Three Five Two

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a director of marketing at UPS, a logistical leader in the transportation industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Three Five Two?

We engaged Three Five Two in design sprints to figure out to move some strategic projects forward. We wanted to simplify international shipping for unsophisticated shippers and learn how to create a prototype in a short period of time. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We used a one-week sprint to refine our strategy. Three Five Two outlined design sprint, including how it would happen, who needed to be in the room, and what the output would be. It was a full five-day sprint where we met every day for a week straight.

They gave us very useful output in a prototype environment. We had a specific user in mind that we were trying to get. They brought in 5–10 clients through their own channels to get direct feedback about what they liked and didn’t like about the solution. As a result, we moved from a tactical piece to a solution that has been able to guide strategy in the international shipping realm. 

Going from a concept to an output with real customer feedback was a great way for us to learn what Three Five Two was good with. It led to a follow-up project for a secondary piece that was more strategic than the first. It was an e-commerce evolutionary strategy that helped us guide a framework that would bring e-commerce merchants and customers together in an ecosystem. Together we built a web interface that customers could interact with. They used Keynote and an electronic whiteboard, and we produced a video as well as using animation and voiceover.

What is the team composition?

Robert (SVP, Innovation) and Kacie (SVP, Strategy) were there the entire time to help bring the conversation to an appropriate level — not too stuck in the weeds and not too high-level. We also worked with a facilitator and some other people from time to time.

How did you come to work with Three Five Two?

I spent six years in Silicon Valley as the director of marketing there, and I felt like I was in the epicenter of innovation. When I moved back to Atlanta, I struggled to get plugged into the ecosystem here. So, I got invited to a Three Five Two roundtable with other industry leaders and smaller customers, and we had an open dialogue over lunch. The event impressed me. I got to meet some really bright thinkers and strategic people in similar roles at different companies. 

So, when I got the opportunity to look at a project with a relatively small scope, I asked Three Five Two if they’d be interested. They said they normally deal with more strategic projects, but they’d be happy to take a crack at this.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the summer of 2018. The follow-up project was started that fall and rolled into the spring of 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to take our output and spread it across UPS, prompting some strategic conversations and linking it to a broader piece of work being done by the organization. Our biggest success was being able to share customer actions with our leadership to demonstrate that this is the path we need to go down.

For the finalized output of the video we wanted to cut for our leadership, we ended up going back and forth with Three Five Two, so that took longer than anticipated. However, it was in part because we didn’t communicate our expectations as well, and it ultimately arrived on time for our meeting.

How did Three Five Two perform from a project management standpoint?

Having an expert in the room to manage this was very helpful. Their team did everything we outlined in the scope document and in a timely fashion. They were wildly responsive to things we needed them to adapt to.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Three Five Two was able to understand our business in a very short period of time. Our typical organizational view is that no one understands our business like us; as a result, we tend to keep all development in-house. Those barriers were stripped away for my team once we saw the work of Three Five Two. They could get up to speed quickly and give us impactful work from a fresh perspective.

I’ve also built a great relationship with Kacie and Robert in the meantime. Robert and I even wrote a piece for our internal publication about creating ways to innovate in a big, bureaucratic company. I found Three Five Two to be very engaging; they really cared about our business and our future success, and they got it all done. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

One challenge working with an agency is that we want more of their time, but the project had a clear start and stop. I wish we could have had the time to talk about the solution afterward and do more there, but going further would require a second cycle, which would take time, energy, effort, and investment on our part.

Any advice for potential customers?

Trust the process and trust their expertise. Their fresh perspective is super helpful; Robert would ask these really simple questions about our business, and we were just too close to think of it from that perspective. In addition, let it evolve, engage your customers early in the process if possible, and have an end mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of marketing and operations for StreamLabs, which is a smart home product division of Reliance Worldwide Corporation. We specialize in manufacturing building materials, specifically rough plumbing parts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 352 Inc.?

We contracted 352 Inc. to develop our website and organize a series of market research and growth marketing initiatives.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our primary business model at RWC is B2B. We have relationships with some of the largest retailers and distributors in the plumbing industry. Because StreamLabs has smart home products, we're selling to a different audience—more B2C than B2B, but still elements of both. It was a new channel for the business, and there were a lot of unknowns.

We relied on 352 Inc. to do some innovation research around the products and identify our target audiences. Part of that task included mapping the customer journeys and building customer personas so that we could market to various types of individuals.

Once our research was in place, we began the design stages of a new website so that we could go direct to consumers. 352 Inc. led the development phase, as well, and later brought on their growth marketing team to propel our research forward.

