BayCreative

BACKGROUND

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

• Brand Awareness
• Positioning development
• Campaign look and feel

SOLUTION

• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

• Acquired 25+ companies in the last 5 years, causing brand confusion. 
• Rebranded Drillinginfo to Enverus in August of 2019 (right before the pandemic). 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

BACKGROUND

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

• Evolve the CFCU brand
• Manage the CFCU media strategy
• Bring awareness to the CFCU brand

SOLUTION

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit

• Brand competitive positioning, messaging, tone of voice 
• Brand assets 
• visual identity, logo, color pallet, typography, illustrations 
• Big Idea -
• concept development 

• UX audit 
• User personas 
• Wireframes 
• Content strategy 
• Copywriting 
• Web Design 

• 2023 media strategy 
• Launch campaign media plan / budget 
• Reporting

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

• Deliverables completed on time including new visual identity and branding campaign 

• Website delivered on time and launched to rave reviews internally and externally. Traffic up 10% Media 
• Initial branding campaign underway with positive results including an optimized CPM.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior manager of customer marketing and engagement at a software company. We have a range of products to accommodate a growing an established business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BayCreative?

We grew tremendously over the last two years and needed a partner to help with marketing to our expanded audience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BayCreative conducts extensive interviews and creates stories for our internal teams. The sales team uses their stories as prospect references which impacts our annual contract values ( ACV). The marketing team uses them as a rolodex to promote internally when they are looking to highlight a customer in a campaign.

The process of working with BayCreative is getting in touch with whoever will be conducting the interview and the conversation with the customer. We have an internal conversation to kick things off. We’ll give them an understanding of the product and what kinds of questions we should be asking to understand the success that that customer is seeing by leveraging one of our products. They meet with our product team, our customer marketers, and our marketing team to understand the scope of what this interview should look and feel like and what type of questions they should be asking to extract the right information. BayCreative then conducts the interview with the customer.

After the interview, they transcribe the conversation and put together a story in a range of different formats. We have a format that we leverage internally and externally. They can convert that translation, that transcription into a range of different story formats. If we have a need for a website story or a blog, it can be leveraged in any of those formats from BayCreative, which is extremely helpful. They take that transcription and put it into a story. They’ll understand if there are any gaps in the story and make sure that we’re aware of it so we can capture those from the customer.

Once they share the format of the story with us, they’ll also work with the customer on approvals, where they take the edits, feedback, and apply them to the story until there’s a finished product. Then they hand it back over to our team where we can then publish it internally. They’ve helped partner with us on over seven different product lines over the last one and a half years, which is pretty tremendous.

With our big tech user conference coming up, we produce thousands of stories in a variety of different ways. The need for this story creation will increase over the next couple of months and that’s where we’re going to be pulling in BayCreative to help us with that.

What is the team composition?

I talk with Scott (Owner, BayCreative) and connect him with the writers from my team. On an average story, we’ll work with two or three BayCreative contacts. There’s one person overseeing the project and a writer interviewing the customer and writing the story.

How did you come to work with BayCreative?

I came across them through a colleague who had worked with them on a different project and highly recommended them.

I met Scott at our tech conference and he’s an awesome guy. He shared some of the other projects that they had worked on previously in other departments at our company. I was in a bind because someone on my team had left for medical leave and I didn’t have the bandwidth to write the stories myself. I got in touch with BayCreative and it was the easiest, most seamless process.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $50,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2017 and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I love partnering with them. They do a fabulous job. They covered 15 stories in one quarter. To give a reference, my team does two stories a month. BayCreative tripled the outcome of the story creation. Granted, the only thing they were focusing on were those stories, but it’s still an astronomical number to get from a single writer, which is pretty amazing. From then on, I’ve been referring them to everyone internally when someone needs a story or a website story. I’ve referred them to over six different departments.

How did BayCreative perform from a project management standpoint?

Once I make the introduction to someone on my team and the writer and project manager kick things off, I’ve never been needed throughout the process. The communication lines with them are always open, which makes it easy for us to understand how we’re going to be promoting the story after it’s created and approved. They’re pretty amazing and articulate. They’re way more detailed oriented than my team is. The project management and the quality of writing is a 10 out of 10.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They try to understand the product and the story. I worked with another vendor at my previous company and I felt they were using a lot of templated approaches to the interviews or the approval processes. One of the things that I really appreciated with BayCreative is the level of detail that they want to get to know the products, questions, and stories that we’re trying to convey across the board. Every product is so unique and different. They don’t go in with a templated approach at all. They work and establish the discovery from their end without us asking which is a huge testament to the quality in stories that they are producing for us, which is why we’ve used them as a vendor for so long.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve worked on a couple of bigger projects where I’ve said I need 10 stories for this one product line over the course of several months. It would be nice to get a recap of what that project scope looked like.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The more you invest in the upfront discovery with the writers and the project managers, the higher quality stories you’re going to get from them. They invest a lot of time understanding the scope of the story they’re trying to convey and tell. If you give them that time and those resources upfront, the stories are going to be very high caliber.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CMO of Big Switch Networks. We’re a growth-stage B2B infrastructure company that offers cloud-first networking software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BayCreative?

