BRAINTRUST

Please describe your organization.

We are a government office of a town in Nevada.

What is your position?

I am the director of tourism.

What business challenge were you trying to address with BRAINTRUST?

We had a newly-developed tourism department. We were in the dark ages in that respect, having neither a website, a marketing campaign nor a tourism department. We decided to create them.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We've tasked BRAINTRUST with our social media, our creative efforts, public relations and promotions, and, to some extent, our strategic planning. They've also developed our website and currently work on its analytics.

How did you come to work with BRAINTRUST?

We started working with the state of Nevada. They recommended a PR firm in northern Nevada, and we accepted that recommendation. After a year, we realized that we were growing and needed to move to a firm with extended capabilities. We put out a request for quotation. We received ten proposals which we then narrowed down to three, and individually interviewed those firms. BRAINTRUST was selected as a result.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The annual cost for all their services is $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together since April 2014. It's an ongoing relationship.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

They initially took over the Facebook page for the town. It had 400 likes, which have now increased to 10,000. This has happened within an 18 month period. I know that anyone can get likes, and it's not an illustrative measurement in itself, but they achieved this result with minimal investment in advertising.

We're a small, rural community, and they've been very sensitive to our budget, never once exceeding the cost on our marketing projects. They're very fiscally-responsible.

In terms of public relations, in October 2015 we had an earned media PR value of $180,000. Our actual expenditure though, for paid media, was $13,000. They earned the difference for us.

This continues month after month. Our budget for November was $10,000, and BRAINTRUST earned us $132,000. The budget for December was $19,000 and they earned us $298,000 in media coverage, keeping in mind that December is a slow month for tourism.

If I could say every lovely word available about this company, I would. I have never been so impressed with a PR firm in my 20+ year tourism career.

How did BRAINTRUST perform from a project management standpoint?

You won't find a better company in this respect. I get same-day replies to my emails. Our account representative actually replies within ten minutes.

They go above and beyond when taking on a project. We put a booking engine within our website. It wasn't necessarily their responsibility, but they simply took it on, brought me the information, researched it, and showed me how it would work.

What distinguishes BRAINTRUST from other providers?

Their response time is incredible; they have a whole team that responds to inquiries. They have an incredible creative brainstorming process. They stay ahead of you, as their client, so it's not necessary to approach them with ideas for new directions. BRAINTRUST are the ones who enhance ideas.

Is there anything BRAINTRUST could have improved or done differently?

I can't think of any area where they haven't come through. I am thoroughly impressed with them.

Please describe your organization.

We are non-profit organization located in Nevada.

What is your position?

I am the director of marketing. I’m in charge of on-site sales and public relations. I work with several different external agencies.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Braintrust?

We are coming up on our four year anniversary in February. Our initial website had run its course and served its purpose. We were looking for a new web development team.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They developed the site for us using Wordpress. It's a small scale site, and we're capable of making the majority of changes ourselves, but Braintrust worked on a few backend tasks for us.

How did you come to work with Braintrust?

We initially hired someone who was working with Braintrust at that time. He no longer works for Braintrust.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

This is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We completed the project in June 2015. It took eight months to finalize. We currently use them on a freelance basis for maintenance work on the site. 

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We have won several awards for the website from a marketing association for best video and best gaming experience. Our website traffic has increased by 30% since the launch. We're happy with the new site and our experience with Braintrust.

How did Braintrust perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management and keeping up with deadlines were handled fine.

There are certain difficulties that arise when working with an external team in a project of this magnitude. This was one of the biggest projects that Braintrust had ever done web development wise. There was also a bit of turnover on their team when we were working together.

What distinguishes Braintrust from other providers?

They're incredibly intelligent. The senior developer assigned to us did a fantastic job working internally with our team.

Is there anything Braintrust could have improved or done differently?

After our contract was over, someone made a change in the backend that crashed the entire site. That happened on a Friday evening, and they were not very prompt in helping us get the matter resolved. I had to address it with the management. They did get it back on track though.

Aside from this, there isn't anything. They're on top of their game.

Please describe your organization.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts is the largest hotel management company in the world.

What is your position?

I am the senior vice president of sales and marketing within the company.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Braintrust?

