Stevens & Tate Marketing

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a pure tech startup under a parent company. We write purpose-built SaaS for revenue management. Users enter sales KPIs and personnel, and we help people achieve their goals. I'm the co-founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Stevens & Tate Marketing?

They've worked with us since the beginning of our company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us with branding and messaging, and they built our public website and ecommerce backend infrastructure. They made recommendations and act as consultants on all those facets.

What is the team composition?

There was a team of six or seven, but I only interacted with about three of them. About 90% of my time was spent with one point of contact.

How did you come to work with Stevens & Tate Marketing?

One of our investors knew them well and introduced us. They have a significant reputation in Chicago, and we were confident in their capabilities. We explained the project, they took a personal interest, and we felt comfortable moving forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a little more than $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Unofficially, we started the project around November 2018, and our official kickoff was around March 2019. The projects are complete, but they still manage the site and will work with us on future projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Most of our feedback is from friends and family, but the response is very positive. Our investors, board, and beta customers all enjoy the look, feel, and messaging. The site is about to go live, and we're confident that all of it is easy to navigate.

How did Stevens & Tate Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

I really value the guidance they gave us through the process. They managed us very well, and our primary contact was really excellent. Most of our communication was through email or phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were confident and professional, but their most important contribution was their marketing expertise. They acted as our chief marketing officer throughout this process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There is really nothing I think they should improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Turn control over to them. They have a good process and a methodology, so let them lead you through their steps.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Tischlers Finer Foods. We’re an independent grocery store with an in-store bakery, deli, and produce department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Stevens & Tate Marketing?

Our business had been stagnant for the past few years, so we were looking for ways to enable growth. We approached Stevens & Tate Marketing for a solution, and they recommended producing a television commercial.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We met with Mark (Owner, Stevens & Tate Marketing) face-to-face and went over the store’s figures and overall atmosphere. After considering marketing strategies that worked for similar stores, we decided to create three television commercials. Stevens & Tate Marketing wrote the scripts for each commercial, allocated a fully equipped film crew, and performed all the editing. Then, they helped me run the ads on several local cable channels.

What is the team composition?

In addition to communicating with Mark, they assigned 3–6 resources per commercial.

How did you come to work with Stevens & Tate Marketing?

I met Mark when we both attended a conference and happened to sit at the same table. We exchanged cards and had a series of short phone conversations throughout the following months. Once this project came up, he was one of the first firms I contacted.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2018. While the commercials they filmed for us are complete, our relationship with them is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m totally satisfied with the skill and effort Stevens & Tate Marketing puts into each commercial they produce for us. We’ve had a lot of customers come into the store and comment about how they were impressed by the ad they saw. People seem to enjoy each deliverable, so I consider the engagement to be a home run.

How did Stevens & Tate Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Mark is responsive and ensures every aspect of the project is addressed during our meetings. They’re a team of professionals that know how to communicate effectively.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They fulfill their promises. As a result, I trust they’ll deliver in the future.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve never worked with a marketing company before this engagement, so I don’t have much to compare them too. However, from what I understand after discussing their work with my colleagues, Stevens & Tate Marketing operates above the industry standard. We’re fortunate to have found them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They know what they’re doing, so the best suggestion I can offer is to listen to them and meet face-to-face if possible. Mark is upfront enough to admit when his team can’t complete a project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the division president of the Chicago branch of K. Hovnanian Homes. We build and sell houses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Stevens & Tate Marketing?

We were looking for a marketing and advertising partner to help us drive traffic on the homebuilder market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their scope has evolved over time. Initially, they provided us with ad coverage that comprised 50–70% newspaper and magazine ads with some radio coverage. However, about three or four years ago, we made a push into the digital ad sphere. Now, digital marketing makes up 98% of our advertising. Since our corporate division handles SEO and PPC, Stevens & Tate Marketing focuses on social advertising through platforms such as email, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We’ll brainstorm an ad campaign together and then their team will execute it, building the materials and launching them once approved.

Stevens & Tate Marketing also helps us establish our yearly advertising budget. Our teams meet every October to establish our 12-month plan; we decide on what we want to accomplish, how we will achieve those goals, and how much we want to spend on each stage. We then perform an update and review every May. In addition, when we’re struggling to drive traffic in a certain community, Stevens & Tate Marketing takes part in triage meetings with our company. They work with our marketing team, operators, and sales team to strategize how to increase traffic in that specific community.

What is the team composition?

Debbie (Account Services Director, Stevens & Tate Marketing) is our primary contact. We’ll visit their office or she’ll come to ours to brainstorm. Debbie then leads a team behind the scenes to perform the required work.

