Gershoni Creative Agency

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m VP of marketing at Antech. We’re a veterinary diagnostics and imaging company, meaning that we help veterinarians test and evaluate radiographs and diagnostics for pets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gershoni Creative Agency?

Our brand was decades-old, so our visual identity and verbal messaging had become outdated. We brought Gershoni on to help us refine our identity and messaging so that we could convey ourselves more effectively.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re a very lean marketing organization, and I was brought on to assist in its growth. While I initially brought Gershoni on for just branding and messaging, they ended up taking on various projects. The scope of their services expanded as we understood what they could offer us.

They designed a new Craft website along with some critical landing pages. They also created collateral to distribute at our trade-shows. They’ve managed our content and ensured consistent messaging across all channels. They even provided training, so that we can maintain the website without their oversight.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 8–10 people, including both the owners who have been highly involved in all of our projects.

How did you come to work with Gershoni Creative Agency?

They were a recommendation by a friend who’d worked in marketing at a different company. We underwent a bidding process, and we liked that they were incredibly passionate about the veterinary industry and animal health.

That said, they’d never worked with a veterinary organization before, so they were able to provide us an absolutely fresh perspective uninfluenced by the work of competitors.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere under $1,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement began in April 2019, and the project is ongoing. We have a few important trade shows during the year, and we phased our website launch in accordance with that schedule.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Qualitatively, they’ve hugely impacted and precipitated our success. We’ve gotten stellar feedback from both customers and sales reps. The website’s easy to navigate and the brand is updated and modern. It conveys how we’re a friendly, open, and supportive company. The veterinary industry is predominantly comprised of young females at the moment, so we were able to embrace and reflect that demographic in our brand.

How did Gershoni Creative Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re outstanding on this front. They’re incredible communicators, and very, very organized. We had an assigned project manager who’s been an absolute pleasure to work with. They’ve been incredibly flexible in adapting to our dynamics and needs. We used Basecamp as an online repository to share all of our documents.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They embody the perfect balance of creativity and project management. They’re an incredibly professional and well-run organization that’s small enough to be flexible with my needs. Yet, they’ve brought a creative powerhouse to the table. It’s rare to find an agency that’s skilled in both fronts.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Knowing that we’re a small organization, they fought for us and were willing to jump on board for whatever we asked of them. That being said, it wasn't clear whether their technical activities were sourced internally, particularly in regard to web development. They did a fabulous job, although I still think their branding and creativity are where they truly shine.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust their process, and give them the time to do what they need to do. They have a very good process which will get you exactly where you need to be. You’ll have plenty of time to review things.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing for a property development and management company. We have 10 million square feet of commercial office space in the San Ramon area as well as 300,000 square feet in the retail/lifestyle center space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gershoni Creative Agency?

We approached Gershoni Creative Agency to tackle two major branding challenges. The first was that we were often perceived as being far away from the San Francisco Bay Area when we actually weren’t. The second involved reframing our positioning from an outdated business park into something more cutting-edge. 

These were big asks because it’s hard to change the public’s perception of a location when they’ve been established for decades. But, we wanted to better reflect our current space and suite of offerings that we provided.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Gershoni Creative Agency focuses on revitalizing our brand communication to match our actual space and services. They’ve laid out a strategic document to shift our company’s position and are currently following through with that.

One of the first projects they completed was a presentation deck in Google Slides. Rather than doing something flashy, we focused on getting the content and imagery down. They crafted an updated and more relevant narrative for our brand to entice prospects.

As for our services, we had so many amenities baked into our locations that it was hard to package them all in a comprehensible way. The presentation addressed that, again, by focusing on themes that would resonate most with our prospects so that we could use it as a sales pitch.

This was the first step toward our greater goal of creating video content and revamping our website. In our next phase, we’ll work with Gershoni Creative Agency to create a series of six lifestyle videos featuring our tenants and incorporate it into our social channels. The website will follow soon after.

What is the team composition? 

Amy and Gil (Co-Founders) are my immediate contacts along with our main point person. There are also two other support members. 

How did you come to work with Gershoni Creative Agency?

One of my former colleagues had worked with Gershoni Creative Agency on another property development project and recommended them. I sent them an RFP along with a dozen other agencies and interviewed three. Gershoni Creative Agency stood out as the best fit for us.

