April of 2017, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our clients are thrilled because both came with minimal site capability and ended up with more momentous improvements than they ever could have expected. Creative2 really took our end clients to great places.

The capabilities are huge—one was particularly complicated because we needed to have on-site registration along with external ones. Making this a really seamless experience was critical.

Creative2 has added additional capability requests over time which have also been great. They’ve been good at making sure they feature all the social media content, information, and news that we’re generating. There have been a lot of cool updates.

The other website was for an e-commerce business that had originally come to us to handle marketing. Their website was so bad that I couldn’t take their marketing dollars. They had to improve the shopping experience first in order for us to have any kind of effect in the long run. This was a big investment for them that has been really impactful for their entire business.

How did Creative2 perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very proactive. Their project management and communication are fantastic. We really admire and take direction from people who do these things well. They’re clear on what deliverables we owe them and they ask for input when appropriate.

Everything is custom, so there are plenty of decisions to make. They’re also really good about balancing all opinions on what everyone thinks will work best. They’re really good at either working with the client to make sure they understand how to keep the site updated or putting them on a maintenance plan.

One project had an extremely fast turnaround. The client offered to pay everything upfront if Creative2 could complete it within six weeks. This was extremely aggressive for a full website development, but they met the deadline with no problem.

We use Slack, phone, and email. We also occasionally meet in person at our office with the client.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Many developers I’ve worked with in the past have either charged an exorbitant amount for a customized product or produced a templated one. Creative2 offers a balance between the two.

Their work is highly customized, but at a price that is accessible to a lot of businesses. It’s a hard thing to find, which is why we’ve made sure that they’re a priority partner for us.

Creative2 has had clients come to them and say that they only trust working with them, which is a real testament to their services. It takes a lot of trust to hand someone a client in the hopes that they will take good care of them and accomplish what they want. They’ve been fantastic on this level for every project we’ve worked on.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The experiences have been so good that I can’t think of anything negative. Our clients haven’t had anything negative to say, either.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them guidance about what you’re looking for, but be open minded to their suggestions on what will or won’t work from a business perspective. This goes for both online conversions or website optimizations.

They’re really good at scoping projects immediately, and I’ve found that many clients just want the development team to magically know what they want. I always tell my clients to be patient and go through the process with an open mind because they’ll receive a better end product. Creative2 is really good at asking a lot of questions so they can produce the right product the first time around.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the President of Concept Marketing, a print management firm that handles large-scale printing for associations and non-profits. Our main business is print buy and print brokering for these associations, but we also do websites and online portals for clients. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative2?

We needed a digital partner to assist with our clients’ needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Creative2 helps our clients with custom backend needs, not just for websites, but in-depth portals and apps. For example, one of our clients, The American School Counselor Association [ASCA], has an annual conference, and Creative2 built a custom app for it. ASCA has different contests for school counselor and principal of the year that they hold throughout the country, and Creative2 built a web-based system to upload videos and resumes. That was all done manually before, which took weeks, but it only takes hours with this new system.

Creative2 built the app in less than four months, and it included a list of advertisers and attendees for the conference. It had all the sessions, and, even if you aren’t physically at the conference, you can do remote classes. Creative2 does the development, the design work, ongoing maintenance and updates, and hosting. We’ve improved upon the app each year, and we’ve also sold it to other similar associations in the education and medical fields.

Besides that app, Creative2 did my website and a few of our associations’ websites. They use different platforms, depending on what the client or association has done historically. They develop the apps for both iOS and Android, but the main projects are the portals.

What is the team composition?

There are typically 3–4 people, with one lead on a project. For ASCA, it’s usually John [Managing Partner, Creative2].

How did you come to work with Creative2?

I went to college with Shawn [Managing Partner, Creative2], and we kept in touch throughout the years. When I had a client with digital needs, I thought of him. I did look into a few other companies to do a price comparison, but I’ve been happy with Creative2.

How much have you invested with them?

The app for ASCA was around $40,000, but they own that moving forward. We charge them for updates, but that’s pretty minor.

For the maintenance and all our outstanding clients, we spend about $150,000–$200,000 a year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2008, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Working with Creative2 has helped us solidify clients because we can offer all services to address their digital and online marketing needs. Clients have never complained or been upset about Creative2’s work, and I put my name on everything they do, which shows how much I trust them. Everyone has been extremely happy, and they even communicate directly with the client.

Creative2 provides onsite help at the ASCA conference, which adds a lot of value. If people have a problem downloading the app, Erik [Interactive Developer, Creative2] helps them through it. Creative2 is my default partner when it comes to anything in their field of work.

How did Creative2 perform from a project management standpoint?

They set realistic goals, and they’re upfront about what the project timeline will be. We’ll have some clients that are either behind or have aggressive timelines, and Creative2 doesn’t want to be in a position where they can’t make a deadline. They set different markers that we need to hit, and we’ve never had a project that didn’t get finished when it was supposed to. For communication, we mainly use phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a great group of people who are friendly, easy to work with, and accommodating. They know changes happen during projects, and we haven’t had any surprises with them.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Do an in-person meeting with them to map out the problem and what you want them to do. Be clear about the goal, budget, and timeline. I usually sit in on the first few meetings with my clients and then let Creative2 take the lead.