WANT

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the SVP and account lead for a communications agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

We were working with a client on a branding & naming exercise. The client was looking to spin off a piece of their business and create a new identity. We partnered with WANT Branding on the naming part of the project. We were lacking expertise in a specific area and needed additional support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team at WANT Branding was able to seamlessly partner with our planning, creative, and account teams to craft a name for the new entity. Their team sourced and created about 100 different names. We got it down to two presentations of 30 names each.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Jonathan (Founder & CEO, WANT Branding), Bruno (Senior Director, WANT Branding), and Celeste (Brand Consultant, WANT Branding).

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

A colleague of mine from another office worked with them previously. He was aware of the work we were trying to do, and after asking him for advice, he suggested WANT Branding.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started with WANT Branding in mid-October 2018, and our engagement ended in January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The client was pleased with the name. At the end of the engagement, we gave the client three to five names. After the knockout trademark search, we ended up with three viable options. If an opportunity presents itself to do similar work, we would engage with WANT Branding again.

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management standpoint, they performed well. It was easy to work with their collaborative team. We frequently communicated by phone and email. Our teams met in person a few times. Their team made the partnership seamless with secure communication and interaction.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team at WANT Branding was all in. They jumped in feet first. I never wondered about their other projects because I felt that they were focused and ready to meet all of the deadlines and deliverables we had.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was a small issue at the end where it came down to semantics about a name and its usage. That one piece felt a bit sloppy to me and impacted the material at the end. We had to go back and fix it with the client. But that’s the one miss in our whole experience working with them. It wouldn’t impact me working with WANT Branding in the future.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear with them on expectations. Make sure you bring everything into the fold to have a successful partnership. That’s the way to have a productive working relationship with WANT Branding.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at a global readiness company that’s in APAC, EMEA, and the Americas. We have about 2,500 employees and service a wide range of verticals. We take care of data protection, compliance, and recovery. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

My company has worked with WANT Branding in other contexts, but for this project, we were acquiring a startup in our space. While we have software that protects and manages data, this acquisition is going to change the way businesses can manage, access, and save their data, ultimately shifting the direction of our company and future opportunities. We engaged the team at WANT Branding to help us look at the industry and the competition. We wanted recommendations on how to best approach our situation and position ourselves in both the short term and the long term.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

WANT Branding did market research, and then they provided us with a robust view of what’s trending in the marketplace. They recognized that the founder of the startup we were acquiring was well-known and respected in the industry, so they recommended that we continue to leverage their existing brand in the short term as we continued to talk about change and where our company was headed.

They also gave us great ideas around comms and suggestions on our leaderships’ talk track around the acquisition. The team looked at timeframes in terms of how the product would be fully integrated into what we offer and how the sales team could effectively sell the product within a certain window of time. They helped us map out everything, including strategy, event scheduling, and how we’d address this change to analysts and press in the marketplace.

WANT Branding also helped us temporarily colorize the startup’s logo so that it fit within our brand’s look and feel. They took the startup’s existing logo and colorized it with our brand colors. The team also helped us add a descriptor line to carry us through the short term.

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with three people, along with one other person who wasn’t as involved. Our main point of contact was Jonathan (Managing Director, WANT Branding). 

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

My company originally engaged WANT Branding when we were working on our new SaaS offering. As the director of corporate brand and creative services, I was working with the go-to-market head of operations to find agencies. We wanted an agency in the New York area that had expertise particular to our market as well as experience with startups in the tech space.

As we started the RFP process, we got a shortlist, and WANT Branding jumped out at us. We received dozens of recommendations for WANT Branding. We researched some of their leadership and looked at their process and what was important to them. That resonated with us, so they rose to the top of our list. There was agreement amongst my team that they were the right people for the job.

