MeDM

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing communications manager for North American Construction Group. We’re a massive earthworks and infrastructure company that works in Canada, the US, and Australia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MeDM?

We first engaged MeDM to begin work on a potential rebranding strategy. We had an existing website, and we wanted to modernize it and bring it online with some of the other organizations we own in Australia and Canada. We wanted all the websites to share some of the same content to look like they were from the same company. MeDM has been working on that for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MeDM is guiding us through a rebranding process, which includes website development, website content management, graphic design, and social media strategy.

As part of our rebranding strategy, we’ve redesigned our logo. MeDM has done some design work on our website. Everything we do with our projects involves a lot of design. They’ve been very creative and thinking outside the box in areas we would normally bypass.

We have numerous brands, and each has its own existing website. Our goal is that if you look at the website for the company we own in Australia, it’ll look similar to the one we have in Canada. We want them all to be branded along the same lines so people realize that when they go to any of those websites, they’re all part of our one umbrella.

We’ve mostly been working with WordPress for the website. The Australian company had a web platform that wasn’t widely used, so we brought them over to WordPress. It’s much easier for them to interact with the website and make small changes to it. As we continue to move forward, we’ll all have one system that’s easy to work with and compatible with our corporate systems. MeDM will also offer maintenance and hosting for the new website.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with about five teammates. David is the head of the company, and I do weekly Zoom calls with him. Sheena helps us with social media. We’ve also worked with a few designers in the background, like Ovid.

How did you come to work with MeDM?

We first interviewed about 5–6 different agencies, both locally and across Canada. We narrowed it down to MeDM in the end. We liked the feel we got from the agency and David. After following up and having a couple more conversations with the MeDM team, we decided they were the guys we wanted to work with moving forward.

How much have you invested with them?

We’re definitely in the six-figure range. We’ve invested about $200,000 CAD.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2024. It’s an ongoing partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still working on the rebranding. We’ve narrowed things down to a company name and logo. Our board of directors has a couple of concerns, so we’ve gone back and drawn up a second name and logo. They’re in the board’s hands right now.

MeDM has already done great things with the Australian corporation. They’re very happy with the work MeDM has done. We’re continuing to work forward with bringing the rest of our brands in line with the overall web.

Our executive and board have reacted positively to the results. Seeing the work they’ve done and the efforts they’ve put into it, we’ve had a really good overall partnership between our company and theirs. MeDM has been great in the way they’ve led this project and opened new doors for us.

How did MeDM perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been excellent in achieving all our deadlines, if not even in advance. Their team works very quickly and efficiently. I’ve sent notes, and they’ve updated everything the next day. Even with the Australian side, where there’s a half-day difference in the time zones, they’ve been really quick to deal with the issues that have come up.

We email constantly. The Zoom meeting is just a chance for us to get face-to-face. David brings in Sheena, Ovid, or any other members of his team to discuss the current issues we’re working on and any solutions they want to talk about.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s been easy working with them. I’ve worked with agencies for a good portion of my career, and working with MeDM is like working with friends. They’re very positive, creative, and efficient. I know that when they come back to me with the work they’ve done, it’s going to be something that impresses me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. Everything has been done professionally and efficiently.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very creative and have a great sense of positivity. Everyone’s excited about the project and seems to bring their best work to it. Whenever I see any of their work, I’m always greatly impressed by what they bring to the table and the new angles they show us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President of New West Truck Centres

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Full service heavy duty truck dealership representing Freightliner and Western Star and ther brands

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Website and social media
• Brand management
• Graphic design

SOLUTION

How did you find MeDM?

Online Search

Why did you select MeDM over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from MeDM were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

In 2021 NWTC approached MeDM to standardize and expand our brand, redesign/redevelop our website, and take over existing marketing efforts.  We wanted a marketing agency that was capable of acting as our external marketing department with a diverse set of skills and capable of unique problem-solving.

