36creative

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the COO of Statewide Communications, a telecommunications provider that works with SMBs. 

What challenge were you trying to address with 36creative?

We had an outdated website with outdated branding. We needed a new approach to our branding that reflected our teammates and the customers we supported. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

36creative refreshed our branding and corresponding website. 36creative hosted a discovery period where they completed market research to determine where our competitors were and where we were positioned relative to them in the market. Our conversations with 36creative were very interactive and facilitated accurate project mapping. They redid our logo and developed a strategy for presenting our brand and values.

Once we solidified our brand image, they designed our website. They helped us write content for the site and with product placement. Then, they developed the site in WordPress and set up Pantheon as its host. Users can see the business we support on the website — they need to know that we're not restricting ourselves to one industry. Also, we have a portfolio of case studies featured on the site to highlight the businesses we partner with. 

What is the team composition?

I had 2–3 direct contacts, including Trent (Managing Partner), Carina (Account Manager), Brian (Partner, Art Director, and Brand Strategist).  

How did you come to work with 36creative?

We spent a year shopping around for firms to provide us with the services we needed within our budget. 36creative was local to our old location, and a colleague in my network recommended them to me. So we reached out to them, realized they were a great team doing great work, and we clicked right away. 

It was clear up front that they were engaged with our company and our needs — they had an experienced staff who could deliver for us. We also liked the clean-cut branding they displayed in their portfolio. We were comfortable with ​​36creative and trusted them to be good stewards of our business, so we hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested around $70,000 with 36creative. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with 36creative was from February 2019–May 2021. However, we're setting up new projects with them relating to website enhancements and marketing to strengthen our brand. 

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

The website launched in May 2021, and our customer traffic has increased significantly. We've also received a lot of positive feedback from various industry professionals — we've had an increase in referrals through various professional networks. 

Our employer branding improved as well, so we're getting a higher caliber of job applicants who've found us via our website. Overall, everyone, including customers we've had for over 30 years, loves our branding and website's new look and feel. We've shored up our customer relationships and gotten more confidence that our company will continue to thrive for the foreseeable future. 

How did 36creative perform from a project management standpoint?

36creative was a process-oriented team, which was crucial for our endeavors. They had clean-cut deliverables and project timelines. Also, when the COVID-19 pandemic impacted us, they were flexible with the project as our circumstances changed. Typically, we communicated via phone calls, video conferences, and emails. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

36creative is personable and engaged — they care about and love what they do, which is reflected in their processes and deliverables. Seeing that they care about our company and our success is encouraging and sets them apart. Their team is passionate about providing high-quality resources and helping improve businesses. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

To be honest, we're satisfied with 36creative's work, so I don't have anything for them to improve. We had some changes to the team, but that didn't impact us very much because the key teammates remained on the project throughout the process. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I'd advise customers to set their budget and goals before beginning the project with 36creative. Also, customers must know their limitations when it comes to contributing to the project. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

Tonneson + Co is an accounting, tax and advisory services firm. I am the Senior Director of Marketing, responsible for all aspects of marketing and communications.

For what projects/services did your company hire 36creative, and what were your goals?

We hired 36Creative for brand positioning and a complete website redesign. We started with brand positioning to determine our unique value proposition and key messages and personas for our website. We then moved on to web design and development.

How did you select 36creative and what were the deciding factors?

We looked at a total of 5 web design firms, narrowed it down to 3 finalists, and ultimately chose 36Creative. We chose 36Creative for their strong creative capabilities and aesthetic as well as their approach to client service. We also appreciated that they wanted to start with brand positioning to determine the direction of the web project.

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

We began with developing a brand positioning research presentation. 36Creative then designed and developed a site in WordPress that also included a company culture video, which 36Creative created and developed with a video partner. Our website also contained original photography of our staff throughout.

The site was built in WordPress because we do not have internal IT staff who were available to assist, so building a site that was user-friendly and easy to update was extremely important.

How many people from the 36creative team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with approximately 5 team members from 36Creative. A brand management expert, a web designer, a project manager, and a technical expert. We also worked with an SEO specialist.

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

We are extremely happy with our website. Since the launch of the site, we have increased website traffic and the time spent on the site. Our website also won an award for Best Website from the Association for Accounting Marketers in 2019.

The look and feel of the site, as well as ease of use and functionality, were exactly what we had wanted.

