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A Creative Solutions Agency

5.0
1 review

Astute Communications is a full-service marketing agency specializing in custom web design and search engine optimization. We create digital solutions that solve real world business problems for companies across industries. Whether we are working with a new company or an established brand, we know that thoughtful strategy and design make all the difference in improving your brand and growing your business.

We have a team of extraordinarily talented people who do all of our design, development, search engine optimization and marketing tasks in house. 

 

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$10,000+
 
$150 - $199 / hr
 
2 - 9
 Founded
2013
Show all +
Nashville, TN
headquarters
  • 410 Central Ave
    Nashville, TN 37211
    United States
    629.333.7528

Portfolio

Key clients: 

Multi-facility Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Center, $115 Million Commercial and Industrial Construction Company, Multi-location full-service law firm, Religious Publisher and Bookstore

Reviews

5.0
1 review
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Branding for General Contractor

"We got exactly what we asked for when we wanted it."

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
4.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
Less than $10,000
 
July - Dec. 2016
Project summary: 

In support of a new image campaign, Astute Communications provided a logo, messaging, and pointed brand guideline updates. Due to associations with current events in the media, the team provided a second logo.

The Reviewer
 
51-200 Employees
 
Nashville, Tennessee
Director of Marketing, Construction Company
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

The Astute team acted quickly in providing a second logo after realizing the hiccup, and the new logo has been well received. The team actively communicated and met all deadlines, although they could have done more research to avoid the need for a second logo. 

A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of marketing and client relations for a general contractor based in Nashville

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Astute Communications?

We approached Astute to help us introduce part of a new image. We worked with them to help develop a mark for this that we could put on our marketing collateral, on shirts, website, and everything else. They helped us design the logo itself and what different applications we could use it on. They also helped us refine the messaging that went along with it.

The new image started as an internal rally call. We're a very transparent company, and we share our internal communication to give our audience a  glimpse into our company and culture. Astute's work needed a similar messaging style.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For this new image campaign, Astute helped us update a part of our brand guidelines. Initially, the team asked us a series of questions and we provided them with information about our company. We met several times to talk through what we wanted; language to not include, aspects that needed to be included. It was an informal process, but they had structure to it.

The first mark that Astute provided was unfortunate, and it had to be changed due to timing. The team had presented several options to choose from, and we picked one that everyone was happy with. Around two weeks later, we had to start the process again. The original mark was too closely tied to several things in the media. 

The verbiage attached to the logo mark didn't change; we were completely happy with that. 

What is the team dynamic?

I worked with Anna [Owner, President and Creative Director], as well as another person that did business development. Although she left towards the end of the process, she was great as well.

How did you come to work with Astute Communications?

We met Astute at an association meeting. There are other companies that can provide the same service, but after meeting Anna, we felt that she could give us the kind of perspective that we were trying to get. We are an almost 60-year-old company, and a lot of people have worked here for over 30 years. We wanted to honor everything that we have put together so far and keep a sense of tradition, without actually using the word tradition. We wanted to freshen up the language so it didn’t sound so old, and Astute was great with that.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent approximately $6,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Astute on this project from July 2016 to December 2016

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of the work was great. Astute was sharp and good to work with. The logo hiccup we had initially was just as much our fault as it was theirs. Although it didn’t work out the way we wanted it to the first time, they were great to work with through the process to fix it. In the end, we love the new mark.

How did Astute Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great with communication, and hit all deadlines. I was never concerned they weren’t going to deliver in time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really like Anna, and I really enjoyed working with her. They are a small boutique firm, which is what we wanted. We wanted someone that was a little bit of an outsider to give us a different perspective.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Only in terms of the first mark logo; it would have been nice if it had been brought to our attention that some people might consider it to mean something else; however, we should have recognized it as well, and I am not placing any blame on them for that.

The only advice I have for someone potentially working with Astute is to do all homework they give you ahead of time; otherwise, it may not be too successful. When we were asked to bring ideas, we had all drawn out our ideas and this really got the conversation going. It helped them get an idea of what we thought it would look like. It was hard to come up with something internally of what we wanted it to look like, but we needed to provide our expectations. They asked a lot of questions regarding information we wanted people to know and what words we didn’t want to be included in the verbiage. We had to work all that out prior to meeting with them.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    They were great.
  • 4.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    We could have gone somewhere else for a less price, but that was okay.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables

    We got exactly what we asked for when we wanted it.

  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    I would refer them.