What is the team composition?

We work with 10­–12 people across the organization’s development, research, and marketing teams.

How did you come to work with 352 Inc.?

Our company introduced a new vice president of business development, and he recommended contacting 352 Inc. We had gone through an RFP process, but we took his advice and met with Geoff (President/Founder, 352 Inc.). We were impressed with his operations and his approach.

How much have you invested with them?

We've probably spent around $750,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in July 2018 and remains ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The biggest challenge for any company is identifying who its customers are. Once we finished our model with StreamLabs, I shared it internally with other peers in the business, and they were over the moon about it. They were starving for the same kind of research and innovation work.

Further, the RWC business was going through a global rebrand and introducing a new technology stack as we migrated from WordPress to Drupal. The StreamLabs website was one of the first sites to be completed, and now it's used as the template across the organization as the correct way to build a site.

Since our site’s launch, we’ve also seen promising growth in sales.

How did 352 Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Our scrum master is very capable of leading the project and always keeping the proverbial wheel moving. I can’t say enough good things about the project management team. Nothing gets lost. They hold us accountable and make sure they have everything they need.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They set such a high standard for digital marketing that it will be tough for another agency to follow. And the speed and effectiveness in how they do work have been outstanding. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they've been fantastic.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If nothing else, reach out and have a conversation with them. They've got a fantastic organization with a wealth of experience.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a Cox Campus Development Coordinator for the Rollins Center for Language & Literacy. We provide professional development training for people that serve children from birth to third grade.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 352 Inc.?

The Rollins Center was looking for a way to share its training and strategies in a scalable way and were looking for a technology partner that could help us develop a platform for online learning and community.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

352 Inc. invested in our partnership by first diving into our goals and business needs. Through that understanding, they built a custom solution that includes a Learning Management System, Course Builder, administration tools, resources, community, and many other features.

What is the team composition?

We have a development team of 6 members. The digital marketing team has 3 primary members and additional resources available as needed.

How did you come to work with 352 Inc.?

We looked at a lot of different companies through references, networking, and online research. I came across 352 Inc. by searching for local design firms. The initial phone call went well, so they went through our interview process. They offered an agile development process demonstrating the power of using Scrum. We were excited that they could provide a dedicated team to handle our project. They also brought mock-ups to the interview and the designs looked fantastic. We hired them over several other firms that went through our full vetting process.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $3.5 million thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2015 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We needed a strong technology partner that could understand our passion and would be willing to partner with us. We also couldn't tell them exactly what we needed, so 352 Inc. worked alongside us to dive into our needs and develop creative solutions. The engagement has been extremely successful in that regard. We currently have close to 38,000 members on our platform getting trained in the best practices for developing young children's language skills.

How did 352 Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They use the agile methodology and have taught our team how to work in that style. That’s currently our primary approach to project management. We’re very comfortable working with them and communicate with their team daily.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We appreciate their willingness to partner with us and understand the issues we're trying to solve. They accepted a complex project and collaborated with us to find a solution. They’re important thought partners for us. We don't just tell them what we need to build. We tell them the problem that we need to solve and we work through each solution together.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Understand agile methodology and be prepared to engage with 352 Inc. on a daily basis. If you invest the time and energy into being an active participant in the development process, the final product will be fantastic.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of marketing for a large manufacturer. I oversee marketing and technology for all 25 divisions of our company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 352inc?

We wanted to build new websites because our existing websites were written on an old architecture. They needed to be updated and put on a new platform. In the past 4 years, 352inc has helped us build 15 websites and 5 applications.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

352 has a team of 5 resources who were working on our project. There were 2 programmers, 2 designers, and a Scrum master. I worked directly with the team assigned to the project and talked with the entire team every day. The apps and website are all built in .NET with Angular framework. All of the websites were designed from scratch. Because we were doing so many websites, we put together a global architecture that runs all of them. For each subsequent website development, the new tools we’d make could be pushed back to the old ones. We could use any new applications, functionalities, features, or tools on all the prior websites. That was a huge accomplishment considering the number of websites that we’re managing.

We started designing everything from scratch, including the navigation, menus, drop-downs, and user experience. We do user testing and focus groups. We have unique features like how we search for products on a particular website. 352inc has their own tools. Some of them are complex and require an algorithm to select the product. They helped us develop a unique inventory order-processing system that manages all of our business for our manufacturing company. We can connect directly with our representatives in 50 service centers to place and process orders and to track inventory.