WANT Branding was the driving force behind keeping the momentum going on the SaaS project, so we went straight to them for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

The acquisition project cost between $100,000–$250,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The SaaS project was from May–August 2019. The acquisition project was just 8–10 weeks, from August–September 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because this was an acquisition, the real metric was publicity. I’d grade WANT Branding very highly in terms of reach, share of voice, and publicity. Several different parties were involved in the acquisition, including a PR agency, but WANT Branding played an important role in strategic direction. They served as a launchpad, helping us gain a foundational understanding of where to go. They were integral to making sure we did this acquisition correctly, and everything that followed suit from them was a tremendous success. Leadership, industry analysts, and the media have had overwhelmingly positive reactions.

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

Anybody who has spent time on the agency side knows that you really need to manage a client; the client doesn’t manage the agency. WANT Branding excelled at project and client management, ensuring the job got done on time, within budget, and to satisfaction. I’d highly recommend them.

They were very accessible and easy to communicate with. We generally spoke via phone, email, and text, and they maintained constant communication with us. Whether we were talking to the press or our CEO, or we needed to know what our next steps were, they checked in with us and made sure we had what we needed to be successful. The team reached out to me on weekends and evenings. They went above and beyond to meet our deadlines and complete or exceed expectations. 

We had a tight timeline, and the project needed to be very secretive. WANT Branding was discreet; they couldn’t even mention this project to the team who they were working with on the SaaS work. They were also quite agile. What I loved about working with WANT Branding is that we didn’t meet with the leadership at the beginning and then get a junior-level person to work on the project; rather, leadership worked with us throughout the process, which can’t be said about a lot of companies. They made sure senior executives were hands-on and involved. They were a great partner.

What did you find most impressive about them?

WANT Branding was incredibly strategic. They excelled at project management and client service, and, at the end of the day, they jumped into the project with experience and expertise on the strategy side, as well as a ferocious appetite for learning. I really valued that they didn’t try to act like they knew everything; instead, they stripped it all back and learned everything they possibly could. They were as invested as we were, and you don’t get that true level of passion and strategy from every agency. From the moment we engaged them, they were partners.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When we began working with them on the SaaS project, they got involved at very specific stages of the engagement process, and then they left some of the day-to-day agency work to other firms. They should begin handling some of the daily stuff; if they did, we’d hire them for that as well. The only downside is that you need to deal with other agencies who maybe aren’t as good as WANT Branding.

Any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be similar to what you’d do with any agency: engage them as early as possible. WANT Branding is incredibly helpful and insightful, and you will want their expertise during the early stages of research and development, because they excel at those. Engage them like they’re part of your team and make the most of the experience with them. The more involved they are, the more successful the partnership is, so don’t hold anything back.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Aura Minerals is a mid-tier, publicly traded mining company headquartered in Miami, FL, with operations in Honduras, Colombia, Mexico and Brazil. With headcount of around 800 directly employed, it mines gold and copper.

I am responsible for Aura's innovation, as the CTO. I am also responsible for Aura's digital presence/strategy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire WANT Branding?

We hired WANT to re-think our name and possibly change it, redesign our logo and re-think/craft our new vision and mission statements.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to re-think our brand, name, logo, vision and mission as part of a new digital identity project,

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Want Branding was referred to us by a company who had worked with them, and we did extensive diligence and spoke with four different vendors before we selected WANT. Their portfolio of unique, high profile naming jobs and their extensive, rich logo designs were decisive factors.

Myself, Rodrigo our CEO and Sergio our VP of Talent were directly involved in the selection process. During the first meetings Jonathan demonstrated he is a real expert in the field, asking the right questions and teaching us how to get to the answers he needed. His confidence, experience and chivalry assured us that WANT was the right partner for this job.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Our first meetings were very long and laborious. Jonathan and his team asked a lot of questions, and came back with deep follow up questions completing several iterations. They were really trying to understand our culture and values. They called dozens of people within our company, from GMs of remote sites to Board members, to understand how they viewed the company and the new management.

We help multiple meetings where hey presented the progress of their work. First we explored some name alternatives, and some really good names came up. However, the Board decided to keep our current name, and they went to work on the new brand concept, logo design, Vision and Mission statements.