How much have you invested with them?

With the plan and pitch deck, we’ve probably invested over $250,000 so far. Our initial scope would’ve put us upward of $400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October 2019 but had to pause some of the work planned for this year due to the pandemic.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The presentation is now a living document that functions as one of our best performing sales tools. To date, we’ve secured a significant number of renewals, including three large tenants and two confirmations toward new prospects.

Depending on the tenant, we’ll swap out some of the imagery and content, but it’s the narrative that’s continued to resonate with people, even during the pandemic. Gershoni Creative Agency has managed to strike a chord with our target audience in a way that we’ve been missing for years.

How did Gershoni Creative Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

I can’t say enough about their project management skills — I’ve never worked with a team rivaled them. They use an online platform that tracks all of our communications and schedules, so we always know what the next step is and when to expect the next deliverable. If anything shifts, our account manager lets us know right away.

I truly call them a partner because they understand what they’re doing. Other external agencies we’ve worked with have hounded us to a point where we just couldn’t get back to them. They didn’t grasp that we had other priorities. But that’s not the case with Gershoni Creative Agency. They know how to be flexible with us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

When they were first pitching the partnership to us, Gil got right to the bottom line and said that they would get things done. That statement really stood out to us because we needed a team that could step in and deliver.

Our previous agency was high-priced and glamorous when it came to the creative side, but they couldn’t grasp the intricacies of our business. We ended up having a hard time completing things with them. 

In contrast, Gershoni Creative Agency made sure that their promises came to fruition. It never felt like we were sold something that wasn’t quite as honest as we’d hoped. We took them for their word, and they’ve delivered on every single one.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would hate for someone looking to use Gershoni Creative Agency to be scared off by the sticker shock. You just need to take the time to chat with them and understand their process so that you can see how their cost relates to the final outcome.

Unfortunately, due to our negative experience with our past agency, it was a bit difficult to get our CEO to justify the investment for our strategic platform and pitch deck. However, we ended up having a follow-up meeting with Gershoni Creative Agency where they were able to articulate how they could deliver our results. That helped us get our stakeholders onboard.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I lead Global Partner Marketing for Spotify, working across massive brand and integration partners to help drive engagement and brand awareness for our audio platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Gershoni Creative Agency?

We were struggling with two partnership challenges: one, actually locking in and activating a new partnership with a huge, worldwide entertainment brand, and two, figuring out how to market an existing product integration partnership with one of the world's largest decentralized, complex consumer electronics organization. We brought Gershoni on board to help with every aspect of these flows. We needed help with strategy, ideation, project management, partner management, creative and even copy.

What were your goals for this project?

We were looking to drive existing listener engagement, bring on new listeners, massively increase our earned media around partnerships and successfully incentivize those same partners to give Spotify loud, measurable exposure through their own owned and media channels.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We've worked with other strategy vendors in the past, but Gershoni stood out in their existing work as an agency that could tackle the multi-faceted needs of my small team. We needed one shop that could handle the strategy as well as the design, creative, and polished partner management.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The Gershoni team is almost an extension of my team. They do some of literally everything:

• Setting up, scoping and leading massive cross-functional meetings with our partners
• Strategizing with teams across Spotify for partnership proposals
• Developing and designing partnership proposals, suitable for sharing at worldwide meetings of some of the largest possible brands
• Helping us to think through, solidify and creative beautiful internal strategy proposals
• Designing experiential activations
• Designing web activations
• Producing social creative
• Managing other agencies on our behalf and on behalf of our partners

What was the team composition?

We work closely with both founders, the Design team and the Account team. As a smaller shop, it feels like we know the Gershoni family.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Gershoni helped us to land a brand partnership with the largest entertainment company in the world - full stop. In service of each and every one of our goals for the project, we're full steam ahead on the next phase of this partnership. From the first planning workshops to the actual launch assets, we simply could not have done it without them.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

My best example - the account managers that work with us are trusted to manage meetings and represent us with our most strategic partners in our absence, and are subsequently complimented by those partners. It's full-on magical.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I think Gershoni's super power is exactly the thing we needed from them -- they can simply do it all. They're small enough to be nimble but staffed to be full-service. The nature of partnerships is ever-changing, and we throw weird, one-off requests, strange ideas and last-minute massive asks their way on a regular basis, and they handle all with aplomb. My team feels that Gershoni is invested in their success. The ability to have strong trust and collaboration with a large swathe of the agency means that we consistently get creative together.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Please clone Amy Gershoni.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is a multinational technology provider specializing in online services and products. At the time, I was the head of global partner marketing for the company, managing partnerships and doing additional marketing work for company gift cards. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gershoni?

