Anamorphiq

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Marketing and Communications at CSAE. CSAE is a national, member-based organization that supports excellence in the Canadian association sector.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Anamorphiq?

CSAE initially engaged Anamorphiq to support us with our social media activity, as well as with various writing projects. They also developed our conference artwork, and conducted a communications audit for our organization.

SOLUTION

How did you select Anamorphiq?

We interviewed a number of prospective agencies and felt that Anamorphiq offered the flexibility and skills that suited our needs best.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Social media and writing projects: CSAE collaborated with Anamorphiq to establish processes to move the work forward. The conference design project began with a brief and an iterative, collaborative process to move the work through development and approvals .

The communications audit comprised an extensive review of our organization's materials, a competitive analysis, and industry best practices to provide a thorough report and recommendations.

What was the team composition?

I've worked closely with Bill Doern and Cherise Letson, as well as other members of the Anamorphiq team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While we do not have metrics on the work, I can say that all of the products and services provided by Anamorphiq were of excellent quality and have been well-received. The communications audit provided critical input that will inform our direction forward.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communications with Anamorphiq's team were flexible and effective.. They always met their deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Anamorphiq's approach to the partnership was notably thoughtful. They were professional, approachable, open and flexible. It was delightful to work with them.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

Nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CFO & COO of a medical devices company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Anamorphiq?

We needed help with marketing and PR, so we hired Anamorphiq.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Anamorphiq helps with branding, PR, social media marketing, and SEO. They conduct research, diving into every information that is publicly available to provide us with an in-depth analysis of our competitors and the market. Their team breaks down their findings into what our competitors are doing and why, what areas need our focus, and which overlooked spaces we could capitalize on.

Anamorphiq also writes press articles, some of which have been published in the Reader’s Digest. They make connections to publish articles, and guide us with insight on how to portray our message in the most impactful way. Along with writing and arranging newswire releases,  their team reviews anything we write and coaches us on our presentations and materials.

What is the team composition?

Bill (Fractional CMO & Marketer) is our main point of contact. There are three others on the team, each of whom work on PR, social media, and SEO respectively.

How did you come to work with Anamorphiq?

We had spoken to several agencies, but we chose this team because they understood the product, market, and industry. They’ve added value from the very beginning and seemed an overall good fit for our company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested an amount in the $10,000 - $49,999 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around October 2020, and our collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve grown significantly thanks to our engagement with Anamorphiq. They’ve helped deliver our message concisely to consumers, showing why our product is the best choice. As a result, there has been an increase in the interest in our product, and we’re now better able to differentiate ourselves from others on the market. 

How did Anamorphiq perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a great job. They’re available and responsive, regardless of the time of day. We communicate via Microsoft Teams, Zoom, phone, and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re empathetic, understanding, and adaptable. They quickly set a vision and plan that aligns almost completely with our own. We’re impressed by their ability to craft a message around everything we need and within the specified channels. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing stands out to me.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set your ideas, vision, and goals. Anamorphiq will do a good job picking it up from there.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of communications for a nonprofit organization that represents food and beverage processing companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Anamorphiq?

We worked with Anamorphiq to address the morale issues front line workers were experiencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This included concerns about workplace safety and the absenteeism felt by the people working in this industry.

This was also an opportunity to raise the profile of the industry with consumers since there’s quite a bit of media play around food supply and food security at the frontend of COVID-19.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Anamorphiq helped us set up a digital campaign to recognize frontline workers through storytelling. I spent time interviewing both the senior and frontline staff within the business, asking them about their experience, challenges, and what they saw as opportunities during the pandemic. We told their stories through social media and the newly built website.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with Bill (President), two social media leaders, and one key writer. 

How did you come to work with Anamorphiq?

I know the president quite well. We were connected through another company, and I’ve always had great respect for his work. He and I worked together for a project, and I found him to be a standout marketer and web developer. We engaged with Anamorphiq after the company took my advice.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested about $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May–October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For the anecdotal feedback, the members of the organization were extremely pleased and supportive of the campaign. Many of them are c-suite executives and were struggling to keep their frontline workers engaged in the work they do.

The quality of the work was done professionally. It was very real and required no spin to how we presented it as a campaign. 

The analytics for both the website and social media were also really good. We were fielding questions to the public through a query function on our website so, from a consumer’s perspective, the campaign had a positive impact.

I’m not a marketing expert, but what I’ve learned is that engagement on social is what speaks to the success of the campaign. We got good engagement from frontline workers who appreciated the campaign.

The consumers also gave their support, and the engagement that was generated by our socials demonstrated that we were doing a good job.

How did Anamorphiq perform from a project management standpoint?

They were really good at managing the project. It’s a small boutique agency, but they do it better than larger firms can. They had a more personal hands-on approach.