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

36Creative was extremely responsive. At the time that we built our website, we primarily used email and a project schedule to communicate key deadlines. They were also very flexible regarding delays that sometimes occurred on our end regarding internal approvals of content.

I think that perhaps some additional project management tools such as Slack may have been helpful, but at the time our site was built that was not in use.

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

I was most impressed with 36Creative's approach to understanding our company and what made us unique. They worked closely with us to build a website that does not look like every other accounting firm. There is a personality and an energy to the website that came largely from their creativity and interpretation of our differentiators.

I was particularly impressed with our brand expert and creative director, Brian Grossman, who is hands-down one of the best creative professionals I have ever worked with in my career.

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

The only area I would point out would be possibly a greater focus on SEO prior to the website launch and follow-up after the launch on SEO. That is still an area where I feel that we could improve.

For smaller businesses with limited marketing resources, having some additional training or even add-on services for SEO management would be very helpful.

Please describe your company and your position there.

As the VP Head of UX & Product, I led the brand positioning strategy and execution at business.com.

For what projects/services did your company hire 36creative, and what were your goals?

It was an assumption/expectation that having a domain name of business.com would be self-explanatory but our own heuristics, metrics, and research showed that our branding and messaging were unclear.

I enlisted 36Creative's partnership to help us realign and develop an effective brand positioning strategy to maximize our competitive differentiators and, ultimately, maximize our brand value through clarity and cohesion. I continued our partnership and engagements by including the larger umbrella and brands/subsites.

How did you select this vendor?

I found 36Creative by using our own product: business.com. I interviewed several agencies and underwent several RFP processes. Ultimately, 36Creative was the agency that understood our needs (including more than just the specific project in focus).

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

The scope of the work included the following:

BRAND STRATEGY ENGAGEMENT/PARTNERSHIP

Initial kick-off that included:

• Current brand discussion
• Company goals/objectives
• Review of existing positioning/value propositions
• Competition Target / existing personas
• Brand Personality exercise

36Creative's executables were:

• Primary Research - Surveys (existing users, and potential users)
• Secondary research - competition and market analysis
• Primary Research - Client/Management interviews (6-10 interviews)
• Development of interview goals and question criteria
• Define Brand Objectives, Challenges, Differentiators (USPs)
• Define up to six (6) target personas
• Determine personas in initial workshop
• Define brand personality (voice and tone)
• Create brand essence
• Determine best practices for messaging / marketing communication
• Evaluate messaging goals and objectives for each persona
• Build messaging criteria for each persona
• Assure your messaging is in-line with your overall brand strategy
• Provide examples of successful, and do not use messaging
• Workshop with client on feasibility and adaptation of strategy
• Suggestion of additional projects to strengthen the product presentation and launch

Deliverables/Delivered:

• Brand positioning document (including brand essence) and discussion of proposal strategy
• Personas of current and future visitors
• High-Level User journeys based on interviews and personas highlighting areas of opportunity
• Recommendations on next steps

IDENTITY SYSTEM ENGAGEMENT/PARTNERSHIP:

36Creative Executables: Workshop

• brand assessment, goals and objectives, landscape, personas
• Discuss and determine specific uses we will focus on initially (3 for initial presentation)
• Brainstorm options for visual direction based on new brand strategy
• Design multiple options for consideration
• Design core logomark to be responsive to multiple uses
• Critique internally presented concepts and revise accordingly
• Build final and polished concepts for presentation

DELIVERABLES/DELIVERED:

• Present Identity system using new logo (3 concepts) 3 rounds of revisions
• Final system presentation

USER EXPERIENCE/INTERFACE DESIGN AUDIT ENGAGEMENT/PARTNERSHIP:

36Creative Executables:

• Workshop to discuss: competitors, target (online) personas, branding
• Workshop to discuss: current scenario (if any), current solutions, possible optimizations
• Internal analysis and documentation of the different user scenarios
• Design workflows custom to the product

Deliverables/Delivered: UX Audit Report (findings, gaps, user flows, issues, recommendations, etc.)

