Evo Strategies

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was a co-founder and former president of a technology integrator company for 15 years. We resold data center infrastructure technology products and services, serving large companies from various sectors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Evo Strategies?

It's very difficult to differentiate yourself in the industry of IT services; there are a lot of competitors in every region of the globe. We needed tactical help with our website redesign and marketing materials (e.g., brochures) as well as a strategy to redefine our brand at a higher level.

To highlight some very innovative and forward thinking offerings that we had created, we wanted to take advantage from a public facing perspective (i.e., a communications and PR perspective). Those decisions needed to be reflected in the brand, the materials, and the look and feel of our site in order to get more momentum in the industry.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Evo Strategies redesigned our website, which provided enhancements for our promotional and educational/informational materials. They did an overall brand architecture redesign, which was a new concept for us. Having a new brand design from which everything else trickled down from was the first step in the process.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two to three people on a regular basis. One person led the high-level strategy and effort and the other was more plugged into the tactical and creative side of how that vision manifested itself in the materials that we were going to work on.

How did you come to work with Evo Strategies?

An employee within our company recommended Evo, so we gave them a call to learn about their offerings and it took off from there.

How much have you invested with them?

Around $100,000 in total

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from around December, 2015 through October, 2016. It was about a 10 to 12-month project from start to finish.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When you're implementing a brand design or a particular change to anything creative at a big company, everyone has an opinion on how things should look and feel. Generally, the feedback on everything was very positive.

There was a direct impact on the business that was pretty measurable in terms of driving attendance at events or driving traffic to the website. That actually turned into interactions with certain groups of the company, which led to more business transactions.

There's also an indirect aspect of economies of scale that we gained by having a very clearly defined brand architecture. It made it much easier to create more materials iterating on the website. We could create new deliverables on the spot for things that would have previously required a very reactive and unique marketing effort.

Having that brand architecture had an indirect but very impactful effect. After we had the brand and messaging well-defined, it was much easier to grow and scale the business into a number of different directions and quickly anticipate marketing, PR or communications types of efforts that we would need to attach to it.

How did Evo Strategies perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very on top of things did a great job. If anything, we were the ones that might have caused delays, since it was such a new type of project for us. We were used to doing things a certain way, so embarking on this project required us to be very mindful about how we gathered feedback from the employees on what the brand should be and how we shared it with Evo.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In hindsight, I was very impressed by their ability to be patient through the process with the company that, for over a decade, had been doing things a certain way and moving extremely fast in every aspect of the business. Historically, our company didn't have a lot of patience for any type of process or project that would slow us down. They understood that and ushered us through the process accordingly, educating us along the way of the importance of taking the time to do certain things as opposed to rushing through them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a family-owned mortgage fund LLC that offers short-term real estate bridge loans to commercial entities. Most of our loans are for property renovations to increase revenue or prepare for sale. We incorporated 10 years ago.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Evo Strategies?

Our industry has a lot of poorly regulated companies, often with high fees or unethical management. We wanted to put ourselves forward in the marketplace as a professional, reliable company that had been thoroughly evaluated. We needed a website and brochures that gave that identity a substantive feel.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They set the concepts and designs of the site and our collateral materials, making sure the results are high quality. All of the mechanics and electronics within the website come from them. They built up our image as a responsibly conservative company.

What is the team composition?

Our principal contact is Stephen Fry [President, Evo Strategies]. He takes full responsibility of his team, and handles assignments on his side.

How did you come to work with Evo Strategies?

We worked with Stephen before, when he was with another company. We searched through local investment and mortgage banking companies for sites we liked. Most of them list who held the design copyright, so we had an easy time contacting some of those design firms. When Stephen formed Evo, we knew we wanted to keep working with him, so we became his client there.

How much have you invested with them?

Our investment is in the $10,000–$50,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started work in April 2014, and finished the initial build in July 2014. We still work together on other projects, and have a 10-year relationship with Stephen.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our online image was very much a result of Stephen’s effort. We funded our first loan in September 2007, and a year later, the market collapsed. A number of companies, large and small, went under during the Great Recession, but we’ve thrived. In recent years, we’ve grown ten-times larger, partially because of our own competence, but also because of the online identity Stephen helped us build.

How did Evo Strategies perform from a project management standpoint?

They take responsibility for timelines, and are proactive when we aren’t keeping up our end. If they need something from us, they let us know. Our business doesn’t operate on a linear schedule from day to day, and sometimes we get distracted by sudden projects. They will pull us back in to make sure we stay on target. We never have to keep them on task, and they take a leadership role.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been directly responsible for a large portion of our growth. Stephen is more than just an artist or web designer. He takes responsibility for our business results, and genuinely wants us to succeed. That is a facet of value he brings beyond his professional skills and abilities.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m COO of Watson Land Co., an industrial building developer, owner, and manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Evo Strategies?

