Matchstic

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CMO of Bold Commerce. We're a B2B SaaS ecommerce technology company focused on the checkout experience. We're helping brands sell more, in more places with a customizable suite of checkout, subscriptions and price rules.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Matchstic, and what were your goals?

Our origin story was routed in app development for SMB merchants -while our business and market opportunity had shifted upmarket and across multiple platform ecosystems. We needed to change how people thought of Bold. We hired Matchstic to lead us in developing clear, concise, compelling positioning - a brand strategy along with updated visual and verbal identity systems to connect with new audiences, while retaining our brand's personality.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We reached out to 6 boutique branding agencies to invite discussion and proposals. We evaluated them on relevant client experience, credentials, process, fit/chemistry and value for fees. Matchstic covered all these bases and were excited to about our mission and challenge.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

Matchstic was ultra-disciplined in their approach and process, tackling the work in 4 stages: Discovery, Strategy, Identity and Launch. The began Discovery with immersion into our business - interviewing stakeholders and conducting a competitor and brand audit. They took findings into Strategy moving through a series of workshops and activities to create direction for brand strategy and to guide us to a "radically relevant" positioning and distilling insights to craft a brand brief.

From there they explored and presented concepts for visual and verbal identity using a logical approach of foundations > concepts > solutions - ultimately refining into guidelines for all visual and messaging components. Also they helped us think through launch and implementation, applying lessons learned from others to craft a phased approach to execution. Deliverables included the brand brief, identity and messaging toolkit and guidelines.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked closely with Blake- Co-founder and Creative Director as well as a Brand Strategist and specialized visual and messaging talent from the Matchstic team. Melissa, our PM kept us on track and informed and the core team was supplemented by other talent for the development phase.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The implementation of the new brand is underway - so quantitative measures of awareness/relevance to target market is yet to be seen. The feedback internally has been great - a first measure of sentiment - and our design team has fully embraced the visual identity system in planning forward work. We have started to experiment with some of the messaging - and it is resonating well - tradeshows, collateral and ad copy - showing more engagement. The Matchstic team has given us a great foundation to get us where we need to go.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We had weekly sessions with the Project Manager to review progress and outline next steps. Meetings were booked well in advance and T=they were responsive to accommodate our schedules. They hit their deadlines - their time to delivery was on schedule - even with flexing to add in facilitation of additional sessions for product positioning. Over all really impressed with coming in close to our initial, somewhat aggressive timelines.

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

They really are committed to helping brands uncover their "radically relevant" position - and brought a highly collaborative approach to dig deep and challenge our thinking. The energy they brought to the project was fantastic and the final assets - both visual and messaging are great.

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

The only downside was the entire project happened virtually during pandemic travel restrictions - it would have been great to have them to our HQ in Canada. Also all our communication was via email - I do find there is a role for Slack vs email in sharing inspiration/updates.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CMO of a health and wellness company. We do research and sell devices around therapeutic hydration and water production.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Matchstic?

Our initial goal was to develop a set of brand guidelines: the identity of the company, our logo, our colors, and our global messaging. The second half of the engagement was a naming process to go with the now existing brand.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

All their work was from scratch, as our existing identity was very light, and we wanted them to have total freedom to do and propose whatever they wanted. It exactly the same for the naming. We started with a short brief about our company and our expectations, but it wasn’t very detailed. They quickly understood what we were going for.  They also created templates for us around messaging and positioning and copywriting.

What is the team composition?

We worked with around 6–8 people.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $50,000–$60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from January–December 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any quantitative results, as our products are going to launch in about two-weeks time, but everybody is very happy with the job that Matchstic did. They love the name, the brand, the identity, and the messaging. It’s hard to compare this to what we had before, as they truly started from scratch, but we’re now nearly at a 100% satisfaction rate.

How did Matchstic perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication was very good, and they were always available to us. They were highly organized. We had an account manager on their side who managed all the meetings and the schedule. Communication took place by email, and they were totally transparent. We appreciated that they had no hidden fees and didn’t surprise us with anything. The process was very smooth. We also communicated over Slack and Monday.com.

What did you find most impressive about them?

As a French company, we have a very different mindset than American companies. Matchstic deeply understood our approach and were very open to our discussion-based process. We value creativity more than performance, and they offered a lot of really creative ideas that were in-line with what we were thinking.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a gambling comparison website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Matchstic?