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

Brand Director Art Director Creative Team UX Lead Copywriter Account Manager And I always had access/partnership to the Managing Partners & the Strategic Partnership Director

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

The brand positioning resulted in:

• Internal alignment of who we are as a brand/company and how to tell our story as brand ambassadors (and impacts across team morale/motivation/pride as well as in helping with retention and recruitment efforts)
• Clarity on who and how we serve our users (as a B2C and B2B marketplace) which resulted in increased traffic and user engagement rates (better SEO and workflows, etc.), PR news and aided in the company's value to investors
• The brand strategy (including look & feel) is currently still in use today

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

36Creative always strived to be the best partner so their style is flexible to accommodate the needs of the companies who hire them. And so from the beginning, that's what they focus on understanding: how do we work so they can work best with us. So we got into a very comfortable and seamless cadence that worked for both of us (weekly check-ins, email updates, as-needed meetings).

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

Having worked at an agency, and also having worked with several agencies throughout my career, I am so grateful to have met, partnered with, and produced tangible outcomes and results with 36Creative. They were more than partners

• they were part of our team/company. It's not often you can get this kind of connection (and results!) with an agency
• a group that is truly invested in the people/product/services of a company and goes above and beyond what’s “expected”. 36Creative understood my needs, expectations, and pressures and supported me in ways that were delightfully unexpected. To this day, I hold them in very high regards and am still in contact with the team
• it is a partnership that will last a lifetime. I look forward to continuing to work with (and who knows, perhaps for one day), and recommend 36Creative.

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

I am unable to think of anything at this moment (perhaps other than alerting me/calling me out of when I was passing on the pressures unnecessarily and unfairly to them).

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Brand Strategy Manager for a credit union. We have nearly one million members nationwide and a recognizable brand within the Boston DMA.

For what projects/services did your company hire 36creative, and what were your goals?

After nearly four decades with minimal change, we were in dire need of a brand refresh in lieu of a complete rebranding. With the little wiggle room we had, we wanted to clean up our logo and build some guardrails around our brand to introduce consistency and build integrity.

How did you select 36creative?

We brought 36 in to pitch for another, unrelated project. The chemistry between our team and theirs was immediately great, and we loved the work they were showing us. While we didn't select them for the project they were pitching, our side left the meeting saying, "We need to find a way to work with them."

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

They worked closely with our internal design team and management to fully understand who we were and who we want to be. For a conservative, nearly 40-year-old financial services organization, we didn't have a ton of latitude in what we could change.

They continuously turned singles into doubles and triples, so to speak, and helped us refine our existing brand (essentially just a logo and a color) into a complete set of brand standards.

How many people from the 36creative team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Once our projects were underway, we worked closely with 36's Account Manager and Art Director and stayed in constant contact with one of their Managing Partners to ensure the work kept moving forward.

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

The biggest, and arguably most important, deliverable for us was arguably our Brand Guidelines doc. It was usual for an organization our size to not have this, and it allowed for a lot of inconsistency in how our brand was presented, both internally and externally.
Their work in helping us lay out some standards has become a cornerstone to our brand.

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

We had regular, weekly meetings to touch base on existing work progress. We also used Slack to keep the conversation going and to answer any questions that came up along the way from either side. 36 was always incredibly responsive, whether on Slack, email, or call.

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

Something we learned from our very first meeting that remained true throughout the relationship – their passion for what they do, their range of talent as an agency, and their desire to deliver the best possible product. Most of all, it never felt like we were working with an agency.

36creative was full of people who were easy to work with, responsive, and talented.

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

Is not applicable an acceptable answer here? They're fantastic to work with, all the way around.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Senior Brand Marketing Manager at Timberland PRO

For what projects/services did your company hire 36creative, and what were your goals?

through various 3D renderings and video content, we enlisted the help of 36Creative to bring to life features and benefits of key products in a visual way.

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

We have worked with them on various projects in the past. They were talented and easy to work with, and their process was streamlined and efficient.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail, including the project steps and all stages of production.

We had various discovery conversations initially. this was the first time we had leveraged our own 3D assets as a starting point so we challenged them with helping us to understand the benefits and limitations of the assets we provided. We ensured that the initial renders of the product looked good before creating any animations or movements. from there the team added camera moves, text overlays, music etc. to develop final assets.

Who did you work with and what was the feedback process like?

I worked mostly with our account director who is an amazing point of contact. she kept the project on time and on budget as she always does (regardless of how many curve balls we throw at her)

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

Anecdotal feedback has been great but we have not launched the video to the consumer yet as it is fall 2022 product

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

Most of our communication was via email and occasional live video conferences. It is an efficient process.

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

For me it is all about the people and the relationships with the team. they are genuinely great people and they always go the extra mile to make sure we have everything that we need.

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

NA