They presented several options of Logo design, all very different but with strong supporting reasoning and research, and after we pointed to the direction we liked, WANT did a few more iterations to get to the final logo we use today. After the logo was finalized, they also provided us with a Branding Guide, very complete with typology, colors, applications, all brand usage rules and Stationary design.

WANT was also very resourceful in developing our mission statement, which incorporated our new CEO's vision for the company, in an elegant and marketable form, a statement we use every day now. Also, WANT suggested and developed our concept of 360º Mining, a core value that has become the center of our new corporate culture, connecting our Company with the Community and our Employees, in a sustainable, respectful, safe and Innovative harmony. We are now defined by this concept, thanks to WANT Branding.

At the end WANT delivered a new Brand, a new Concept, a new Vision and a new Mission, but really what they delivered was a new SOUL to the company, we can see how people now relate to the company differently, and you can see the spark in the eyes of recruits when we explain who we are. We then hired WANT for a follow-up project, to recreate our website, which was also a great transformation.

What was the team composition?

Everyone at WANT was involved at some point or the other, but the founder, Jonathan, conducted the whole project himself. He included key people from WANT as needed, such as other branding experts, designers, copywriters and developers.

The team was consistent throughout the project and our point of contact were also either Jonathan himself or Celeste, his lovely associate who took care of a lot of important details and coordination.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The success of the company is evident for any of the stakeholders. Employees are now proud of our company, Polo shirts we made with the new brand and people love to wear them (voluntarily), they post on social media news about the company from the website, they adopted email signatures with he new logo and website (before people didn't ever share the website). Now everyone wants to have a business card because they now look great and people are proud of them.

VP of Talent states that it is now easier to hire good people to the company, VP of Business Development states that now he can show the website to potential partners and they constantly discuss the concepts developed by WANT, such as the 360º Mining.

The results exceeded our expectations, we were initially thinking we could make it look better and better reflect our new vision, but WANT helped us shape the vision itself and evolve our own understanding of the company. The outcomes of the project are much more profound than we expected. Everyone loves the new Aura Brand, new website, new logo and above all, the new concept of 360 Mining.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was very smooth and positive. WANT was proactive in setting meetings, goals, deliverables and following up when we owned information.

Many times when we stalled it was our fault, lacking a marketing team to work with them and make it top priority, and sometime lacking time to provide them the information they needed. Specially on the second project, for the website, where the workflow was a little harder, it was mainly due to our lack of engagement and ability to provide the content they needed for the new website.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their creative capacity, experience with naming and vision concepts and agility. Their past experience on this really mattered, they used big brand techniques with our not-so-big company, and it made us more relevant.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can't think of anything they should have done differently on the Branding project. On the website part, many companies may have difficulties, like we had, to generate content for the website. Maybe they could include more copy work on their proposal and make sure they have someone from their team to rewrite most of the website content.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Former Marketing Manager for telematics company, specializing in asset tracking and sensor technology for transportation/fleets and oil & gas industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire WANT Branding?

We were looking to update our go-to-market brand and messaging strategy that encompassed all business lines under one larger storyline/umbrella.

What were your goals for this project?

New brand position and messaging that brought four siloed business units under one umbrella.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Found them on clutch!

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They conducted 25 internal interviews to get an idea of the main themes, ideas and overall "good, bad and ugly" that employees felt were our future. They took these interviews and used an algorithm to pull out the main themes and use them as a our foundation for discovering what truly made us different -- what is the highest level of value to the customer -- and lead with that in the marketplace. Once we decided on a brand position, we used that to identify our building blocks/core attributions to the audience and a manifesto. They then created a messaging framework from these deliverables that had specific language around how we use them when addressing certain audiences (prospects, customer and employees).

What was the team composition?

