GreyBox Creative

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

PEN America is a nonprofit organization that works at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.

I serve as the director of communications, and recently oversaw an organization-wide rebranding.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GreyBox Creative?

GreyBox came to us through the brand consulting firm we had engaged. They were commissioned with developing a new logo based on a variety of findings and priorities identified by the consultants. After the logo was established, PEN America also approached GreBox to undertake the brand roll-out, including a package of design deliverables ranging from banners to websites to slideshows to a brand guidelines handbook.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The deliverables GreyBox produced for PEN America included: a new logo for digital and print communications, a unified visual and messaging architecture including fonts and color usage, a new "skin" for PEN.org integrating new visual brand assets, a new PEN informational brochure, and templates for various foundational communications materials.

How did you come to work with GreyBox Creative?

GreyBox came to us through the brand consulting firm we had engaged. In the second phase of the project (the brand rollout) we released an RFP [request for proposal] and found GreyBox to be the best bang for our buck.

How much have you invested with GreyBox Creative?

We have spent between $10,000 and $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with GreyBox in February of 2016 and completed the project in June of the same year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new visual brand has been fully implemented across all digital and traditional media channels.

What did you find most impressive about GreyBox Creative?

They "got" PEN America. They took the time to understand our organization and thus reflect it fully.

Are there any areas GreyBox Creative could improve?

GreyBox is an excellent firm, but they do not choose the best partners. We were less impressed by their promotional items vendor and the branding consulting firm they are associated with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Inline Realty is a commercial real estate company. Our primary focus is on national retail tenants like The Gap and Nike. We help them find locations, predominantly in the New York City boroughs, also including Connecticut and New Jersey. We also work on a series of real estate development projects.

I am the senior vice president of operations for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GreyBox Creative?

Many small, independent brokerage houses like ours have a minimal web presence. We were starting from scratch and had no web presence at all.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

GreyBox Creative designed our website from the ground up, handling everything from the logo to web design, as well as making our website functional. GreyBox has helped us with updates ever since and handled backend elements as well.

How did you come to work with GreyBox Creative?

We were referred to them by colleagues, for whom GreyBox handled web design and development from scratch. We looked at a number of other companies, but it was an easy decision to make. We loved GreyBox's work.

How much have you invested with GreyBox Creative?

The cost of our project with GreyBox was between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with GreyBox Creative in September 2012. The website and logo design took 4 months, and it was launched in January 2013. I reach out to GreyBox one a month for maintenance, and we're also about to embark on another project for making our website mobile-ready.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're a small shop, but some of the companies that we compete with are extraordinarily large. Our marketing budget cannot compare, but our goal was to make our web presence completely seamless to someone trying to decide between us and a bigger firm. This is what we've achieved with GreyBox's help. Our website is comparable to other real estate brokerage firms' working in the same space. Without this presence, our business would have definitely hurt. We appear exactly as our clients want us to appear.

How did GreyBox Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Anything that slowed down the project was always my fault. GreyBox was incredibly responsive. Design and development is not my area of expertise, so we rely heavily on GreyBox. They've been incredibly responsive and never made me feel like I didn't know what I was talking about. I can give GreyBox any task and have it translated for me.

What did you find most impressive about GreyBox Creative?

First and foremost, GreyBox is incredibly responsive. Whether it's a simple question or a far more complex issue that requires more time on their part, I always hear right back from GreyBox, which wasn't the case for other technology providers which we've used. GreyBox's team is incredibly smart and talented, and they've been fantastic partners.

Are there any areas GreyBox Creative could improve?

No. GreyBox was always a pleasure to work with. They can take any idea which I present and make it better. GreyBox is by far the most consistent company that I've worked with.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with GreyBox Creative?

I advise any clients to get an idea of what they want and to let GreyBox present what can be done. If I would have trusted the process more in the beginning, it would have saved us some time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're a leading online provider of comprehensive analyses of private investments in public equity and equity-linked securities executed by public companies.

What is your role at the company?

I am the founder, president, and chief executive officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with GreyBox Creative?

We needed help in branding a de novo [from the beginning] startup providing online financial research.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

GreyBox handled all aspects of the branding, including creating a corporate image, developing a website, and producing marketing brochures and business cards.

How did you come to work with GreyBox Creative?

We explored several web development and corporate imaging groups and decided to work with GreyBox because of my high comfort level with their comprehensive service offerings.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We have spent something more than $200,000 working with GreyBox.

What is the status of this engagement?