How did you come to work with Stevens & Tate Marketing?

At the time our offices were located in adjoining buildings. At the time, we had wanted to take our marketing and advertising efforts in a new direction; when they stopped by our offices one day, it was perfect timing. We connected over lunch and eventually started a partnership.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent just under $10 million on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2003 and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our Facebook likes and followers alone have quadrupled over the past year. We regularly drive enough traffic to meet our annual goals because of Stevens & Tate Marketing’s efforts. We’re a successful division because of their work.

How did Stevens & Tate Marketing perform from a project management standpoint?

Every few years, I survey other agencies to see if they can compete with Stevens & Tate Marketing on price, quality, and experience. No one compares. They complete their work in a timely and efficient manner, and they can also react quickly. Their team can put together a three-week ad campaign in a matter of days if asked.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team delivers high-quality work at fair and honest prices. I never feel the need to supervise their process; they complete their tasks without a hitch on a regular basis.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re highly satisfied with their work.

Any advice for potential customers?

Stevens & Tate Marketing really knows what they’re talking about. They also have experience in advertising for many industries besides ours. Have a meeting with their leadership, and they’ll show you what they can provide for your business.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Gonnella Baking Company is located in the Midwest. I’ve been the vice president of sales and marketing for approximately 20 years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Stevens & Tate?

We originally went to them seeking some help with graphic design. We have around 24 branded packaged products items which deploy a variety of packaging techniques. At some point, that was getting very difficult to manage and it was hard to keep our graphics focused. We started looking for an agency that could cover our packaging.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were doing a little packaging design with them, but we found their work to be good and we them to be responsive, so we moved more and more in their direction. They now do packaging design, some display design, and some billboard work. They presented us with some billboard options over the last couple years which we are going to deploy with our 2018 budget.

They also do some PR copy for us and handle public relations. We occasionally put out press releases about all kinds of things: opening new plants, closing plants, or developing new products, for example.

What is the team dynamic? 

I know their team now. If I call for Debbie [TITLE NEEDED] and she’s not there, they ask if I want to talk to Marie [TITLE NEEDED]. They help me navigate their company and get to the people I need right away.

How did you come to work with Stevens & Tate?

They’re engaged in things like the Illinois Food Retailers Association and the Grocery Manufacturers Association here in the Chicago area. I attend those events, and met their team several times. They said on more than one occasion that they’d love to come in and discuss my goals and aspirations for my company and see how they can help. When I needed to nail down a package design and get consistency across our product line, I reached out to them and a couple other firms as well. Stevens & Tate won the account.

We chose them due to their strong consumer package product background, particularly in private label. That was attractive to us because we were starting to do more private label packaging for large grocery chains. They’re also very active in Chicago, which is one of the reasons why they’re a good fit for us. It doesn’t matter how good a company is; if they don’t know our brand, then we’re starting from scratch. Finally, we consider ourselves to be a medium-sized company, and we wanted to work with a medium-sized agency.

How much have you invested with them?

In the last five years, we’ve spent $300,000, probably 70% of which was in the last two and a half years. Our dollar line with them is going up every year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them five years ago and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They developed our display adverts for trade magazines and at industry events I have people come up to me on a regular basis and say they like those ads. They put a new twist on an old product line; it’s creative and it syncs up with our packaging, our branding, and our mission.

Sales are the much more problematic issue. Our food service sales and our grocery store sales numbers are flat, which is good news as Chicago has been a focal point for incoming bakeries who encroach onto our turf.

How did Stevens & Tate perform from a project management standpoint?

Our relationship is improving and growing, as opposed to what often happens with agencies, which is that they come in and you get great work for six months, and then they stop answering the phone. That’s not the case with Stevens & Tate. They’re very responsive and I never go 24 hours without a returned call. Their turnarounds are also very quick. I’ll have a first draft or couple of concepts for a task on my desk within 24 hours.

Also, the billing and the invoicing processes are good. That might sound like an unusual thing to say, but for me, I want to pay my bills and I want to pay them on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They understand our company and they understand our brand. They’re very responsive. If I give them a task, they hit the mark and don’t misunderstand. We just understand each other and there’s no confusion.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. They do a nice job.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

St. Catherine’s Village is a part of the St. Dominic Health Services System and our Dominican Sisters are out of Springfield, Illinois. We’re a private, nonprofit, continuing care retirement community in our 29th year. We have 250–300 employees.

Our residents, age 62 and older, can start out living independently in an apartment or three-bedroom home. From there, they may progress to assisted living and then memory care or skilled nursing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Stevens & Tate?

