Bilberrry

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the internal marketing specialist for the Washington Apple Commission, a promotional organization responsible for marketing Washington apples in our export markets. I work in our marketing department to help execute the different marketing programs that we have around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bilberrry?

The previous version of our website was released in 2015, so it had become a bit outdated. Considering the changes in our industry and the different aspects that we wanted to highlight on our website, we decided to completely redo our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Although we migrated a lot of the content from our former website, Bilberrry helped us create a new WordPress website, which included a new look, layout, and design.

They also implemented GTranslate, a translator plug-in. Instead of having to create our site in English and seven other languages, as we did with our former site, this translator plug-in helps us translate our page automatically. We’re still working through some edits because the translation is very literal, and some of the text is odd.

In addition to that, Bilberrry created new brand guidelines that we shared with our representatives around the world. Now, those representatives will start to integrate those guidelines into their marketing campaigns, marketing materials, social media posts, and all of their digital communications.

What is the team composition?

We’ve had three main people from Bilberrry involved in our Zoom meetings. Their team includes Arthur (Product & Digital Strategy), Emma (Content), and Adam (Co-Founder & CEO).

How did you come to work with Bilberrry?

As we’re a state agency, we have to bid out these kinds of big projects, so we put an RFP on a Washington state website, and we had about 70–80 proposals. We went through all of these proposals and whittled them down until we reach a handful of contenders. Then, we went through those companies in more detail and decided to go with Bilberrry because they presented the best proposal.

How much have you invested with them?

Our contract was for around $90,000, but we will spend a bit less than that amount.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working in February 2021, and our engagement is ongoing. However, we’re now wrapping the project up, and we estimate that we will finish in the next couple of weeks, around the end of October 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As we had our former website manually translated to various languages, making updates was a lot more labor-intensive. Since using the translator plug-in that Bilberrry suggested, any updates are automatically translated for all of our audiences. This will make it easier for us to add content to the site since every representative of each language that we use will only make small edits to the texts when needed.

Everyone in our office loves the work that Bilberrry has done. However, as the site hasn’t gone live yet, we don’t have any statistics to share.

How did Bilberrry perform from a project management standpoint?

Bilberrry’s project management is excellent; they’ve been wonderful to work with. They’ve answered various questions for me, and they’ve been very patient. I can’t imagine working with a better web design team.

We’ve communicated a lot via email, and we’ve shared files through Google Drive and Dropbox.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our goal for this website was to create a dynamic and very authentic website for our consumers to get a glimpse into the Washington apple industry. Bilberrry has done an impressive job at bringing their creativity into the project to help create an awesome-looking website that people want to keep discovering.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any constructive criticism; Bilberrry has been great throughout the project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The Zoom calls have been very helpful for us. They’re a great way to talk through the project, and they’re a useful tool for them to show what they’re working on and give feedback in real-time. Thus, I suggest you leverage those calls.