Over the last 3 ½ years, MeDM has helped us through over 150 marketing projects, designs, and advertising campaigns and aided in the marketing and design aspects of a number of large acquisitions.  They have helped us develop our employer brand at a time when it was critical to our success as a business and advised us to bring in outside talent when the problem was outside of their skill set.  They have helped us and worked with us as we have grown from 5 locations to 12.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Website redesign completed
• integration of an acquisition
• branding guidelines
• graphic design for various projects:
  • mobile website
  • billboard design
  • parts flyers
  • building and pylon signage design
• SEO and SEM
• radio ads
• video and photography
• email campaigns
• vehicle wraps
• sponsorship support
• location listings management
• copywriting
• presentation design

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

MeDM was very responsive to our ever changing priorities:

• When new prioirties came, they quickly shuffled resourced and delivered to short term requests.
• The annual project lists where dynamic and MeDM was flexible when we needed to make changes. 

What was your primary form of communication with MeDM?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting

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

• MeDM makes us feel like we are their most important customer!
• Lots of internal talent with attention from all team members.
• Very responsive. 

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

Nothing noted

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the COO of Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute (ABJHI) is an independent charitable organization whose strength is turning knowledge into better care for people with bone and joint health conditions. ABJHI uses the best evidence available to develop innovative products and concepts that improve patient health across Alberta.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Branding Consulting
• Company renaming
• Logo Development
• Presentation design

SOLUTION

How did you find MeDM?

Referral

Why did you select MeDM over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from MeDM were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Due to shifts in the structure of Alberta’s Healthcare System, Alberta Bone & Joint Health Institute approached MeDM to create a new identity that would allow them to expand their partnerships beyond existing partnerships with the Bone and Joint community.  This involved:

• A review of existing material
• Engagement of stakeholders
• Creating a new name
• Registering multiple domains
• Researching creative directions
• Creating mood boards
• Creating / presenting a creative brief
• Designing multiple logo options
• Refining and standardizing options
• Selecting two logo versions
• Updating the design of the Business Case Presentation

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• A new logo was developed and chosen
• A new company name was chosen
• Domains were registered
• Design of creative brief
• Business Case presentation

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

• The team at MeDM was very responsive
• They met our timelines and deliverables
• The communication was fantastic
• We were kept fully up to date on all progress made

What was your primary form of communication with MeDM?

Virtual Meeting

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

ABJHI is a unique company. MeDM has understood what we do in a short period and designed a rebranding strategy that we are very happy with. We found it very easy to build relationships with all of the team members and felt that their culture matched ours.

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

None that I can think of 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Managing Director of Office of Lifelong Learning, FOMD, University of Alberta

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our department provides continuing professional development in leadership, communication, and quality improvement for professionals, as well as educational offerings and resources for physicians and their teams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Discovery / Stakeholder Interviews
• Help with Social Media / Analytics (No Charge)
• Development of Content Strategy / Content Pillars
• Design of Guidelines Documents
• Integration of UofA Branding / Design of Example Posts for each Content Pillar (No Charge)

SOLUTION

How did you find MeDM?

Online Search

Why did you select MeDM over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Past work experience with universities

How many teammates from MeDM were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Working with Key Stakeholders they identified content opportunities, defined primary content pillars, secondary content pillars, and provided examples.  They also developed a post-frequency matrix using similar audience behaviour to decide on post times.  They helped with the reactivation of the Facebook channel and the setup/access to the page analytics. 
They researched possible creative for posts and using the UofA’s branding guidelines, and designed post examples for each of the primary content pillars.  Finally, they integrated everything into a set of polished PDF guidelines for future use, and provided follow up meetings to explain the key information to our core marketing team to ensure that we could effectively operationalize their advice in our department.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Key deliverable: a PDF document outlining 1) primary and secondary content pillars and examples; 2) Suggested tone and voice; 3) Channel recommendations based on content pillars and a posting frequency matrix. In addition, the findings and advice were reviewed with us in one formal meeting, with additional follow up meetings.
• Additional deliverables that set our team up for success at operationalizing their advice: 1) examples of social media marketing visual assets for three of our courses. This was particularly helpful for us, as it illustrated how to reduce the text content of our ads and make them easier for the target market segment to view; 2) walking us through their thinking and rationale for advertising; 3) showing us some of the visual inspiration that their creative team used in mocking up example ads. 