We were looking to update our branding and go fully electronic. Our website needed a facelift. We didn’t have a social media presence or any type of CRM [customer relationship management] system to track our leads. Everything was on index cards.

We also needed to be more fiscally strategic with our marketing. St. Catherine’s has relied on its reputation for years, but as we get closer to serving the baby boomer generation, people are more concerned with getting the most for their money in addition to compassionate, first-rate care.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Stevens & Tate helped us tackle our marketing strategy accordingly. They completely revamped our website and coordinated our branding on social media, email, and print campaigns. They handled all of the website’s graphics and design, except for the logo, which was designed as part of the entire Dominican health system. We can now track traffic and follow up with visitors who want more information.

They especially provided guidance on our social media strategy, as getting on Facebook felt a little intimidating for us. They created an online community to appeal to both our residents and potential clients.

They also walked us through transitioning from a 100% paper-based marketing system to incorporating more electronic methods. This was a challenge for us, as our team’s more traditional approach has worked well for over 20 years. Steven’s & Tate took the time to hone in on who we are as an organization as well as our goals. They found innovative ways to maximize our dollar by cutting back on print in some areas and doing more online and via email.

How did you come to work with Stevens & Tate?

We put a bid out to three companies, and all three were really good. When we compared Stevens & Tate’s RFP [request for proposal] to the others, it seemed like they had really done their research on area demographics. None of the other companies were based near Mississippi, so they wouldn’t have as good of a grasp on our particular retirement market.

They had also worked with the Franciscan Sisters, so they understood our mission and the challenges of the long-term care market. That really stood out to me.

They met with us for a site visit and we gave an overview presentation. They made suggestions for how we could move forward. Then they presented their proposal to our board, which really helped members understand clearly what marketing looks like for us.

How much have you invested with them?

$45,000-$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2016 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I won’t have a baseline to compare to until next year, but we’ve gotten positive feedback. A lot of our residents and professionals have been very impressed with the new website and have enjoyed the community on social media.

A competitor now runs simplified versions of our ads in the newspaper alongside ours because they’ve resonated so well with the public.

They’ve also saved us a lot of money. It’s more economically feasible to use Stevens & Tate than it would be to hire another vendor, because they have so many additional capabilities. They can do graphics, online work, recommendations, and even budgeting.

How did Stevens & Tate perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a great job. I do a lot of operations and I’m all over the place, so I gave them permission to tell me if I dropped the ball on something. They’ve kept me and my team organized, on-task, and on-schedule all year.

They also laid out what services we will use during which months, where the ads will go, when we will do radio, whether we’ll do anything with television, and which ads we need to run for each area.

Sometimes our focus will change, and they’ve been accommodating of that. Everything is fluid. We may focus our spending one month on memory care and switch to filling vacant beds the next month. Their flexibility as we change gears, along with their careful planning, has been really helpful for us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their investment in us as a nonprofit is most impressive. They took the time to secret shop our competitors and see what they had to say about St. Catherine’s. It was great to have that outsider’s perspective. That passion is hard to find outside of an organization’s direct employees, and wouldn’t likely be displayed by other vendors.

We never had a contract that specified a certain number of years that we’d work with them. The partnership has worked so well for us that we want it to continue.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They’ve accommodated our work process and nonprofit financial needs very well.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the president of Graymills Corporation. We're a manufacturer of industrial machinery. I oversee R&D and product development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Stevens & Tate?

We needed to get our value proposition across to our customers. We're a premium brand, and we needed our customers to understand why they should be paying more.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Stevens & Tate's biggest project was redoing our catalog. Currently, they are also helping our team to develop the story of Graymills. That has been part of a bigger picture branding effort. The results of that effort will go across all media, including our ads, our catalogs, our website, and even how we talk to customers at trade shows. Their team is working to provide us with positioning statements.

How did you come to work with Stevens & Tate?

I know Dan through an advisory board that we're both on. When I was looking for a partner, I didn't consider any other agency.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together last fall. The engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just released the new catalog, and the people in my company think it looks really nice. It is more modern and clear than our previous catalog.

In terms of branding, Stevens & Tate has helped us understand what our value proposition is. They get a lot of input from quite a few people in the company, and it makes us think. They pulled together common threads in all of our conversations and got us on the same page.

How did Stevens & Tate perform from a project management standpoint?

I wasn't involved in the day-to-day work. However, there were no complaints about their project management. They were very responsive to us. We hit all of the major milestones when needed on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really try to understand your business, and they use that understanding to drive the process forward. They are not trying to push you in one direction just because it works for them. They really take the time to understand your business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I think they do well.