AJ Ross Creative Media

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the marketing agent working with leasing company to fill open new units in housing complex

For what projects/services did your company hire AJ Ross Creative Media, and what were your goals?

Generate applications, project was way behind on anticipated occupancy

How did you select AJ Ross Creative Media and what were the deciding factors?

Implementing Paid Search Campaigns, Adding Google My Business pages and Intent targeting campaigns to deliver the traffic needed to apply for unit rentals

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

Review of situation, implementation of several paid search components in key target markets (geography/demographics), deliver cost effective traffic to site that in turn created immediate conversions and virtual tour requests which enabled us to fill our units. Campaigns caught us up back on target acquisition and filled our open units.

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

We worked with several members of the staff at AJ Ross, CEO, Marketing, Programming and Business Development

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

We are sold out (all units rented!!) and working on launching our next housing program. We anticipate that we will be ahead of schedule with rental applications coming in already. We will have our campaigns repurposed for the new complex and keep running on schedule with rentals.

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

Extensive communication, we were able to do calls, webex, zoom and on site meetings.

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

The most impressive part about working with AJ Ross and staff is the personal attention - they took the time to learn our business, address our concerns and craft a custom solution to fill our rentals that was executed to perfection.

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

Everything was on track from day one, we had constant communication and updated every week even if we did not need to have meetings, AJ's team was always sending more material for us to review and make recommendations on.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the president and co-founder of Global Garden Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. 

For what projects/services did your company hire AJ Ross Creative Media?

We hired AJ Ross for their excellence in videography, direction, production, and editing.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create a short film to tell the story of our charity’s gift, which was a baby grand piano given to the NY Waterway Ferry Terminal to make art and music accessible to all. Beyond that, we also wanted to showcase all of the kind people behind the scenes who helped us achieve our goal.

How did you select this vendor?

We selected AJ Ross with complete confidence after rigorously comparing companies. Their integrity and high-quality work made selecting AJ Ross an easy choice!

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

AJ Ross took great care in making sure that they understood our charity’s mission. They handled each detail—from storyboarding to filming, editing, and postproduction—with unwavering care.

What was the team composition?

We had a producer, music mastering lead, final postproduction lead, and second camera and lighting director. Four other people made up the crew. 

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The “Keys to Kindness” video has introduced our charity to an ever-growing, appreciative audience. We knew the video was special when other filmmakers started recommending its submission to film festivals.

How was project management arranged, and how effective was it?

We discussed, outlined, and agreed to full scope of the project in our initial meeting. The AJ Ross team worked seamlessly while coordinating every detail, including several interviews and setting up at two different locations. They made even complex tasks seem easy.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Besides Allen himself, we were most impressed by his extraordinarily talented team and their commitment to excellence.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I can only suggest one improvement: AJ Ross should be franchised so more clients can reap the benefits of working with such talented people.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Catholic Charities Community Services of Orange and Sullivan is a not-for-profit human service agency that provides addiction treatment, prevention services, and social safety net support for those in need. I’m the chief advancement officer, overseeing all things related to brand and agency promotion.

For what projects/services did your company hire AJ Ross Creative Media?

We needed resources to execute our rebranding, which involved web development, logo design, and brochure advertisement.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to introduce a new Catholic Charities brand and establish ourselves as a high-quality, consistent presence in the community.

How did you select this vendor?

I’d initially heard of them through word of mouth and had prior experience working with them at other organizations.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

They redesigned our logo and website as well as all of the supporting materials, including the brochures and signage.

What was the team composition?

We worked with an account executive, creative director, web designer, programmer, SEO specialist, and content writer in addition to their owner.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Their efforts have greatly improved our visibility within the community and among our peer organizations.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Overall, it was an effective process. We had in-person meetings and communicated by phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I appreciated the team’s creativity and enthusiasm. They’re very experienced, and it was a pleasure to work with everyone.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Motion Laboratories is a manufacturer of portable electrical power distribution equipment. We also produce chain hoist control systems, cable assemblies, and load cells. I’m the vice president of Western US sales.

What challenge were you trying to address with AJ Ross?

