HMG Creative

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

A medium sized biotech firm, Associate Director of Marketing

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire HMG Creative?

We needed to redesign our website to bring it up to modern standards. We needed to improve the user experience. We needed our website to impact our specific user/customer.

What were your goals for this project?

Improve the experience of customers who choose to interact with our organization digitally.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I interviewed six local web design firms and received quotes from four. HMG was regularly in communication and stuck with our slow selection process.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

This was a full website redesign including a custom search section of the site, a client login area and an expansion of our branding.

What was the team composition?

I believe there were 3-4 individuals that worked on our project but there could have been more.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We've regularly been complimented on the impact of our website.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

HMG met and exceeded deadlines. They communicated well and we were very happy overall.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The level of access to leadership was excellent. I felt as though my questions were answered quickly and thoroughly.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Overall, we were very happy.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the owner of Howard Steel. We're a commercial construction company that is a steel fabricator and installer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HMG Creative?

We were looking for a vendor to update our website and help us with rebranding.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, they met with me and went over everything we wanted to accomplish. Then, they redesigned our website, sent their own photographer to a lot of our projects, and updated our photo gallery. They also created a new logo and took care of all of our hats and shirts.

What is the team composition?

I worked with 2–3 of their team members, including their owner.

How did you come to work with HMG Creative?

I was referred to them by a friend who had worked with them previously. We liked the fact that they were a full-service agency and could help us with all of our needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them between February–July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our clients can look at our website and see that we're a legitimate company. Also, our sales went up 30%.

How did HMG Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very professional and organized. We mostly used email to stay in touch.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have outstanding customer service and made the process very easy for us. Also, they sent us a bill every week, so we didn't have to pay in advance.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. It was a very smooth process.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the marketing manager at Capital Factory, the center of gravity for entrepreneurs in Texas. Last year, more than 100,000 entrepreneurs, programmers, and designers gathered day and night for in-person and online for meetups, classes, and coworking. We meet the best entrepreneurs in Texas and introduce them to their first investors, employees, mentors, and customers. According to Pitchbook, Capital Factory has been the most active investor in Texas since 2013.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire HMG Creative?

We came to HMG Creative wanting to redesign our website, which was old, outdated, and complicated to update.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to concentrate on the UI/UX of our website. We also wanted it to be easy for anyone on our staff to update it.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found HMG Creative through a friend that had a great experience with them. We loved their portfolio and knew they could come up with something great for us!

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

HMG Creative designed, developed, tested our website, and trained our staff on navigating the WordPress admin. They walked us through the strategy of our site in a way that was simple to understand. They also did everything in steps, which made it easier to give feedback and receive updates.

What was the team composition?

My CEO and I were involved in the project. Most of the communication was with their creative director.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

HMG Creative took our ideas and concerns into account and helped us create a beautiful website both on the backend and frontend. We’ve seen our yearly sessions increase by 16% since its launch.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They used Google docs, which made giving feedback and updates easy.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their professionalism, attention to detail, and desire to see our project succeed were remarkable.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

There's very little they could improve on. If I had to suggest something, having an account manager that follows up and keeps everything on time would be helpful. It would also be beneficial to have in-person design meetings throughout the project. Sometimes it's hard to explain what you want in text or over the phone, especially if you aren't a developer.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm an executive assistant to the CEO of a large federal contractor.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HMG Creative?

We needed a company to help us improve our online presence and modernize our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They updated our website and did some design work and infographics. We outlined the timeline and what we wanted, after which a lot of the work was done remotely. We continue to work with them on new features and products.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with 2–3 people.

How did you come to work with HMG Creative?

We did a lot of research on Austin-based companies, and we liked what HMG Creative had to offer. They had the most comprehensive set of services out of all the companies we talked to.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent between $30,000–$35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2018 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We love what they've done and the feedback from our internal team has been very positive. We don't have a user base, so it was done for the aesthetics.

How did HMG Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very responsive (we usually use email and text to communicate). If there are any issues, they're always available to troubleshoot with us. Also, they took their time to reach out to us to make sure they understood what we wanted on the smaller features. Their team went out of their way to get all the details right.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We hadn't worked with any other company on a similar project, so they were great at guiding us through everything.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had some issues with the rollout and some features were not functioning properly. I'm not sure if it was their fault, but it wasn't a smooth rollout.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a visual design strategist for a nonprofit that identifies and pilots promising ideas to improve public education. We support the conditions and public policies necessary to scale proven approaches that benefit all Texas students. Our goal is to reinvent public education for the 21st century. I handle graphic design, visual animation, photography, videography, and digital storytelling.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire HMG Creative?

