Speak!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the president of an information industry consultancy that represents publishers and does outbound licensing. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Speak!?
We hired Speak! to create our website. We had little corporate branding and marketing presence. Although we’d been around for a long time, we only did word-of-mouth marketing. We didn’t have a website, a logo, or a corporate identity. As a result, we asked them to create these things and help us with our client acquisition efforts. The purpose was to communicate who we were and what we did to potential vendors and customers. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
Speak! created branding concepts for us and developed our website and logo. They also worked on our messaging and created collateral, such as business cards and document templates. To do all of these, they started by interviewing our stakeholders, including me and a couple of others on my team. They then performed a competitive analysis; we sent them ideas about our competitors, and they did their own research.
From there, the team learned about where we fit in the competitive landscape. They delivered a brand book after that discovery phase. The brand book went through our story, messaging, and branding elements. It had various options for design elements, too. After that, we underwent an iterative process of feedback and choosing which options we liked best.
They refined the deliverables, and we went back and forth until they developed our Duda website and all related collateral. The same process was done for our logo; they gave us options, and we chose what we liked best. They refined it, and we went back and forth until everything was good.
For website features and functionality, the site had an About page and a contact form, where we tried to generate new leads. The website targeted two types of customers, which were vendors looking to license content from our clients and the publishing clients themselves. If the user wanted to sell content, they went down one path; if they were looking to buy content, they went down another.
What is the team composition?
We worked with three teammates from Speak! There was a designer who was also the principal of the company — he did all the graphic design work. The project manager kept everything moving while the copywriter worked on the copy-related tasks.
How did you come to work with Speak!?
I found Speak! through a referral.
How much have you invested with them?
Our investment was around $20,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
The engagement lasted from December 2022–June 2023. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We saw an increase in leads and brand awareness. Our team went from having no website to having a good and professional site and corporate identity. As a result, we received several leads through the website. As a company providing bespoke services, we typically only had a handful of clients in a given year. However, we’d been in discussions with 2–3 times more clients than we typically had — much of this success was driven by the website.
How did Speak! perform from a project management standpoint?
The entire Speak! team was excellent. They were super responsive and could turn around tasks; they were always on schedule. Since it was our first time launching a website, we took our time going through things. Luckily, the team wasn’t perturbed by how slow we were reacting to their work. Moreover, we didn’t go over our budget. We did increase the budget, but it was only because we added something to the original proposal.
For communication, we mainly used emails and Microsoft Teams, which they used to present their work during video conferences.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Speak!’s biggest strength was their work on the creative aspects of branding, design, and corporate identity. They helped us develop our brand story and positioning, presenting our company to customers in a compelling way.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, there weren’t any. Everything was good during our engagement.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Be collaborative when working with Speak! Engage them and give as much guidance and feedback as you can. They respond truly well to that.
In our case, they were happy to work with us when we had suggestions and feedback. I didn’t know where we fit in terms of their client sizes, but we received first-rate services from them. They were truly responsive and reactive to our feedback. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Marketing and Communications Manager at A Step Ahead Foundation, a nonprofit that provides free birth control and educational services to individuals in Memphis and Shelby County.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Speak! to redesign and manage our website (specifically SEO). Our goals were to ensure that when individuals searched "free birth control memphis," we were one of the first results.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Unfortunately, I cannot speak to this, since I was hired after we started using Speak! to manage our website.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

I don't have all of the details of the website re-design (a previous Director of Marketing and Development handled this), but the work we use Speak! for is limited to website health, SEO, and some basic design.

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

We've worked with a few individuals at Speak. Our most recent contact is Madelyn Bomar (Brand Strategist).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

No specific metrics at this time, but we consistently have good website traffic and good monthly reports.

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

Our contacts at Speak! have always been quick with replies and quick to implement new ideas/suggestions.

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

They are always willing to help us with whatever we need!

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

It is a little difficult to tell exactly how many hours of our retainer are used each month, and what specifically each hour is used for. We have some loose percentages, but more exact values/a time sheet could be helpful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CMO at LogRhythm. We earn about $200 million per year in revenue and have over 500 employees. We’re in the cybersecurity space. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Speak!?

We hadn’t refreshed our brand or logo for eight years. However, we needed to modernize our look and feel with the company changes and our portfolio expansion. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our team had a couple of goals. One was updating our logo, and the other was unifying our brand message and ensuring we accurately described the company. Speak! came in and helped us with these. Initially, they conducted extensive interviews with our team and customers to understand our market and competitive position. 