How did you come to work with 352inc?

I was working with another company that wasn’t doing a good job. I did some research online and found 352inc. I talked to them on the phone and found that they met our needs. They’ve been a terrific partner for us. We’ve been working with them continuously for the last 4 years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May of 2013, and the work is ongoing. Right now, they’re working on some enhancements for us. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The analytics won’t tell much of a story. The metrics for us are adoption and less whining. I’ve been with the company for 30 years and have been running marketing for most of my career. I know in the early days, we used to have regular complaints about the finding things on the website. We don’t have any complaints now. The EIS [executive information system] tool is the newest thing that we launched. It’s a 10-year-old product that we repurposed to make it cloud-enabled so that it works on any device and platform. Before, we needed a dedicated person on a dedicated machine with dedicated software running an old version of Java to make it work. Now, it’s mobile, and anybody can use it.

We’ve added 100 more users than we had originally because it’s easier to use. The EIS cloud was a tool that people complained about for 10 years because it was hard to work with. We don’t get that anymore. We had 25 users on Rep Log, and now we have over 500. These are internal operations, and we can max out with the number of employees and reps we have. We don’t get any complaints about that either.

How did 352inc perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent. I’ve worked with the same team since the beginning. They understand me and our company. They’re innovative and find clever solutions to the problems we have. They’re terrific to work with and are a very well-balanced team.

What did you find most impressive about 352inc?

They have an impressive ability to communicate with us and keep the projects moving. They find solutions to fix some very difficult programming issues. They’ve overcome every challenge we’ve had, and we’ve had lots of those.

Are there any areas 352inc could improve?

Everybody can improve, but I can’t think of anything. If they continue working like this, I’ll be very satisfied.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with 352inc?

If you wanted to work with 352inc, I think you have to understand that it’s a commitment. If you just want a WordPress website, you can probably do that yourself. If you want something that’s customized to meet the needs of your customers and adapts to your style of doing business, I think they’re probably the people to contact. Websites are more than just showing pictures and creating pages. You have to engage your customer, and 352inc finds good ways to do that. They brainstorm ways to manage lots of data, which is something we were dealing with. In order to make these projects efficient, you need to commit to an everyday relationship. Everything is broken down into sprints, and everything’s done quickly, which is the way I like to work. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our business is a large Fortune 500 manufacturing company with a global presence. I am a digital experience leader. I’m responsible for our external websites.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 352 Inc?

352 Inc. helps us with presenting the best version of our ourselves online in terms of having a dependable and modern web presence that’s easy for customers to use.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first project was a complete website overhaul. Since then, we’ve done several web projects together. We have had both large and small projects with 352 over the years. We’ve had some projects that had myself as product owner and then either three or four people from 352. We’ve also had much larger projects where we’ve engaged a more full-service team. I would say for those projects we had upwards of eight different team members including user experience, designers, frontend, DevOps, all kinds of folks involved in researching and planning, in additional to building the website itself.

We have done everything from improving the base website to take better advantage of SEO opportunities and to build a website that’s easily found. We’ve done targeted content to improve our content and marketing work. We have done website migrations, where we’re consolidating websites or moving them to a different server with their DevOps team. We have done projects where we’ve built specific interactive tools for use on particular websites. Those were done with internal teams sharing their marketing needs with us, and then we’ve built the tool to their specifications.

352inc has worked with me in just about every kind of application that we’ve dealt with here, everything from a custom CMS, to Drupal. I couldn’t even begin to name all the different things. They’re very adept. Everything I’ve needed, I’ve found that they are capable of helping us with it.

How did you come to work with 352 Inc?

I started researching a trusted vendor to work with. There are a lot of people in the space, and it’s hard to find someone who is right for you and has that kind of experience. One of the places I looked at was a tool that we use internally in our company. It’s called the Corporate Executive Board. I think they’re owned by Gartner now. Marketing professionals can log in to this certain system and share experiences and ask questions of each other. I went to a forum there where someone had asked about web development companies, and one of the members of that corporate executive board had recommended 352. I wrote their name down, and as luck would have it, I also somehow stumbled across a funny video that their team had put together. I gave them a call, and that’s how we got started.

