Revolution Creatives

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

JTB is a Japanese travel company. I work as a corporate advisor, mainly on the digital side and I manage some of the core systems, both online and offline. I also work with our engineers and designers on the UX side.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Revolution Creatives?

We operate mainly in Japan, but we were looking for some global talent to take our UX to the next level. As we compete with global players we were looking for someone with experience in that market. As a large national company covering a lot of users, we wanted to work with a company that’s good at brand and website building.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were focused on entering the US market, so we built a lot of case studies and documents explaining the differences between that and the Japanese market to our board members. After this persuasive phase, we started looking for talented people who could actually deliver.

We hired their principal people to design the high-level concept, in order for us to report to the board members and have them see what it would look like in a few years’ time. They also built a prototype website for us.

What is the team composition? 

We had some internal issues around the question of hiring an international team as many of our staff don’t speak English. In the end, we worked with their principal engineer and principal designer—around three to four people in total, mainly for prototyping a website. 

How did you come to work with Revolution Creatives?

I engaged with Jamie (Founder and Design Director, Revolution Creatives) through a contact in San Francisco.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April 2016–March 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There are clear differences between the Japanese and American software industries. When we started, our management didn’t understand what user/customer experience and insights meant, so in the first year, we concentrated on explaining those concepts. It was a tough job, but it was significant for our organization to understand that we had issues on the UX side.

In the end, the project didn’t start because of political issues. Once our management had a grasp of the concept, they concentrated on starting a team, and chose to do it in Japan so they could have direct communication with the engineers.

How did Revolution Creatives perform from a project management standpoint?

I visited San Francisco every three weeks, and Jamie (Founder, Revolution Creatives) came to Japan 2–3 times per year. I talked to them daily and directly managed the team.  

They didn’t have a lot of information on the Japanese industry and market, so it took some time to educate them on that. They were focused on understanding the problem and the market through research and their visits, so the project turned out well in the end. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were really down to earth, and I liked how they took advantage of opportunities. We interviewed a lot of people, but one of the things I liked about Revolution was their willingness to work with us. When we were wrapping up, they knew that it was due to the leadership in Japan, and they responded professionally. They helped us until the end and were honest. There were no issues, even though we closed the project in two weeks, on very short notice.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Jamie has to be persuaded to take a project to the next phase. She’s been in this industry for a long time and is proactive in collecting information but persuading her takes a bit of time. I took this as a positive thing, given that we were handing over some elements of control, in a sense.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

We’ve had a really good experience with them. Their attitude and productivity were always good.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former CEO of School Loop, a school management system. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Revolution Creatives?

One of our services is a CMS for K–12 school districts. We needed to create template families for districts to select as their websites.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Jamie (Founder/Design Director, Revolution Creatives) helped us conduct the research and designed a set of options that became the basis for the template family that we offered to the industry.

Initially, they worked with me to understand what I was trying to accomplish and the scope of work. Jamie interviewed the focus group to gather the information she needed. Then, she executed the research and analysis and took those findings and developed the designs. The deliverable was a set of high-res templates and designs for individual modules like a style sheet with CSS.

She did several projects for me. She continues building on this template family.

What is the team composition?

I only interacted with Jamie.

How did you come to work with Revolution Creatives?

She was recommended. I interviewed her along with several other companies. 

How much have you invested with them?

It cost $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2016 until March 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We created multiple options internally and with two different firms. Hers are by far the most popular.

How did Revolution Creatives perform from a project management standpoint?

She’s high-level, extremely responsible, and responsive. She’s strong-minded, smart, and good. I communicated with Jamie often.

What did you find most impressive about them?

She’s exceptionally sharp. She knows the space and has a great deal of experience in the work I needed to be done. 

You can trust her with your customers. They didn’t just do random designs. I assigned them to a district, and they worked with my customers and executed a project for that district. She’s got all the right skills and produces designs that people like. They’re not just pretty, but functional. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We’re a manufacturer of installation products.

What is your role?

I’m in marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge you were trying to address for the work with Revolution Media Group?

We’ve actually done three websites with them, and we were updating those websites. One site was a brand new one, and two others were updates.

What was your business goal for the website work?

Part of it was for me to be able to update the websites myself instead of having to go to an outside source. That was the first goal. For the latest website, one of the goals was to have a blog type news page, and then the rest of the website needed a more updated look so it would be easier to find information.

SOLUTION

What was your process for selecting Revolution Media Group to work with?

They were referred to me by one of my sister companies.

Can you provide a sense of the size of the initiative with a general dollar figure?

It was a four-figure engagement.

Can you describe the scope of their work in more detail?

They just did Web design work, there was nothing else involved.

When was that last project completed?

We launched it on November 1, 2013.

How has Revolution Media Group performed?

Great. They’re very easy to work with.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

We don’t have metrics yet because we just launched it. We’re just doing webinars to announce the new website. This initiative was through a new product that we introduced. We wanted to revamp our company image and introduce this new product. That is the reason that we got them to redesign the website. I haven’t had any feedback on the site yet.

