Mekanic

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing shareholder of a public accounting firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Mekanic?

We wanted to update our website along with a branding campaign.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Mekanic organized the process of the website renovation to make it successful. They first talked to our staff members, clients, and other people in the community to find out what they thought of our firm and services so they could make a genuine brand that truly represented what we’re about. After that, they took that information and created content like a logo and pictures that we could use on our website and other branded materials.

They’re currently working on the development of our website, which they previously designed.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with Tiffany (Senior Engagement Manager), Darryl (Creative Director), Sarah (Senior Strategist), and Alex (COO).

How did you come to work with Mekanic?

We were looking for someone who could design our logo and website, and I found Mekanic online. I went through their website and saw their portfolios, and selected them because they were involved in the Chamber of Commerce, which matched many things about our business.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since September 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback from our staff members has been great. Mekanic also did office signage for us, which sealed the way we look, and that's essential for us too. They’re a creative team that is also organized and businesslike about their approach to the project — working with someone with the same level of professionalism is what we were looking for. 

How did Mekanic perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform well in terms of communication and hitting deadlines — they listen to us and make modifications whenever we’re not entirely satisfied with something.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They can be creative through an organized and collaborative approach, which is outstanding. Their professionalism and the fact that they’re genuine are also important — they found out what we are as a company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on — they’ve met every expectation I can think of.

Any advice for potential customers?

Talk to them and follow their lead.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing for NIGP, a nonprofit organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Mekanic?

One of the core events that we put on every year is our annual conference, NIGP Forum, which is a big revenue driver for our organization. It is also an opportunity to engage our members most effectively. In the past when we’ve held these conferences, our staff is heavily involved in planning and execution. Given that, we engaged Mekanic to provide an outside perspective, conduct interviews, and do more thorough research on our attendees.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Mekanic specifically focused on the experience that we provide our attendees and the value of Forum. This event made a huge difference in our customer experience, so we wanted them to help us research and understand our members, exhibitors, volunteers, staff, and all other stakeholders that make Forum happen. 

Our two biggest audiences were the members who bought our tickets and our exhibitors. I wanted the exhibitors to interact with our members, so we needed to optimize the event primarily for those two core audiences. 

Since that engagement, Mekanic has been doing all of our campaign work for NIGP Forum and I’ve also been hiring them for other campaign work for the organization.

What is the team composition?

I mainly interact with Tiffany (Senior Engagement Manager), and we have a good relationship with Erik and Katie (Co-Founders & CEOs). I also work with Alex (Chief Operations Officer). Meanwhile, the overall team composition varies depending on the project. When we do Forum planning, 5–6 people typically work on it, including a project manager, a copywriter, and designers.

How did you come to work with Mekanic?

Mekanic was recommended to me when I was leading our website redesign project, so I invited them to bid for that. However, our website project was extremely complex, and I wound up hiring another agency; Mekanic didn’t have the expertise in the CMS platform that we used.

Even though we didn’t hire them for that website project, I liked their enthusiasm and authenticity as an agency and team. They clearly wanted our business, and they’ve maintained that same level of enthusiasm. On top of that, they have a really diverse team of people and they bring good energy and deliver what they say they will.

How much have you invested with them?

In total, we’ve spent about $140,000 with Mekanic to date.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership began in August 2019, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Mekanic has been a great partner. When they helped us on our first Forum campaign back in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. We suddenly had to do things virtually. Technically, they were done with the project when the fallout from the pandemic hit us, Mekanic had delivered all the creative outputs that we needed. The Mekanic team came back to us and worked with us to update the collateral, giving us  free working hours.

On top of the savings Mekanic provided, our 2020 Forum was our highest record in terms of attendance. Our goal was to get 1,200 attendees, and we ended up getting 1,700.

Our members have said that our new marketing looks great. I attribute that largely to Mekanic. They’ve been true partners and helped us wildly exceed all of our key metrics.

I’ve been truly pleased with their work and the amount of care and attention that we receive. As a result, I continue to provide them with more work.

How did Mekanic perform from a project management standpoint?

roject management is one of Mekanic’s key strengths. Tiffany always makes sure that everything gets done. We’ve never had any issues with timelines or deliverables. Even when we move up our deadlines, they always meet our needs, which helps me tremendously in keeping my team accountable and in keeping the project on track.

To communicate, we normally use email. Mekanic uses Basecamp as their project management platform, and our team uses it depending on where we are on our projects. When we’re in the middle of planning, we meet weekly or biweekly via Zoom meetings.

To sum up, we’ve had a great rapport right from the get-go — I know what I want, I know what they’re good at, and they come to me with great ideas.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Mekanic has a strong portfolio, and they’ve done great work for many other clients, so I feel I’m in good hands. They have a very diverse team of people who bring unique viewpoints that impact their work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren't any.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have clear expectations and understand Mekanic's core competencies as an agency. Know what they’re good at, and determine what you need. Then, make sure that you have the right communication infrastructure in place.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO and VP of public policy for the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce. We’re a membership organization that helps businesses by advocating on their behalf and doing networking events so they can connect with each other.

