Brand Active

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the content marketing manager for a prominent global crop protection and agriculture company. I’m responsible for our digital marketing efforts in Poland, and I oversee how we operate and what content we produce. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Brand Active?

We didn’t have any online business before. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted to give farmers a chance to buy our products online instead of from retailers and distributors. We decided to start with an e-commerce website. We didn’t have any experience in terms of online shops, so we needed Brand Active to help us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Brand Active created a Shopify website from scratch. They worked on its layout and graphics. They worked on SEO analytics and consulted me for the site’s overall concept, how it should look, and everything else. The team also connected the site with a payment platform and worked on cookies and meta fields. On top of that, they did some English-to-Polish translations. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with 4–5 people, including a sales manager and an e-commerce manager.

How did you come to work with Brand Active?

We searched on Google for someone in Poland who could build an online store for us. My colleagues suggested Shopify as an ideal e-commerce platform, so I started talking to Shopify agencies. That was how we started working with Brand Active. We hired them because they mostly focused on the Shopify sites, and I felt they were professional.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $12,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from October 2020–January 2021.

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

We focused the online shop on small farms, which didn’t usually have internet, so it was a little difficult to start the launch. However, we started with only one product, and we’ve sold about 70% of our plants. Overall, we were quite happy with this result.

How did Brand Active perform from a project management standpoint?

We made phone calls, but we mostly used Zoom for teleconferences. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Brand Active really knew how e-commerce development worked, and they guided us in this environment. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there weren’t any. Brand Active was quite good, and they even took part in our global teleconferences about the e-commerce project. They could also speak English, so everything was perfect.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Plan with Brand Active and stay on schedule until you get results.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Rafał Bober, Co-owner, Ibra/Innsi/Aruba. We are a manufacturer of Ibra Makeup cosmetics, a distributor of other brands. We offer B2B and B2C on the Internet.

For what projects/services did your company hire Brand Active, and what were your goals?

We have been cooperating with Brand Active for over 2 years. It is a complex cooperation around e-commerce. In the past, guys from Brand Active have done an audit and strategies for us, and now we are successively implementing it. We have support from them in marketing, increasing sales, as well as technological and graphic support.

How did you select Brand Active and what were the deciding factors?

At a business meeting, I met Marcin Rudzik, the head of the company. This is how it started.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Services that Brand Active provides/provided for us: e-commerce audit, service automation, training, two new online stores (Shopify and Shoper), PIM (Akeneo) implementation, marketing services (Google, SEO).

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

About 10 people worked together on our projects. We are glad that they have so many specialists. They are coordinators, marketing specialists, developers .etc.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We appeared in the online channel (we are getting stronger). We have more orders. We have processes organized.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

The way of working with the agency is ok for us. It's effective (scrum, meetings, calls etc.)

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their advantage is that we have everything in one place. They still want to develop.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The quality of the graphics could be better.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Drillo is a brand of Lamza Sp. z o.o. (subsidiary capital of Texpol Dystrybucja Sp. z o.o. Sp. K.) which sells electrical tools, home and garden accessories, and occupational health and safety. Its offer includes tens of thousands of products.

So far, sales have been conducted in the traditional channel, but together with Brand Active we have made a digital transformation.

For what projects/services did your company hire Brand Active, and what were your goals?

We were looking for a company that would comprehensively guide us through the transformation process from A to Z.

The tasks we commissioned Brand Active include supervision over the entire implementation and other companies, strategy e-commerce, UX design and then UI design, PIM implementation, store implementation and integration with the ERP system.

The implementation project has been positively completed, but we still cooperate in marketing: PPC, SEO, E-mail Marketing. The main goal was to implement a store that would be as automated as possible and consistent with our systems.

The natural goal was to increase sales to our company by launching a new sales channel.

How did you select Brand Active and what were the deciding factors?

In the selection process, we were first guided by the location, we required close permanent cooperation. The next criterion was recommendations.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

It started with meetings and analyzes. Brand Active really wanted to get to know us and our industry. I believe that was crucial to this success. A dedicated team and the E-commerce Manager worked with us on one board.

Strategy, design, implementation and marketing. It all took place in sprints with detailed reporting.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

The team from Brand Active is: E-commerce Manager, who also supervised the work on our side. UX / UI designer, 4 developers, tester, an SEO specialist during the implementation (that's their advantage) and several marketing specialists.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We launched an automated new sales online channel which, at the minimum of new costs, started to generate new revenues for us.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

The project was managed in the Agile philosophy. For the complexity of the project, the SCRUM and Kanban methodologies were taken. Frequent feedback and transparency (shared management system) were key to success.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

E-commerce knowledge because it felt that they were doing similar projects. They treated this project as theirs.

Are there any areas for improvement?

If they maintain this level of cooperation, everything will be fine.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a medical store that also offers health and beauty categories. Our clients are mainly doctors and health units. We sell difficult products that require appropriate certificates.

For what projects/services did your company hire Brand Active, and what were your goals?

The most important task of Brand Active was: design migrations and the entire ecosystem, new UI, implement a new store + migration. The cooperation was very good, so we commissioned PPC and SEO to their second department.

How did you select Brand Active and what were the deciding factors?

Recommendations. We were looking for a partner and Brand Active was recommended to us.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The project was divided into few stages:

1. Migration design and what the ecosystem should look like
2. UI design
3. Creation of a new store
4. Migration
5. Support

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Project manager, graphic designer, programmers, marketing.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The project was completed not long ago, so the effects of higher sales are still not there, but we are positive. The goals have been done.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We worked in sprints, they made the progress of tasks available to us (jira).

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

People. They focus only on e-commerce, they are full of passion.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There could have been some more meetings with us.