Madcraft

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Casting Director of Candice Alustiza Casting

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We're a casting company specializing in hiring actors for film and television.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Madcraft to accomplish?

• To develop a website that introduces our company and it's ethos to the hiring powers-that-be within the entertainment industry
• To have within that website, a place where actors could also learn about the work that we do and reach out to us.

SOLUTION

How did you find Madcraft?

Referral

Why did you select Madcraft over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from Madcraft were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Project began with a discussion on the key elements of my current business, and how I'm aiming to set that business apart from other similar companies also based in NYC. We then discussed elements to be included in the site, colors, fonts, types of photos, introductory text, etc.

Each element was a separate discussion / meeting and had its own timeline and deadline for development within the development of the website as a whole.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Have already had numerous meetings and points of contact based on interest in the contents of the site.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

I was blown away by the care and attention to detail that went into the crafting of the website.

From the design and development of a font & company logo that was based on my own handwriting, to honing in on the precise accent color of lavendar used to frame the site, to the tracking down of posters that I hadn't ever seen before on my past projects - every element was handled with care and purpose.

Any questions I had about the entire process (and I had many, as I had absolutely no idea what I was doing!), was met with the utmost professionalism, kindness and humor. Absolutely every timeline / deadline that was set was on-time or delivered early.

What was your primary form of communication with Madcraft?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Every single person I had contact with was an absolute expert on their craft and business, and they were so enthusiastic and dedicated to becoming experts on my craft and business, so that they could develop the most creative and functional site to introduce my small company to the larger industry. They truly are a lovely bunch, who truly care about getting every single detail absolutely correct.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Madcraft could have done differently?

No - the process was always clearly explained and proceeded smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital marketing and graphic designer for a manufacturing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Madcraft?

At the time, we didn’t have a marketing department, so we needed help with digital strategy. We needed someone to guide us to build a better online presence for social media and Google Ads.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Madcraft helps us with Instagram, Facebook, Google Ads, the website, and everything related to our online presence. They’ve also created a content calendar, which we’re now trying to do ourselves. Additionally, they advise us on how to make the content and give us directions on how Instagram or any other page should look compared to our competitors.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2022, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen some improvements through Google Ads. We’ve gotten more people following our page and insights on what kind of new products work for us. If there are any issues with the website, they fix them right away.

How did Madcraft perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication is good; they’re easy to talk to. If we have a question, it’s easy to approach them. We communicate via email and Zoom calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Madcraft is supportive; they explain everything and are very helpful. They also give us valuable insights.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re happy with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You should know what you want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager for Wriggle Learning. Our online software provides educational devices, training, and support to schools and colleges.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Madcraft?

Our company is 10 years old, and our website system wasn’t serving us the way we wanted. The site didn’t allow us to scale or expand functionality, and we weren’t able to edit or make changes to the site. 

We were looking for a web development partner who could create a more user-friendly website that we could cater to our audience of educators, parents, and students. We also wanted to be able to update the site ourselves moving forward.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Before partnering with Madcraft, we took time to reevaluate our brand image and define who we are as a company after 10 years in business. After revamping our brand values and messaging, Madcraft redesigned our logo and color scheme. Then, they redesigned our marketing collateral, including flyers, brochures, and PowerPoint decks to match our new brand image. 

In addition to the rebrand, they’ve rebuilt our website from scratch to make it more user-friendly and reflect our services. The site is brochure-based and hosts educational content for educators, parents, and students.

They’ve helped us with an array of web development tasks, including revamping our FAQ section and giving us the capability to customize lead-generation forms. They’ve also integrated the site with Zendesk, our customer service platform for parents. Our site has two training platforms, which they’ve also redesigned.

They’ve just launched the website and have been working on SEO and hosting and maintaining the site for us. In the future, we plan to work with Madcraft to redevelop individual e-commerce stores for our partner schools.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with their development and design teams and plan to work with their content and SEO teams soon.

How did you come to work with Madcraft?

We researched several development partners and found Madcraft online. We met to discuss our needs and outline the most complex pieces of the project. We had been searching for a development partner who could redevelop our school stores, and Madcraft presented us with a highly detailed model, so we moved forward with the project. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with Madcraft since January 2022, and we’re still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launched the site last week, so we don’t have enough data to share accurate success metrics. However, Madcraft has delivered a much more user-friendly and visually appealing site. Our internal and external feedback regarding the UX has been overwhelmingly positive.

They’ve made it easier for us to scale functionality and update the site. Now that we have a new FAQ section, users have started treating the page like a self-service portal, significantly reducing our time spent addressing user tickets. Our lead generation forms are much cleaner in design and easier to access than before, so we’ve noticed more traffic coming through them, which has been excellent. 

How did Madcraft perform from a project management standpoint?

Madcraft has performed well from a project management standpoint and has consistently worked within our budget. We’d given them a hard deadline for the website launch, and they put forth a huge effort and went above and beyond to help us meet it.  