We had the absolute pleasure of working with Jonathan and Bob directly -- they were hands-on, professional and excited to be apart of our rebranding process. They were flexible, easy to get in touch with, and very responsive to all feedback. Highly recommend them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The results were powerful and met our goals we set out from the beginning. They've since been used as the foundation for a new website, tradeshow materials, new digital & sales strategy and all advertisement collateral.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was the perfect extension of our team. They worked well with everyone, touched almost 30 ppl throughout of org, with zero complaints. High praise.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I know they had other clients and projects going on, but their commitment to the success of ours made it feel like we had a world-class agency all to ourselves. No request or idea was too big for them to tackle -- they transitioned from a "vendor" to a partner and part of the family very quickly.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the former chief marketing officer for a flooring company. The company is a multi-channel retailer of flooring operating over 400 stores in the US. I was responsible for marketing merchandising and advertising.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

We needed help with retail consumer marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first tasked them with a 30-day assignment­—a strategic evaluation of our logo and brand. They then took on a six-month engagement to create two sub-brands, one for our pro sales business and one for installation services. They did brand strategy positioning and naming design.

Their main engagement was helping us brand and position those two new services, pro sales, and installation services. From the beginning, they made sure to understand the customer and the logo was a culmination of that work.

What is the team composition?

Jonathan (Founder and CEO, WANT Branding) was our main point of contact. We also worked with Bruno (Senior Director) and a creative director.

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

We received a recommendation from a person we had worked with from another company.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $100,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May–November 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Both of the logos were implemented successfully in a way that was consistent with our overall brand positioning and they're still being used today to brand both of those services.

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

They managed the project well. I liked that they followed a process that began with understanding the customer and influencing the value proposition. It’s not just about the pretty pictures or the names, it's about how it all ties together.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I would say it's a combination of strategic and creative skills. Those impressed me the most.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can't think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think they're a great branding agency. We started out small with them and our engagement grew because it made a lot of sense. I would recommend them to anyone who is looking to hire a partner for strategic branding.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for a local 501c(3) nonprofit organization, specializing in providing safe affordable housing and intensive life skills to former foster care and homeless youth. I work as the Grants and Community Partnerships Coordinator to facilitate relationships, provide funding solutions, market and communicate our messaging to stakeholders, and increase capacity-building opportunities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire WANT Branding?

Over our organization's 13 year history, we have focused on providing the quality programming that shepherds youth to and through the transition from foster care into thriving independence, but our work has undergone key programmatic changes that often aren't reflected in our messaging and communications. We have tasked WANT Branding with helping us refine our messaging & communications to tell the story of our organization how we want it perceived by those outside of our organization.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals for this project include refining our brand position, creating a concrete brand manifesto, and updating our collateral and marketing materials to reflect this new paradigm. We anticipate using these new parameters to help us frame an updated narrative of the journeys of our youth. This will help us in our fundraising efforts, and how we "sell" the work we do to volunteers, donors, funders, and even aid us in our recruitment efforts when we reach out to potential youth.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

WANT Branding was recommended to us by a current board member. We have previously explored other companies but settled on WANT Branding for their reputation in the community.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

To date, we have only completed a portion of our work together - namely the brand positioning, but we will continue working closely to bring our vision of a strong brand identity to fruition. We have set up an internal committee that meets frequently to discuss WANT Branding's recommendations, provides feedback and guidance.

Once those have been finalized, I am tasked with re-designing the material internally. Essentially I design our materials based on what is determined by our committee along with WANT Branding's staff input. The final deliverables are currently still being worked on.

What was the team composition?

Our committee is comprised of our staff, board members, and even some of our clients, working intimately with the Managing Director and a Brand Consultant. Our team has changed over time because we have been including additional voices from our staff and client-side, but the WANT Branding team has remained consistent and incredibly helpful in facilitating the discussion.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have finalized the brand positioning, and have been internally discussing our printed materials, which is further than we have gotten on our own as a team. The strength of WANT's team has been helping us refine our vision for what exactly we want.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication with the WANT team has been great; they are very responsive and do a phenomenal job of communicating the next steps and managing expectations. They are very receptive to each of the varying voices on our team, and they help create a unified dialogue among us all.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The strength of their portfolio and their innovative approach to their work with other nonprofits are incredible. They were major factors in why we feel so strongly about working with WANT.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, they did a great job. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Curvature is a global B2B IT services provider, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Our core lines of business are maintenance and support of server storage and hardware. We also sell that hardware and the professional services that go along with those processes. I run all of the global marketing for the business, which roughly involves about 1,600 employees worldwide.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