After that, they gave us plenty of options for our logo, and we chose one that accurately depicted the unification we wanted. For context, LogRhythm used to focus only on log management, so our logo was a series of dots with a single black dot in the middle. However, our company had new solutions not limited to log management. As a result, Speak! designed a logo that had connected waves, symbolizing our partnership and connection with our customers.

Moreover, Speak! resources helped us find opportunities from a messaging perspective and choose our primary and secondary color schemes. All of these were aimed at elevating our overall branding. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with everyone from the Speak! team, including Jason (Principal). On a daily basis, we interacted with four main principals. There were more people in the background working on the project. 

How did you come to work with Speak!?

We did an RFP process and searched for firms that had a matching style to ours. Ultimately, we landed on Speak! through a competitive process. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership lasted from October 2021–February 2022. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

To measure success, we checked our customers’ response to our new look and feel. Our new website went live on launch day, and we did a blog post about it. We issued a press release for it. The comments on the blog post and social media — LinkedIn in particular — showed that our customers loved our new look. 

Overall, I considered this a homerun. The vast majority of comments were super positive. Internal employees also felt the new branding was a good representation of LogRhythm. 

How did Speak! perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was done mostly by my team through Wrike. Speak! gave us a clear-cut timeline on where things stood, what the milestones were, and when we could complete them. Overall, the project was smooth — it was done on time and within budget. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Speak! truly listened to us. Even during the RFP process, they picked up on the subtleties of what we were looking for and gave us a wide range of options. There were a few options that we ended up blending together. 

Moreover, we created a branding steering committee composed of our senior executives and key leaders across the company. They found the options easy to hone in on, and it was interesting to see the natural migration toward our choice. Speak! even helped us do workshops to bring alignment to our team.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there weren’t any. I truly enjoyed our experience with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner and principal financial advisor of a wealth management firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Speak!?

We wanted Speak! to develop an entire marketing portfolio for us, including two websites and a series of videos. We also needed them to do SEO for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, Speak! went through a lengthy process to learn about our industry, and interviewed 3–4 of our clients. We spent hours on the phone creating a high-net-worth client profile with them. They also went through the process of gathering stock images to portray a wealthy lifestyle for the client profile. Additionally, Speak! built a new site for us and found a video production company to help create SEO videos. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with three Speak! team members, including the business owner, co-owner, and administrative assistant.

How did you come to work with Speak!?

I found Speak! on Clutch. I did my due diligence, interviewed their past clients, and then moved forward with the partnership.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested roughly $26,000 in the engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Speak! in July 2021 and canceled the engagement in December 2021. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did your relationship with the vendor evolve?

We gave them a clear set of requirements at the beginning of the project, and they assured us they could deliver what we asked for. They took their time to gather data and make assumptions to try and create what we asked for. We asked them to complete the project by December 2021, but they kept moving slowly due to their extensive process. 

Speak! produced a marginal website; it wasn’t the quality we were looking for whatsoever. We engaged Speak! to use their marketing and design skills to build a custom website from scratch. Instead, they pulled data off our existing website and put it on the new one. We were disappointed because we spent significant funds on the project, and they essentially gave us a repeat of the website we already had.

We had already committed $12,000 at that point, so we were knee-deep in the engagement. We approved the site when we should have objected to it and asked for more. We thought the website was lackluster, but we were invested at that point and hoped they would perform better on other projects. We were expecting more due to the cost of the partnership; the total bill was projected to be $50,000. 

Then, we asked them to create original content for our SEO videos and engage a video production company to help with editing. They spent hours looking for a video production company, and their vetting process was somewhat poor. They charged us $4,700 to go on Clutch and search for a video production partner in our area, which I could have done myself. We expected they would do a dynamic search and find us a unique partner, so I was very disappointed. Then, instead of creating the original content and supplying it to our video production partner, they wanted the video production partner to do it, which would have cost us an additional $25,000. 

Then, they submitted the client profile. We had worked with them to develop this, so we felt confident they understood what we were looking for. They returned to us and shared the beginning stages of a client profile for the video series. They claimed that what they delivered was a starting point, which is not what we discussed. They sent us the script for the SEO videos, and the client profile was totally out of scope from what we worked on together. 