We originally hired BayCreative for staff and capabilities augmentation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

As our creative partner, BayCreative has provided rebranding services for our graphics, trade shows, and events. They’ve updated our website as well as the collateral layout for documentation and white papers. We also engage the team for frontend design, specifically optimization of our flow, iconography, and color palette.

What is the team composition?

We work with a four-person team including a project manager.

How did you come to work with BayCreative?

We researched boutique agencies and I had known one of BayCreative’s principals from when we worked at the same company. During the selection process, the team’s creative output compelled us to hire them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $300,000 in total currently pay $15,000 monthly.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2017 and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

BayCreative’s redesigns and optimizations helped reduce our bounce rate from over 60% to just below 50%. The site has received positive feedback for its clear information layout and compelling design.

How did BayCreative perform from a project management standpoint?

BayCreative can handle dozens of projects simultaneously. We provide input on prioritization and they consistently deliver on time. Their ability to accommodate our last-minute requests within set timelines exceeds our expectations. We have weekly reviews with the project manager.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team’s customer service and attention to detail stand out. With our retainer agreement, the partnership feels like a more genuine relationship. We view them as an extension of our team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we have a fruitful partnership. The team provides options for collateral, which help us determine the direction to take.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We wholeheartedly recommend working with BayCreative. Prospective customers should include BayCreative in their RFP. Consider the team’s customer service, especially their attentiveness when answering questions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of a startup. We create IoT products with a focus on mobility management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BayCreative?

We engaged BayCreative to revamp one of our product’s website and build marketing collateral, especially our focused messaging. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first part of our project involved marketing materials. BayCreative helped define our user personas, craft our messaging, and create a basic design style to unify our marketing collateral.  They made videos and visuals that effectively communicate our company’s mission and services to potential clients.

For the second part of the project, BayCreative designed and developed our website. We provided an outline of our envisioned site; it included example websites where we identified elements that we wanted to mimic or avoid. Using that, BayCreative created a dynamic and appealing web design. However, when they built the site in PHP and HTML, it came across as a static design, lacking the sharp aesthetics and interactive elements that we expected. 

What is the team composition?

We work with 7-8 people. We used to have a project manager, but BayCreative moved her around, so our project fell back to the co-founder.

How did you come to work with BayCreative?

We considered several companies on the market. We conducted interviews and looked at reviews on Clutch, where BayCreative had excellent ratings. Their portfolio showed high-quality content—we were especially impressed with their videos. They also were willing to accommodate the changes a startup goes through from the get-go. These factors led us to choose BayCreative for this project. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000.    

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2018, and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ultimately, the website’s design turned out the way we wanted it and has seen a positive response from our users. The messaging, however, fell flat. As a result, a simple aspect of the project has become a pain point for the whole collaboration. Otherwise, BayCreative has delivered on all our requirements so far. We particularly appreciate their willingness to take scope changes in stride.

How did BayCreative perform from a project management standpoint?

It started very well. We worked with an excellent project manager who kept the team and timeline on track. However, partway through the project, BayCreative readjusted their resources and reassigned her role. I now have to manage their work to make sure the team meets our deadlines and standards of quality.

What did you find most impressive about them?

BayCreative demonstrates excellent listening, flexibility, a clear sense of design, and a knack for creative problem-solving. The team works closely with us to accommodate changes to the statement of work and never turns down a request.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The team did not take the time to identify our core customer base and their needs. Interviewing our end users, shadowing customers, and thinking in their shoes would have improved the messaging they delivered. BayCreative also ran into issues in translating their web design into a developed site, as I mentioned earlier. I’d recommend that they find a partner to shore up that skill set and elevate their portfolio going forward.

Any advice for potential customers?

If you’re a startup looking for a boutique firm to support you at every step, BayCreative is a great choice. The team is personable to work with and highly attentive to our needs. While we ran into moments where the quality wasn’t quite there, we’re happy to continue working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a professional service provider that supplies life insurance companies, pension funds, and government organizations with data on deceased members within population groups. When an individual dies, we notify official parties to facilitate mandated pension funds/payments. We also offer location services to find beneficiaries when necessary.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BayCreative?