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

Their project management was solid, and they kept things moving. We didn't have any sense of the budget that would be needed for our initially desired scope of work, and it did come in well above budget initially. However, they worked with us to reduce the scope of work and the budget, and focused on the process pieces and deliverables that aligned with our higher priorities. We really appreciated that they didn't dismiss us when we asked about reducing the scope and budget (which was the response we received from one other vendor that was in our RFQ process), but instead worked with us, even though the project ended up being smaller than what they usually undertake.

The other need that they were particularly responsive to was that we needed to be able to operationalize their recommendations in house, and would not be in a position to outsource the subsequent advertising work. While they fulfilled all the deliverables on the planned scope of work, in the initial closing meeting, their recommendations weren't all highly operationalizable for our team, given how little marketing knowledge we have in house. David wanted to ensure that we could actually put their recommendations and advice to work, and set a follow up meeting to review the deliverables and arrange to share additional information with us so that we could act on their advice. I really appreciated his willingness to revisit and share more information on their process and the thinking behind the advice, as that will be an important source of learning for us.

They were flexible in response to shifting starting timelines on our end, and the work was completed on time.

What was your primary form of communication with MeDM?

Virtual Meeting

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

What impressed me most was how friendly and relatable David and Sheena were during meetings. When you can work through an agenda, while simultaneously relationship building and having some laughs, it's a great signal for me about the values and culture of an organization, and those are the kind of people I like to work with. At the same time, they were very professional, and were keen to learn more about our organization and what we hoped to achieve. 
Compared to the three other vendors we met with, it felt like MedM was genuinely interested in our project and helping us learn more about marketing our courses as primary objectives, whereas the other vendors made us feel like we would be a short term revenue stream, and if we couldn't outsource follow on projects, they weren't too interested. And we were very impressed that they didn't just dismiss us when we had to curtail the scope and budget as we learned more about what would be involved in our initial wishlist.

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

Given that we have a very limited knowledge of marketing in our core group (I had 1 marketing course in undergrad, and 1 in an MBA, and know that I actually know very little about marketing), it would have been helpful if they were a bit more explicit about what key words in the scope of work document meant. 
With my limited marketing knowledge, I thought that "development of content strategy" meant providing more specific details on ads and content of ads for specific courses - in other words, I thought the deliverable was going to be bigger than it was. To be clear, they absolutely completed all of the deliverables that they said they would do. 
However, David recognized that I thought there was going to be more to it, and in follow up meetings, shared additional information with us - the end result is that I am happy with the scope of deliverables. Given that the misunderstanding was entirely on my side, he certainly didn't have to provide anything further, but he really wanted us to be happy with the deliverables, and be able to put things into action ourselves.  
However, for more marketing naive clients, being more specific about what is included in key terms in the quote/contract to ensure share understanding of what is in scope and out of scope would be helpful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an associate portfolio manager of a financial advisory firm working under the umbrella of CIBC, the bank. We manage investments and wealth for clients of high net worth.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MeDM?

We wanted to increase our revenue and brand awareness.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MeDM worked on app design, Google, Facebook, and social media ad campaigns, and website and landing page development. They also updated the pitch deck we used to introduce our process to new clients.

They produced an online survey and landing page. The goal was to provide those surveys to people along with a financial calculator to show how much money they needed to retire. MeDM was meant to give us a copy of that survey so we could get in contact with people who filled it out and might qualify to work with our team.

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with David (Owner & Creative Director) as the project lead. We also worked closely with one of the graphic designers to complete the pitch deck and landing page.

How did you come to work with MeDM?