We were going through a complete rebrand, and our website had limited functionality and flexibility. We needed to redesign our organization’s website to showcase our work in a clean, modern, user-friendly way.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase our brand awareness and the amount of time users spent on the site.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We went through a pretty thorough interview process and spoke with several agencies. We had considerable internal talent surrounding visual design, videography, and writing, so we were looking for an agency that would come alongside us as a true partner—one that saw our contributions as an asset, rather than a nuisance. Many agencies were unwilling to forgo complete creative control, so we cut them right away. 

Describe the project in detail.

Since our strategic priorities shifted, we needed to change our entire site. We were telling stories with rich videos and photographs, but our search function and our content sorting were in shambles. To bring the site into the 21st century, we needed to rethink our UX/UI and introduce a responsive design. Finally, we’d spent no money on SEO, so we weren’t present or easily searchable on Google.

We worked through sketches, UI prototypes, troubleshooting, and execution, and HMG took the lead on populating pages with our content. They drew inspiration from the websites of large, international nonprofits and a monthly magazine.

Our team is mainly self-sufficient now, and we have contributors adding content to the site almost daily. We continue to lean on HMG Creative for special projects, heavy coding support, and issue troubleshooting.

What was the team composition?

The HMG Creative team consists of the co-owner of the organization, the art director, and an SEO specialist. We interact a little with the developers, but the art director is our main contact.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Clients said our old site was clunky and hard to navigate. Now, they tell us it’s clean, modern, approachable, and stands out from both our competitors and our partners.

Users have nearly doubled every year and share our content on social media (Facebook, Twitter) much more than they used to. Though users visit fewer pages, we attribute that to our content being easier to find, since they also spend more time on each page.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their art director, Johnny, is easy to work with and highly knowledgeable. He’s always accessible and focused on finding solutions. Our internal team communicates with him through a liaison. The two of them communicate well and make sure all requests are understood.

We have little interaction with the developers themselves, but communication is pretty smooth. We submit all requests through a ticketing system, and their response rate is fairly quick. Emergency situations are tackled with a simple phone call to their main office.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They answer our questions patiently and are willing to work with people that aren't frontend development experts.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There’s always room for improvement, and it goes both ways. There’ve been times where we made unreasonable requests with little notice, asking for tasks to be done a certain way. However, if I had to say anything, I’d suggest they improve their ticket response rate. We typically wait for 2–3 days for an answer to a ticket, and I’d like that rate to be a bit quicker. That being said, they resolve the issue quickly and to my satisfaction when they do respond.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the digital content process manager for Thermo Fisher Scientific. Thermo Fisher Scientific is the world leader in serving science. Our mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HMG Creative?

We contracted with HMG Creative for a series of email and web-based marketing tasks.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Thermo Fisher initially contracted with HMG Creative about 3 years ago to aid in the execution of a large volume of email template requests for our internal businesses. As a result of this excellent partnership, we extended the engagement to further assist our global web production team functioning as an extension/surplus resource for web-based project needs.

What is the team composition?

The HMG Creative team consists of the managing partner, the creative director, two visual designers, and a developer.

How did you come to work with HMG Creative?

I’ve known the managing partner for more than 10 years, so I’m very familiar with his work. We’ve worked together on a number of projects over the years while I’ve held positions at different companies.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost for the web projects is well over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in 2016 and have ongoing projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From a web perspective, it’s been tremendous to have them as an extended resource. They are a dedicated, trusted resource for Thermo Fisher, and they’ve been a life-saver on many projects!​

​​​​​​How did HMG Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re accessible and always willing to make time for meetings despite the time difference between our offices. It’s been a stress-free engagement with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The reason that we’re able to achieve our own goals is due to HMG Creative’s own institutional organization and workflow. They have a healthy working atmosphere, and they’re passionate about their work. They’re very personable and creative.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of. They’re very much on top of things from a business and communication standpoint.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of a new financial planning firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire HMG Creative?

HMG Creative created our logo and our business cards.

What were your goals for this project?

My goal was for our logo to be simple, but bold.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After talking to a few companies, I went with HMG Creative because of their reputation.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

To start the project, HMG Creative had me fill out an extensive questionnaire about my business and my clients. Using that information, they developed three potential logos. I selected the one I liked best and went through multiple variations of that logo. Once we selected our final design, HMG Creative sent me brand guidelines and helped me set up my email signature. They also created and printed my business cards using a similar process.