Because we’re a relatively small company without a dedicated marketing department, we reached out to BayCreative to execute our marketing needs. This included web design services and some collateral pieces.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BayCreative worked on two major projects: the first was a mock-up for a redesign of our site’s home page, which we plan to implement within the next two months, and the second involved creating collateral pieces for our various products and services. We send the collateral as PDFs in emails and distribute hard copies at trade shows. We’ve also incorporated some of the creative elements into our site.

What is the team composition?

In total, we engaged with three people. Scott (President, BayCreative) initially pitched their business to us, and Arne (Principal, BayCreative) was the main point of contact for the project execution. There was also another resource supporting us.

How did you come to work with BayCreative?

I found BayCreative on Google while searching for local marketing firms in San Francisco. I was particularly attracted to their positioning statement, “Your marketing team in a box” because it implied they had a fairly broad range of services and knowledge that I could leverage. After considering their reviews and points of expertise, I moved forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work lasted from August 2018–January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their collateral pieces have aligned with our expectations and are good supporting elements to our marketing efforts. However, I would have appreciated if the creative had more of a wow factor.

How did BayCreative perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated over Skype while setting up our marketing strategy and walking through our creative briefs. This made the interactions more personal because we could see them, and they could see us. I also liked that they actively listened and asked a lot of questions to make sure that their work complied with our expectations.

In terms of timing, there wasn’t always a clear timeline for each task. They were always on time when we scheduled meetings or deadlines, but I would have liked to have a more definite idea of when things would be done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Unlike other marketing firms dedicated to specific offerings (e.g., ad work, creative, web design), BayCreative positions themselves as an outsourced marketing team. As such, they were experienced in a wide range of elements.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When working with an external marketing resource, we often look for agencies that excite us and challenge our expectations. We wanted someone that could make us think outside of the box. BayCreative delivered quality work that aligned with our requirements, but the collateral lacked a certain wow factor that we would’ve liked. This might be because our products are straightforward and can be difficult to explain.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking for a marketing company that can help you across several different elements, BayCreative is a good choice to evaluate. But if you need an agency that can do a deep dive into a specific element, they might not be the best option.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a software company that does intelligent appointment scheduling. We work with B2B and B2C businesses to help their employees engage with our customers through live conversations. As the CMO, I oversee all demand generation, pipeline generation, branding positioning, and product marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BayCreative?

Because we only have a small in-house product marketing team, we partnered with BayCreative to help develop product marketing materials, including web content, a data sheet, and accompanying graphics.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BayCreative develops a range of product marketing materials for our website, looking at how we talk about our product line and exploring ways to better tell our story. It’s a collaborative effort; generally, we discuss our specifics, and they provide inputs on how to execute our ideas. Once they create the content, our web team implements it into our CMS. For one of their key deliverables, BayCreative put together a data sheet and graphics.

What is the team composition?

We mostly work with three people, including Arne (Principal, BayCreative) who acts as our primary contact, but there are other team members working behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with BayCreative?

They reached out to us at Dreamforce 2018, and I happened to notice that they were our customers and used our products. After scheduling a meeting, they showed us their portfolio and highlighted past clients with similar brand profiles, so it seemed like we were a good match.

How much have you invested with them?

In total, we’ve spent around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work kicked off in November 2018 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve done a good job so far. Their content effectively communicates the key points that we’re trying to push, and they follow our guidelines for word count and SEO.

How did BayCreative perform from a project management standpoint?

We coordinate the projects using Google Docs and email. While the team is responsive to our needs and generally produces quick turnarounds, their overall project management could improve.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness has been great, and we’re happy with the quality of their writing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As I’ve mentioned, their project management has room to grow. We would’ve appreciated set project plans with different milestones to help us see each project through to the end.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Unlike many agencies that focus solely on creative or content, BayCreative does both. If you’re looking for a partner that can help tell a complete story, they might be a good fit.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the communications manager for a technology company. I create presentations and communications materials for the executives at the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BayCreative, Inc.?

We needed help creating presentations for executives that discussed our company strategy and products under tight deadlines.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BayCreative develops PowerPoint presentations that express the company's strategy and product benefits, using our strict corporate branding as a guideline while incorporating their own creativity appropriately. We provide the messaging and they create visuals and lay out the presentations, using our template. 

What is the team composition?

I interact mainly with Scott (President, BayCreative, Inc.) and Arne (Founder and Co-owner, BayCreative, Inc.).

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested between $50,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since the summer of 2018 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've received a lot of positive feedback both internally and externally on the presentations they've created. More importantly, BayCreative has been great about turning around quality work at a rapid pace. They're able to jump in and go to work when we need them to.

How did BayCreative, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They've been fairly good at communicating with us and been very responsive. We usually communicate through an online chat system.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their willingness to jump in and move things along quickly when necessary sets them apart, even if that means working outside of business hours. They go above and beyond for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There have been a few occasions where they weren't on track to meet a deadline and they could've more proactively communicated that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

No really. They're a very willing partner and will do whatever it takes to get the work done as quickly as possible for their clients.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director for Olander, Inc. We sell and distribute fasteners around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BayCreative?