We updated gift card designs regularly for each holiday season. Gershoni was brought in to provide help with this because we were unhappy with our previous vendor's work. We were looking to shake the designs up a bit. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked with Gershoni on several projects, but one I can speak to was building new concepts around the experience provided by the gift cards. We went through several concepts, made many iterations, and Gershoni took the work all the way to production. We further engaged them for work around the in-store gift card displays. The project was a collaborative effort. We brainstormed around our brand values, working together with Gershoni in order to find ways of visually stretching our brand into the retail environment. They had a good understanding of what would pop off the shelves.

How did you come to work with Gershoni?

I first hired Gershoni for my previous company, where they helped us do interactive work. They did an amazing job and was able to deliver strong tech. We looked at a number of agencies, but Gershoni's hybrid experience was key. Gershoni is a great creative agency partnership, with solid experience in terms of offline marketing collateral. There are many creative agencies on the market, but good talent for extending a brand experience to the retail side and beyond is rare.

How much have you invested with Gershoni?

I cannot disclose this information.

What is the status of this engagement?

For the current project, we started working with Gershoni in September 2014. We worked again in 2015. The work was typically wrapped up by November or December, given that gift card production is a lengthy process which needs to be started 12-18 months ahead of time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The visual display was well-liked by our internal team, enough that we used Gershoni again the following year. I cannot disclose information in relation to sales.  

How did Gershoni perform from a project management standpoint?

My feeling about Gershoni is that they always hire the best of the best. The project management is extremely strong, delivering on time and within spec. Gershoni was always clear in communicating costs, deadlines, and all other details, making them an easy agency to work with. They are very collaborative and work well with multiple stakeholders. Gershoni is a small and nimble company, which is one of their strengths. We used Google Docs for the collaboration.

What did you find most impressive about Gershoni?

Gershoni has a history of great delivery. They're run by some of the most talented and experienced creative executives on the market. It's great to work with an agency whose principals have tremendous skill and expertise, and who are actually managing the work with the client. Typically, when working with large agencies, the creative director assigned to us will not always be on-point for the project. We've never felt that way about Gershoni. They're personally on top of projects, giving us a full agency experience.

Are there any areas Gershoni could improve?

I can't think of anything. The fact that I've used Gershoni for 2 companies is a high indication of my trust in them. I've referred Gershoni for other projects as well. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I worked for a local educational institution. I was the content lead and production manager. I was responsible for the copywriting and editing, content strategy, and ensuring that the brand was upheld across all platforms in the school which included print, media, website, and social media. I was also one of the key stakeholders in the rebranding that we did.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gershoni Creative Agency?

We contracted Gershoni to lead the rebranding of the institution. They also gave us a toolkit for maintaining the brand in the future. Their team created brand guidelines to document the purpose, mission, voice, and tone of the institution which could guide us forward in all communications.

We wanted to do the rebranding because we didn’t feel the visual identity accurately represented the institution. Because of that, we had a harder time attracting and retaining students to the school. We also wanted to keep the alumni connected to the school.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped with posting on social media platforms and helped with fundraising for major infrastructure projects. Because there were so many stakeholders involved in the rebranding, Gershoni acted as an outside party that could moderate and incorporate the ideas of everyone.

The first thing they did was lead a series of workshops with various stakeholders at the school. That made sure everyone had a voice.

Their deliverables were a brand deck which included vision, values, who we are and are not, and voice and tone guidelines. Those guidelines could inform all future communications. They also produced a new logo and visual guidelines to go along with that.

They spent a lot of time on campus talking to students to get a feel for the campus environment. We ended up choosing a logo that directly corresponded to some of the materials used in the architecture. We did several iterations to get to the final logo.

Gershoni also completely revamped our website. We wrote the content, and Gershoni helped us with that. For the website, they did the design and development. The majority of the design was done by them. They would show us wireframes, and we gave them feedback.

How did you come to work with Gershoni Creative Agency?