They’ve consistently kept in touch with us and scheduled meetings to ensure we’re on track. We use Invision to view mock-ups and Google Workspace to share content. Typically, we communicate via phone and email and meet via Zoom and Microsoft Teams. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Madcraft is good at what they do. Our needs are complex, and pulling everything together has been no easy feat, but Madcraft has helicoptered up and taken a look at our business as a whole, which has been helpful. They’ve taken the time to understand our goals from day one and carefully implemented feedback to redesign our brand. 

They bring a lot to the table when it comes to innovation. They’ve presented thorough ideas and outlined detailed phases to help scale our business, which has been valuable.

They’re also really friendly, approachable people. We’ve worked with other development partners who’ve relied a lot on technical jargon, but Madcraft has remained down to earth.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Due to our tight launch deadline, there are still a few aspects of the site that Madcraft needs to upload and some outstanding collateral that needs rebranding. However, we can’t fault them because they worked hard to accomplish our top priority tasks. Aside from some content that needs uploading, we’ve been delighted with the outcome.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you have the budget and want to engage a development partner who will evaluate your business model and try to improve it, then reach out to Madcraft.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Rebeluna Cosmetics, a cosmetics company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BRAND POWER?

I had a basic website on Shopify, but we had outgrown it and needed something more advanced. We were also lacking a good customer experience. Our customer and checkout experience was poor. We really needed to make that better as well as a more attractive and user-friendly site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built a brand new website from scratch through WooCommerce. To start, we had a meeting through Zoom where they asked lots of questions about our goals. They went away to work on some ideas and designs before coming back to get my feedback.

They have me three initial options, and I chose one of them because I liked it right away. Then, I provided them with information on our products and pricing. They began working on the website. Each time they needed information, we’d have an online meeting. They involved me in everything and asked for my opinions. They also worked on SEO.

What is the team composition?

There was one person working on billing, someone working on SEO, someone else working on the design, and someone else working on the IT side.

How did you come to work with BRAND POWER?

They were recommended by a friend that had a very impressive looking website themselves. After the initial call, I knew they were the people to go with. Shane (Managing Director) is very enthusiastic, motivated, and a bubbly personality. I was instantly drawn to their services because of him.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October–November 2020. They continue to help with maintenance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The entire website is exactly what I wanted. They didn’t just take it upon themselves to do what they think would work. Instead, they did everything I asked and more. We started the day before we launched our Black Friday sale here.

We had so much traffic on the morning of Black Friday that the actual server crashed. It wasn’t their fault, but they were helping us in the early-morning hours to fix it. If we ever needed extra help, they were available around the clock and even on weekends. I always get an answer from them if we have issues.

How did BRAND POWER perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve never had this good of an experience with another agency. Last weekend, we had a sale that crashed our website again because of large surges in traffic. This happened at night on a Friday. I sent a quick text message, and they were on instantly to fix it.

They are always available on the weekend when needed. We're also planning on operating on our server with them in the near future.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their service far outweighs that of anybody I’ve ever worked with. I couldn’t recommend them any more highly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing I can critique them on. They’ve gone above and beyond what they were supposed to do.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

From the get-go, they were interested in what I wanted to achieve. They made sure I knew every part of the process along the way. There was nothing hidden because of their transparency. They keep you informed and in the loop at all times.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the operations manager at Vendor Finance. We’re a finance broker.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BRAND POWER?

We outsource all of our marketing, and BRAND POWER plays a key role in our marketing strategy.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BRAND POWER works with us to develop our marketing strategy and implement it. They’ve helped us with our branding, our online digital marketing, and our website. The team makes sure anything that goes into our digital media has consistent branding. Anything that requires a visual, we rely on BRAND POWER to make it happen.

We don’t do a lot of standard PR in the sense that we don’t do much print advertising, but when we do, BRAND POWER helps us with that as well. Typically, we’ll provide them with the copy. They also write blogs for us at times.

What is the team composition?

We’re working face-to-face with two people and virtually with one. There’s also a larger team working on our campaigns behind the scenes, but we only really interact with those three.

How did you come to work with BRAND POWER?

They’re local to where we are, and we’re always looking to see how we can engage people in the northwest of Ireland. We knew of BRAND POWER in the community, so when we had a marketing need, we got to talking with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend around €30,000 (approximately $36,000 USD) yearly.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since October 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have a lot of metrics to compare, but BRAND POWER does provide us with information on SEO optimization and website performance. 

We view them as part of our own team. We’re still with them after so many years, which stands for something.

How did BRAND POWER perform from a project management standpoint?

BRAND POWER is a pleasure to do business with. We’re very serious about what we do, but we try to do it in a way that’s relaxed and encourages more creativity, and BRAND POWER really fits into that. I can text them outside of business hours, and they’ll always respond, even if it’s just to say they won’t be available until the morning. We’ve never had a problem with them.