Olander lacked a marketing department before I joined the company. I was put in charge of updating the website, building the brand, and developing a digital strategy. We engaged BayCreative to help us with these projects among other smaller marketing-related tasks.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BayCreative developed buyer personas for our marketing research. The team also worked with us on our brand book and messaging. They helped us conceptualize a new logo after creating multiple iterations. They also developed our positioning statement, messaging, core competency, elevator pitch, and use and abuse rules for our logo.

We’re also rebuilding the website from scratch. BayCreative is designing the new site pages, navigation, and user experience. They’re writing romance copy and choosing the color palette as well.

What is the team composition?

We work with 4–6 team members depending on our needs. We pull in additional people for small projects like marketing research and Google Analytics. Our project manager serves as our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with BayCreative?

I was looking for local B2B agencies that could meet with us in person and fit our needs and project requirements. I began the search using Google. I also reached out to my LinkedIn network and read reviews on sites such as Clutch. After narrowing the search down to BayCreative and three other agencies, I ultimately chose BayCreative.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2018, and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

BayCreative worked closely with us on a growth campaign for our Washington branch. We saw a clear return on our investment in the customers, revenue, and pipeline volume that the campaign generated. The website has yet to launch, and the brand book is not quite finished, but we’re highly satisfied with their progress. BayCreative is a highly communicative and proactive agency that shares our priorities and suggests ways to improve on our ideas. They’ve done an outstanding job for us so far.

How did BayCreative perform from a project management standpoint?

The team captures the scope of work and breadth well. They are upfront about budgeting and costs to prevent any surprises, and they meet most timelines and deadlines. As with any agency, I sometimes have to manage them to match up our priorities and schedule tasks for the next one or two weeks. We have weekly meetings to provide progress updates and discuss any issues.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with several large companies with big agencies to support them. What makes BayCreative unique is the personal touch they bring to each project as a family-owned business. We find it refreshing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

BayCreative missed one mission-critical deadline and only by a few hours. However, they’ve met nearly every timeline, and I’ve otherwise been very happy with our engagement.

Any advice for potential customers?

The clearer I made my briefs, visions, and goals, the better BayCreative’s output. Their team is also highly receptive to feedback when we’re not getting the results we want. They listen to us, make adjustments, and ensure that they’re delivering what we ask for.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Stanford University's Asian Liver Center is a nonprofit research organization that aims to reduce the burdens of liver cancer. I support the global health and community outreach teams. We develop community training and intervention programs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BayCreative?

We needed development support for our healthcare e-training program. Our organization hired BayCreative to manage, create, and upload content to our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their first task was creating PowerPoint decks based on the text we provided. The graphic design involved creating images and videos and enhancing each of our illustrations. BayCreative recorded voiceovers in several languages and converted them into a video format. They imported those materials into a Moodle platform that contains our customizable training content for student use.

Their services have changed only slightly throughout the course of our partnership. More recently, they've focused on the platform's operation and functionality. The team troubleshoots based on participants’ feedback and queries. They're currently working on adapting our course to Mongolian. That version is nearly complete. We just need to run beta testing and fine-tune it before we launch.

What is the team composition?

Four resources from BayCreative worked on our project.

How did you come to work with BayCreative?

I don't know how we originally found them. They’ve been supporting us for the last seven years since the very first model of our platform.

How much have you invested with them?

On average, we spend $39,000 annually. We’ve invested about $150,000 total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first started working together in 2011 and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything is going smoothly on our platform. About 5,000 users are currently enrolled in the fourth course we launched, which is in Chinese. Our participants have indicated very positive results on our evaluation survey. We're very happy with their products from a graphic design perspective. Our platform looks clean and professional. BayCreative’s resources have strong copywriting skills and found nice photos to include. They provide excellent maintenance and troubleshooting.

How did BayCreative perform from a project management standpoint?

It's been a very collaborative experience. The team promptly responds to all our requests. BayCreative schedules our meetings efficiently and provides thorough follow-up. At the end of each meeting, they sum up important highlights. They're quick to update us on their progress and keep everyone in the loop. If they ever can't meet a deadline, they notify us that it will be done within the next few days. They're always willing to accommodate our requests for modifications and adjustments. It’s easy to communicate our thoughts and feedback.

What did you find most impressive about them?

BayCreative can mobilize any kind of support we need to accommodate the changing scope of our project. In the beginning, their service exclusively focused on training videos and graphic design. We used to work with a different development provider. I appreciated the seamless process of shifting that responsibility to their team. They offer excellent technical expertise and attentive service.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re happy with what they’ve created so far. Everything is looking good.