We needed a company that could help us with our rebranding efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Matchstic to lead an entire rebranding process for our company. We started the engagement with a series of initial consultations, followed by the research phase, the design phase, and implementation. Matchstic created an entire brand package for us, including a new brand identity and tone of voice, logos, color schemes, and style.

What is the team composition?

We worked with six people from Matchstic throughout the engagement.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a total of $140,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September 2021–January 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Matchstic successfully delivered a fantastic new brand identity, which we’re incredibly happy with. Their process was brilliant, as was the end product.

How did Matchstic perform from a project management standpoint?
Matchstic performed well in terms of project management. Their communication was excellent, and they hit all their milestone dates throughout the engagement. Overall, it was a professional, efficient, and smooth experience.

We typically communicated through email and Zoom meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Matchstic definitely over-delivered. They did everything they said they would, and they did it to a really high standard. I was extremely impressed with the products and services they provided.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything they could have done differently.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to think your brief through and be clear about what you want to achieve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CMO of a child protection nonprofit.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Matchstic?

We were going through a rebrand, so we needed someone to assist us in repositioning our entire organization.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Matchstic provided us with brand positioning, strategy, content writing, and logo design to revamp our visual identity.

They first did a full assessment of our existing brand and pulled some aspects from it from a legacy standpoint, so some of the assets were a carryover from our previous identity.

What is the team composition?

We mainly worked with Melissa (Director of Project Management), Blake (Co-Founder & Creative Director), Brit (Design Director), and a brand strategist.

How did you come to work with Matchstic?

We came across Matchstic through a Google search. I reached out to several brand agencies, narrowed down the list to three, and ultimately went with them based on their proposal.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $120,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2020–October 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Anecdotally speaking, the visual design and positioning of our brand were well-received in the marketplace.

We’ve been able to improve our marketing performance metrics across the board and garner a lot of positive feedback from stakeholders and external partnerships.

How did Matchstic perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed well from a project management perspective, as they did a good job of keeping us on track. They came into the partnership with a clear plan, consistently met all our deadlines, and adapted to our needs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed with their creative process, strategic alignment, and expertise in the field. We were also very satisfied with the outcome and they were very adaptive and accommodating to our adjustments.

Overall, Matchstic was an excellent partner, and I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again if I had a similar need.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They didn’t necessarily adapt to our feedback as well as they could have, but it wasn’t really a major deficiency.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a state agency that administers higher education financial aid programs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Matchstic?

We were looking for a partner to help us develop brand strategy details and goals to promote one of our student financial aid programs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Matchstic developed verbal identity guidelines for us to promote our program. Their task focused on looking for better ways to verbalize our program’s value. They started by interviewing our staff and interested parties. Then, they interviewed program participants. From there, the team brought all the feedback together to develop the verbiage that best explained the program and promoted its value. They did ideation of headlines, deep dives, and talking points for us to use. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people from Matchstic. More people may have been behind the scenes that I didn’t interact with directly.

How did you come to work with Matchstic?

We have a nonprofit foundation charged with fundraising for our program, and they were the originators of our relationship with Matchstic. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September 2021–April 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Matchstic was very professional and patient with those of us who weren’t in the marketing world. They did a great job nurturing us and helping us understand what they hoped to achieve. 

How did Matchstic perform from a project management standpoint?

Most of the project management was done through email or Microsoft Teams collaboration, and they drove the process. We responded to their requests for scheduling, timing, input, and deadlines. They laid out all that information in the project scope we agreed to at the beginning of the relationship. Matchstic met all those deadlines and deliverables. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

For all that Matchstic provided to us, working with them was an exceptional experience. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they needed to improve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the creative director and head of brand for a franchise organization that’s based in the US and has a global presence.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Matchstic?

In order to better compete in the marketplace and position ourselves for the growth that we are anticipating and experiencing, we hired Matchstic to help us with our visual and verbal rebrand.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We undertook two contracts with Matchstic over the course of our relationship with them. The first was for the update and development of our brand identity, for which the deliverable is a full report on Matchstic’s market research findings. This would help us verify and compare our perceptions to other people’s perceptions of our business. 

The first step in that process was the discovery, where the team really immersed themselves in the brand. This was a challenge because not long after we began working together, the pandemic caused the entire world to shut down. Matchstic had to be resourceful with how they got to know the people in our company because any information they could gather would play heavily into the next step, which was the strategy. 

We then asked the team to produce a brand brief, which is a one-page summary of our brand’s positioning, personality, target audience, and value proposition. This would serve as an internal-facing tool that will guide our design and branding process. 