They submitted the client profile for a W-2 employee when we were looking for the profile to be centered around a business owner. Our goal was to attract a high net worth prospect, and their client profile was for the total opposite. I was floored; I couldn’t believe what they delivered. The client profile pushed us over the edge and ultimately resulted in the termination of their contract. We immediately let them go, and I asked for a refund.  Since then, we’ve continued working with the video production company, but I had to create the original content myself, which is what I hired Speak! to do. 

How did Speak! address the challenges that arose?

When we confronted Speak! about the original content we asked them to produce, they shrugged their shoulders. I also asked for an explanation regarding the incorrect client profile, and they couldn’t provide one.

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

Our first mistake was hiring a partner that wasn’t well versed in the financial services industry. Speak! didn’t understand our industry, and they spent about $10,000–$12,000 worth of hours just learning about financial services, which was problematic. 

We were expecting great end results, and they didn’t provide them. I asked for an orange and they gave me a banana. Ultimately, they produced a marginal website, which we aren’t happy with, and a tagline for $26,000. The tagline is excellent. 

They’re good people; I just really couldn’t understand where they were coming from and how they delivered something so off the mark. I was very disappointed, and I feel like we spent money on nothing, and I can’t get it back. We probably won’t use their website. 

How was project management handled?

They communicated well and were responsive. Speak! followed up on meetings, and their process was great, which made us feel comfortable in the beginning. They sent data and correspondence when required. They just completely missed the mark with the deliverables. 

Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?

I believe they know how to do their job; they just gave me the wrong product. Speak! could do a better job with industries they’re more familiar with; they just knew nothing about financial services. They’re good people and had a rigorous, detailed process, but I can’t understand how they delivered products that were so far off the mark.

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

I advise looking at their portfolio and ensuring they’re well versed in your specific industry and target audience. Our mistake was engaging a firm that didn’t know anything about our industry.

Company Responses

The service provider responded on August 3, 2022.

Every successful client-agency relationship is built on honest, two-way dialogue and feedback. Throughout the course of our engagement with this client, they showered us with praise on our work. This pattern of positive feedback continued right up until a week before the planned website launch date. Our team is still confused by the complete and sudden reversal in opinion. Nonetheless, we credited 11% of the original website estimate. Here are verbatim quotes from the client on our work (verified by Clutch), which align with the testimonials you can read in any of our other Clutch reviews:

9/22/2021

“Great job, those look outstanding! We will review and select a sample. Boy, that was easy.”

10/7/2021

“Homepage: Enjoy the diversity in the stock photos. Overall look and feel:  Simple, readability and the consumer doesn't get overwhelmed with information and how to navigate the website . . . Small and easy bits of information.”

11/21/2021

“We are excited to keep things moving! The mobile version looks nice with a few small changes. We will send them over.”

12/22/2021

“We think we are headed in the right direction on the entire project.”

1/12/2022

Agency: “So I think we have the website all buttoned up! If you want to take a look around at it.

Now the question is, when would you like to go live with the site?”

Client:  “Jenn, I think we are all set except for one picture.”

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of True Measure. We provide creative employee wellbeing and retention programs, including training, development, and workplace wellness.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Speak!?

We needed a company that could help us with our rebranding efforts by defining the new brand’s look and feel.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Speak! created a brand book and new logos for us and helped us with our new brand’s positioning, messaging, look and feel, and tagline. We started the engagement by discussing our goals for the rebrand. After that, they analyzed our previous brand’s definition and collateral, conducted market research, and interviewed me, my team, and a key client of ours.

They then came back and iterated on the language and the brand definition, including our mission, vision, tagline, and positioning in the marketplace. We then discussed potential opportunities to differentiate ourselves based on the competitive analysis. At that point, they offered a few different look and feels and approaches, and we narrowed everything down from there.

By then, it was just a matter of refining the brand definition and the look and feel, and then we went through some logo design iterations. We went through the same process with the tagline and based on the master messaging schema, as it were. From there, they developed a home page concept design as well as a design schema for our programs’ logos and achievement badges.

What is the team composition?

I worked with five people from Speak!, including Paul (Partner & Director of Strategy) and Jason (Founder & Principal).

How did you come to work with Speak!?

I found Speak! through online research, and they were also recommended to me by the people in my network. I chose them for this project because of their extremely well-organized and methodical approach.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May 2021–August 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve received a ton of overwhelmingly positive feedback from our current and potential customers on our new branding. We didn’t go through any resistance trying to convince our existing audience to accept our new identity, which we were happy with.

How did Speak! perform from a project management standpoint?

