Presciant

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a company in the chemical industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Presciant?

Five years ago, we became an independent company with a new brand that needed positioning and all-new messaging and advertising. Our challenge was to build and develop our corporate brand and product brand.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Presciant helps us with brand positioning and messaging. At first, we shared our aspirations and ambitions for what kind of brand and company we wanted to be. We also told them how we wanted to be viewed by our stakeholders and positioned in the market, plus our strengths, weaknesses, and unique characteristics. 

From there, they helped us develop some internal and external research. We did data collection to get more stakeholder input. Then, Presciant helped us transform that input into key learnings and actionable takeaways. The following deliverable included the brand messaging, our overall brand positioning, and corporate narrative. 

Additionally, they’ve helped us do some baseline research. Once they completed the messaging, we wanted to know our baseline and find a starting point regarding brand awareness. The team has helped us find that baseline and track our brand reputation. They’ve also continuously helped us with messaging research. For example, we introduced a new brand platform, and they helped us with research to refine the copy we would use around the brand in the new platform. 

What is the team composition?

I work with the principals and the lead researcher from Presciant. Once or twice, I’ve worked with a junior associate indirectly. 

How did you come to work with Presciant?

I had worked with Presciant’s principal before they started the company. Therefore, I had a lot of knowledge and experience of their expertise. When I needed help with my brand’s reputation, there wasn’t anyone else I wanted to work with.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around January 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With Presciant's help, we've received very high marks for brand messaging tests with stakeholders, specifically regarding likeability, preference, and uniqueness. These scores indicate our messaging is really strong, showing that we're doing the right thing and can keep going. 

Our brand is beloved, well-received, and growing in leaps and bounds. Moreover, our employees embrace our brand and positioning, and I can attribute a lot of that acceptance to the early work Presciant did to refine and define a positioning that really reflected who we are as a company.

How did Presciant perform from a project management standpoint?

The team is always on budget and very responsive. They have a fast turnaround time and high-touch customer service. When I have emergencies or tight deadlines, they always find a way to make things happen. We use email and Microsoft Teams to communicate. Overall, I'm pleased with the level of customer service and responsiveness that I get from them. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate that Presciant's senior-level teammates are involved in my project — I always know I'm working with the A-team. In terms of capability and competence, they're well-organized, clear, and credible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they're doing everything right. We would love to do more with them, though, so it would be if the company could grow bigger. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to involve Presciant early and consider them an extension of your team. If you treat them as a thought partner, they can do the work for you and help with the right strategy for your goals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CMO of an IT consulting company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Presciant?

We began to invest in brand marketing, and we wanted to develop a brand tracking study to measure the effectiveness of our advertising spend.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Presciant did market research and branding for us. We started by briefing them on our needs, including showcasing our story and giving an overview of the creative we would run and the audience we wanted to reach with its geographical representation and other detailed information. 

After that, they provided a detailed proposal for a market research study that would measure how well-known our brand was in the marketplace. Their team also gave us an overview and a framework for the research and pricing with its timeline.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Joanna and Nik (Co-Founders) and a research lead.

How did you come to work with Presciant?

They were referred to us by a colleague, and we hired them based on the proposal they gave us, which seemed more thorough and experienced.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around $150,000 with them on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September–December 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our biggest KPI was how our management team and the collective organization accepted the results and gained insights. Overall, I can say that the project was a huge success because it became an instrumental document for us as an organization to demonstrate where we sit within our marketplace.

How did Presciant perform from a project management standpoint?

They stayed on budget and met all of our deadlines. Their team was also prompt in responding, and I can say it was a great partnership. Regarding communication tools, we used emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have an incredibly deep set of knowledge and experience; our team was blown away by their expertise about our brand and where we stood. They gave great insights to our team, which was outstanding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The best thing anyone could do is give them a very clear brief about your requirements, and then let them do their job. They’re experienced and good at what they do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

 Emerald Technology Ventures is based in Zurich, with 30-40 employees. I’m the strategic advisor for marketing and communications; I’m effectively the CMO, CCO, and CBO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Presciant?

We hired them to do a brand review in anticipation of refreshing our website and the way we present ourselves. The challenges included brand architecture and input into a new visual identity.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Presciant provides us with branding services, focusing on the framework and strategy side. The initial phase consisted primarily of interviews with all of our company’s partners, plus several members across the company. Those were structured interviews with a script, and usually, 2–3 people from Presciant joined us. 

At the same time, they also did benchmark research which included looking at competitors, peers and a bit of contact with existing customers and investors. For this task, we requested that they look at other firms in similar spaces. We designed a Venn diagram with all the spaces we were active in; we suggested some companies, and Presciant added a few. From there, they did desk research, looking at those companies’ websites, social media, and tier-one media. The deliverable was a one-page profile for each company that allowed us to see the white space and the place to best position our brand.  

Phase one culminated with a workshop where they shared their research and interview findings. We went through a framework to evaluate the information, and they presented 4–5 pre-populated ways to position the brand based on the results. We selected a hybrid of those proposals, and Presciant worked with us to refine that. 