Matchstic then went into proposing a variety of concepts as we got into designing the logo, aligning colors and visual elements with the outlined strategy. We married those down to one choice that was fleshed out into a full identity system that involved messaging, headlines, and conversation starters.

Once all those brand guidelines were in place, we proceeded into the second contract, which was for launch consulting. Matchstic helped us specifically with the design and conception of a hardcover brand book that would provide art direction for our company. They also helped with the designing and production of our frontline employees’ uniform system and vehicle wrap. We’re a vehicle-based business primarily, so the SUVs that our employees drive are wrapped and designed a certain way. 

What is the team composition?

One of the co-founders was heavily involved in a creative director role. There was a project manager, a lead designer, a junior designer, a copywriter, and at least two strategists working with us. There were more people working in the background, but I mostly interacted with those seven people.

How did you come to work with Matchstic?

It was out of their industry reputation and word of mouth. Matchstic is well-known in the brand strategy community, so I've known about them for a long time. When it came time for us to commit to a rebranding process, I was really excited to reach out to them and have the opportunity to work with their team. 

When our CEO filled out their contact form on their website, it only took 1–2 hours for their founder to email us and have a meeting scheduled for the following afternoon. Their responsiveness was impressive considering our CEO had filled out that form late in the evening. It sealed the deal for them at that point. 

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we've invested $155,000. We're getting ready to increase that as we enter into another contract with Matchstic.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2020, and we’re currently about to enter into our third contract.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As a franchise organization, one of the most important things for us to understand is how the owners and their teams will react to the changes we’re making. We took a very hands-on approach with getting franchisee feedback and involvement at all levels whenever that was possible. 

As a designer myself, I would understand if Matchstic didn't want all those other people meddling or of getting in the way, but to their great credit, they not only accepted but embraced this as a strength. It really showed in the quality of the work.

I have not heard a single negative feedback from any person in our community when they saw what we had developed. Everyone was thrilled and excited about it and felt that it truly represented the brand that they’re a part of. I think that's the best thing you can say about someone's work in the branding world. The quality of Matchstick’s output was second to none. On a personal level, I think it was absolutely remarkable. 

How did Matchstic perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is outstanding and better than I could’ve hoped for. They have one dedicated project manager who was assigned to our accounts, and we have hit every target and every deadline.

Sometimes when the other vendors we were working with would drag their feet, it's not me who had to reach out. Matchstic took the initiative to prompt those vendors along. It was something they didn’t have to do, but nonetheless did because they were so committed to getting the work done on time. I really appreciate that about them. 

We communicated by email and phone call. We also flew down to their office in Atlanta about 3–4 times for a face-to-face meeting. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The first impressive thing about Matchstic is that they were phenomenal at listening and understanding what it is they're seeing and hearing. They also knew how to read between the lines and search underneath the surface, especially during the initial discovery phase. That ability is such an asset to the work that they do and their quality as partners. 

More than any other vendor I've ever worked with, Matchstic was confident in and committed to their process. We sometimes felt like we knew what was going to be found during the research or that some information might not be totally necessary, but Matchstic unearthed insights that were absolutely essential to the decisions we would later make.

The second impressive thing, which is related to the first, is how they acted as true partners of ours in this process. Naturally, an agency like Matchstic will want to make sure that they are on top of the work to remain profitable. However, we requested their help so many times for certain things that we didn't know how to handle, and they consistently rose up to the challenge. We are very grateful to them for that because it is so rare in this industry. If we are to do another project like this in the future, we would 100% take it up again with Matchstic.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything that I would change.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be ready to start with the strategy. Any good firm or agency will need to root the design and messaging in the strategy. It is so easy to get into the mindset of creating new logos, using new colors, and designing a new website when going through a rebrand, but never rush or skip the strategy session. Trust Matchstic’s process and they will be able to give you a much better output. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing at North American Properties. We’re a commercial real estate developer that’s recently started focusing more on property redevelopment to reimagine existing assets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Matchstic?

We acquired a new project in November 2020 called Birkdale Village, which was an existing asset in Huntersville, North Carolina. It was a mixed-use development that was built about 20 years ago. Our team was tasked with redeveloping the site to create more community spaces in addition to reprograming the events and adding new leasing.

With that, we targeted Matchstic to support us with the rebrand, working over a number of months to discover the voice of the property and out outline how we’d instill the new brand into everything.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Matchstic helped us rebrand and refresh Birkdale Village while keeping in mind its existing tradition. They actually traveled to the area to do research within the property and looked at a lot of the competitors in the area to see what else was out there. That was key to knowing how our new brand would align with the bigger community while still defining exactly what our piece would be.