The challenge centered around reframing the company’s image. As a result of having a 100-year legacy, we have a lot to offer and to talk about, but we needed a brand refresh. In doing that, we wanted to put ourselves in a different light relative to the marketplace, so that people would understand our history and legacy as well as our progressive and forward-thinking approach.

One of the main drivers for us was logo design. With that, came everything else: stationery, business cards, the website, and promotional material. We needed to move that forward, embracing the technology of today, including videos and other content.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Evo has taken on several projects. They helped us design the template for a package of promotional videos, including customer education about bringing innovation to industrial buildings and brand awareness.

We did a website redesign around seven years ago and have made a few changes since then. As a result, Evo’s work on the site was significant, consisting of a full brand repackaging in terms of how the website had been put together; the graphics it used; the backend interface; and mobile responsiveness. Yet another rebranding focused on our brochures and collateral, and this extended into the quarterly reports we send out to shareholders.

Evo also manages our social media across multiple platforms and has developed e-blast templates for us as well.

What is the team composition?

We have worked with 5–6 people from their team on a regular basis, ranging from the public relations and press release side of things to graphic design for web and social media (the latter being a big push for us in the last year-and-a-half).

How did you come to work with Evo Strategies?

I had worked on graphics and design with their principal when he was at another company. We had a good relationship. After he started Evo, we met several times to help me understand their vision, scope, and capabilities.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2012 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The work they’ve done has been transformative for our company. It helped us bring a fresh, new, more modern image to the marketplace. Creating it was one thing, but getting it out there and creating public awareness was another.

The reaction we’ve gotten has been very positive, with several of our competitors asking who we use. Among our competitive peers, we’re ranked as one of the top producers of advertising collateral.

How did Evo Strategies perform from a project management standpoint?

They take full responsibility for project timelines, which is particularly beneficial for a company like ours. They understand timelines and are good at keeping key people involved. Depending on the project, the work may pass through several departments in our company. Evo keeps track of calendars and makes sure that deadlines are being met on time. They’ve always been spot-on.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re large in terms of owned assets, but small in terms of employees and stretched thin, so we all have to wear multiple hats. What’s wonderful about Evo is that they can act as an in-house public relations team despite being an outside vendor.

They’re invested in the business and passionate about what they create. There’s a pride of ownership and they’re not going to put their name on something until whatever it is they’re working on is done correctly. This has made a big difference in the projects we’ve worked on. They’re wonderful people, and I consider them one of our best business allies.

Are there any areas they could improve?

None come to mind. They have an incredible scale and have helped us across several spectrums.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm co-founder of a mattress manufacturer. We have a manufacturing plant and sell through private outlets as well as 9 stores across Southern California.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Evo Strategies?

Our biggest challenge was getting more customers through the door. We were doing marketing in-house, with help from another company, and weren’t getting results.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Evo Strategies helped us with all aspects of marketing including pay-per-click ads via social media plus newspaper and radio ads. They put in place a marketing architecture book which is phenomenal. They spent a couple of months researching who we are, our target customers and our messaging in order to develop it. I’ve been doing this for 30 years and it’s the first time I’ve had a book like that. We continue to use it to this day.

What is the team composition?

It depends on the project. There can be 6-7 people working on larger projects like a webpage or 2-3 if it’s a smaller project, like a newspaper ad. We probably average 3 people at all times working on our account.

How did you come to work with Evo Strategies?

I met the founder when he was at another company and I always trusted him. I went to him when I found out he went out on his own. We had three other firms we were interviewing and went with Evo Strategies.

What is the status of this engagement?

We developed the architecture book from April to May of last year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They have helped us be uniform on our ads across all mediums and keep everything moving in the same direction. Besides the brand architecture, they visited our stores so they could see how they differed from each other. Their outside view helped us understand the variance across stores. We’re still adjusting, trying to increase uniformity in sometimes subtle ways that make a difference for the consumer.

They’ve helped us get more people through the doors. Customer traffic has increased. Revenues and average spending once customers are in the door are both up.

How did Evo Strategies perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been very timeline in meeting deadlines. We move deadlines if we add something on.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I enjoy working with them. It's straightforward. There's nothing hidden so it's easy to understand and trust them. The trust factor is high.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Keep records to show what you've done in the past so they don’t try something that you’ve already tried. Be sure to test and measure. Start small and when you find what works keeping running with it.