What was the team composition?

I worked mainly with one of their visual designers, but I also had input from their managing partner along the way.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They delivered a quality project in a short time frame for a fair price. We've received great feedback on our logo from clients and other professionals in the industry. We're looking forward to using this to create our identity in the community.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had constant email communication during the process, and they were always quick to respond. I could pick up the phone and call my designer directly when I had questions.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was most impressed with their team approach and the depth that they wanted to get to know me and my business.

Are there any areas for improvement?

While some things are easier to see in person, we did not have any in-person meetings because of the short time frame. Scheduling an in-person meeting would have likely slowed down the process.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We are a financial planning and wealth management company. We’re located in West Lake, in Austin, Texas.

What are your role and responsibilities?

I’m a financial adviser as well as an adviser assistant.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal in working with HMG Creative?

We had a website that was several years old and very much out of date, so we needed to do a website refresh and redesign.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

We were able to handle the content and the information architecture in-house. HMG was good about using most of the copy and content we developed to customize and design a WordPress website for us, including accommodating a number of revisions needed as the project developed. They’re also continuing to help us by completing a brand style guide and some branded templates for our use in some marketing endeavors.

They’ve been very hands-on about training some of the people here in the office on how to make updates to the website directly. The fact that our site is on WordPress factored into the decision of choosing them. Our previous website was built in such a way that anytime we needed a change, we had to contact a webmaster, so there was often a significant delay. It was not a very streamlined process. HMG came to our office and spent some time with a couple of our employees, myself included, and trained us on how to make our own blog posts, update profiles and add new employees as we attract more advisors to our company.

What was your process for selecting HMG Creative with which to work?

We sent out an RFP [request for proposal] in the fall of last year and began our research by looking at the Austin Book of Lists, which is put out by the Austin Business Journal. We contacted a number of the website design and development agencies that we saw on the list after poking around on Google and looking at their websites and at their different portfolios.

We wanted to work with a company that had experience working in the financial industry. There are some regulations and compliance standards as well as visual standards that we face, and we wanted to make sure they had a grasp of what we were trying to achieve and what companies like ours do. Some of the design agencies that we had contacted were out of our price range. When one or two of them referred us to HMG, which we had also uncovered through our own research, we felt pretty good about asking them to submit a proposal. Ultimately, they gave the best presentation and proposal. They were within our budget and seemed to offer what we were looking for.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

We’ve spent about $15,000 working with HMG.

When did you start working with them and is the relationship ongoing?

We started working with HMG in September 2014, and the website went live earlier this year [2015]. We are still working with them on the brand style guide and some of the branded templates.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any stats, metrics, or general feedback relating to the services that were delivered?

Their work has been great. We’re very happy with them, and they were very accommodating with all of the feedback we provided and revisions we suggested. They’ve been extremely patient and helpful throughout the entire process. We’re still a little new at looking at metrics, but we received a great deal of positive feedback from different clients through email, in person, and on the phone.

Part of the reason that we wanted to update the website was that we’re trying to get ramped up with our social media and content marketing. So, having a website that supported a blog was a big factor. We’re also looking at producing more original content, which is starting to ramp up as well. Once we start getting a bit deeper into our content marketing and social marketing initiatives, we anticipate metrics that reflect higher engagements. Previously on our first website, the bounce rate was extremely high, something like 60 percent off the front page. Just by doing the redesign, we’ve already seen that reduced.

Is there anything unique about HMG Creative that really makes them stand out compared to other companies?

They have a personal approach to working with us individually and as a company. They were the only company to present their proposal to us in person. HMG made a point to sit down with all the decision makers and go page by page through the proposal to be sure that we understood what they were offering. Any amendments or questions we had were addressed at that time.

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?

I don’t really see anything that we might have done differently.

What advice would you give to a future client of theirs?

Shop around and make sure you’re meeting with the people who are going to be working with you. Making sure you can communicate clearly and be understood is critical.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We’re a startup company in Austin, Texas. We’re specialists in helping companies make more effective use of their health care benefits by getting their employees into the right plans, saving the companies money and providing affordable care compliance.

What are your role and responsibilities?

I’m the marketing director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal in working with HMG Creative?

