Bandwidth Marketing Group

Please describe your company and your position there.

When I worked with Bandwidth, I was the SVP of Membership and Marketing at the Illinois Technology Association a member-based organization focused on growing the Illinois tech community.

For what projects/services did your company hire Bandwidth Marketing Group?

We were looking for a boutique creative agency that could work within our limited budget. We needed help with concepting. While we had a designer on staff that could execute on the campaign, we didn't have the big picture creative thinking to drive both the story and the visual elements.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a break-through marketing campaign to help drive membership sales. We wanted to think outside the box and do something that would draw attention, serving both to establish and reinforce our new brand and drive sales.

How did you select this vendor?

We talked to several different vendors in the Chicago area that had been recommended to us by our members. We shared our budget and talked about the goals of the campaign with each vendor. We found Bandwidth was the right fit for our project.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

After we selected Bandwidth, we had a series of discovery meetings where they were able to ask about our goals and understand the essence of what we were trying to convey with our brand. They came back and presented three concepts for our review. Once we landed on one that we thought worked, we continued to refine it with them. Because we were taking on execution of the campaign, they then handed over the creative concepts, templates, etc. so that we could flesh it out through email, direct mail and social.

What was the team composition?

I worked primarily with the owner / principal of the firm. He pulled his team in but most of my interactions with with him directly.

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

We were able to generate a substantial number of leads from the campaign, resulting directly in 10 new membership sales. While it may sound small, those 10 additional sales were significant given the size of the organization.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Bandwidth developed the creative concepts and provided us all the assets so that we could flow them into our properties and systems directly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The hands-on attention we received was great. The concepts they presented all met our needs - it was very tough to choose. In my previous experience, agencies worked hard one concept they know you'll love and then they also present two "okay" ones. Bandwidth went above and beyond to provide three equally strong creative concepts for us to choose from.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can think of. It was a pleasure working them and I hope to have the chance to do so again in the future.

Please describe your company and your position there.

One Hope United is a diversified social services provider. At the time of Bandwidth's engagement, I was the President & CEO.

For what projects/services did your company hire Bandwidth Marketing Group?

We hired Bandwidth to help us think about a different brand and marketing strategy for our 'fee for service' early childhood education centers.

What were your goals for this project?

Determine the value and validity of a potential new brand for this line of business and assess the costs/benefits of maintaining an additional brand identity.

How did you select this vendor?

I knew Bandwidth's work with a couple of other clients and also through a historical relationship with one of the key leaders int the business.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They did a comprehensive analysis of the 'for profit' and non-profit early childhood education marketplace, including services offerings and varying degrees of brand strategy/alignment/identity.

What was the team composition?

The team was led by Rob Albertson and he has a couple of associates (whose names I don't recall) that did all of the work.

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

They helped us develop a new brand identity 'sproutED' along with differentiated marketing strategies, measurables and associated analytics.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent workflow and communication between the companies.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their creative thinking and analytical framework for assessing different options impressed us.

Are there any areas for improvement?

none

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I worked with Bandwidth Marketing Group when I was VP of partner engagement for a nonprofit organization that facilitates volunteer opportunities.

What challenge were you trying to address with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

We were several months out from a large breakfast event that featured the mayor of Chicago and several hundred corporate leaders. The pressure was on to make the event a success. We needed help in order to have a really strong presence at this breakfast.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially thought we just needed help with the breakfast. However, as we started working together we realized that we had to address a bigger problem. As a typical nonprofit, the organization lacked fresh or modern branding. It also didn't have a unified message because it wanted to be all things to all people. So we expanded the scope of work with Bandwidth Marketing Group to help us modernize our brand image and positioning. They updated our brand messaging to be more crisp and unified. They also did a logo redesign. They worked on a positioning statement, a rallying cry, and an elevator speech.

They helped us launch the new brand in two important ways. One was the breakfast event, which focused on the importance of volunteerism. They also helped us launch our brand to the volunteer leaders who drive our engagement. The organization facilitates several hundred volunteer experiences every month. It was critical that the volunteer leaders not only understood the new brand positioning and messaging, but were able to represent the organization effectively out in the field.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact was the managing director.

How did you come to work with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

We issued an RFP and we interviewed several agencies. Bandwidth Marketing Group was recommended by someone that I worked with previously. They had the strongest presentation, pitch, and delivery.

How much have you invested with them?

We probably spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from 2014–2015. There were busy and slow periods within that year.

