Department 14 Marketing – Out of Business

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is 72 West Motors & RVs, and I’m the owner of the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Department 14 Marketing?

We hired them to do handle all of our marketing for the company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team takes care of all of our marketing, from running ads online and offline to helping with our site’s SEO. But beyond that, they’ve provided advice on financing, as well as inventory and internet management, really serving as a full-service agency for whatever we need.

What was the team composition?

We work directly with Lucas (CEO).

How did you come to work with Department 14 Marketing?

Lucas is from the town where we live, so I called him up to discuss the possibility of the partnership. He gave us a proposal, and we moved forward from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We give them our budget constraints, and they handle the expenditures from there. We pay a monthly fee and then specific amounts for campaigns on Facebook or Google Ads depending on what they decide is the best opportunity for growth. In total, that comes to about $60,000 a year.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together started around March 2017 and is still ongoing today.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their ability to handle every aspect of our marketing continues to impress me. He knows what our goals are as a company and how to reach them and executes in order to reach them without me having to micromanage anything.

He’s done a really good job, and we’ve seen direct increases in our business year-over-year since we started working with them. On top of that, I know that everything they do is something that will help us grow because if they haven’t tracked and proven the method, they won’t spend your money on it, which is something I really appreciate.

How did Department 14 Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

For the most part, we communicate over the phone, as well as face-to-face when we’re discussing more long-term strategies or larger decisions. He does a good job of being very responsive to all of our requests so that we always feel like a priority for him.

What did you find most impressive about them?

If I need advice about something or help that isn’t necessarily directly related to our advertising work, he is always willing to lend a hand, no matter what the issue or question is. He’s a smart guy in a lot of ways and has provided us with solutions for just about anything we’ve had to deal with over the years that we’ve been working with him.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t know what they could do differently at all. They’re willing to help with anything and always go above and beyond, so I have no complaints at all.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just give them the flexibility and resources to do what they do, and you’ll see the results.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and president of RBM Wellness. We are a wellness company that provides products for seniors in assisted living, such as skilled nursing, and we just launched a new product for home health.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Department 14 Marketing?

We hired Department 14 Marketing to help complete our branding and marketing efforts from the ground up since we had just incorporated our business. This included getting support in designing our logos and products.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Since our needs were pretty in-depth, Department 14 Marketing helped with a range of projects during our engagement. They helped create the branding and marketing items for multiple products, even though we only began with one in mind. Additionally, their team provided website design services.

They also helped create the format for information within our exercise DVDs. For this, they gave us great ideas about how to make the font readable for seniors. Together, we decided on a white background and block lettering, based on their suggestions. They provided video creation support, handling pre- and post-production processes.

For our marketing needs, their team helped us create color schemes and logos that align with our company. For example, they helped us follow good branding guidelines within our industry. They created these materials while keeping in mind what would be fitting for a professional medical company.

What is the team composition?

I interacted primarily with Lucas (Marketing Executive, Department 14 Marketing) and he had other teammates working on various parts of the project. Some individuals were either outsourced or weren't on-site.

How did you come to work with Department 14 Marketing?

We talked to a couple of different companies before selecting Department 14 Marketing. One of the companies that we considered was really slow to get back to us, so I started exploring other options online. I found Department 14 Marketing and liked that they were local to us, shared many of the same values and showed a lot of integrity. We liked that Lucas and his team were very prompt and solution-oriented.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $20,000 - $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

 The project lasted from February – December 2018, but we still occasionally reach out with questions and plan to use them again in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

 I don’t have any metrics at the moment, but we get a lot of positive feedback from facilities that use our products. They often comment on how professional our website looks and say that we look like a company that knows what it’s doing.

How did Department 14 Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

 The team was proactive about giving feedback and offering different solutions. They would send me ideas via email for my approval. Then, they would propose another solution while incorporating my feedback. I really appreciated that whenever they faced a challenge, Lucas kept us updated and told us how he was planning to address the problem. Things happen, and they always had the resources to make adjustments. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed by the personal attention they provided to us, showing that we were their priority. They were always prompt, and they tenaciously tried to create the best product for us. For example, I wanted to get the video production finished all at once and it was very taxing for them. They spent two extraordinarily long days finishing these recordings and editing all of the content, but the resulting video turned out phenomenally.

Are there any areas they could improve?

 Not that I can think of; I'm very happy with the services they provided.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You might want to plan a one-on-one interaction, but you should be willing to converse over email or text as well. Although they will schedule an in-person meeting, it is often more efficient for them to respond digitally.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Pate Family Farms is an apiary and honey bee product company. We sell honey, bees, and beeswax products. As the owner, I manage the entire apiary operation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Department 14 Marketing?

To design a easy-to-use and easy-to-manage website that would allow our business to sell our products online.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted the website to be inviting to our customers, but also extremely easy for our small staff and family members to use. We are a small operation and we work out in the bee-yards most of the spring and summer, so the website had to work well and be easy to use.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Through a direct referral.

Describe the project in detail.

To start, we filled out a question sheet that asked about our design style, what we would like the website to do, what kinds of products we sold, and a bunch of other questions. After we finished that short survey—our project manager replied via email, he scheduled an initial call and we waited for about a week for the first design drafts (they gave us two).

After that, it was a matter of tweaking some content and changes some colors to better fit our style. Everything was handled in stages. We would submit a batch of changes, the designers would complete those changes and then give us an updated preview. It was great because we could always see exactly what the site was going to look like without having to guess what a wireframe sketch was going to look like when it was finished (one of the big reasons we chose Department 14 Marketing).

What was the team composition?

We were assigned a single project manager that was in regular communication with me throughout the entire process. The project manager coordinated and changes with his team and made the entire project go very quickly and smoothly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website was a great success. We have since temporarily paused the project because we are making some changes to our operation, but the first season that we had the website up we had over $4K sales in the first month—well beyond what we expected. The backend of the website is also very easy to use and to manage orders and customer communication—which is exactly what we needed.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was great. Good communication and timely feedback.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their attention to detail and how quickly they got back to us and returned our emails or phone calls. I had previously worked with a web design firm in a different job that I had, and the communication was always a nightmare, but when we worked with Department 14 Marketing, they were excellent about giving us updates and making sure we knew exactly what the status of the project was.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The only area that I could think of improving would be cost, but as I understand it—because of the unique way that they design fully functional mockups initially—it increases the cost of producing the style of work that they produce.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner at SwingSport, LLC. We produce casual golf footwear including licensed footwear lines.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Department 14 Marketing?

We needed someone to help us with numerous projects that involved branding, development and more.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We chose Department 14 Marketing because they were convenient and cost-effective.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Department 14 Marketing has done photography, SEO work, web development, PPC, and email marketing. They’ve assisted with troubleshooting, boosting our visibility, handling branding, and augmenting our conversions.

What was the team composition?

Their strategy director has been on point on all our projects. The personal attention saves time on both ends.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don't have specific metrics but Department 14 Marketing has been instrumental in our growth and success.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. If there’s any downtime, it’s usually because they’re waiting on us.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their attention to detail is very inviting, along with being readily available for discussions and troubleshooting. We also appreciate their expertise and personal approach.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not that I can see at this point.