Idea2Form

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Partnership Management at Ashoka, a global network of social entrepreneurs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Idea2Form?

We had a project with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focused on Children's Wellbeing. We hired Idea2Form to handle design and communications strategy across multiple media.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to help create a national culture in which each child can cultivate a sense of self, purpose, and belonging.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had collaborated closely with Tomas Alvarez III in the past. He was elected as an Ashoka Fellow for his groundbreaking work in the mental health field. When our initiative needed an influx of creative talent, he and Lexx were there with the capacity and the demonstrated knowhow.

Describe the project in detail.

Over the course of two years, Tomas and Lexx helped us develop a brand for the Children's Wellbeing Initiative that manifested through an website, a social media campaign, and a series of face-to-face gatherings.

What was the team composition?

We worked primarily with Tomas and Lexx on design, as part of a larger collaborative of social sector leaders.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Idea2Form helped Ashoka secure ongoing funding for the Children's Wellbeing Initiative for nearly four years. While the initiative wrapped in 2019, the ideas at the heart of the work remain central to the work of collaborators nationwide.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We found Tomas and Lexx to be highly collaborative and agile in their work style. Outputs were delivered on-time and in a high-quality fashion, with a distinct, contemporary feel grounded in the values of our target constituents.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Idea2Form appears a values-driven firm that delivers fresh work for contemporary initiatives. I found the team to be affable, responsive, and able to thrive in a somewhat unstructured working environment.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We worked with Idea2Form at the very beginning of their journey, at a cost that was likely subsidized. We received tremendous value for the money, so difficult to complain.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director at the Grunin Foundation, a place-based funder. We support grantmaking in the arts, education, and healthcare all under the umbrella of driving economic excellence. The family has a for-profit entity, as well.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea2Form?

We’re a fairly new family foundation that’s evolved really quickly. We were looking to be really transparent about the work of both our companies — non-profit and for-profit. We wanted to rebrand and roll in the story of what each company is and tie those together.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We did a year-long consultation with Idea2Form, which took place over four phases.  Phase one began with a lot of research and discovery. We mapped out the current state of who we were as a foundation and who we were as a for-profit company. We developed a service blueprint to figure out how we were doing things. We worked on developing the project, vision, and strategy.  Idea2Form came out and did a lot of site visits and one-on-one interviews with staff, stakeholders, and our partners in the community. They conducted tech audits, brand audits, and messaging audits, spending a lot of time listening and understanding the work that we did. They took a very hands-on approach with us - really learning who we were, internally and externally.

We then moved into phase two, or the development and design of the project. That was where we did a complete overhaul of the brand identity and really grounded it in the vision, mission, and values that we created for the foundation. We created a whole new brand look and feel, including colors, design elements, and imagery. After that, we worked on content management. That involved the creation of an overarching strategy that we were going to use from a content and messaging perspective on digital and in general conversation. In this phase, we also took a deep dive into our technology ecosystem - really understanding how we could improve process and system flows as an organization.

Phase three was setup and implementation. We worked on doing a lot of photography with our partners, as well as the creation of a video launching the new brand and telling the story. The foundation worked with Idea2Form on a complete overhaul of both our websites. They designed and developed them from scratch. We did social media rebrands, which we manage internally. They also supported us on a brand re-launch event and tech support. For the videos, we worked with somebody local but Idea2Form worked with them hand-in-hand. They took on that piece, along with our communications manager, and worked on it.

In the final phase of the project, we physically launched and worked on tying the project up. We did a large-scale brand re-launch event. They also provided us with brand standards, brand guidelines, a communication’s roadmap for going forward, and templates. They revised our content marketing strategy. We were left with all the tools we needed to move forward with the new brand.

What is the team composition?

They were in contact with me. On the website and social pieces, they worked with our communications and marketing director.

How did you come to work with Idea2Form?

They were a referral from our previous executive director. From the first call, I knew that this was an area of work they were super passionate about. From the get-go, I felt really comfortable with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together from February 2019 until January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was a really wonderful project. From an internal perspective, we were incredibly happy with the whole process. This was a large investment for us, so we were hesitant at first, but it really paid off. 

From the brand launch, to the video, to the new website, we have gotten a lot of positive feedback from the community saying that they now really understand who we are and the work we do. They really didn’t understand the why before. Idea2Form really captured the essence of why we do what we do at our foundation and helped us articulate it in a way that truly connects with the community and makes sense to the community. That feedback has been pretty abundant just after the brand relaunch and even now. They’ve built feedback loops into our website where people can do inquiries and ask questions, and it now connects to our grant software. Even the level of use for our users has improved so much. 

We are functioning much better internally because we don’t have disparate systems that we’re working on. We’ve brought everything together. From a data perspective, this is still very new for our website and social, but we did see a huge spike in social after the launch.

How did Idea2Form perform from a project management standpoint?

It was a really comprehensive project for us. It was like Idea2Form worked as part of our team for a year. There was constant communication including weekly video communications (zoom), standard calls, and in-person visits from them. They were always available via phone, text, or by coming to New Jersey in person. The Idea2Form team really stuck to the calendar, hitting all our deliverable marks. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Idea2Form really made us think and dig deep. They took the time to get to know our space and pushed to get everything they could out of us. They spent so much time really getting to know us and putting together a brand that really resonates and drives home who we are. It was refreshing. They led what was one of the best projects that I’ve worked on in my career.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really, for our project specifically.  Idea2Form really stuck to their promises and timelines. They were really open with us about things. We got so much more than we expected with the project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to Idea2Form’s process. There’s a method behind the madness with them. They do push you sometimes (in a good way) to get information and to pull out things that maybe you’re not thinking. Have an open mind. They are really wonderful collaborators.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Ashoka U Exchange Associate Director. I oversee the planning of our company's largest international conference for social impact educators, the Exchange. This includes communications and marketing, sponsorships, content design, and logistics.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Idea2Form?

Idea2Form advised and created our conference look at feel. From strategy all the way to signage, they made sure our conference had a consistent look and feel to ensure people felt like they were part of something inclusive and special. Specific outputs included: general marketing assets (social media, website assets), program cover, keynote slide templates, and on-site signage. They also recorded and edited our video content and photos.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create an inclusive, creative, and playful conference brand that represented our community and created a stronger sense of community.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They approached us, given their relationship with our parent organization Ashoka. We selected them because their values and mission alignment.

Describe the project in detail.

We started with design strategy and identification of a number of potential projects, led by Idea2Form. Then we determined what projects were reasonable with our budget. Then we met regularly to advance and select specific assets. The team came onsite to be part of the event and let the onsite creative as well (video and photo).

What was the team composition?

There was an overall project manager and then a creative director. Onsite at the event, they had a team of 4-5 to lead the photo and video. The 2-3 person video team finished the editing of the photos and videos after the event.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received qualitative feedback that the conference increased sense of community and inclusive nature.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project manager and creative director were easy to work with and very responsive. Once we started working with more team members, the lines of communications were a little less clear and streamlined.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their creative prowess, commitment to equity, and explosive energy was really fun and inspiring to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Overall, we had a good relationship with the team at Ideas2Form - especially the project manager and creative director. Given our lack of interaction with the video and photo team, there was less clear communication and alignment on our priorities, video asset needs, and commitment to our timeline. The final video products took a bit of coaching and suggested editing to reach the standard we were expecting.