We found them through a Google search.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $52,000 CAD (approximately $38,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2019–July 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The landing page was shut down due to some internal issues, but we were happy with the results at the time. The main thrust of MeDM’s work was to polish our material and drive people towards the landing page. We definitely got one major client off the online portal before we had to shut it down. In the end, everything looked great, and we’re still happy to be using it.

How did MeDM perform from a project management standpoint?

They delivered on time and within budget. We primarily communicated through phone calls and emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Working with them was fantastic. MeDM exceeded expectations and was very collaborative. The team brought good ideas to the table and worked with us on making our existing brand fit into the new material.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything worked out well; there wasn’t anything specific to point out for improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give honest and open feedback to the team and communicate quickly and directly. Provide lots of information upfront and continue to work on a quick basis. When we got emails or anything from MeDM, we got back to them immediately, so the deliverables were back in hand all the quicker.

They appreciated our responsiveness throughout the process. I also think they enjoyed being told when a suggestion wasn’t what we were looking for so we could better guide them toward the ultimate end product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and superintendent of CAPE Public Charter School, located in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. I founded the school in 1994, and I've been the superintendent for 18 years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MeDM?

I wanted to redo our website. This was our fourth attempt to develop a really good website for our school. The other three websites others had created for us weren't satisfactory, so we decided to start again from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MeDM has helped us redesign and redevelop our website from scratch. Initially, David (Owner & Creative Director) and I met virtually and had a long conversation about what people thought our school was about, its programs, and its population (including students, parents, and staff). I wanted to ensure that he understood what we were about and what we wanted out of our website.

After that meeting, MeDM came back with a plan of action detailing the elements that needed to be on the website, in David's opinion. We compared notes to ensure that what I needed would be there where I needed it to be. We went through David's plan for the website, and I got an eye view of what he was thinking.

David was so committed to the project that he actually investigated several other charter schools in Canada and the US to see what they were doing and how my vision compared to their websites. We also had very long conversations about how I wanted the new website to look. I wanted it to be user-friendly and have a lot of pictures.

I also wanted to ensure that the website had a large amount of documents and information, some of which were required by the Ministry of Education. Still, I insisted that other elements were there so that parents and community members could get a clear view of what our school was about. These elements included multiple documents, pictures, and videos produced by students with the assistance of a local videographer.

As for the website design, MeDM has integrated our branding into every part of the website, so they've created custom graphics and icons. As for the web development, they've built a custom WordPress website with calendar integration and content management capabilities.

Currently, MeDM provides website maintenance services. Additionally, they're involved in increasing the knowledge of our website manager, providing her with instructional videos and links to other videos and courses she can take online. Still, if she needs assistance, she contacts MeDM immediately and gets help.

They either send them an instructional video or have a conversation with her to provide solutions or alternatives to the way she does things. If something is taking longer than expected, I can still call David to make things happen.

What is the team composition?

Besides David, we've also worked with Ovid (Marketing Manager), who has been very involved in the project. He was my main point of contact when I provided MeDM with the actual pictures and documents I needed to be included on the website, as well as with the instructions on where I needed that content to go.

How did you come to work with MeDM?

A gentleman affiliated with our school worked as the community representative of the financial committee. He had seen some of the work that David and his team had done for other individuals and their websites. When this person found out that I was looking for a reputable company to work with, he suggested MeDM. I met David, and we moved from there.

How much have you invested with them?

The original project size was over $26,000 CAD (approximately $19,000 USD). Now, we pay an annual fee of $1,000 CAD (approximately $700 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. It took us about a year to get the new website up and running. Since then, MeDM has been refining it.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The outcome has been really good. Our new website is extremely manageable and user-friendly, and it has a lot of information on it that users are interested in. Moreover, it is very visually appealing.

Additionally, MeDM's knowledge share has been amazing because they're building the capacity of our website manager to do a fair amount of work herself. Thanks to this, the quality of our site is always improving because we don't waste time trying to fix it when needed.

How did MeDM perform from a project management standpoint?