They also spent some time getting to know our team, vision, and project goals. They wanted to know what we were looking to do with the final project and what the applications would be to the new brand.

After that, they started presenting a number of deliverables to look at along with suggestions based on what they saw from their research. The end result was both visual and verbal assets that defined the branding for the new Birkdale Village.

What is the team composition? 

There were two main people who worked with us: one focused on the visuals, and the other focused on the verbal identity. There were other supporting members on the project, too.

How did you come to work with Matchstic?

I’ve known about Matchstic and their work in the industry for a number of years, and my co-workers had had some experience with them. They’d done a lot of work with real estate and people in our field. I’d actually met with Craig (Co-Founder & President) in 2019 for another project that didn’t end up coming to fruition.

When we were looking at bringing on a partner for this rebrand, we got RFPs from three companies, including Matchstic. I was drawn to their impressive clients as well as their experience and approach to branding. They had a great understanding of how branding was used and how important it was to have concise, defined messaging. 

How much have you invested with them?

It was about $50,000 for this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in December 2020 and just wrapped up. We’ve actually started a new project with them last week. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Anecdotally, being able to bring the new branding into the property and seeing the reaction from the community was great. It helped clearly define our role and what we were coming to do — without that, we wouldn’t have been able to jump in and make the splash that we did.

For our team, it was also really beneficial to go through the branding process together. Matchstic managed to get several roles involved to produce the final brand. We had a lot of great conversations that probably wouldn’t have happened without going through this process together. Being a cohesive unit fed a lot into the success of the project, and it helped us learn the community and demographics. 

How did Matchstic perform from a project management standpoint?

It was all done virtually. I communicated with the project manager through email most of the time. We’d also get on Zoom calls where they’d share their presentations. The final deliverables were provided through a .zip file via email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

As I’ve said, they had a very unique perspective thanks to their experience and the diversity of their team. I can speak to this now that I’m starting a second project with them. It seems like their bench is quite deep because they have a number of people — it’s not like you’re working with the same individuals who already know your company’s brain and will feed it back to you. 

They’re very specific in who they’re partnering us with for each project, which makes for a unique approach that’s not just a cookie-cutter branding program. They take the time to get a bigger, broader sense of the project, location, demographics, and competitors, which allows us to see how we fit into everything else in the community.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m not sure if all their clients are this way, but we have about 5–6 of our team members on each call, so we coordinate by using Doodle to check everyone's availability. It feels like it takes a long time to get our meetings scheduled because so many people have to respond, which can be a hassle when we have so many important deadlines and follow-ups. If there were a software tool that they could use to help with scheduling, that might streamline the process a bit.

As far as the overall deliverables, I don’t have any comments. We’re very pleased with their work and have been living with it for about six months or so.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The more you put into the conversation, the more you’ll get out of it. For us, it was helpful to have representatives from beyond our marketing team so that we could get a range of perspectives into the conversation. Having people see how we can use the brand in different ways can be beneficial. 

In line with that, try to have as much research as you can around the project from day one. That makes everybody’s job easier.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing at a truck logistics company. We create dump truck logistic software, and we have one of the nation’s largest networks of technology-enabled dump truck drivers.

We connect construction companies and material producers with dump truck drivers when they need those services. Additionally, we have tools to help them manage all that work on a single platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Matchstic?

We needed to do a rebrand of our company. Historically, our company was only known in certain regions of the country, and the people that heard about us thought that we only were a dump truck marketplace. They were not associating our brand with our other solutions and the functionality that we could offer through our entire platform.

We were going to launch a new product available nationwide, so we felt that the best way to change the perception of our company was to rebrand as a technology company. We wanted people to know that we had a platform that connected them to the marketplace and that they had available tools to manage their work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Matchstic helped us redo our entire brand strategy and identity to come up with a brand voice and how our company attributes our positioning statement from a brand perspective. For this purpose, they helped us redesign our logo, update our colors, create new icons, and define a photographic style.

What is the team composition?

We worked with around 4–5 people from Matchstic on this project, including Cody (Project Manager) and Meghan (Senior Designer). There was also a copywriter designated to our account who helped us with the brand voice work. Other strategists joined throughout the project, and the co-founder was in a lot of our calls as well.

How did you come to work with Matchstic?