Phase two consisted of taking what we had created and iterating that into something we could use. They helped us create a branded house with all the different levels, a manifesto, and a brand description in extensive detail. They also worked with us to understand our products and services and put them within a broad architecture. Then, they briefed our website design team to help translate the branding into the site’s navigation. Currently, we’re working with Presciant on some final tweaks, and we’ve also engaged them to write taglines. 

What is the team composition?

We work with four people, including Joanna and Nikhil (Managing Partners), a senior analyst, and a junior analyst. 

How did you come to work with Presciant?

I’ve known Joanna (Managing Partner) for several years because she won a mandate to do a similar project when I was at another company. When she left to start Presciant, we stayed in contact, so I reached out to her when I launched an RFP for this project. 

We looked at four companies in total. I recommended that we work with Presciant because they had the best combination of creativity and discipline, and I knew that they could deliver in a timely fashion. Additionally, our firm deals with some of the world’s largest companies, and I needed a partner that could match the required professionalism and experience. They also worked with us to adapt the scope to our needs and budget, which we appreciated. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around February 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Presciant has delivered something I can use in briefings, on the website, and internally to align our partners and team. The team delivers on time and on budget, which is a key metric. Things change, and this branding might not fit as comfortably in two years. However, a brand is a manifestation of strategy, and our discussions with Presciant have allowed our strategy to become much crisper. This will enable us to allocate resources better and act with more focus.

I didn’t want a beautiful-looking deck with many pictures that told me the sky was blue; I wanted something practical, creative, disciplined, and professional, which Presciant has delivered. They’ve also been extremely helpful in designing our brand architecture. Our company has many things going on, and they’ve helped us understand how to organize our products and services; their recommendations have been invaluable to us.

Additionally, they’re very honest and flexible. They advised us to get another company to do our visual identity and website, and the process of briefing the designers was seamless. They also adapted to our shorter timeframe. We’d done a similar project 18 months previously, and they were open to using that information instead of insisting on doing 100 interviews themselves. This has helped compress the project into a much shorter timeframe. We appreciate Presciant’s practical and pragmatic approach.

How did Presciant perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great at project management. The team is always well-prepared and professional. They typically deliver things in advance and turn things around incredibly fast. Because Joanna has been doing this for so long, she has a really clear idea of the process. 

We don’t use project management tools because this was too short a project, and I have confidence that Presciant doesn’t require it. We primarily use email, WhatsApp, and text messages to communicate, and we share large documents via WeTransfer. Since we’ve worked through the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve also used Zoom and MS Teams to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed by Presciant’s experience. They’ve worked on branding with some of the world’s largest companies and with tough positioning. They have wisdom and a touch of something fun that adds value throughout the process. Although these projects can be high-stress, they’ve made it easy. Ultimately, we’re investing in that breadth of experience across industries and years. Even though they’re not cheap, they’re worth every penny. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think they need to improve anything; they’ve done great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Look to Joanna for your strategic content; she’s terrific, clear, and honest. Meanwhile, Nikhil is their best interviewer because he’s a fantastic listener. Overall, they’re a wonderful team because they have complementary skills, making a big difference.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I lead Marketing and Communications for Encore, a large provider of audio visual, event technology and production services to the hotels and events industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with the vendor?

After many acquisitions and years of rapid growth, we were a disparate family of brands with an ingrained reputation and a lack of understanding about the full scope of our offerings. Our goal was to unify the company, determine brand strategy (branded house or house of brands) and relaunch in a way that drove clarity to our industry about our services and capabilities.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team from Presciant supported us throughout the entire process including: brand assessment (with insights), brand strategy, creative development, and brand implementation planning. It was a nine month process from beginning to end, but brand strategy was complete within three months and creative development within five months. In other words, Presciant was able to accommodate a very aggressive timeline and not sacrifice the process.

What is the team composition?

The core team was comprised of two senior leaders, a senior creative, and a project manager. Other team members were brought in as needed at various stages in the work.

I appreciated the fact that both senior leaders were deeply involved (and committed to learning our business) throughout the engagement. Not only were they outstanding strategically but also able to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work including many deep dive stakeholder interviews in the U.S. and around the world as well as leading several large stakeholder group input/alignment meetings. By the time we finished the assessment phase

I felt confident that Presciant had a solid grasp of our business, market environment, brand challenges/needs and a working hypothesis and trusted their recommendations about the direction we should take. It was also impressive that the leaders, who presented findings at each key step in the process, were able to garner respect from the company CEO and other non-marketing company execs.

How did you come to work with the vendor?

Recommendation from someone within the company

What is the status of this engagement?

Complete

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are just now fielding a brand health study but both external and internal acceptance has been outstanding. Our clients understand and appreciate our value proposition and it has open doors for expanded customer engagement.

How did the vendor perform from a project management standpoint?

Very capable of keeping the project moving, hitting deadlines, and collaborating all along the journey with our teams at all levels in the organization.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a deep understanding of brand strategy, the ability to support the rebranding process, and a creative virtue.