MeDM has delivered on time and on budget, offering communication every step of the way. I communicate directly with David via Zoom meetings. Additionally, Ovid and our website manager communicate with each other via phone calls, emails, text messages, and Zoom meetings.

Budgetary-wise, MeDM's prices are incredibly manageable for us financially. Given that we're a small organization, our budget is always very tight, especially because our programs have a very low student-to-teacher ratio. However, MeDM has been very responsive to our financial challenges, which is amazing.

Ovid works directly with the website manager at our school, limiting the number of people involved, as well as the cost and the work hours, and creating a close relationship. Thanks to that collaboration style, our expenses in developing and maintaining our website are extremely manageable for us, which is very much appreciated.

Moreover, our close relationship with MeDM is very good, allowing us to have very quick turnaround times and responses from them regarding the changes we want to make to the site.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

I would like to give a shout-out to David and Ovid, as they've been my two main points of contact from MeDM. There are other teammates working on the project in the background as well, who have been incredibly helpful in fixing glitches, making changes, and developing new pages. Although I don't know them, I can tell that the whole team has been amazing to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

MeDM's company as a whole is amazing. The way they worked with us, supported us, and developed our site has been excellent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only challenge we've faced was that, at one point, MeDM went through a rebranding process. Although this caused a lag in our communication, it wasn't really an issue. It was a process they needed to go through, and once they completed that process, everything went back to normal.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

The initial conversation with David to help them understand what your company is about and what you want to do is absolutely crucial. David is incredibly intelligent, well-read, and knowledgeable, so his response to an honest upfront conversation will be outstanding. Go through that process before even thinking about starting the actual project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of Alexander Learmond, a strategic consulting practice that works with organizations to help grow and transform their business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arc Reactions Inc?

For the last two and a half years, I’ve been engaged as an advisor to the CEO of APEX, which is a 35-year-old organization that stands for the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada. I work in an embedded position, so I work with APEX on a day-to-day basis. APEX hired Arc Reactions in order to complete the work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I lead the project with Arc Reactions and they’ve been engaged with us over a lengthy period of time — we wanted to work with an integrated marketing company, not just a website development company. As an integrated marketing company, we engaged with them with respect to our strategic plan and direction, and they’re able to impactfully develop our website.

Initially, they were involved in designing our strategic plan and infographics, as well as the development of a brand-new website and backend services — they were also engaged with us from a marketing perspective. They designed our annual report, as well as rebranding the entire organization with a new logo, brand deck, colors, and brand elements which basically aligned to the new strategic plan.

Additionally, they developed a series of 1–2 minute videos for our summit and prepared marketing tutorials and guidelines for our IT team on how to use the website. We were able to tell a story with the logo they created, as it pays homage to the past while ensuring that it’s modern, sleek, and takes the organization into 21st-century marketing. Most importantly, the story aligns with the organizational vision and values.

As for the development, we asked them to build a full WordPress website. We used to have an RFP, but they were involved in the requirements and structure, as well as the content, design, and integration. Our old website had over 300 pages, so it was really complex to review and determine its relevancy.

The complexities were with all of the resources and tools that were available, like white papers and articles, so we had to distinguish between what was accessible for members and non-members. There were multiple landing pages, additional information pages, and some major marketing positioning pages.

Lastly, when we developed the new brand and handles, they did the social media logo and branding headlines for our LinkedIn and Twitter. To this day, they’re still supporting us with SEO and web hosting.

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with their project leader, and I’m aware of 3–4 other members at different points in time, such as developers and marketing specialists.

How did you come to work with Arc Reactions Inc?

They were highly recommended by one of my colleagues from my own company, so I then recommended them to APEX.

How much have you invested in them?