Speak! performed well in terms of project management. We typically communicated through email and Zoom meetings. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Speak! took the time to really understand what we do and our unique value proposition. Their approach was very thorough and methodical, and they put all their energy into the final outcome. They also had very clearly defined outcomes, processes, and deliverables.

Aside from that, we were blown away by their creativity. For instance, they provided us with eight different logo variations, and we loved almost all of them. They just managed to hit the mark over and over again throughout the engagement.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would have been useful to have a project management tool to track all the details and deliverables.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the head of investor relations at a semiconductor company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Speak!?

Our partnership with Speak! was a part of the whole rebranding project. Our website was so plain and only used copies from our 10-K report, so it wasn’t easy to look at, and it was difficult to find information from it. As a result, I was motivated to rebrand it. 

Our company already engaged another design firm to come up with a new logo when I joined it. However, I told them changing the logo was just one part of the project. We had to change the website, the content, and everything else, so we hired the Speak! team. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I engaged with Speak! for their content creation services. They created content for our website, marketing collaterals, and press releases. They also worked on our corporate messaging, which involved our mission statement, values statement, and value proposition. 

In addition to that, since we were doing a new website, they helped me come up with a new layout through a wireframe. They designed where pages and subpages would be located and which pages would be linked together, though they didn't build the actual website. Our headquarters was located outside of the US, and because of security reasons, we had to hire a local company to build the site. 

The team also interviewed 5–6 internal members of the company. They engaged with the CEO, CAO, CCO, and GMs of the two product groups we had. 

What is the team composition?

In total, I worked with a team of four members, who got involved in different aspects of the project. Jason (Principal) was always in our meetings and was overseeing things as a partner. Their writer was in charge of the messaging, and he was always involved in the process.

We also worked with their marketing officer, who connected me with Jason and the writer. We communicated with an associate about scheduling conflicts. Speak! also had a design team that I could’ve drawn on if I worked on the website or had other design tasks.

How did you come to work with Speak!?

This was the third rebranding project I had in my career. The first one was a full-blown, million-dollar rebranding job, and we used a highly respected company in the Silicon Valley. For the second project, I worked with a New York-based firm. In both cases, the content creation task cost $100,000.

This time, since we’d already started the design and the website was developed by another company, we didn’t have that much budget on content. I received quotes from three companies and interviewed them one by one. Speak!’s price range was very reasonable, so we chose them. 

They also had a broad range of client base, so they understood the things I talked about, such as the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) aspects of the project. When they ran their ideas to our CEO, he said they were a lot better than he expected. Overall, from a technology and corporate messaging standpoint, Speak! was knowledgeable, adaptive, and flexible, so we hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $24,000 for the content creation project. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from July–December 2020. We already had a press release for the new website and logo, but if there’s another content upgrade or opportunity, we’ll continue working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In terms of the results, the feedback since December 2020 has been phenomenal. That feedback isn’t only for the content upgrade but also for the whole look. From the logo to the color schemes, everything has changed. This was the first time in 20 years that the company refreshed its brand identity, and it went very well.

The challenge was for us to have a more trendy, easy-to-access, and attention-grabbing content and layout, and Speak! helped us do that. The one-hour interview they conducted was also impressive. The team was fast and courteous, and the feedback from the working group was very positive. 

How did Speak! perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a short deadline because I was squeezing in this content creation project in the middle of the rebranding project, but Speak! was able to pull it off. We also went through reiterations. The first draft was great, and our CEO was very pleased that it was better than he expected.

Nonetheless, I wanted to improve it based on everyone's feedback, so I requested a second iteration, which was done fairly quickly. We were able to meet the deadlines with no problem. 

In terms of tools and communication, the project presentation was done through PowerPoint, and we communicated through a lot of emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

When it comes to content creation, quality matters to me. I was very impressed by their writing quality. Speak! had the understanding of what we were looking for, and they adapted to it. In addition, it was so easy to work with them. They were very cooperative and had great teamwork. If someone was on vacation, they always had additional staff to fill in the job and be copied on every email. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could’ve done more if we paid more. When I worked on the million-dollar rebranding project, the company I used had many other departments. If I were to issue a press release on the branding, they would’ve come up with 10 samples of statements, and we’d see where we could start off.

However, the scale was different at Speak! For the project fee that they charged, they were more than effective. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing for a consumer products startup, Freedom Wellness.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Speak!?