Is there anything unique or special about Revolution Media Group that stands out compared to IT vendors you may have encountered?

I would say their ability to understand and ask the right questions and deliver the product without having to have multiple iterations, is unique. The look and the feel that we received from Revolution Media Group was exactly what we were looking for. I appreciate that, so I continue to use them.

Looking back on that work, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something you might do differently?

For this project, no improvements are necessary. We had a very quick turnaround time. They worked with me. They really met all of the goals that we had set, and even gave me something that I wasn’t expecting. The auto-sizing of the website was a great perk. It was an unexpected surprise to be able to receive that feature.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We are an HR software and accredited background screening company. We have different software products that help human resources facilitate all their responsibilities.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the CEO. I manage the company overall and focus on our marketing initiative.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Revolution Media Group?

I’ve worked with Revolution Media Group on several different projects, and they’ve been very helpful as far as brainstorming, helping polish the branding, launching new products, folding in acquired products into our products line. They’ve done a few website revisions with me and builds on different sites as well as helping to continue to reflect the company as it’s grown and expanded. They’ve also presented a design with our software products, which is representative of the division for the software.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work during the Web revision project?

We had initial discussions regarding our strategy, who we’re trying to reach, and representing that in visual ways. It was a consultation of what’s trending and how to adjust what we have into those trends. It folded in some of the backend design work and management to make that happen.

What was your process for selecting Revolution Media Group to work with?

I was referred to Revolution Media Group, and they were in our area. We’ve utilized them ever since. This was about three years ago.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

Let’s keep that confidential. For what they do, they’re extremely reasonable and they have tremendous value.

When was that work completed?

I just hired them again, so we’ve had different projects. I reach out to them every six months because they do such a phenomenal job. There are constantly projects where I ask for their input as long as I can get on their schedule.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

The biggest feedback from client and prospects was positive. Their strength is being able to communicate and present a visual design that’s very uncluttered, and makes it feel more manageable and approachable. With the feedback that I receive from prospects and current clients, it was very successful. Everybody loved the new look, loved the streamlined simplicity and the feel of it, that the site was really navigable. From that perspective, it was quite a success.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

What I like about Jamie [Leighton, the principal at revolution Media Group] is that she’s very frank. You know she’s passionate about what she does, so she’s always on top of what’s trending and evaluating what’s successful, what’s not, and what people like. She’s very frank in her discussions, so she’ll call you out on things, and she’ll tear apart things that you might have done or you might have launched. You know it’s coming from someone who’s knowledgeable, and who’s passionate about what they do. So, I think it’s a very strong point.

She’s someone that you can respect. She’s very good at what she does. She’s a talented person, and it’s easy to have an open dialogue because she presents some very valid points. She can open up your vision as to what you might have thought was a good idea, and then she presents these alternative viewpoints and perspectives so that you really understand conceptually why that’s not a good idea.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

I really think very highly of them, and I constantly try to reach out. I think it would be nice if they had some partner companies because they focus on the Web. If they had some other companies she could refer for print graphics, video, and other marketing pieces, that would be nice. If you respect someone you’re working with, you want their referrals. For the most part, they’re the go-to company that I speak to for design projects.

BACKGROUND

Can you describe your company?

We are a management consulting firm. I work primarily with biotechnology, nutraceutical and nutrition-consumer product companies.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I am the CEO.We have three partners and we work with an outsourced group as needed for different projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for the work with Revolution Media Group?

I’ve used Revolution Media with several of my clients. When we tackle certain projects that include the need for some Web architecture or Web design and general design concepts, I work with Revolution on certain projects.

SOLUTION

Can you please describe the scope of their work?

Mostly it is Web strategy stuff, but primarily their expertise is more on the design phase. They have a good understanding of how to connect and communicate with particular audiences.

Can you provide a sense of the size of the initiative in a general dollar figure?

They are a great value. They’re very reasonable for their high quality of work. Whereas typically a project might cost in the $10,000 to $12,000 range, Revolution will do it for $6,000 to $8,000.

When was the last project they completed?

They helped me convert a template website and customize that for my own company. That was the last project that they worked on in July.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How have they performed so far?

It depends on the particular project because each one has a different metric for success. We track their success on design projects by customer feedback. It is more qualitative than quantitative as far as the metrics. I’ll say again I work with many different sources. I’ve been very happy with the way that they’ve been able to come up with good solutions efficiently, effectively and quickly at a very reasonable fee.

Is there anything else unique or special about them compared to other IT vendors?

It’s a tough one to quantify. The quality of the creative, and the aesthetic and approach is tremendously on target, unique and executed in an efficient manner.

Looking back on the work they’ve done, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something you might do differently?

Not that I can think of. The only issue I’ve ever had is when they get very busy. So as opposed to being able to start on a project immediately, I sometimes have to be queued up. That’s never been too much of a problem.