Amy Kate Design

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a company that includes a vineyard, a cellar, and a restaurant.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Amy Kate Design?

We bought a winery with a 43-year-old vineyard and 30-year-old branding. We started a restaurant, so the business had a new scope. We wanted to reinvent the winery, giving it a new meaning and telling clients that it’s new.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Amy (Owner and Design Director, Amy Kate Design) was involved from the start of the rebrand and overhauled the brand completely. She helped us to rebrand with a compass to signal that the company’s headed in a new direction. She designed a new website, graphics, and packaging.

Amy Kate Design continues to support our brand including our website design and graphic design needs. Amy writes copy such as ads for various magazines. She manages our intellectual property including detailed brochures and our Facebook account. 

Any project related to digital media, councils, or wine Australia, we ring Amy who creates a brief. Once we agree on a brief, she follows it and integrates imaginative ideas to create the product. For example, I tell Amy that I want a pink label that’s sexy and she comes up with it.

What is the team composition?

Amy’s our go-to girl.

How did you come to work with Amy Kate Design?

Our team doesn’t have time to take care of our brand because we need to look after our clients in a physical way. We wanted to outsource the job to someone who we could trust completely. I found Amy through our network and liked her work because the designs are clean and crisp. She didn’t create the same old stock photos. When I had a need for her services, I contacted her.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $20,000 on Amy Kate Design’s services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We called Amy Kate Design around January 2019 and their team continues to work with us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The rebrand was successful. People see a compass and identify it as our brand, so we’ve been successful. Our website’s great and different from the rest of the platforms in our area. People say that it's cool and interactive.

Our brand is recognizable and created a larger customer base. On day one, our revenue base was $500. On day two, our revenue base was $800. By week two, our revenue base grew to $6,000 over the week. And then it went from $6,000 to $10,000 to $12,000 over consecutive weeks. In twelve months, our revenue base tripled.

With our new branding, we’re selling different wines. We’re buying more grapes and our wine sales are project to reach $350,000 this year. If we stuck with the old brand, we would’ve never experienced the growth we've had in the past 12 months. I’ve had a number of vendors offer their services, but I want to keep Amy Kate Design on my project.

How did Amy Kate Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate by email and Amy’s hands-on. If she has a busy day, she tells us and sets up a time to talk. She doesn’t charge for phone calls but starts billing once she starts a project, which means we don't waste downtime. When I need a product right away, she pushes a project to the front of the queue and gets it done. With Amy, I don’t feel like a number.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Amy Kate Design’s professionalism is key. I trust her with my brand, which is a big deal because we’re a new business. If we made a wrong decision during the first 12 months of operation, we would be penalized long-term.

Amy came on site, which gave us a new set of eyes to identify places for enhancements. She adapted areas of our business that led to improvements. She’s hands-on and thinks like me, so I can tell her what I want and know that she’ll come up with something brilliant.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, she’s pushed herself plenty. She could hire a teammate to help. I would hope that she doesn’t take on too many clients to the point where we become a number.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust Amy. Give her a brief and let her come back with her ideas. Give her time to adapt and come up with a good idea.  You won’t be disappointed.