Our process here is generally to look at least three different vendors when you’re doing a big project like that. After I spoke with 352 and got acquainted with them and thought they would be good for the project, they did have to go through that same process where we looked at different vendors for the project, and they were chosen out of the ones we looked at. The most important things we were looking for was reputation and demonstrated skill. Price is always something that we look at, but we’re willing to pay a little bit more if it means having the confidence that the company is going to be able to deliver what they say on time and on budget. We have had experiences where someone might come in with a really good price, but then the project creeps in scope, and it ends up costing more or they don’t finish on time. We were looking for a reputation of being able to finish on time and on budget, in addition to having a demonstrated skill set.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October 2011. We are in the middle of a big project right now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The first project that we did was build the first responsive design website for our company. They helped us be ready for what we now see as half or more of our visitors are on mobile. Prior to that, we were not ready for that. We were super glad that they had the skill set and insight to recommend going with a responsive design.

They work in an Agile process, which I found just wonderful as a project owner. I’m a member of the team. I’m in constant communication with them. It’s not like a company where they just go off and they come back later and with what they’ve built. It’s a very collaborative process, a process in which there aren’t surprises and we can reshape the project and re-prioritize work as we go since I’m a part of that team. The way that they work is really wonderful and something that I very much enjoy. We have seen growth. On a particular website that they did targeted digital marketing work for us, we’re still seeing 50% growth year-over-year in terms of sessions. The work that they’ve done, it sticks and it’s long lasting. We’re seeing the benefits of that. We’ve seen increased user satisfaction. We started measuring before the web redesign work with 352: we’ve seen increased user satisfaction in terms of navigation, response time, and look and feel.

How did 352 Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management methodology, and using the Agile process with a Scrum master on their team who keeps us all focused and productive, myself included, is invaluable. I think that is the key to them being able to deliver on time and the team staying motivated and productive even on long-term projects. It’s a really refreshing way to work. We’re in very close communication. Anytime I have a question or issue with the website, they’re there to help. They’ve even helped our internal teams troubleshoot and identify problems that aren’t related to the website they’ve built. That’s how extensive their knowledge is that they’ve helped us in other situations.

What did you find most impressive about 352 Inc.?

The fact that they were on budget and on time is really impressive in today's world. Also, everyone I’ve worked with there -- and I’ve worked with a lot of various teams and people over the years -- has a real sense of caring about our project. They go the extra mile. When we have a close-out session, there are always little extra things that they’ve done that I did not even think to ask for. But they’ve anticipated what the user might need, or what might be a delight for the user, and then gone that extra mile to include that. That is consistent; it’s not like just one or two people from their team was like that. Everybody at 352 is that way. I feel like I benefit from a relationship with them where they really do care about our company being successful, and being able to really please our customers with the work that they do on the website.

Are there any areas 352 Inc. could improve?

For us to have a relationship for this long says a lot. I keep going back to them because they’re always able to deliver and do what we need. I cannot think of any areas for improvement at this time.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with 352 Inc.?

I would highly recommend them. I would recommend getting a person or a team of people at 352 to discuss the project and talk about what expertise they could bring to the table. They are not just web developers, they can provide other services in digital marketing, and they would come with my highest recommendation.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Social News Desk is a social media management software platform. I’m the founder and president. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 352 Inc.?

Our company licenses social media management software to local media companies such as television stations, radio stations, and newspapers. Our original engagement with 352 Inc. was for them to build an MVP [minimum viable product] of our software product. We were a bootstrapped startup and didn’t have the internal resources to build out the software product we wanted. We had knowledge of the industry and a good understanding of what we wanted to accomplish with the software, but no means to actually create anything. We went to 352 Inc. to have them essentially be our entire development team. They built the MVP from conversations with us and working through an Agile development process to build out the product exactly as we wanted it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When the work was at its peak, we had 15 resources working on the project. There were three teams at the most. They were responsible for everything, including project management, design, coding, and infrastructure. I allowed them to assign the right people to me. It’s all web-based and custom-built on the MEAN stack with Mongo and Node.js. I know that in our infrastructure services, we used a combination of Mongo DB infrastructure.

A big part of what we do is indexing a large amount of social media data across local news, and then built on top of that is a user layer which is sort of a dashboard for them to look at incoming social media streams, publish content to Facebook and Twitter, and manage their internal team.

Multiple users, permissions, and internal security structure are a big part of what our software does. We also have a feature where our television stations will find a piece of social content like a tweet or something and put that on TV. They’ll actually use the HTML interface to put the full computer screen through a browser into a TV switcher and then out to a live broadcast, and they will actually use our software platform to style it, put a background on it, and make it look nice for a broadcast. This is called SND on Air, and the core platform is called SND Dashboard, which is a dashboard with columns that are representative of social media streams, so either a Facebook timeline, a Twitter timeline, a Twitter search, and so on. They can view all of these incoming social media streams at once and also publish from there.