We were rebranding the company after merging with our largest competitor, a Santa Barbara-based company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we determined with certainty whether we were going to keep one of the companies’ names. Prior to their commitment, we decided to stick with Curvature, but we needed a fresh identity, considering we had a lot of equity in the brand name. Even though we had the same name, the challenge was to evoke a fresh feel and make everyone feel part of the new brand.  

WANT Branding went through a research and discovery phase before tackling the brand strategy and identity. Their team held executive and senior-level meetings to interview key players before partnering with me on the vision and messaging. We wanted to convey what the merger meant, how it impacted our customers, and how we would be able to provide a better service with broader portfolio offerings. Going through the creative process, we also wanted the look and feel of a billion-dollar IT business with its own unique place that delivers real value and alternatives for users in the marketplace. Alongside the branding and messaging, their team redesigned our website while crafting a set of brand guidelines and book.

What is the team composition?

Jonathan (Founder & CEO, WANT Branding), Todd (CCO, WANT Branding), and Celeste (Brand Consultant, WANT Branding) worked alongside our team regularly. There were a few qualified other members of the team we worked at points.

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

I worked with one of their partners previously at a different job in New York, and the other partner worked with the company we were merging with. There was an awareness there combined with the great experiences we had in the past.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We engaged with WANT Branding from March­–June 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Internally, we were pleased with the look and feel and identity. Thanks to WANT Branding, we stand out in a somewhat under the differentiated marketplace. IT isn’t the most dynamic industry, but their team created a unique feel that others wouldn’t recognize in the tech world. During trade shows and other events, everyone talks about how much they love the brand. I’m happy with the results of the successful rebrand. Their work made me their biggest customer.

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

Working with their team was easy. Everyone was directly involved, showcasing their own skillsets. I knew who to go to for what. They each stepped in at the right time, and their associates were available as needed for execution. While we had a fast timeline, there were no issues there either.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re creatives at heart. WANT Branding knew I wanted excellent work and were aware of the audience. Their work let us stand out from competitors. They understood our business quite well but also knew what they needed to execute to make the project a success.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. With the amount of time and scope they were given, WANT Branding did a fantastic job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

WANT Branding is experienced and professional. With any engagement, everyone involved needs a clear definition because you don’t want to promise anything you can’t deliver on. You also don’t want to go far along in a project where both sides have different expectations. With any project you’re getting involved with, have clear deliverables and timelines. It makes for a much smoother result when everyone is on the same page. WANT Branding has a creative and business side. They always have the customer in mind, so you’re getting the full package with them. In terms of pricing, they’re not the lowest or the higher. Overall, they understand the business.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was the vice president of marketing at a large regional casino company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire WANT Branding?

We needed a new name for our company. Our previous name was too narrow and did not address the broader aspirations of the company.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted our new name to be more appropriate and customer-facing.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I worked with them at a previous employer.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They conducted research on brand architecture and nomenclature.

What was the team composition?

We worked with Jonathan (Founder/CEO, WANT Branding) and two other resources.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We consider the engagement a success because WANT Branding agreed that we needed a new name and helped us worked toward that goal. Ultimately, we chose a different path, but they were helpful in lighting the path for us.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Since we had a team of one on the client side, the process was fairly easy to manage.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They offered a strong knowledge of the construction of brand architecture, and they also were adept at identifying and assessing the value of brand nomenclature.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They should do a better job of illustrating the rigor required to do the work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the VP of Marketing at Cardinal Health.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

We had a new division that needed a name, so we hired WANT Branding to help figure out how we can easily ensure that people will see us at the preferred specialty healthcare solutions company. Along with naming the division, their team also assisted with the brand architecture and the naming of subdivisions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

WANT Branding was in charge of brand strategy and naming, helping to create a go-to-market plan for our new division, CHSS. There were market research and strategic components. They partnered with us on internal and external interviews, striving to understand our business to craft our brand architecture.