I don't recall the specific dates. There was a slight delay in launching the website based on my desire to rework some elements. Overall, GreyBox's adherence to agreed upon timelines was excellent.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The website for the online research service – PrivateRaise.com – was successfully launched. The site was awarded the "Best of the Web" designation in the business-to-business category by Forbes magazine in 2002. PrivateRaise was acquired by DealFlow Analytics in 2008 and was subsequently acquired by The Deal in 2013.

What distinguishes GreyBox Creative from other providers?

I very much appreciated their willingness to work through my development "wish list" in a cost-effective manner. GreyBox Creative helped guide me in making efficient development choices based on a solid understanding of my ultimate objective. In contrast, I had discussed similar matters with other providers in which their typical response was just to do what they were told rather that fully discussing options and alternatives the way GreyBox did.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve or things you might do differently?

Overall, it was an excellent experience – certainly not a perfect experience, but there were no issues that would rise to the level of constructive criticism. I would just encourage GreyBox to continue making every effort to understand fully the overall objectives of their clients, as they did with us, so that they can efficiently and bring to bear their deep and varied experience fully.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

LMCA is a 30-year old brand extension licensing agency. We take large consumer brands, primarily iconic legacy, or heritage brands, and we move them into new distribution channels by way of licensing. If a company has an opportunity to be in another business, they can leverage the equity that's in their brand to rent their brand out to someone who is already in that business.

What is your position?

I am the chief marketing officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with GreyBox Creative?

We're a 30-year old company that really hadn't spent any time, effort, or energy on marketing. The challenge was to create a more updated, relevant, and current approach to marketing.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

We started talking to GreyBox about a website design project, but ended up also asking them to redesign our logo because we were unhappy with the work we received from other agencies. We wound up using their design to kickoff a new look and feel for our online presence.

How did you come to work with GreyBox Creative?

We compared about five different agencies, some were referred to us and others we found on our own. After considering reputation, location, approach, and cost, we liked GreyBox. We were concerned that GreyBox may be too focused on the print aspect, but they actually have a deep understanding and focus on the design aspect, which wound up serving us really well.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The cost was between $10,000 and $50,000.

What was the timeline of this engagement?

The timeline was between September 2015 and January 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We are getting a lot of web traffic because we have a new website and a new design. The results speak for themselves. Our previous website was purely text with very little visual appeal. GreyBox was able to put a very current, modern, and relevant spin on our case studies to a point where they tell a good story.

What distinguishes GreyBox Creative from other providers?

I've worked with a bunch of different web design agencies and GreyBox Creative's approach was pleasantly different in that they are copy-first rather than design-first. They figure out what you want to say and then make the design fit that and instead of the other way around. It made a lot of sense, and the results speak for themselves. It's a fantastic website that they were able to design for us.

Is there anything GreyBox Creative could have improved or done differently?

They probably could have had stronger communication surrounding what goes into the backend design. The time between approving the design and launching the website took much longer than we thought and probably a little longer than they thought, too. However, the good thing is that we now have a back-end system that anyone in the company can use because of the level of customization.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is called Investment Professionals for Charity. We host three events a year to raise money that we then distribute to smaller charities.

What is your position?

I'm an administrator. I help coordinate and manage two of the three events.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with GreyBox Creative?

We send more than 6,000 electronic invitations for our events, so I needed something creative that would both draw people's attention and help manage RSVPs.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

GreyBox's creativity is unparalleled. They're amazing. It was very hard to choose a layout because they have such a variety of designs. They've set a standard for the two events that I manage, now people look forward to seeing the invitation we send out.

They provided end-to-end support that included designing the electronic invitation, hosting, and designing the web page, mailing print invitations, and managing the RSVPs.

How did you come to work with GreyBox Creative?

I worked at a large private equity firm in New York, who had used them in the past. I was looking for an upgrade from what I was doing and somebody in the marketing department there suggested I give them a shot. I had an initial phone call and really liked the vibe that I got from them. They were nice. After seeing their work the first year, I was sold.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I would say the $10,000 to $20,000 range is my overall spend.

What is the length of this engagement?

They've done this for me for five years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I get a lot of positive feedback every year on GreyBox's invites. Even people who aren't able to attend will write back and complement the creativity of the package that they received.

What distinguishes GreyBox Creative from other providers?

Well, one, they're just nice people. I enjoy working with them not only because they do a great job, but because I like everyone on the GreyBox Creative team, both as business partners and as individuals. They're always super-responsive, and their creativity is unparalleled. In comparison to other invitations I've received and other projects that I have been a part of, GreyBox has the highest quality and does the best job.

Is there anything GreyBox Creative could have improved or done differently?

No. I wouldn't change a single thing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're a real estate brokerage firm located in Hawaii. We also have a real estate development and property management arm of the company.