I would say we’ve spent about $65,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have an ongoing engagement that began in November 2020. They provided six months of maintenance service, and we engaged with them again to do further enhancements with respect to mobile accessibility, event registration, and building a more savvy event landing page.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From a cost-savings perspective, we’ve saved at least $100,000, and the work that we’ve done garnered extremely positive results — there was never a moment where we felt that we needed to work with another organization. I had a call this morning with another marketing agency, and they were so positive about our website and branding. On top of that, our community of executives is also very happy with the work and the repositioning of the organization.

Our clientele is made up of the executives of the public service of Canada — 7,500 executives managing over 300,000 public service employees. The work that we’ve done has had a direct and indirect impact on Canada across the board. In fact, I wouldn’t be doing this review if there weren’t absolute raving reviews from everyone, including our board and community.

How did Arc Reactions Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

This is where they really excel. Their work ethic is superb and they are always professional. As an executive group, they’re able to work around our schedules and it makes the engagement very seamless — they're always on budget and on time. If there were any sort of delays, it was because of us, wanting to change the requirements.

We have Zoom meetings, so there is a significant amount of face-to-face. We also communicate through phone and email, and use technologies like Dropbox.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed by their creative expertise and their work ethic. They work with us as an integrated member of the team, and it doesn’t feel as if we’re working with an outside organization — they understand our pain points and where our challenges are. The integrated nature of their involvement makes the partnership a really exceptional experience for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In the industry, people put out an RFP, which agencies will then bid on. If I look at the way our project evolved, we would’ve probably even benefited more by engaging them earlier in the process — and having them participate in the development of the RFP. From a project management perspective, I think it would’ve been a lot easier to create a scope with them as opposed to building one based on our requirements.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would suggest being totally transparent at the very beginning of the project, because they’re a trusted and honest organization. I think engaging them earlier in the process with more candid conversations would certainly benefit your organization.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Hire Value, Inc., a recruitment, marketing, and advertising agency that has been in business since 2014.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arc Reactions Inc?

On our fifth anniversary, we planned to rebrand our company. Our problem was the fact that we are a small firm and the only other companies that do what we do are large global organizations. We were looking to increase our visibility, create a new logo, rebrand our website, and create a series of infographics to inform and influence our ideal customers. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Arc Reactions helped us with our rebranding efforts. First, they worked on our logo, colors, and visual elements. After that, they developed a WordPress website from scratch, and they built it to be mobile-friendly. They collaborated with us in creating the site’s content, and they made landing pages as well, although we haven’t yet activated them. Currently, they are implementing on-site SEO.

I have a very substantial blog library, which contains 130 articles about the recruitment industry. They went through those, optimized them, and they would be used in our social media strategy going forward. They also created a series of infographics meant to inform and influence our ideal customers. 

Arc Reactions also helped us implement a full digital marketing strategy. They handled our accounts on Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, and they produced animated ads for our marketing campaigns. Part of our marketing strategy includes a podcast that I’m a co-host on, and Arc Reactions conducted video editing there. They took 15-minute snippets of the podcast interviews and captioned them, and we used those on social media to drive traffic to the podcast.

What is the team composition?

We work with three people. 

How did you come to work with Arc Reactions Inc?

I had been interviewing local marketing firms for about three years. I met Arc Reactions at a small business exhibition where they had a booth. I interviewed three other firms that day, and I chose Arc Reactions after talking with them — we began working together shortly after that. 

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent $112,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2019, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure metrics monthly and review them quarterly. We have focused on Google ads and marketing, and we found out the search terms people used to find Hire Value and their geographical area. We also measured the increase of our LinkedIn followers from both the podcast and the website because they were our ideal customers. Ultimately, an increase in business is our most important metric because that's the bottom line. After our first full year, we have seen a business increase of 28%.

How did Arc Reactions Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

Arc Reactions is excellent at project management. They have kept me on task whenever they needed something from me. Timing, review, reports, and meetings are all handled very professionally. Everything is on a schedule, and I know exactly what our plan is for a specific quarter throughout the year. They've never missed a commitment or a deadline in the whole time I've been working with them.