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

The corporate breakfast was a big success, which was so important for the organization. It was kind of like a coming out party for the organization. Even though we’d been around for 20 years, the brand was tired and dusty. The breakfast generated a lot of philanthropic support for the organization. It also increased engagement with corporations who wanted us to design volunteer experiences for their employees. Volunteers at our projects were more satisfied with their experience because we had stronger, more engaged volunteer leaders.

How did Bandwidth Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

The managing director was great. He was highly communicative and very direct. If ever there was a hiccup, we'd always have a conversation about it. They were able to finish on a budget because of that candor. They were very efficient. We used phone and email to communicate, but also had a lot of in-person meetings. I think those were critical because of the visual nature of brand work.

The scope increase actually happened organically. They always were good at listening to us. They certainly brought thoughts to the table, but they didn't just come in and say we think you also need to do X, Y, and Z. It was more a process of us working together, seeing what was possible, and deciding to expand our original scope. I was so pleased with the process. They overperformed for us as a nonprofit on a limited budget. We were thrilled with the outcome.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I love about Bandwidth Marketing Group is that it's comprised of people who have experience at big agencies. They combine that credibility and those big ideas with small shop accessibility. Their most senior level people want to get their hands dirty and are highly engaged. I worked with the managing director more than anyone else at the firm. That's just something that you don't get in a big agency.

Any advice for potential customers?

Expect a highly-engaged team from the top down. Embrace that, and take advantage of all the benefits that come with that style.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a nonprofit that provides a wide range of programs that help children and families reach their full potential. We focus on child development and learning, family services, and placement and residential programs.

What challenge were you trying to address with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

An early childhood learning center of ours was moving, which gave us the opportunity to rebrand the program and make it more child-forward. We wanted to engage with a team to improve our branding strategies and visual identity.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us with the naming initiative and a new logo. We had a very limited budget and they were very considerate of our needs. They were upfront about scoping the project and did some research for us on customer insight around early learning. That included a focus group. Then, we had a brainstorming session for the name before they built our visual identity.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three different people there.

How did you come to work with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

They were recommended by a colleague. We met with them and liked their work and their team.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $15,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2017. We just finished in March 2018.

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

Based upon our audience perception research, the name they came up with is much better received than the old name. The old name had 4 positive responses out of 22, while the new name had 14 positive responses out of 21. According to the focus group, the new name says it all and shows what good marketing can do.

How did Bandwidth Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was a key strength for them and they always responded to our questions the same day. They accommodated our scheduling needs and delivered quickly. I never had to wait for them or set deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were a good partner, not just a vendor. They were really invested in the project and weren’t just trying to get money from us. They were really conscientious of our budget and helped us get the most out of their services. We wouldn’t have thought of the name they came up with and their involvement definitely led us to a better result.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. There were things outside of our budget that we would have liked their help on, but that’s not the same.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a registered investment advisory firm registered in the state of Illinois. We’re a startup that began in May 2017.

What challenge were you trying to address with Bandwidth?

We contacted Bandwidth 6 weeks before our inception to get their input. When starting a business, there's a mindset of getting the business up and running as quickly as possible in order to survive, but that's not the image we wanted our clients to see. We needed an outside agency to help us translate our initial goals into something much more client-friendly and out of the fray of the "starting a business" mindset. We needed help with branding, mission, vision, values, website, and overall how we visually and emotionally try to represent the facts of what we’re doing.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had discussions about naming. At the time, we had some name ideas, but wanted Bandwidth's input on other ideas. Then, they helped with our logo, iconography, and color scheme. All of that was tied in with their input into our mission, vision, values. The website was an eventual deliverable that we wanted to get done after we had a logo for business cards and stationary.

How did you come to work with Bandwidth?

I have known Rob [Founder, Bandwidth] for 20 years. On many occasions, I have reached out to him to ask for his input into various branding questions. I’ve always been impressed with his perspective and feedback. This was one of the first times we could pay him his services.

We considered a couple of other companies for parts of this project, but one of the things we liked about Bandwidth is that they had the flexibility to help us in a number of different areas. They led us through the process.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April 2017 until July 2017.

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

We’ve had very positive feedback about the name, the logo, and the website from our clients. Our peers in the industry say how on-point and professional it appears, how distinctive it is, and how different it is from some of our larger competitors, which is exactly what we were going for.

How did Bandwidth perform from a project management standpoint?