There was continuous day-to-day communication happening between Bill and our organization. Bill was very responsive, and his team was fabulous. Again, we had six months to finish this project, and I think they did a pretty good job despite the time constraints.

What did you find most impressive about them?

First and foremost, what we found most impressive about them was they were extremely creative. Things like questions around project management and response time are all important, but creativity is the take-home message for me.

If you want a creative campaign that cuts through the noise and does something to differentiate yourself and be unique, that’s Anamorphiq’s real strength.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think it’s necessary for them, but they don’t really have much consistency in staffing. During the course of the project, there was a turnover of one staff who would do a good job, and the next person for the same role would do a great job.

This isn’t really their fault as I feel like this is just a small business conundrum and people will always come and go.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to avoid micromanaging and trust them. Give them the broad picture of what you’re trying to achieve and then let Bill and his team get deep into the issue. There can be a tendency for clients to micro-manage especially if the creative firm doesn’t get what the client wants.

Just give them time to think it through and trust them.
 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Senior Account Director at the UJA Federation. We serve as a resource to the Jewish community, helping to fund over 100 agency partners. Our partners help with our strategic priorities, such as fighting Jewish poverty, building Jewish identity, fostering education, and things of that nature.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Anamorphiq?

We hired them for their expertise on the digital side. We have a pretty engaged audience on our social channels, primarily Facebook and Instagram. As a not-for-profit, we’re a bit under-resourced. What’s been lacking is some kind of strategic leadership in terms of how to maximize those channels and a few others that we’re not using, yet.

We brought them in to do a full audit of what our current model is like, as well as a top-line strategy on how we can improve and build better engagement; ultimately, it’ll drive people to have more brand affinity with UJA, and motivate them to donate.

Our goal was to get them interested in things related to the Jewish community that aren't promotional. The end result would be that we’re building a better connection with them so that when we do throw something at them that’s promotional or we’re asking for money, we build better camaraderie.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

A lot of what they offered us were industry best practices. I think having those perspectives is really interesting because they challenged a lot of our internal thinking, as an organization that’s trying to drive fundraising.

Our dealing with Bill (President & Chief Imagineering Officer, Anamorphiq) was fairly simple: He came in, we gave him a brief, we had a discussion, and he asked lots of questions to get as much background as possible. We also gave them access to our backend analytics.

We use primarily Facebook, some Instagram, and a little bit of Twitter. The team did a full digital audit of our website, as well, with things like email marketing, but it was really focused on the social side. At the moment, we’re focused on building content that’s more Facebook first, rather than Instagram first.

They shifted away from the mindset of promoting what we do, as a way of showing impact to our donors and instead, finding a way to engage people in a way that they’re already using social channels.

What is the team composition?

Bill was the only person we dealt with directly.

How did you come to work with Anamorphiq?

I worked with Bill in the past, at a previous agency, so I was definitely familiar with his leadership in the space. I knew he would be a very reliable, trustworthy, forward-thinking, strategic sounding board; I knew he’d be someone that would really be able to provide us good guidance, just based on my previous experiences working with him.

How much have you invested with them?

It was a small project, so it was $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began this project in February 2019, and I would say this phase of the project has been completed. What’s preventing us from moving forward at the moment is just our budget.

There’s a desire to continue to work with Bill, whether it’s in this capacity or in others. We’ve also reached out and hired him to lead a seminar to our social service agencies and some of our partners that we helped to fund – we thought it would be a value-added offering to them, so we’ve retained Bill to do that, but it’s not something I’m personally leading so I’m not sure of the status on that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The audit was just shared internally with some of our lay leaders, but the reception has all been very positive. People recognize and trust his expertise to be creative and forward-thinking.

Because our content is more sharable, its more what people are looking for so that they’re more inclined to follow.

Just having someone who’s not from the community, itself, be able to come in and provide that insight was valuable, as well.

Bill recommended a huge shift in the kind of content that we’re producing, such as video-centric, and share-friendly content.

How did Anamorphiq perform from a project management standpoint?Anamorphiq performed great from a project management standpoint. Bill was always on time, within budget, and came back exactly with what we would have hoped for, in terms of the scope of the work. He managed to do very well. We communicated with mostly emails and phone calls, and a couple of personal meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Bill understands where his expertise lies and where he needs to fill in the gaps. I haven’t needed to use his full suite of services, but I know that if I did, I know that I’d be getting really high-quality people, in every respect.

Because of his background and where he’s worked in the past, I know that he’s not just a digital guy; he understands how his digital expertise fits into a broader communications and marketing strategy. He’s been shaped by his experience and the path he’s taken.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. Nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

No, I think they should just definitely give Anamorphiq a try.