We were starting a brand new firm from the ground up and needed some support around strategic planning and branding.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started our engagement with Speak! with just an idea of the products we wanted to offer to the market. We began with a clean slate, needing a company name and logo as well as other branding materials that go along with building a firm from the ground up.

After we solved the initial challenges of naming the company and developing a logo, we were able to get an idea of the way our organization looked, so we could begin to design our packaging. 

We offer CBD products, and two of our main concerns have been providing correct information and safe products to our customers. Our market is underregulated, and consumers receive a lot of misinformation, so we wanted our branding and packaging to reflect that we offer a safe, honest alternative. 

We ended up marketing 23 different retail items in varying formats. We offer products in jars, droppers, boxes, and bags, and Speak! created the packaging materials for each of them.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with about four people from Speak!. Our main point of contact is Jason (Principal, Speak!).

How did you come to work with Speak!?

One of our colleagues had worked with Jason in a previous role. They knew and respected the work he had done previously, so we decided to partner with them for this project. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $100,000 so far. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Speak! in July 2018, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had to enter the marketplace very quickly, and the team was very competent in rapidly developing compelling packaging for our retail products. The biggest article of proof to us regarding their success was the response of one of our customers. 

They’re one of the largest convenience store chains in the country and, upon seeing Speak!’s designs, took our entire line on the spot. Because of the team’s efforts, we’re on the shelves in roughly a thousand stores. 

Internally, we feel our logo is one of the strongest in the market. They helped us portray our most important values — trust and safety — by selecting a design that effectively communicates confidence.

We entered the engagement knowing how important those early branding decisions are. Because we chose Speak!, we were able to start in the right place and move in the right direction.

How did Speak! perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re a small organization with employees scattered around the nation as we don’t have a central office. Our work can be disjointed because of the distance between team members, but Speak! has been able to manage the project well despite that challenge. 

They’ve understood the urgency of the engagement and were able to produce work very rapidly, often times finishing tasks within a day, no matter how complicated.

The team, especially Jason, are great listeners. We’ve given them really specific ideas that they’ve been able to translate into actual deliverables. Even when the concepts were more general, the team could produce several different viable options for us to choose from. 

In terms of tools, we use Air Table between our teams to house graphics, which has been extremely effective.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Speak!’s methodology in the naming and branding of the company is one of their main strengths — the outcomes of which being something we carry with us every day. The strategic thinking that went into those decisions have contributed greatly to the success of our company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At the beginning of our engagement, the team definitely could’ve benefitted from a bit more manpower. However, they’ve made some staff additions to make their company, including an assistant who’s contributed to a lot of efficiency among the team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager for Whidbey Telecom, a company that provides telephone, Internet, and home security services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Speak!?

Our company is over 110 years old, so we wanted to refresh our branding and brand assets before updated our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They held a collaborative work session with our leadership team to understand our company goals over the next few years. Because we’re a regional telco in a regulated industry, Speak! needed to understand our field well. The demographic we serve is an older population, so they spent time understanding their unique technology challenges and how we could continue to be a trusted service provider.

They developed the strategy that helped us find our voice and who we are. They set up focus groups for both residential and commercial business that allowed us to get live and in-person feedback on what our customers think and talk about. From there, they put together mood boards and pitch packs that we can use to organize our employee meetings and update the brand.

Final deliverables included a brand book and guidelines, a logo, tagline, and other brand assets. Their work helped us determine how to go about the rest of our branding strategy. Our next step is to partner with them again to redesign our site.

What is the team composition? 

We worked with two principles, an artist, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Speak!?

We put out an RFP to our local area, and a friend recommended Speak!. We did in-person interviews with three finalists, and Speak! was clearly the best, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership lasted from September 2017–April 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our employee engagement survey received positive feedback.

How did Speak! perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicated via email and Google Drive for larger files. They held weekly project calls with the full team to review the work. They required minimal oversight and consistently delivered on what they promised, making my job easier. The project manager was phenomenal, providing weekly updates and monthly invoices that were clear and made sense. The team was flexible with our deadlines and met goals.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re in touch with mainstream America and take the time to understand the industry. They did their research to know what we and our customers wanted. Other firms presented packaged solutions that weren’t related to our needs at all, but Speak! saw what we wanted to accomplish and worked toward that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can't name anything.
 
Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Work closely with the project manager to nail down a schedule and then make sure to keep everyone to it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of Resource Management Systems. We’re a software solution provider that helps hospitals manage their resource and maintain a flexible workforce.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Speak!?