Their performance was terrific. We did everything either over conference calls or various conferencing calling platforms where we could screen share. The timing was efficient, and their follow through was also good. They seem to have a very tight team. When you talk to one person, the other people seem to know what’s going on immediately and can do the fulfillment. We were very pleased. We also had a couple of projects that popped up midway through the engagement. Bandwidth was good at adapting what we were working on to fill the additional needs that we had.

We had a pretty good launch for the project in terms of our being able to verbalize what we’re trying to accomplish and their understanding of it. Our back-and-forth on the design work was very efficient. We had some feedback on stuff and they came back with some new ideas. They were very receptive. We wanted someone who’s done it before, who can look at what we think with fresh eyes and give us feedback about how someone who’s seen your ideas for the first time will respond. We put a lot of faith in their feedback to develop something that was based on our input, but taking it to a higher level.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I felt as if we knew somebody who was taking care of us individually as opposed to two corporations working together. Our communication was very warm and informal. I had confidence when they said they’d get something done, it was going to get done.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they were terrific.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Distillate Capital Partners is a startup investment management company, and I am one of three co-founders. We've all had a legacy of being involved in the institutional money management business in Chicago. We intend to offer a new product set that is tilted towards quantitative investment solutions for people that might alternatively be buying passive index funds.

What challenge were you trying to address with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

We wanted to start a website from scratch, none of us has that expertise. So we sought out Bandwidth because I knew of their marketing expertise. I wasn't sure that they would be willing to tackle a website. They were very much willing to do it and have done it in the past.

The website is meant to display some of the work that we've done and to build awareness of our business.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had some ideas of what we wanted. We didn't want it to be the typical website where people pictures were on the first page. We wanted to have a connection to Chicago. Bandwidth Marketing took some time to understand who we were and what the real foundation of our business was, which was about being back to basics and the soundness of architecture. So, we had some concept of what was important to us, but Bandwidth's team took our ideas and ran with them. They found us photos that we could make use of and came up with a layout of the website. They provided wireframes and designs, and then developed the website.

They made use of a catalog of available website templates that existed on WordPress. They showed us a number of alternatives that are out there. We picked one of those, and we started from there.

The only complex feature that we needed was to put a password protection on the website, so that people would need to contact us to have full access to the site.

We wrote most of the copy, and they did a nice job editing it for us. We were responsible for the content. It's fairly technical. So we wouldn't have expected them to be the creators of that.

What is the team dynamic?

principle took a personal interest in the work, and we had two other team members assigned to the work.

How did you come to work with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

I’ve known Rob Albertson for 14 years, and I knew of the work that Rob had done. I had talked him about our branding, as well. So when they said they could do this project, we didn't look for competitive offers.

How much have you invested with them?

It was just under $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted between March and June of this year.

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

So far, feedback has been good. People are generally very interested in what we're doing. There's interest in our company and our reputation in the industry, and the website, to those people that we have opened it to, has certainly helped sparked an interest.

There have been no issues whatsoever in terms of the reliability or stability of the website.

How did Bandwidth Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. They actually pushed us to be more concise in the way we were communicating. Their choice of some stock photography actually provided us some incremental structure around the way we talk about what we do. It's very logical.

They also were very interested in pushing us at the margins to think about things, some of which we accepted and some which we thought were a little bit too far afield for the financial community. The fact that we went through some of those options that they provided was a really good exercise for us to consider the way we were presenting ourselves.

In terms of deadlines and communicating, they often actually kept us on track. They were largely responsible for us getting it done as quickly as we did. It would have taken longer had they not kept us on task.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Rob is a very creative guy and he's a great listener. He took time to understand what we were doing, and he had enough of a background or perspective on the marketplace. He heard where we wanted to be different and made that happen. He created the website and helped us focus on the way we were presenting ourselves from the outside world in a more general way. So, it was a really good experience given their vantage point.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They are used to dealing with startups and entrepreneurial people, and that was an incremental benefit that we enjoyed. There was a tendency on our side to want to be a little too detail-oriented, and they did a very good job of balancing our desire to get involved as well as telling us where we should leave it to them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was head of creative at GrubHub, which is an online and mobile food-ordering company dedicated to connecting diners with local takeout restaurants.

What challenge were you trying to address with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

Bandwidth has helped with multiple projects at GrubHub. The largest one was when we were trying to come up with a concept that would engage both diners and restaurants alike. GrubHub is a two-sided marketplace, and we want to keep both the customers and the restaurants happy. It’s a delicate balance, and we had never figured out a way of bringing both together in one promotional program.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bandwidth came up with several different concepts, one of which we liked immediately. It was a program called “Love My Grub”. Restaurants were able to customize a small brochure. The front cover was a photo frame shaped like a heart with #lovemygrub on it. Patrons of the restaurant were encouraged to take a photo of their food through the frame, which was imprinted with the restaurant’s name. Patrons were also encouraged to post their photos, and the restaurant with the most posts got their restaurant featured on a billboard and a marketing email.