What is your position and responsibilities?

I'm the managing partner, meaning I'm involved with all areas of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with GreyBox Creative?

We were trying to grow our company. We started as a small brokerage firm, and we were trying to increase that business as well as take advantage of other areas of real estate industry. To that end, we purchased another small firm, and started trying to grow our services.

We wanted a new identity to represent this new era of the company's development. The main assistance we required was with our website, which was very antiquated, but we needed help with other aspects of our marketing as well.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

It involved branding, Web design and development and, once the website was up, they did SEO [search engine optimization] and paid search as well.

The work started with just them redesigning our website but, as they did that, it opened our eyes to all the ways our brand was ill-defined.

They also took on some heavy back-end development work. A real estate website, like ours has an analysis system and multiple listing systems that need to feed data to multiple websites, so it requires some sophisticated technology.

How did you come to work with GreyBox Creative?

A former colleague who I worked with at a previous job recommended them. Before coming to Hawaii, I worked for Estée Lauder in New York and one of my contacts from there recommended them. He gave us a range of options he thought might be a good fit, based on quality and price. GreyBox was kind of in the middle of the range, but they fit exactly what we needed. The main reason we chose GreyBox was they fit exactly what we were looking for, in terms of their specialties and our needs. Every company has areas they specialize in, and to me GreyBox excels at the visual design aspect of marketing. In terms of branding, graphic design, and Web design they are some of the best I've ever worked with. Their development and SEO [search engine optimization] work is good, but a little weaker. However, we were more concerned with the design aspects, so it was just a great fit.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

If you would put it all together, we've spent in the range of $250,000 to $300,000 in 12 months. This ended up being a lot more than we thought we were going to pay. That's because we, as a client, expanded the scope and asking for a lot more.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I don't know the numbers off the top of my head. Traffic increased, definitely, the click-through rate increased, and the leads conversion increased. The time spent on the page doubled, if I'm not mistaken. What is perhaps more important, but is also less tangible, is the fact that their work has increased our credibility and authority, not only in Google, but also in the market at large.

What distinguishes GreyBox Creative from other providers?

They're a relatively small company, and one thing I liked is I never felt like I got lost in the shuffle. I was always dealing with their senior management, and I think that ensured things were done well and quickly.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

The SEO is not their emphasis but, on the other hand, it's a business decision on their end. We ended up getting another company to handle those services for us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a custom software development company.

What is your position and responsibilities?

I'm president and co-owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with GreyBox Creative?

Our firm's expertise is in backend development work. We partnered with GreyBox to build graphics design for websites. For these projects, we build the backend systems and then look to GreyBox to provide frontend design work.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Graphic design for websites has comprised the majority of their work for us.

How did you come to work with GreyBox Creative?

We originally met at a networking event, and I had them put together some visualization sketches for one of our customers at the time. I think that's basically when our venture started. We had talked to a number of different design firms, and their response was the one that we went with.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The projects have ranged from small tasks, costing less than $10,000, to larger tasks for some of our enterprise clients that have been more than $100,000.

What is the timeline of this engagement?

We have done a few projects together, and the most recent one is wrapping up right now [July 2015]. It was actually for our own company website, which we had GreyBox do all the design work for. We got it live yesterday. The timeline for most of their projects has generally been anywhere between three and six months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I think they have a very good eye towards making things visually attractive and usable. It's a nice combination of the core graphic designs skills coupled with the knack for incorporating practical application in terms of UI/UX [user interface/user experience] skills. We've been very pleased with the results, and I think our clients have been as well.

Is there one thing you really enjoy about your experience working with GreyBox Creative?

One thing I like is that GreyBox Creative tries to understand the personality of the user, and what type of feel we're looking to create for a particular site. Other firms sometimes take a vision somebody may give them and just run with it without a whole lot of input.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

No. Everything has been very smooth. We wouldn't continue to work with them if that wasn't the case.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're a small fund administrator and broker providing services to hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, fund of funds, family offices, and the like. We are headquartered in San Francisco, but have offices in New York, Halifax, and Singapore.

What is your position?

I'm the director of our somewhat limited (in terms of staff) marketing department. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with GreyBox Creative?

There were two major challenges. One is that we had just merged with another firm, and we were going through a significant rebranding exercise. The other challenge was that the senior management of our firm had never given much thought to marketing. In their mind, investment firms didn't really need marketing. If your firm made money, you got new clients. They thought it was that simple. Part of the challenge was just educating and informing them about what marketing is these days, how it operates, and why it's important.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

The scope was a total corporate rebranding – a new logo and corporate identity work. We also needed a fully redesigned website. We have an internal technology partner who developed the website, but GreyBox did all of the graphic design work for it. There was also a digital marketing component of the project as well, which is ongoing.