We communicate via text, phone calls, and Zoom meetings. When we are working on something, we meet at least every couple of weeks. When we’re working on a project, sometimes we meet daily. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I am not a creative, and I know I need to find someone who can read my mind for a project like this. I have a picture in my mind, but I don’t know how it all comes together. What Arc Reactions delivers exceeds anything I ever imagined — right down to the colors, graphics, design, and layout. The proposals and presentations we've worked on are such a level above what I would have expected. Their creativity sets them apart. Arc Reactions’ efforts have placed me on a level that I can compete with big, global firms. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have very high expectations, and they've never disappointed me. The product they've produced in the end is just so incredible; I'm very happy to pay their invoice. Maybe the only thing they can improve on is their understanding of LinkedIn. When it comes to SEO, Facebook, and Instagram, they've got it. However, LinkedIn is a very different type of social media. That said, they understand LinkedIn, but LinkedIn has also changed dramatically in the last year and a half in terms of how their algorithms work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need to trust that they are professional creatives and marketers. Everyone seems to think that it doesn't take any talent to create a logo, which is wrong. Participate in the design process and be prepared for some heavy lifting. At the end of the day, you get back everything you put in. For example, just with the logo design, we spent around 40 hours. As such, every single detail about it is meaningful. You need to be prepared to do that heavy lifting and to participate fully. Lastly, you need to set aside the time to do it. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CEDA is an industrial services provider. CEDA has a proud history in North America. With roots extending back to 1973, we have been bringing innovative technologies, equipment and processes into the field to ensure the success of our clients’ projects.

My position as Manager, Recruitment is to build CEDA's employer brand and ensure we are attracting the top talent in industrial services to our job boars.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Arc Reactions Inc?

With the global pandemic our opportunities to speak to talent directly through career fairs and face-to-face programs were eliminated. We had a strong digital presence but needed to take it to the next level.

ARC helped us with Logo Vectorization, Design of Static Ads, Logo Animation, Photoshoping Images, Storyboarding/Animation of Ads, Google Remarketing Campaign. They will also be helping us with our social media.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal of the project was to build a marketing campaign for employer brand

SOLUTION

How did you select Arc Reactions Inc?

We selected ARC Reactions Inc as they are an affiliate to our existing vendor, Hire Value Inc.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Building on CEDA's existing content about its Mobile Workforce, ARC designed and animated a set of digital ads run on Google's Display Network.

What was the team composition?

David had members of his team involved but he is our primary contact for the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The campaign has produced significantly more traffic to CEDA's Career page and increased brand awareness with over 800,000 impressions in CEDA's target recruiting demographics over the last two months.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The entire project has been managed remotely and it has been fantastic. David usually beats me to the update, as in, I never have to ask where things are at because his team is usually aiming to be three steps ahead. His team also responded well to adjustments or feedback along the way.

As a customer I really felt "heard" when describing our industry and job families. He took that information and turned it in to a excellent final outcome. David's team also went above an beyond to do additional market research which I very much appreciated!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their technical abilities. They know what they're doing and they translate their tech knowledge into digestible information making it easy for us clients to make decisions. They have exceeded my expectations especially given the challenging timeline we had to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I've got no feedback for areas for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Orennia Inc. We are a start-up data and analytics company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arc Reactions Inc?

Our business needed web development services and documentation for our investors.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Arc Reactions Inc developed our website from scratch. They also did a confidential information memorandum and a presentation.

What is the team composition?

I worked with around three people. I kept in contact with the project manager and developers.

How much have you invested with them?

Our company invested around $3,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from January–March 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work was great. Our financing is going well, and we got a lot of positive feedback on how good our information appeared.

How did Arc Reactions Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated mostly by phone and email. The team hit all the deadlines we put out and were able to accommodate them. They also responded quickly when we requested changes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive aspects were their speed and quality of work. It was great working with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't have anything for them to improve. Our experience was really good. 

Any advice for potential customers?

I’d suggest they stick to the team’s processes. That’s what we did, and we had good results. The team had a well-laid-out process that went pretty quickly.