BrandTuitive

What was the scope of their involvement?

For BrandTuitive, the goal was to “reveal” not build a new brand identity. They conducted an extensive review of all of our assets and resources. They set up individual interviews and group conversations with staff, supporters and other stakeholders. It was crucial for us to think broadly about who we are as an organization, our long-term goals, and how to make our mission and values clear and meaningful to our audiences.

Their team was responsible for creating new primary and secondary messaging in addition to developing a strategy for how to position ourselves externally. After some consideration, we moved away from a tweaking or modernizing of our visual identity and decided to engage in a full logo redesign.

During the pre-launch phase, BrandTuitive was responsible for collaborating with staff and consultants to refresh our website and help develop new promotional collateral. The team also offered guidance and direction to other consultants while they gained familiarity with the new visuals and messaging.

We continue to work with them on finalizing a few related projects.

What is the team composition?

We worked with several members of the BrandTuitive team, but my primary contact was Todd Brenard (Chief Strategy Officer). I also worked closely with the president and the associate director.

How did you come to work with BrandTuitive?

I researched the top branding firms in the New York Metropolitan area on Clutch’s website and the sites of other rating agencies. BrandTuitive was listed as one of the leading firms. Additionally, I received referrals from other colleagues as well.

We managed a closed RFP process. We identified agencies to submit proposals and interviewed them. In the end, our team selected BrandTuitive because they had a unique approach and strategy. We were intrigued by their overall approach and the specific focus on engaging audiences at an emotional level. Additionally, there was a great deal of alignment and synergy between our institutions.

What is the status of this engagement?

In April 2017, we started working with BrandTuitive. Our public launch happened in early September 2018.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They did brand positioning, customer reaction, and messaging for us. They also have recently helped us redo our bio and “about us” copy on our website, as well as in our look-book. Most recently, they've helped us work on our elevator pitch, an even briefer way for us to communicate our brand.

While their work has been great for our marketing efforts, it’s also been tremendously useful for our internal team, and how we view the company.

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

It was in the $10,000 to $50,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with BrandTuitive for over a year. Most of the work happens on an as needed basis.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

First, they helped us come up with a tagline based on what the brand is. What I like about their approach to any branding problem is, they actually talk to customers – a lot of customers. They have a very neat method where they ask customers a range of different questions, and they look into the words that the customers use to decide what our problem was solving for them. They listen for similar words and similar ways that people are talking about it because branding is all about what other people think when they hear your business. It's a really great method because they end up with a really get a good picture of what the business is about, instead of just coming up with a plan based off what I told them I want to be.

I think brand strategy is they're best at, but they're also really strong in design. They did the logos for my new company, Simply Wine and have done some advertising work for me. They do have digital capabilities, but I don't think that's their focus as much.

How did you come to work with BrandTuitive?

I found them through some basic Internet searches. What I really liked about BrandTuitive was that they understood classic branding and classic psychology around branding. They were the only people I talked to who had read the book "Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind." They knew the book, and they lived it. That stuff hasn't changed. It seems old fashioned to most firms, but it's the core of branding strategy and they got that. What pushed me over the edge was their size and the fact that I knew they would give me the time and attention I wanted.

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

For Simply Wine, I've spent more than $100,000 so far. ShopKeep's work was probably more than that.

What is the status of this engagement?

For ShopKeep, they worked with us for two or three years. Eventually, I had a marketing team in-house who took over all of it. At Simply Wine, they've been working for me for slightly less than a year, and we're about to start ramping up even more work with them.