The challenge was communication into the marketplace. In other words, being able to achieve greater exposure than what we currently had.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They offer everything in their field, from public relations [PR] to marketing, advertising, e-commerce, social media, and so on. They offer both digital and traditional services. They are our full-service creative agency and have also provided website development.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

On an annual basis, the cost is $50,000-100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together for ten years, and it's ongoing.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

From a digital perspective, we gauge success through growth in social media, click-throughs to our booking systems and website statistics. All these things are used as reference points for progress. The feedback from the hotel teams that we contract with has all been positive.

How did Braintrust perform from a project management standpoint?

They're exceptional in this area. We’ve never had a communication or deadline issue.

What distinguishes Braintrust from other providers?

They're very good at building relationships and making a more personalized effort, versus a business or robotic effort. They do a very good job of staying on top of their customers and making sure that they have what they need. This includes things like routine check-ins, either in person or over the phone. They've done a very good job.

They've developed themselves into a much bigger player in the PR and marketing arena over the last ten years, diversifying themselves into all aspects of this, implementing social media and e-commerce, rather than just being a traditional PR firm. They've become more of a one-stop, all-encompassing marketing effort, which has been a very good opportunity for all of us.

Is there anything Braintrust could have improved or done differently?

There isn't anything.

Please describe your organization.

We own and operate experiential products throughout the US, including customized driving experiences with American muscle cars, indie racing and desert adventures.

What is your position?

I'm the director of marketing of the company.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Braintrust?

Our challenge is turning our iconic brand from being nostalgia-based into a more Vegas-centric brand. We have little penetration in today's age-25 market. 

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They're our go-to agency for anything creative. They work on print collateral, either magazine ads or point-of-sales displays for our merchandise. Aside from this, probably 85% of our marketing budget is spent on digital ads, which they design.

Our campaigns include three to four holiday gift-giving periods throughout the year. They designed those campaigns for look and feel.

As I referenced earlier, they are working on a more contemporary brand for the Las Vegas market. We've worked on developing it, from the look-and-feel to the website. It provides us an efficient vehicle for marketing to the Las Vegas traveler, and giving them an image of all four of our products under one umbrella.

How did you come to work with Braintrust?

Braintrust was an established partner when I came onboard. We've carried on that relationship and are very pleased with them.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I cannot divulge that.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together for about two years, and the relationship is ongoing.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

One year after the launch of our new brand, we've seen overall sales increase by about 4%.

How did Braintrust perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a great project manager. I like the workflow process, and have had no issues with deadlines.

What distinguishes Braintrust from other providers?

They know the Las Vegas market, which is critical for us, and we have a great working relationship. We can be casual, which is different from other agencies that have rigorous forms, and make you spend a lot of time writing creative briefs. They're flexible, they understand deadlines, and have taken the time to experience and understand our product. With that knowledge, I can ask anything of them.

Is there anything Braintrust could have improved or done differently?

Nothing. They’ve been great.

Please describe your organization.

We are the Luxe City Center Hotel.

What is your position?

I am the general manager of the hotel.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Braintrust?

We wanted a more creative image, edgier but without being over the edge. In other words, something tasteful that would also stand out.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They're handling our public relations, they're our ad agency, and they also manage our social media, brand strategy, creative design and vanity website development. They are our full-service agency of record.

How did you come to work with Braintrust?

I had worked with them while being the general manager at a different hotel. We looked at a number of different firms as well.

We were primarily looking to launch a new marketing campaign for our restaurant. In a very short time, they were able to produce two different versions of it. They were selected based on this.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

On a monthly basis, we spend between $7,000 and $10,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started a project in December 2014, and we're still working with them.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

One of the reasons we wanted to work with Braintrust was our desire to increase our engagement through social media, to have more likes on Facebook, etc. This way, we could attract, on a regular basis, more people that travel to the area, and not limit ourselves to local exposure. Since they started, this has tripled. Exposure in general has gotten much higher also, through their PR connections and the running ads. We're still working on the imaging for the ad campaign, but overall there's been significant growth.

How did Braintrust perform from a project management standpoint?

They're 85-90% on time. This is not always their issue. Sometimes, there are things we don't deliver to them quickly enough. Even then, they still deliver quite well.

What distinguishes Braintrust from other providers?

The principals stay involved. When I first worked with them, they were a smaller firm, and have expanded since. This speaks to their quality. They're creative, and also flexible and open to input from us. They don't impose anything and there's a lot of dialogue between us.

Is there anything Braintrust could have improved or done differently?

The website design is coming along, but it could be improved. Some of the social media work could also be better. They are working on it, though.