AMP Agency

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Ansell is a company that sells protective wear. I am Vice President of Marketing for North America.

What challenge were you trying to address with AMP Agency?

We wanted them to make media and creative recommendations for us, and then actually execute them for us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started by creating a media campaign. They built a strategy around the demographic we would be targeting, and the actual creative asset that we’d be using in the digital space and traditional space including print, and at one time, TV. They came up with a media plan which they did the media placement and execution for us. Then, they actually ran in market research both pre and post to determine the return on that investment.

How did you come to work with AMP Agency?

It’s been nine years now. They started as Alloy Marketing, which specialized in the college area, and because of our product line, our target market is the college market and college age group. They were extremely well-known and did a lot of thought leadership in the college market area. It seemed to be a good fit then. They’ve grown, changed, and merged, and now are not specifically college focused. It’s worked well for us as we have expanded into other product lines as well.

How much have you invested with AMP Agency?

They are on an annual retainer with us, as well as individual projects that might be anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000. They do media placement in the millions.

What is the status of this engagement?

The relationship is ongoing.

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

They measure our brand awareness and likelihood to purchase. They’ve done price sensitivity analysis for us, and we also share our market data with them so we can better create a holistic picture of our demographic profile. In the digital space, they’ve created a dashboard for us that allows us to measure our activity, such as click view rates, impressions, and bounce back.

How did AMP Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very good. We use them as an extension of our marketing department because they’ll also put together presentations for us. Things are on time, on budget, and they’re very flexible. We have had to change in the middle of a project or we have had to freeze our spending very often, and they have worked very well with us.

What did you find most impressive about AMP Agency?

They’ve expanded recently, so they’re gaining more expertise in specific areas such as digital analytics. One of the things they’re doing very well is responding to the growing marketplace.

Are there any areas AMP Agency could improve?

No. They’re very responsive with whatever we ask for, and they’re able to supply it through the New York office or the Boston office.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Incredible Foods is a manufacturer of allergy-friendly food products. I currently sit as the Director of Marketing.

What challenge were you trying to address with AMP Agency?

We asked AMP Agency to help us launch Perfectly Free, the first product we have put in the market.

After putting together a full brand strategy, we first launched the product in a test market within Boston. Since AMP Agency helped us with the launch for the test market, we’ve kept them on board. They also helped us continue the distribution and launch of the product across New England.

What was the scope of their involvement?

AMP Agency helped us develop a full marketing plan within the test market, from planning to execution. This covered digital, media, influencer, and event-based marketing. They developed the overall creative look and feel of our ads and marketing materials. They also did A and B testing for messaging and utilizing programmatic paid social and paid search. This year, we’ve expanded our marketplace. Not only has AMP Agency worked with us in expanding our media plans and digital plans, they also helped create a TV ad. We’ve collaborated with AMP Agency to develop the overall brand strategy for Perfectly Free. This involved bringing an overall structure to how we look at the brand, what the brand’s all about, and our targets.

How did you come to work with AMP Agency?

My Chief Marketing Officer and I had worked with AMP Agency for event-based programs, digital programs, and a wide variety of things. Also, they have a reputation for being very strategic and very strong in executing their programs. These are the reasons we chose to work with AMP Agency.

How much have you invested with AMP Agency?

We pay $20,000 to $40,000 monthly for AMP Agency’s services. The amount varies depending on production, creative services, and other extra components we may put in on a monthly basis.

What is the status of this engagement?

During the test launch, we worked with AMP Agency on a project basis, then we moved to a monthly retainer. We’ve been working with them about a year right now.

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

When we launched our product in the test market last year, we were hoping to hit about two cases per store per week. Through the marketing strategies we developed with AMP Agency, we hit that number pretty quickly. The distribution was done through our programs with AMP Agency, as well as a couple of other programs that we did ourselves. Once those were in place, we reached two cases within the first month and a half in market. Those numbers held for the first two and a half months before some of the seasonality kicked in. That was definitely one of our biggest accomplishments last year. This year, we’re not focusing on specific sales or distribution goals. Instead, we want to continue progression and upward movement as we’ve gained new distribution. With AMP Agency’s input, we’ve hit our targets month on month for the past three months.

How did AMP Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

AMP Agency was great and helped start our campaign. They really had a strong investment in it. Since then, they’ve added strategic people to our account. They’ve been able to keep up with us, especially since this is such a moving and flowing brand type. We’re a brand new startup and we’re continuing to try to pivot and change on the drop of a dime. So it’s not just rehashing the same marketing plans year on year; they need to really look at things month to month. AMP Agency performed well in the media and analytical side. They check our media plans biweekly and are able to identify the improvements we should be making. AMP Agency has the ability to change plans at a moment’s notice. They can quickly make a shift, whether it’s timing, tactic, budget, etc.

What did you find most impressive about AMP Agency?

I was impressed by AMP Agency’s media planning and execution. They do a lot of buying and other tasks in-house so that they’re able to move pretty quickly. Other agencies I’ve worked with had a lot of different people doing various things. They had separate media buyings from strategic agencies, separate planners, and separate creative teams. As a result, the transition was not always smooth with those other agencies. AMP Agency’s ability to hold all of those pieces and have those groups work together makes a little bit of a smoother transition.

The digital media strategy of AMP Agency is done by a lot of smart people. They continually try new things, optimize, and are on top of the trends within the digital media platform, from programmatic buying to paid social and others. They’re able to utilize that to improve, update, and monitor our media spend on a weekly basis.

Another great thing about AMP Agency is we’ve always had a very open and honest conversation. Their account people and higher ups still sit down together for feedback. They want to know what’s working and what’s not. AMP Agency doesn’t get defensive and they don’t back down.

Are there any areas AMP Agency could improve?

I know we’re a small fish compared to their other clients, so sometimes we take up too much of their time. Sometimes, small things get missed here and there. There have also been occasions where things have lagged behind. Because we're a startup, everything moves fast. Being that AMP Agency is a large company, sometimes internal processes take a little more time than we want. That being said, they’ve always been receptive to feedback. They are willing to sit down and talk about it. We’ve talked through those types of things and we see improvement when those things happen.

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

So far they are doing great.

Please describe your company and your position there.

My name is Alva. We're digital marketing agency and providing a Online Marketing services to B2B and E-Commerce projects. I assist with day-to-day online marketing activities, including strategy, email, SEM, social and overall e-commerce.

For what projects/services did your company hire AMP Agency, and what were your goals?

AMP Agency ran a execution plan and strategies for for google channels, focusing on paid search and shopping. Our goals were to increase sales over time.

How did you select AMP Agency and what were the deciding factors?

Our objectives were to support the amount of qualified leads we get from natural substance/positioning and furthermore examine new AdWord channels.

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

AMP provided paid advertising services. I advertise in the Cape May Herald and a local weekly magazine, but 80% of my customers come from the internet. They are very helpful and our website rank higher to make that possible. Their team also set me up with an app that allows people to leave reviews for my company.

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

Communication was effective, they were very responsive via email and slack and the weekly meetings were run efficiently and productively. The relationship was collaborative and they brought new ideas to the table as well as received feedback well.

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

The account restructure was very successful and made it much more manageable for us to view performance and optimize.

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

They are mainly focuses on the project timeline's which is not good for project health. But they have many advanced or paid tool which helps them to achieve the all type of my expectations for the site. Also, they increase sales as well.

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

They have a straightforward and real organisation culture. Their group tries sincerely and is persistent, yet they're despite everything prepared to have a great time by the day's end. That mentality appears in their work and finish.

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

Relationship building is required as well as long-term planning to coincide with our business planning.