We put out an RFP [request for proposal], and I really felt that Gershoni had done the research to understand how special the institution was, and they had the best proposal as well. My director brought them and several other agencies in to interview to ensure they would be the right fit.

How much have you invested with Gershoni Creative Agency?

The project cost was between $50,000 and $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in fall 2014, and the project was completed March 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Our admissions efforts were bolstered tremendously by having the new materials and identity. The alumni felt more connected to the school as well. There was a major capital campaign happening when I was leaving the company, and the institution is moving from one neighborhood to a beautiful pier. I would say it’s because of the success of the rebranding effort that the move has been possible.

How did Gershoni Creative Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

Gershoni's project management is one of their greatest strengths. They have an account director who keeps everything on track. She’s very responsive. After any meetings we had, she always sent action items from the meeting.

The website took longer than was projected, but that was because of internal things on our side.

The relationship was very collaborative. Gershoni was able to respect the opinions of the many strong-willed, creative people who had input in the project. Gil [Creative Director and Co-founder, Gershoni Creative Agency] is a true visionary. The team took all the input and distilled that in a really beautiful way. He made everybody feel heard, and that was a big deal.

What did you find most impressive about Gershoni Creative Agency?

Because they are a husband and wife team, they have a mix of expertise. Gil guides all the design while Amy [President and Co-founder, Gershoni Creative Agency] helps refine strategy and content and makes sure the account is running smoothly. They were fun and easy to work with. They have a lot of energy, and Gil is extremely passionate.

Are there any areas Gershoni Creative Agency could improve?

They could have been more stern with how we were rewriting the website.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company at the time was a high-touch primary medical service. We did on-call delivery of primary care. These were either high net-worth individuals or folks who needed primary care when traveling. We had doctors on staff that would provide a variety of services. I was the CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gershoni?

My company was opening clinics in a number of cities, and each of those clinics had their own localized brand. We realized that this would be unscalable at a certain point. We started talking to agencies because we needed a new brand and naming contention that would work and scale across territories. There needed to be a lot of strategic thought that would go into what that brand was. We also wanted to develop assets, including the trademark and logos. We needed a pretty broad range of work. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Gershoni Creative Agency did a general go-to-market strategy, naming, logo, copy, and design. They executed a general strategy for building a brand, including designing and developing our website, and some of its functionalities. The team ran the shots of videos for patient and doctor testimonials.

As time went by, we realized that their capabilities were broader than we initially understood. Because the work was going really well, we ended up doing more work with them than we anticipated at the beginning. This made the partnership pretty convenient for us, so we were very happy with that.

How did you come to work with Gershoni Creative Agency?

We interviewed some agencies whose work we admired. We were most impressed with the responsiveness of Gershoni and many of their ideas, insights, and general understanding of how to build meaningful brands that will last.

How much have you invested with Gershoni Creative Agency?

In total, we spent around $250,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We had a few different activities going on, and we were able to run them in parallel to some extent which we thought was great. You would think you can’t make a website until you know what the brand is going to be. The Gershoni team was very efficient in helping us get to market on a relatively tight timeline.

From a qualitative perspective, we were very happy with what we ended up with. The brand felt very authentic and fresh. There is a certain level of technical savvy articulated in the work, but it wasn’t alienating to our average customer. We thought they found a really good tone and blend of both branding and technology sets.

We had very dedicated and enthused customers working with us during the process. They did a lot of the video testimonials. We heard really positive feedback both during the process and once we launched as well.

How did Gershoni Creative Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

Their process was very strong. Gershoni had a very organized and clear methodology that they used to keep clients informed. Their process for helping clients make tough decisions was unique and really helped us focus on what was important and not important. I give that very high marks.

Gershoni outperformed our expectations. We were very pleased with how well they kept the ball rolling. Everything was software driven, super high-touch, and very personal. We had no problems with missed deadlines. The relationship was carrying out what we instructed which was our preference.

We didn’t have a strong vision in mind. Our goal was to find agencies that could really help us do some soul-searching and discover how we wanted to present ourselves to the world. That’s the process that they led, and we loved it.

What did you most impressive about Gershoni Creative Agency?

We like the team a lot. We were impressed with the variety of talent that was involved. They were very personable and pleasurable to work with - the founders and the whole team.

Are there any areas Gershoni Creative Agency could improve?

Nothing comes to mind. We were really happy with their work.