We didn’t have any idea of what do to, and Bandwidth came up with the whole concept. We had them do all the design, writing, and collateral for this campaign. They handed over the production files to us, and we had it printed. The idea and execution were completely theirs.

The Love My Grub campaign was centered on social media, especially Facebook and Instagram. It helped build a substantial and strong Instagram presence, where GrubHub didn’t really have one in the past. They accomplished the goal of getting a lot of content up there quickly.

Bandwidth has worked on three or four campaigns for GrubHub. They helped a lot with ideation, and I think that’s their real strong point. We relied on them for conceptualizing, which consisted of taking a business goal and coming up with ideas against it. They developed an idea for a TV campaign and wrote the scripts for it as well. Another project was geared to restaurants in New York and included a lot of tactical executions.

How did you come to work with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

I had worked with their founder, Rob, when he was with another agency quite a few years ago. I knew he had opened his own agency and we reestablished contact. I brought them in for one project, and that worked so well that I brought them in for more.

How much have you invested with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

GrubHub invested probably between $50,000 and $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the summer of 2013, and the engagement ended in August or September of 2015.

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

The Love My Grub campaign was incredibly well received. It performed better than we thought it would. We actually ran that campaign three different times because it was so successful. Initially, it was a six-to-eight-week promotion. It worked so well that more restaurants wanted to participate, so it got bigger each time. The end result was a large engagement, getting people interested and getting restaurants to pass out collateral branded with their name and GrubHub’s, so both benefited from the awareness. The Instagram presence went crazy.

The quality of their work is great. It’s always incredibly well thought through. Their creative conceptualizing process is by far, the most superior thing they offer. They follow through with design and creating mechanicals. Their production and copywriting were all solid as well.

How did Bandwidth Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a dedicated project manager and I was in daily contact with her. I wasn’t able to respond quickly enough with feedback at times, so I held them up. We added them to our Basecamp, and that’s how we all communicated.

What did you find most impressive about Bandwidth Marketing Group?

I think Rob himself is unique. Not only has he been in the industry for a while and has a lot of experience, but he’s also on the cusp of everything that’s new. That’s a great combination that I love to tap into. He’s up to date on new media that has smart sensibilities behind it and ways to leverage social with traditional aspects. He’s the kind of person everyone likes to be in a meeting with, and that helps a lot too.

Are there any areas Bandwidth Marketing Group could improve?

I’ve never had an issue with late work, or work not up to par. However, I always have the question in the back of my head of how much I can give them before they hit their capacity. So, scaling the business may be a focus area for them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Guaranteed Rate is a mortgage originator for residential loans. They were the first organization to launch a digital mortgage platform, making the process of getting a loan easier and faster. I was VP of marketing when I was employed with them.

What challenge were you trying to address with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

We reached out to Bandwidth for creative solutions to attract customers to our company. We had our own creative team and could produce our own work, but Bandwidth Marketing's team was a younger, creative group that could do amazing designs.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We did a print ad campaign to attract new customers and get them to refinance through us. In addition, we did a round of TV commercials with our spokesperson. We gave them the specs for the commercial and they came up with creative ideas on how to do it. They were great at helping us internally as well helping our sales people with ways to push digital mortgage. A lot of the loan originators are old-school guys who are used to paper and face-to-face contact. Bandwidth was able to show them how the new process can make their lives better. They helped us sell the free resource we have for real estate agents and gave us ideas for events. Bandwidth also assisted us with the content of our website and the print assets we needed.

How did you come to work with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

One of our employees had worked with Bandwidth Marketing's principal at a previous company. She knew the quality of their work and that they could scale up or down depending on our needs. We brought them in for a meeting, and they understood immediately what we wanted. The team had great ideas and didn’t try to work with us on areas we already had covered ourselves.

How much have you invested with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

We spent between $50,000 and $200,000 over the course of the relationship.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in August 2015, and the work is ongoing.

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

Our previous agency of record but they were fired because none of their direct response ads had a positive ROI. When we brought Bandwidth Marketing on board, we ran four of their ideas. Three of those ideas were in rotation for 6–8 months, which is a long time for a direct response ad.