I didn’t know anything about marketing and needed to hire professionals to help me.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Speak! created messaging and taglines to promote our shift open marketplace. In addition, Speak! generated a pitch deck and helped us choose colors and designs. The team then developed a second website to complement our existing resource management systems site.

What is the team composition?

Jason (Principal, Speak!) and Paul (Creative Director, Speak!) led the team. We also worked with Jennifer (Director Client Services, Speak!).

How did you come to work with Speak!?

We interviewed Jason right after we formed the company; my business partner had known him for many years. We also talked to a couple of different people. After some consideration, we chose to go with Speak!.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2016 and the partnership ended in November 2017. We may re-engage them to provide additional marketing services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Speak! delivered on their promises, producing high-quality work. Although the team was new to healthcare web content, they learned about our industry quickly. Likewise, the website received several compliments for its impactful effect. This success makes us want to rehire Speak! for video scripting, article publishing, and social media services.

How did Speak! perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, the partnership benefited from an ideal culture fit between teams. Speak! leveraged multiple check-ins and Gannt charts to keep the collaboration on schedule. The team was very responsive and Jennifer, in particular, was a great facilitator during phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were thrilled with their work and trusted their advice throughout the engagement.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Anybody that’s considering working with them should know that they’re sincere in wanting to help their clients. They get joy from that and love what they do. Not only is the team creative, but they also get stuff done.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director for ProKarma. We’re a global IT consulting company with offices in Omaha, Neb., and Portland, Ore. Founded in 2004, our team of about 3,000 employees assists high-profile companies with their technology initiatives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Speak!?

Because our company quickly grew after we first launched, a marketing strategy was not necessarily one of our top priorities. After developing a better understanding of market dynamics, we realized we needed to better address challenges relating to our clients’ needs. We decided to refocus and invest in a better in-house marketing and branding program and we needed a partner to help with our initiative.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Speak! met with a little over 160 people from our agency for an intensive positioning phase. It was a difficult process because we needed to filter through varying opinions from stakeholders and in-house representatives. The first meeting began with a presentation from Speak! and was followed by a series of exercises that prompted us to think about our company’s strengths, weaknesses, and values. After nearly six months and multiple reviews and iterations, we determined a proper brand positioning message.

Based on that, we built a messaging structure that served as the foundation for our rebranding initiative. After we created a new logo, we redesigned our website with heavier focus placed on communicating our company’s principles and capabilities to prospective clients. Speak! laid out the written content, visual dynamics, and imagery for the platform. Additionally, their team also developed and launched a new career portal with our website.

What is the team composition?

In total, Speak! provided about eight resources. We worked with Jason, the founder, Paul, the creative director, and Jenn, who acted as our project manager. There was also a team of designers and developers who handled our website.

How did you come to work with Speak!?

I was looking for agencies in the Portland area because I wanted a partner that I could regular interface with. I was already familiar with Speak!’s portfolio when their marketing director reached out to me via LinkedIn. After a quick introductory chat, we agreed to a more formal presentation where their team presented their approach to the project, customer service style, and proposal. Their ideas really resonated with our internal team. Additionally, we liked the flexibility that came with working with an agency of their size. Their portfolio proved that their team had experience in the B2B industry and had successfully completed projects similar to ours. Based on all of these qualifications, we ultimately chose to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

Overall, we paid around $160,000 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on this project from February 2017–March 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Speak! was able to effectively navigate differing internal opinions and drive the discussion to uncover the core of our brand. The team created marketing messages and strategies that position us as a leading IT consulting firm through a modern and fresh brand. The initiative was met with praise from customers, partners, and in-house employees. In the past, our staff reported struggles in defining our organization and their position with us because it was never clearly stated. With the new brand and website, we’ve renewed a sense of internal confidence throughout our company.

We’re currently still engaged with their team. They help us build new messaging platforms and improve our strategies as we continue to acquire new companies. I see them as an extension of our marketing department. The Speak! team’s level of expertise refines our organization’s identity in a way that really resonates with our target audience.

How did Speak! perform from a project management standpoint?

Despite the uphill battles, multiple time crunches, and frequent scope creeps, our project manager was able to effectively manage and mobilize her team. She minimized distractions and accounted for possible roadblocks to assure that members on both sides stayed focused on the task at hand.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Speak! had an established method for handling the rebranding initiative, but they still managed to accommodate any changes made during the process and complete the project. Some of our requests didn’t align with our initial agreement, but the team willingly readjusted their approach and quickly generated high-quality deliverables.