Our website was made in 2006, and it was extremely outdated. We wanted to grow traffic and sales by having an updated site with better navigation.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed the new site from scratch and developed it on WordPress. Currently, they provide search engine optimization services. We’ve been doing email blasts with them and some social media boosts. The audience for the email blasts is the entertainment industry, which is our primary market.

The social media campaign is on Facebook right now, but we plan to expand that eventually. We create the technical content for these campaigns. It has to be specific about the product, which requires a level of technical expertise in the product that they just don’t possess. We give them the nuts and bolts, and then they make it look nice and get it out into the world.

How did you come to work with AJ Ross?

We did a Google search of local web design and marketing firms. Alan Ross is a good sales guy and very knowledgeable. There’s a level of comfort working with him and his team versus the other organizations we interviewed.

How much have you invested with AJ Ross?

I wasn’t controlling the money, but I’d guess it’s around $30,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2013, and our relationship is ongoing. We have a monthly retainer with them.

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

I don’t have statistics, but we have noticed that we come up first when you Google our company. The head designer at AJ Ross, Carlos, has a really good eye. The content is always visually satisfying. He does a good job.

The email blasts have performed well. They’re just creating the content, and we have a third-party for distribution of the actual emails. We do get responses from that. There has also been an increase in requests for quotes on the items featured in the social media boost.

How did AJ Ross perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very on top of everything that we ask them to do, from the designer and the business manager up to Alan himself. They all participate in the conversation and collaborate to get the work done for us. They ask us what we want, get the pre-approvals, and things of that nature. From top to bottom, it seems like they’re fully engaged in making us happy.  

What did you find most impressive about AJ Ross?

It’s their accessibility. They always pick up the phone when we call and respond quickly to emails.

Are there any areas AJ Ross could improve?

Not to my knowledge. I haven’t yet reached the limits of their capacity.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and CEO of the Orange County Partnership. We’re a private, not-for-profit, economic development office in New York. We were founded 30 years ago by private sector and business industry leaders. Our focus is to attract new business and assist companies here in Orange County with their expansion needs. Our goal is to create more jobs for our residents.

What challenge were you trying to address with AJ Ross?

I’ve worked here for 15 years, and they’ve been our agency of choice for quite some time. AJ Ross worked with our organization long before I came onboard. They created our brand and worked with the partnership for several years. Our CEO at the time changed to another firm for a while.

What was the scope of their involvement?

When I was hired, I looked at the work that AJ Ross did in comparison to other companies. We met with them and originally retained them to do basic newsletters, video marketing, press releases, and writing work to test the waters. One of the things that they taught us years ago was to get ourselves into the Wall Street Journal. They created an opportunity for us to target a very select group of commercial real estate brokers and site selectors within the New York Metro Area. AJ Ross created an insert for the New York Times that landed on their desks and pushed them back into our office. We had some very big success stories out of those campaigns. Now, when we do things like geofencing and targeting industry sectors, we’re using the technology that is available to us today. They do a lot of that for us as well as print material, all of our web work, and all of our search engine optimization. They also assist us with public relations work in the political arena. The scope is really quite large.

For example, we recently attended a conference where our target market were the attendees. They worked to push information to our attendees and drive them back to our website and sites that we wanted them to see. The increase in activity on our website during those couple of days of that conference was enormous.

An invaluable service they provide is their willingness to meet with us on a regular basis to discuss new technologies and opportunities. They educate and enlighten us on anything in the marketplace that would be beneficial to improve awareness for the partnership. They are a very hands-on organization, and they proactively ensure that we’re using cutting-edge marketing.

How did you come to work with AJ Ross?

We like to stay somewhat local in the New York Metro Area. We interviewed five or six other companies, and it wasn’t even close. AJ Ross wasn’t the least expensive, but they had the ability to come up with new ideas and teach us. I took a typewriter to college, so for me, it’s important that I’m educated as the technology changes. I have a young staff who can also see the value of the changing technology, but it’s very important that I’m aware and in tune to using the most cutting-edge products out there—and that’s what they do.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with AJ Ross in 2003 for this engagement, and the work is currently ongoing.