The ideas Bandwidth gave us were exactly the quality we wanted. They were creative about turning a 45-minute conversation on why a digital mortgage is better into a 30-second commercial. Other agencies we worked with wouldn’t give us the idea to produce ourselves, but Bandwidth allowed us to do that.

How did Bandwidth Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We spoke with them weekly. They were always on time with the deliverables.

What did you find most impressive about Bandwidth Marketing Group?

The quality of their ideas is what sets them apart. That includes imagery, copy, and campaign ideas. They always come up with something brilliant and creative. If you’re running a digital campaign, you’re getting more clicks and more calls with the ideas that Bandwidth runs.

Are there any areas Bandwidth Marketing Group could improve?

I wish they had a little more digital capability themselves because I would love to hand it all over to them. That’s a small thing, and it’s normal for creative agencies to not have that capability.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is WRS, Work Rehabilitation Specialists. We specialize in orthopedic patient healing, helping patients to heal more quickly and comfortably after undergoing orthopedic surgery. I’m one of the co-owners and the managing partner.

What challenge were you trying to address with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

We were looking to scale the business from a regional to a national player. We decided we needed to improve our branding strategy, logo, and web presence. We wanted to ensure we could capitalize on the opportunities that were out there in social media and related areas as well. It was really a ‘soup to nuts’ branding opportunity.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bandwidth Marketing Group first helped us develop a website. The site they developed made us look a lot bigger than we actually were at that time and made us look like a national provider, which was our aspiration. It reflected where we wanted to be versus where we were at that time. 

Bandwidth Marketing Group has worked on a number of campaigns with us. We outsource all our marketing to their team, so there are a number of promotional pieces. As we introduce new products, we outsource the corresponding sales and marketing brochures to them. Bandwidth Marketing Group has done an excellent job with branding and creating consistency throughout our products.

We’ve also had individual marketing campaigns, such as one that helps us set up pharmacies in surgeon’s offices. Bandwidth came up with a tagline for that campaign which was very identifiable and impactful. This has given us brand recognition, and it’s had some stickiness to it in terms of customer recognition.

Recently, Bandwidth Marketing Group has also done a lead generation campaign for us, utilizing social media outlets to help us contact and connect with surgeons who are interested in hearing more about our in-office pharmacy.

Bandwidth has also worked on projects for other companies in our group. We’re starting a new orthopedic billing company, and they’ve done the same type of work with all our different entities.

How did you come to work with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

Bandwidth Marketing Group was referred to us. We initially started with some logo and web work, and I was very pleased. As our business continued to grow, we got to the point where we could probably have brought our marketing in-house. However, due to their creativity and ability to grasp our business quickly, we felt we would be better served by continuing to work with Bandwidth Marketing Group.

How much have you invested with Bandwidth Marketing Group?

We’ve invested $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in June of 2014. Although that project is complete, we continue to work with Bandwidth Marketing Group for all our marketing and branding needs.

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

Marketing is often a hard thing to measure. The feedback from our sales team is that the marketing material created by Bandwidth is a notch above what industry-leading companies have. That's the greatest testament to their work. Bandwidth Marketing Group made us look much larger and more professional than other companies of our size.

The branding work they’ve done for us really showcases what differentiates our company. Every time we take an idea to Bandwidth Marketing Group, we’re constantly amazed. They have the ability to take one small idea and run with it. What they provide in return is always elevated when compared to what we initially expected. Bandwidth Marketing Group surpasses our expectations at every turn.

How did Bandwidth Marketing Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Bandwidth Marketing Group's project management is very impressive. In my experience, the client is generally the one pushing the deadline. Bandwidth works with deadlines, and they push us toward those deadlines. They make sure we get what we want when we need it. The discipline they have around the milestones needed to complete a project is something that sets them apart. The timeframe we agree to is somewhat gospel to them.

We’ve used Google Docs during the collaboration, as well as text messaging and phone calls. Bandwidth Marketing Group makes sure they’re connecting with us and getting the responses they need. We never wonder whose court the ball is in. They take responsibility for the project.

What did you find most impressive about Bandwidth Marketing Group?

Bandwidth Marketing Group didn’t have a lot of experience in our industry, but they were able to give us what we needed and made us look professional. That’s been impressive to us. We’ve worked with several members of the team at Bandwidth, and each person is as good as the last one. The consistency and high performance of their team make the working relationship good.

Are there any areas Bandwidth Marketing Group could improve?

No, everything has been great.