We have a monthly marketing meeting to review where we are in our plan, what’s been working and what hasn’t, and what adjustments we need to make for the remainder of the year.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a great team going — they’re very energetic and personable. They have a lot of experience on the team, as well as many younger team members who bring a lot to the table on the digital end. I’d recommend BRAND POWER to anyone looking to partner up with someone for their marketing strategy, whether it’s just managing an email campaign or their entire program.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s not a lot that I feel they could be doing better. I think what’s key to keeping our relationship on track is our monthly meetings. If for some reason they get pushed back by a week or two, we start to fall off the same page.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re a young, growing company that’s quite dynamic. No matter what challenge we throw at BRAND POWER, they figure out a way to make it happen. If they don’t have the answers themselves, they can put us in touch with the right people.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a partner at a large company that provides office products, furniture, and equipment across Ireland.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BRAND POWER?

I engaged them to help us rebrand with a new name, look, and logo.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We decided in the early stages that we wanted our rebrand to involve a new look, mission statement, and name. With their team, we had a series of consultations to pin down our company’s current identity and our goals for the brand. 

Then, they created a brochure website, mainly focusing on the furniture side of our business. They also created an online store for customers who want to buy our products online. That was set up through a third-party site that was integrated with our website. They handled all the graphics, design, and backend work. We’re now relying on them to handle monthly site maintenance, Google Analytics, and SEO work.  

What is the team composition?

We worked with Shane (Managing Director), Caitlin (Account Manager), Lisa (Graphic Designer & Account Manager), and another teammate who focused on getting our identity down on paper.  

How did you come to work with BRAND POWER?

A client of mine in the supermarket business was using them for similar services. He recommended them.

What is the status of this engagement?

After moving away from a previous branding agency, we began working with them in January 2020. It only took them three months to develop everything we needed, so the project finished up in March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work has been successful from my point of view because our number of online conversions is increasing. When I ask how customers selected our services, they often reply that they easily found our website by searching Google and chose to order from us because they liked what they saw on our website. I attribute much of that success to them.  

How did BRAND POWER perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re organized to the point of providing us with a monthly summary report of our performance and web store conversions. From there, we put together our thoughts on where we want to go from there. From a project management perspective, they meet all our expectations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve established a solid, professional relationship, and I’m happy with their work. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’ve recommended them to others in the past with a simple introduction.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a research and project manager at Nektr Technologies. We are developing antimicrobial technology. We're currently finishing a clinical trial on applying that technology to Onychomycosis, commonly known as fungal nail infection.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BRAND POWER?

We needed to engage people to sign up for our clinical trial. This included establishing an online presence so that more people would contact us. We wanted to build a professional website that best showcased the technology that we had and the different elements of it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BRAND POWER developed our website from scratch. They built the initial version, and then we built on top of that and did two iterations.

A lot of content is quite scientific, so we handled most of that. However, they helped design the website to be user-friendly, and they condensed things down to make the information more digestible. They ensured that we got our point across in the best way possible.

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with two people. Then, there were graphics people in the background. I didn’t interact with them much; I just sent them my ideas for what I wanted.

How did you come to work with BRAND POWER?

We’re both from the same town in Ireland, and other local businesses have used them. They were the most local agency that we could use.

How much have you invested with them?

Our partnership began around September 2020, and we’ve wrapped up. However, they’re always on call if we go back to them and ask to make a tweak here or there. I think we’ll continue to work with them on keeping the site up to date, as well as other things.

What is the status of this engagement?

We spent between €5,000– €10,000 (approximately $6,000–$12,100 USD).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website was very successful because we were able to get everyone we needed engaged in the trial. The biggest metric of BRAND POWER’s success was that we got all of the patients we needed enrolled in the trial. In fact, the study filled up more quickly than we thought it would once we launched the site. We were very happy with that.

How did BRAND POWER perform from a project management standpoint?

BRAND POWER was brilliant. Engaging with them was very easy. The graphic designers I worked with were very nice, and Shane (Founder & Managing Director) was friendly and easy to work with. It was basically an open-door policy; if we ever needed something, we had their contact details, and we got seen to right away. It felt like we were dealing with someone who was friendlier than just a random company; we weren’t just another number to them.

We were able to see the website as it was being built. We could see the changes they made in real-time, which was quite nice. That also meant that if we saw something we wanted to change, they rectified it quickly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very good, and we’d definitely recommend them. I think our need was quite unique, and BRAND POWER was able to tailor to our unique requirements quite well. They oriented themselves toward what our goal was. We weren’t sure how we could best get the word out there, so the fact that we were able to get it out as quickly and successfully as we did was absolutely priceless.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We reached our enrollment goal quite quickly, so I didn’t have any issues. We’re very, very happy.

Any advice for potential customers?

Get on the phone with them. Their websites and work are great, but the real value with them comes from the personal engagement. When you get on the phone with them, they will tease ideas out of your own mind that you didn’t even realize you were thinking of. We didn’t have a full, concrete idea in our head of what we wanted, so it was good that they were able to tease out exactly what we were looking for.