Our focus is on promoting a strong business community in Alexandria. We partner with other organizations in the region to help facilitate a thriving business community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Mekanic?

We’re a staff of five so we have the core areas covered but struggled with communications, website design, graphic design, and things of that nature. Over the years we had outsourced those efforts to different members. Mekanic came in an offered to help us with our design efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They've been helping us with marketing materials for years. In 2019, they oversaw our latest branding update. This included a new website, logo redesign, tagline, marketing copy, and guidance around social media posts.

What is the team composition?

Erik (Co-Founder & CEO) is on our board but our day-to-day interaction is with Sarah (Senior Strategist). She’s been instrumental in managing the overall project. Erik and Alex (Partner & Chief Business Officer) have been a part of the strategy and pieces of it. Nathan (Designer) is our designer. Tiffany (Senior Engagement Manager) keeps everything running and organized, we talk with her on an ongoing basis.

How did you come to work with Mekanic?

They are members of the Chamber.

What is the status of this engagement?

The ongoing engagement started in December 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since our rebranding, we’ve seen increases in institution memberships and social media engagement. We’ve also seen a higher number of businesses partner with us, which we attribute to the new marketing language.

How did Mekanic perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re fantastic. Mekanic meets deadlines. They always manage to fit us in and help us out no matter what we’re asking of them. Their team communicates well and ahead of time. If a deadline doesn’t have a hard date, they’ll notify us if they need more time to figure out X, Y, and Z. We have sponsors who come in at the last second and try to get on a poster; Mekanic has always completed everything on time even when given last-minute changes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Mekanic thinks outside of the box and tries to come up with something that’ll be a real game-changer for what we’re doing. They make sure our project deliverables are cutting-edge and the best. They always produce something that stands out and is different from the rest.

They don’t go with the status quo; they’re always challenging what more can be done in different ways. It’s awesome to know that if we have a question or get stuck, we can bounce ideas off of them or think through things.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t articulate anything at this time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to their creativity and ability to take you in directions you may be hesitant to go down because they’re not traditional. When you commit and go on the journey with them, they give plenty of opportunity for feedback. They give you options. It’s important to trust them and go along with their process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of business services at a nonprofit association serving the non-academic side of college campuses. We provide professional development, research, and benchmarking for the senior-level professionals in this industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Mekanic?

We hired them to oversee our branding efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They oversaw survey forms, interviews, focus groups, and worked with 18-20% of our total membership. They also did a logo redesign, tagline, marketing copy, and guidance around social media posts. Finally, they did a rebranding and renaming of our annual conference, complete with PowerPoints and graphic design.

What is the team composition?

We work with six members of their team.

How did you come to work with Mekanic?

I believe they responded to our initial RFP, but I was onboarded around the same time, so I’m not entirely sure.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2016, and we still have them on retainer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since our rebranding, we’ve seen increases in institution memberships and school engagement. We’ve also seen a higher number of business partners and sponsorships, which we attribute to the new language that we use for marketing purposes. More people are attending our annual conference than ever before and we’ve seen an increase in revenue year over year.

How did Mekanic perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very responsive. Both parties are on the same page and keep track of the deadlines very efficiently. It’s fairly seamless.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They take ownership and have a genuine vested interest in seeing us succeed. They partner alongside us, understand the industry, and help us bring solutions to life that ultimately better us as an organization.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At times our marketing language can be superfluous and doesn’t really say much. That area could stand to be improved.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s okay to push back on graphic design or language they propose. They are good listeners, and sometimes it takes multiple iterations to reach an outcome that you’re both happy with.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a higher education association. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Mekanic?

We were looking for a rebrand in our identity. We had some internal transitions and were looking to make a statement about who we were, who we served, and what our priorities were.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Mekanic led a complete rebrand process. They created a new logo design, messaging, and website — both design and development — in WordPress. They integrated programs like Higher Logic and Salesforce. 

What is the team composition?

Erik (Co-founder, CEO) is my primary point of contact.

How did you come to work with Mekanic?

We launched an RFP and utilized the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) marketplace to find branding companies. We reached out to many companies, and Mekanic was one of those that responded to RFP.

We ultimately picked Mekanic for several reasons. First, they had a systematic approach that involved multiple layers throughout our association, including volunteers, the board of directors, staff, and general membership. It gave them a clear picture of our whole organization quickly. We also appreciated their quick timeline. Our membership and involvement were declining, so we needed to move quickly. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $250,000–$300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2016. The project took nine months, but we still work together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have an average 93%–95% retention rate and have grown membership about 5%–7% year over year since we rebranded. That was awesome. We’ve also seen an increase in involvement at our in-person events and in the overall satisfaction with our association.

How did Mekanic perform from a project management standpoint?