We had recently made some changes in our overall messaging, and we needed a new website that reflected that. We had changed our target audience and our overall pitch. Based on the messaging documents that I created, we went to HMG and said we wanted a website that reflected both the messaging plus the competitive landscape that we were in. We wanted to look a little more modern and up to date, a little less like a tiny startup company.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

We had been using WordPress, so we wanted to stay with that platform. We host the site on our own servers, and we wanted to make sure that they could handle the design and functionality using WordPress. We also needed the site to be compatible with tablets and smartphones. So, we were looking for both site design and, to a certain degree, WordPress implementation. We also wanted to make sure we could work on the site after the development was complete. We wanted HMG to set up the site with themes and basic page layouts so we could pick it up from there. HMG did the initial 20 pages of site design.

What was your process in selecting HMG Creative with which to work?

We did a pretty extensive RFP [request for proposal] process. We wanted a company that was in the Austin area, so we started our search looking at agencies in Austin. We looked at their portfolios online to see if they had experience in health care or the insurance industry so that they understood our business. We narrowed the selection process down to five different agencies here in Austin. They were all smaller agencies because we don’t have a huge budget, but it was important to us to have someone local, someone who did great design work and someone who could address our issues with WordPress. We narrowed our search down to three finalists, and we selected HMG because their design work was so great. We also felt they understood the technical challenges we were facing.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

We have spent between $20,000 and $30,000 working with HMG.

When did you start working with them and is the relationship ongoing?

Our relationship started in September of last year and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any stats, metrics, or general feedback on the work they’ve done?

I would say their design work was absolutely beautiful.

Is there anything unique about HMG Creative that really makes them stand out compared to other companies?

Unlike many agencies that present two or three different concepts or options, they presented only one. That was a little surprising to me at first, but I discovered that it was much easier for me to get buy-in from my executive team because I didn’t have to deal with a variety of responses to multiple options. With one concept, it was very easy for me to say that this is what HMG wants to do. Fortunately, my executive team loved what they did design-wise.

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?

In terms of the actual implementation of the project I felt that once I had given them the project, they kind of went away and didn’t come back with updates, status reports or drafts of where we were in the work. We also fell a little bit behind schedule because of the holidays and some technical issues, and I didn’t feel like they did quite as good a job as they could have keeping me up to date on the schedule. That was a little disconcerting.

However, we got everything we wanted in the end. But, I would still say that their expertise is more around design than technology because we did hit some technology snags. I had people on my team who needed to work with them to fix some of the technology issues. But, overall, I’m happy with the relationship. I would just suggest to HMG that they be sure to communicate throughout the process on a regular basis so the client doesn’t wonder what’s going on.

What advice would you give to a future client of theirs?

Be as clear as possible that you as a client know what you want before you go into a relationship.

BACKGROUND

Could you give us a brief description of your company?

We’re a small family-owned company. We are wholesale distributors of linens and bedding items. We’re located in Southern California.

What’s your role and responsibilities within the company?

I’m the purchasing manager. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Before you went to HMG Creative, what was the business challenge that you were trying to address?

We wanted to update our system to the umbrella platform so that our website was more user friendly and more efficient.  

What was your company’s business goal for the project?

Increase our presence on the Internet and our online sales.

SOLUTION

Can you talk a little more about the scope of the project?

We needed a website that accommodated both retail and wholesale subscribers because we primarily work with retailers, but we also sell to the public. The project included development of a special platform that allowed wholesale customers to log in and get their orders processed. 

What was your process for selecting HMG Creative with which to work?

HMG Creative was a local company here in Southern California before they moved to Texas. We decided to go with them because they’ve always paid attention well and are very detail oriented. That’s really important to us with the website.

Can you give us the size of the project in dollar terms or is that confidential?

About $8,000.

Do you know when the project was completed?

The project was completed early 2012. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results and feedback, can you give us some specific improvements that happened on your website because of the work that HMG Creative did?

We no longer have to mail out our 100-page sales catalog for our wholesale customers to use in their shops anymore. Now, they’re able to download it off the website. It’s hosted there. Also, all of our customers are able to make online profiles with us, which has really helped with orders. We’ve seen a huge increase in our orders online and our online traffic. They’ve also helped us with social media. Our online presence is completely revamped with the website. It really helped our business.

How well do you think they performed?

Really well. Every project has obstacles, and they work to make it right and see it through to the end. Whenever we have a question on something, they’re always getting back to us extremely quickly. Everybody there is super competent and knows what they’re doing.

When you were working with them, was there anything unique or special about them that’s different from other companies you’ve worked with in the past?

They’re always there, and they’re always super attentive, which is very distinguishable. The owner is very detail oriented, and he takes the time to figure out what kind of look we wanted. They did revision after revision for us. They really bent over backwards to make sure it was exactly what we wanted.