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

We’re not in a business where we create a widget and try to sell more of them. We’re in a business where we have to drive traffic to us. During the recent recession, we learned that the more you market during the worst of times, the more you will be able to see change as you pull out of those recessions. We spent a tremendous amount of time and treasure during the recession, focusing on the companies, site selectors. and brokers who we wanted to get in front of.

When the tide started to turn, we did far better than our competition in the New York Metro Area and neighboring regions. I think a lot of that is attributed to the smart planning and extending ourselves more during that time. This quality of work is who they are. They bring a lot to the table. Sometimes, we can’t afford everything they offer, but they work with us to stay within our budget. They’re a cutting-edge marketing firm and always make sure that we’re in the right place.

The genius behind AJ Ross is that they are always focused on raising awareness of the brand. I always wanted to hit our goals of getting new business and attracting new leads and opportunities. In addition to that, they taught us the importance of creating a brand that people know they can go to for excellent service. We now incorporate that into everything we do.

How did AJ Ross perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very connected to us, almost an arm of our organization. We meet regularly to discuss projects and set goals together. They also report on results to us.

What did you find most impressive about AJ Ross?

I would say it’s their loyalty and commitment to the mission. I haven’t engaged with many companies who actually feel like they’re part of the team. AJ Ross will send me things they read in the paper on a Saturday if they believe it’s something important I should know about. They are a part of the fabric of our organization. The service we get from them sets them apart from any other consulting firm that we hire.

Most of the time, when I share some of the new marketing initiatives we undertake with colleagues or friends, they tell me they’re never heard of that and want to know more. Based on the feedback I get from investors, supporters, board members, and partners, it seems that we’re the most cutting-edge. They have tremendous customer service. They’re responsive and passionate, and those qualities mean a lot to me as a leader of this organization.

Are there any areas AJ Ross could improve?

I can’t say that they could improve on anything.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a company that distributes scientific instruments.

What challenge were you trying to address with AJ Ross?

We wanted to generate internet leads. The world of Google changes all the time, and the world of search engine optimization and Google Analytics changes almost monthly. I was previously using a friend to manage this, but it was hard for him to keep up with all the changes. I determined that we needed a whole new website to keep up with the times.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed my website from scratch. They coded the site and made it searchable. They tweak the site every month to keep it updated, and they cross-promote the site through social media outlets. They send our monthly newsletters to promote our products. They help with videos and trade show preparation. So, they work on strategy, creative, and execution.

What I sell is very technical, so my involvement was mandatory. In terms of content, I knew what I wanted. They gave me several options for the design, and they even designed my new company logo. They took the lead on executing the strategy, but they kept me informed throughout the process. They’ve also done trade show collateral, such as banners and placards.

How did you come to work with AJ Ross?

I belonged to a group of about 15 business owners who met monthly and served as each other’s’ board. It’s better to get a thousand-foot view of what’s going on at your company. Alan Roos, the owner at AJ Ross, was also part of this group, and we gave each other advice on our respective businesses. Three or four years after quitting that group, I needed the services of an agency like AJ Ross. I interviewed a few companies, including AJ Ross, and they won my business.  

How much have you invested with AJ Ross?

I’ve invested $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in June of 2013 and the relationship is ongoing.

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

We’re generating about 30% more leads than what we had before AJ Ross got involved. The quality of their creative is good. I like the way they conduct business. They really listen to what you have to say. In the initial meeting, you’re kind of picturing what your words should look like, and they get very close to that mark when they give you a proposal.

How did AJ Ross perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re small, so they’re a little tapped for resources. They work late. I’m one of those people who doesn't like red dots on their iPhones, and they tend to do their work later in the day and complete it after hours. By the time they get you the information, it’s the next day. I think that’s more my lack of patience than anything they’re doing. Nothing I do with them is really time sensitive. They’ve always met any deadlines we had.

What did you find most impressive about AJ Ross?

They really try to understand your challenges, even financially. They try to partner with you, rather than just telling you how to do something. They’re out-of-the-box thinkers. Because they’re small, they don’t have all the services available to them on-site, but they have a lot of relationships to address any needs.

Are there any areas AJ Ross could improve?

Not really. They’ve met my needs.