Any holdups have been our side. When you’re dealing with a ton of volunteers and multiple schedules, it’s hard to move in a timely way. However, from Mekanic’s side, they stay on schedule and deliver early whenever possible. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

While Mekanic has a systematic approach to branding, it still feels very individualized. Whenever we have an idea or need to talk through something, they’re really flexible and willing to work with us to meet our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think they could let companies take risks and experience some failures on their own instead of constantly warning us based on their experiences.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be really clear on what your goals and desired outcomes are. This helps move the process along faster and more efficiently.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for the national concrete masonry association. Our main membership are the producers of a variety of manufactured concrete products, including concrete masonry units, and other types of construction materials. We’ve been around for over a hundred years now, and we try to promote the use of our products and help them be successful through a wide variety of things. I'm the VP of business development and I oversee our communications efforts, from our website, to social media, to emails, printed materials, promotional flyers and those kinds of things.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Mekanic?

We started with needing to re-do our website. It had been 5-6 years using older technology that wasn't mobile responsive and we couldn't find the resources we were trying to get to them. We later realized it was time to take a look at our overall brand from top to bottom.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They led us through a process to identify how we could re-do our brand and re-do our visual identity. Once we got that part of it put together, then we transitioned into them completely redoing our website organizations. They redid our logo, our brand narrative, identified our main core audience that we were trying to reach, and redeveloped the layout for our printed flyers, business cards, and stationary. In addition to the main logo, they created a whole series of sub-brands for different things our association does. 

For our website, it felt like they did it from scratch, but we did have an existing one already. We took a look at it from top to bottom in terms of who were the people using the website, how did we want to communicate with them on how to organize our business. Then, based on our wireframes, they completed the site. Their work is ongoing with some marketing and website consulting.

What is the team composition?

I initially started working with Erik (Founder & CEO), and I worked with three other members of their team, including one project manager.

How did you come to work with Mekanic?

We started out with three full proposals and felt like Mekanic was the best fit. They were smaller, more responsive, and we liked their experience with associations. The price was also in our range, which led to us working with them.

How much have you invested with them?    

We've invested approximately $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in November 2017, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We more than doubled our total sessions on an annual basis. We went from 5,000 sessions on the old site to more than 200,000 on the new site. Our web traffic has more than doubled since the relaunch as well. The rebrand and everything has been well-received from our membership. Overall, I'd say we're just generally happy with the way things have gone.

How did Mekanic perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very responsive and I was very happy with how things turned out. We completed everything on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

From an association standpoint, their experience was really helpful. They were willing to talk to our board, our management and our membership and really engage with them. They did backend research that really served to inform a lot of our decision making.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don't think so. Overall, we were very happy and had a lot of positive impact.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

A lot of it is what you put into it. I know I spend a lot of time really working with them and providing the best of my input, but leaning on them because they know what the consumers will like best.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

ASCP is a nonprofit, membership association.  I oversee marketing, communications, and membership.

ASCP is a nonprofit, membership association.  I oversee marketing, communications, and membership.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Mekanic?

We were going through a rebranding, which is why we solicited Mekanic’s help. We’ve been struggling with our identity for many years now, and were thinking about branding and name changes.

We recently brought on a new CEO, and he was very supportive of the efforts we’ve done. We wanted a third party to help us do this in the most professional and effective way. We didn’t want to start from scratch, because we had been through surveys and background information on that. We went with Mekanic to modify the process to take into account the work that already had been done. We had a tight timeframe, and we wanted to debut this at our annual meeting.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted a unique icon. Our logo consisted of our acronym and our name, so we wanted to change that to make something more visually representative of us. We challenged them to find something that wasn’t a hand or a tree, like a lot of other senior associations.

We also have a diverse membership, and we wanted to highlight all of our members so they all felt like they identified with it.

They came up with a logo, a style guide, how we were going to debut it at the meeting, and provided samples of all the assets and marketing materials that we might use moving forward.

A survey went out to our members, and based on that feedback, we sent another survey to a tighter group. From there, they did a brand camp for us. Basically, it was a one-day workshop where a dozen people from our team went into their offices. We spent a full day talking through survey results, and getting down to the nitty-gritty of who we are and understanding what we needed out of the brand. By the time that workshop was over, they really understood our organization.

After that meeting, they came back to us with three different versions of the brand. They presented those to us in a really comprehensive way that made us feel like we kind of got a feel for how all three of those would work. Then our board of directors and staff went over it

How did you come to work with Mekanic?

They’re in our building, so we knew them. We met with them and felt like their culture was aligned with ours. We meshed well and they seemed like a good fit.

What is the team composition?

We had a few—they used an online system that managed our communication. Eric signed us on, and Sarah was one of the leads for the technical end of it, Tiffany was the project manager we worked with, and Darryl, was one of the lead designers.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent less than $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2019–January 2020

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback from the live launch of the brand was really impressive. And on a whole, extremely positive. And for an association that was really nervous about rebranding and about taking this large of a step and really expecting to have some feedback all over the place, we really we heard nothing but positive feedback from our members and from our stakeholders.

How did Mekanic perform from a project management standpoint?

They used an online communication system that was really effective. It was very timely—I never felt rushed. It went very well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It felt like they were an extension of our team—they understood us so well. They were focused on bringing our vision to life in a way we wouldn’t have been able to do ourselves.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We were very honest and open about what we wanted, and they responded extremely well to that. I would encourage that openness and honesty.