The earliest phase was six or eight weeks long, and during that time we built advanced prototyping of what we thought the product should look like. During that time, I also decided whether I was going to use 352 Inc. to build out the full product.

How did you come to work with 352 Inc.?

352 is based in Gainesville, Florida, which is where I started the company. I didn’t consider any other firms.

How much have you invested with 352 Inc.?

We’ve spent under $10 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August of 2010, and then in July of 2016, we took over the project with our own in-house team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

As far as our scope as a company, we work with more than 2,000 newsrooms around the globe on five continents. That’s a huge segment of the news market we serve. The growth of our business is obviously paramount to the success story. We went from quite literally just an idea in 2010 to now being the premier social media management software for local news. We service 70%–80% of all local television stations in the United States, so we’re a huge market leader. We were wholly acquired in 2014 by a Fortune 1,000 Company, and that is due in large part to our robust technology and the track record that we have with how well it’s worked for clients.

How did 352 Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything was done in Agile development, so every day we had a standup meeting. As a non-technical founder, it was very important for me to be involved in the process, understand what each developer was doing on a daily basis, and be able to shape that in real time. I could change things, and they would be able to respond right away. That was of utmost value because it allowed me to shape the process and be very hands-on without actually having to be.

We did the daily standups, and we would usually operate under two-week sprints, sometimes one week depending on what the tasks were. We would carve up a huge piece of software into small parts and set release dates. We made sure that we stuck to the schedule. I did involve my current clients in the process as well. We would do some focus groups and would release versions of test software into this beta testing group. They would play around with it and help with the quality assurance process and the feedback loop. It was nice to be able to have that feedback in real time from my customers. 352 Inc. was great at taking the knowledge we gained from that process and applying it.

What did you find most impressive about 352 Inc.?

The skill level of their team is impressive. You can find a web developer anywhere but the real differentiator with 352 Inc. is that their team is invested in the success of a product. They wanted to know the ins and outs of my industry, and they worked hard to make constructive suggestions to my overall vision and business plan. This attitude ends up making much better, smarter software versus a team who is just going to do exactly what I say and move on. I never want that in a software developer. I want someone to question me and give me ideas based on their experience. That helps me know the direction we’re taking is the right one. 352’s expertise in building web-based software for startups has been the most useful to me; I really hired a strategic team who helped guide the product vision as well.

Are there any areas 352 Inc. could improve?

There could be more in-person time. I did everything remotely, but sometimes it is nice to get everyone physically in a room. I think that if I had to do it over, I probably would set a few more in-person brainstorming sessions.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with 352 Inc.?

The beauty of working with a team like theirs is that they can really wrap their hands around a project. Now, being part of a large corporation, even though you may have the resources to do a project in-house, being able to go to a team like theirs who can focus on getting something from start to finish, get an MVP or full product out there, and really just be experts of this particular product is so beneficial. It gets things done better and faster. You can get a better initial outcome that’s usable right off the bat. Having someone who focuses on getting one thing done and becomes an expert in your project is valuable. If we have a new project, I’d consider doing it with 352 Inc. because it’s a great way for me not to distract my team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CTO at Neighborly Software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 352 Inc.?

We had the business knowledge and back-end development skills in house to develop our SaaS application, but lacked the graphic design/UI experience to build an attractive web presence and UX design. In addition, we engaged 352 to assist us with rebranding our offering to better match the needs of the market.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a new brand, logo, website and UI/UX design.

How did you select this vendor?

We considered multiple boutique vendors, all local to our market. 352 came highly recommended from the technology startup accelerator that we’re a part of.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We considered multiple boutique vendors, all local to the market. 352 came highly recommended from the technology startup accelerator we are a part of.

Describe the project in detail.

New company brand, logo, website and UI/UX design.

What was the team composition?

We had a project manager who coordinated the team behind the scenes. The team also included a UI designer, a front-end developer and a digital marketing consultant. Above and beyond moment when the UI designer asked to join us on a client visit to better understand the market we serve!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The new brand, logo, and website all launched on schedule and we continue to get positive feedback from clients.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

352 used new team productivity and project management tools that kept communication fluid. The team felt very accessible, and we’ve adopted some of their tools and processes for internal use.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their genuine interest in our business and willingness to ask questions about our stood out to us. Their UI designer even asked to join us on a client visit to better understand the market that we serve!

Are there any areas for improvement?

It’s hard to say because, overall, it was a very positive experience.