We found them online while doing research. Initially, we narrowed our list down to five agencies, and we felt that Matchstic had the best value, so we picked them.

They weren’t the least expensive agency, but definitely, they weren’t the most expensive one either, so we felt that they would offer the best value for our money. Additionally, they had already done some branding work for other software companies, so we thought that they would be a good fit for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent close to $75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around January 2021, and we wrapped up the project in June 2021. We purchased a block of hours of their work to review our branded assets for the next month to ensure that we’re consistent with our branding.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I highly recommend Matchstic as a branding agency. They did a great job listening to our team and to the feedback that we were providing, and they incorporated those changes into their work.

How did Matchstic perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team was really responsive, and they stuck to the project’s timeline and budget. We always knew where everything was; they were really great to work with.

Cody was our dedicated project manager, but we didn’t know what tools he was using to manage the project in the background. However, he coordinated all the meetings, made sure he sent our recaps and notes, and ensured that everything stayed on track — he was great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

This was my first time working with a branding agency, but I felt that Matchstic’s expertise and experience doing great things for B2B software companies distinguished them from other providers. We liked the portfolio of work that they had done for other companies, and their expertise was one of the reasons why we picked them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get a really clear scope ahead of time containing what you’re trying to accomplish, document it, and get to an agreement on the objectives and outcomes of the project from both sides. Additionally, make sure as a client that you have the right people and level of leadership involved from inside your organization.

We included our CEO and our chief revenue officer in the entire process, which made the brand rollout to the rest of the company a lot easier.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Stiles Corporation, and I’m the president of Stiles Residential Group which is a division within the overall sales corporation. We’re a 70-year-old, third-generation, family-owned business headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We’ve developed a couple of thousands of units, and we’re targeted to the luxury market, what I call the high end of the residential rental market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Matchstic?

We had a residential project that had a commercial element on the ground floor as well as an adjacent office building, all on one city block. Our team engaged Matchstic to come up with the visual and verbal identity of our project. In doing so, we wanted to effectively create a brand that was unique for a market that has a lot of competition and also doing so within the context of this overall larger project.

This was one of the more complicated projects we’ve done with anyone — in my experience — because of the added complication of the sister project. We wanted to create our own brand that’d be distinct enough, so as to not be confused with the other project, to ultimately drive interest and traffic in our multifamily project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started out with naming for the project. Then, they handled the overall development of a creative brief in terms of creating the strategy of what we were going to do. That included creating the name, a logo, and visual identity. For the visual identity, they developed the color palette that’s associated with our project as well as established the imagery that’d be associated with our name and logo. Their team also created the verbal identity in terms of the messaging we’d have in taglines and headlines. The deliverable was an overall cohesive brand guide.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 4–5 individuals, and I’m sure there were others behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Matchstic?

Initially, we were introduced to Matchstic many years ago by our management company. They had an established relationship with Matchstic, so they introduced us to one another. Then, our team interviewed Matchstic along with some other groups and thought that Matchstic was the best fit. We liked their creative edge and branding focus as opposed to being part of a bigger ad agency. We’ve done two prior projects with Matchstic before this one.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested approximately $90,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project was from December 2019–July 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The brand has been well-received. We’re very happy with the visual and verbal identity they helped define and establish for us.

Some of the ideas we came up with as a team during the branding process ultimately got incorporated into the physical components of the building in terms of interior design. All of that has been really well-received as well. We’ve really tried to differentiate the physical aspect of the design, especially in the interior of the project. Residents and our internal team feel that the branding matches up with creating a different boutique and curated experience.

How did Matchstic perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was generally presentations through Zoom or Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What distinguishes Matchstic the most is the end product. Their end products are always very distinct. They have unique deliverables and their process is extremely thoughtful. Matchstic is very thoughtful in the way they go about coming up with their creative ideas.

Additionally, they’re really good listeners in terms of implementing our opinions. A lot of times, these are projects that we’ve been working on for 4–5 years, so sometimes we’re not engaging them for three years because there’s a process that leads to the start of construction. We have a lot of history and Matchstic respects and acknowledges that.

Their team is very open to hearing our opinions and considering them into what the brand will ultimately be. Then, they do a great job of melding that into something that’s a tangible output.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I really don’t have anything. We definitely want to engage with Matchstic on another project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as open and share as much information as you can as a principal who’s engaging them about your project, history, and any context you can provide to them. Don’t hold anything back that’ll ultimately filter through their process. Their creative brains will come up with a great output.