What is the team composition?

Jonathan (Founder & CEO, WANT Branding) and Bruno (Senior Director, WANT Branding) were the two primary contacts. There are others within the agency that we worked with as well.

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

I hired them at my previous company, so I knew them well. After I transitioned over to Cardinal Health, I knew their quality of work and what type of organization they were. I recommended them for the projects we had.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $100,000–$150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with WANT Branding took place in 2011.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to get the input of the market research, and how it was resonating internally and externally. We were positioning the brand architecture around that.

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management style was excellent. They're timely, keeping our team on task internally. Sometimes vendors are afraid to light a fire under their clients to keep projects moving. WANT Branding respectfully does this, holding our team accountable the same way we hold them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

WANT Branding quickly immerses themselves in any business. I've worked in entirely different companies, going from big pharma to working at a top health distributor. They ask the right questions to deliver on the project at hand quickly. Their team is creative and process-driven, making sure they have a strong presence at meetings but also providing the right amount of guidance. They're respectful, knowing when to sit back and listen. Sometimes there are internal debates between clients. Some vendors feel that they need to control the whole situation, while it's best for all the clients to ideate amongst their team. WANT Branding has the right balance of that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They're not the least expensive naming or strategic firm, but I'm still going to hire them for a few naming projects I have coming up at my new role. WANT Branding isn't the type of vendor that puts things together to make the most money and get in and out as quick as possible. They start from scratch, excelling at brainstorming. Their team is hands-on during meetings, providing feedback, and making sure everything runs smoothly. Aside from pricing, which hasn't prevented me from using them, there's nothing for their team to improve on when it comes from a project deliverable perspective.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When it comes to these types of projects, many customers feel that they can sit around, come up with any name, and it will somehow get approved by the FDA or any organization and resonate with their audience. I'm in a similar situation right now with a recently-acquired company. They had three names rejected, and now we're in the final stage of another name that isn't going to get approved. If they had used WANT Branding in the beginning, they would've avoided all of this and are now at risk of being pushed back financially. There aren't unique names anymore; it's about being strategic in piecing words together.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

At the time, I was the brand director for Jose Cuervo, a tequila brand owned by Proximo Spirits.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

We were looking for a new brand strategy and research agency to consult with us on various innovations and advertising. We were also looking for opinions across existing Jose Cuervo drinkers and other tequila drinkers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

WANT Branding ran focus groups for us. We tested new product innovations, advertising concepts, and evaluated potential celebrity spokespeople. The groups also talked in length about their tequila drinking habits and other brands they like or dislike.

What is the team composition?

Jonathan (Founder & CEO, WANT Branding) and Bruno (Senior Director, WANT Branding) were our main points of contact.

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

My boss at the time worked with them for a number of years at Proximo Spirits and his previous company. They worked with several tequila and vodka brands. My boss was happy with their work. After meeting them, we engaged with WANT Branding for the focus groups.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost about $75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with WANT Branding from February 2015 to April 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The focus groups were well-executed and led to helpful insights. The groups were also well-recruited. Our team learned a lot about how people view the brand and its new advertising concepts. Sometimes consumers don’t respond to things as positively as we would've thought, so we’ve been able to make adjustments to the campaigns and receive positive affirmations on some of our plans.

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

They did an excellent job on the entire project. Jonathan did a fantastic job moderating the groups. His background as a strategist came across during each one. He asked probing questions on the fly and was able to adjust on the spot.

What did you find most impressive about them?

WANT Branding delivered everything that we asked for. With focus groups, there are always last-minute changes, which require flexibility. When we had groups, we were able to evaluate everything within a few short hours and receive quality value around the thoughts related to direction and innovation for the brand.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I cannot think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take a chance on WANT Branding. There’s always a little bit of faith you have to have, but any brand or firm should have complete confidence in their ability to deliver.