How did you come to work with GreyBox Creative?

We received three or four bids on the project. Someone who had come from the company we merged with had used GreyBox for a small project and threw them into the mix. I set up a meeting with them, and their artwork really grabbed my attention, their attention to detail on the design styles. They were very fresh, and that was appealing to me.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The brand and identity work was around $15,000 to $16,000. Then, the Web design work has been between $35,000 and $60,000, depending on what we're doing. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The branding work happened between March 2014 and April 2014. The Web design work has been a longer-term engagement and is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What are the results of the project, are there any statistics or metrics you can share?

The results have been very positive. Quantitatively, of course, we track everything. From an online perspective, GreyBox does monthly reporting for me, so I'm able to give good attribution for leads converted to sales from marketing activity. So, that's very helpful and important. It's not as easy as if everything was automated, or if you're using a marketing automation platform or something like that, but it's decent. I've been very happy with that.

In terms of feedback from senior management, the designs and the aesthetics of our marketing, they could not be more pleased, which means I could not be more pleased.

What distinguishes GreyBox Creative from other providers?

GreyBox has a wealth of experience with branding companies in the financial industry. This experience gave them a ready access to our business and allowed them to position us in a way that was both familiar to our customers but still differentiated us from our competitors. They do have other clients across other businesses, but it's nice that they understand our industry really well. The people on their team understood the nature of broker-dealers and the requirements that the SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission] has and that there are certain things we can't say in our advertising. I would say that was a bonus.

The other bonus for me was that they have people in other parts of the world, so things can get done overnight. The gentleman I worked with on digital space in Singapore, he seems to be on all the time. That's really helpful to me because changes can be made overnight and, by morning, I can present a new version.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

I really can't think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We're an investment firm that raises capital for alternative fund managers.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I'm a partner in the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What were some of the challenges you faced prior to your work with GreyBox Creative?

While I have internal IT and marketing teams capable of handling this type of work, I've found that they tend to deliver the same type of work every time. By working with GreyBox, we're trying to get a fresh look in our marketing schemes.

What was the scope of your work with GreyBox Creative?

The work itself has ranged from the creation of professional marketing materials, including one-pagers, monthly reports, pitch books, and collateral materials all the way to full website design. I've only had positive experiences working with GreyBox.

SOLUTION

What was your process for selecting GreyBox Creative?

I've actually worked with GreyBox Creative for the past 15 years on a number of different projects with at least four different companies, ranging from small hedge funds to Morgan Stanley. I continue to go back to them because of the consistency of the work that they deliver as well as their knowledge of financial services marketing.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative?

It's ranged from small projects that are less than $5,000 to enterprise projects that have cost over $100,000.

When was the project completed?

It's difficult to speak about timelines since the work has been during the course of years. However, I've always been very satisfied with their timeliness.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project?

I've only had positive experiences working with GreyBox, whether it's work they've completed on their own or projects where we've brought GreyBox Creative in to collaborate with our marketing department. They've always delivered exactly what we wanted.

What differentiates GreyBox Creative from others?

I think they're great at taking their time, really understanding exactly what you're trying to accomplish and delivering creative ideas that still fit the conservative financial industry. Lastly, it's their integrity and honesty. They're just real people.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

Nothing comes to mind. Earlier in the relationship, I think at times they struggled to deliver on time; however, as they've grown that has stopped being a problem.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of Digital Drew SEM, a New York-based agency specializing in search engine and social media marketing, ad campaign management, audience analytics, and personalized digital media training for businesses of all sizes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire GreyBox Creative to accomplish for Digital Drew SEM?

We hired GreyBox Creative to help us with a client to achieve consistent results across SEO, email marketing, and Google Ads.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

GreyBox Creative has helped us with account management and providing all assets needed. The team has helped coordinate all the meetings, provided graphics, web development support, and received feedback from the client.

What is the team composition?

We've worked with 2–5 teammates from GreyBox Creative.

How did you come to work with GreyBox Creative?

We found them through a referral. We chose them over other options because they had high ratings, were close to our geographic location, and their company values aligned with ours.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2026, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

GreyBox Creative has helped us significantly increase our lead count and get our quarterly newsletter running again. We've also made website and CRO changes with the help of their development team. Our leads have more than doubled, and our cost per lead has stayed between $50–$150.

How did GreyBox Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They deliver everything on time and provide extremely fast communication. We communicate via virtual meetings, emails, and messaging apps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We are impressed by their hands-on, white-glove approach.