Citizen Group

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at a research network that focuses on fighting lymphatic diseases through education, research, and advocacy — we primarily focus on lymphedema. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Citizen Group?

When I came on board in my current position, our organization was bankrupt and on the precipice of going out of business. I quickly discovered that our organization had a huge marketing issue: our acronym was very close to other, more recognizable organizations. 

We needed a huge rebranding effort that focused on capturing the patient population through advocacy and education. By promoting advocacy issues, we would be able to improve our grant and federal funding opportunities and other income streams. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, Citizen Group worked alongside me to completely rebrand the organization. They were able to work with our board and convince them to prioritize the next stage of our organization — pushing past our research origins and bringing us more into disease awareness and education to help procure funding. 

Citizen Group was responsible for revising the mission statement, rebranding the organization to be an advocacy network, and modernizing our look. They also created an inclusive and expansive title for our organization. Their team added “education” to our name, created the acronym LEARN, and implemented an ampersand in the logo to add uniqueness to our branding. 

They also completely redesigned our website, including wireframing and design. When they came in, we were a not-for-profit and a volunteer-run the website. Citizen Group turned it from a four-inch wide, stagnant website into a dynamic expression engine-based website for us. They also assisted with rebranding on social media, including Facebook and Twitter. 

Citizen Group provided us with a dynamic set of rebranding tools that fully encompass every aspect of our organization so we can keep a consistent brand going forward. We also have a design director to assist on that front. 

Now, they’re helping us on a three-year project with $30,000–$40,000 in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A vast majority of that funding is going to Citizen Group to complete a national advertising awareness campaign that will feature our spokesperson, Kathy Bates, and other celebrities. 

What is the team composition?

I primarily work with Robin (Founder & Executive Creative Director) and David (Partner & Director of Strategic and Account Management), but there are also 3–4 teammates who work with us. 

How did you come to work with Citizen Group?

I saw a program that Citizen Group had done with a major network in 2012 on diversity and liked it, so I contacted them. They responded immediately and then I interviewed some of their previous clients, who all had positive feedback about their work. 

Our board was skeptical at first, but I brought the two owners of Citizen Group to them and they were able to convince the board to rebrand. They did such a great job on their first rebranding project with us that we’ve since brought them on board to continue advertising and marketing projects for us. 

How much have you invested with them?

The initial contract was around $100,000 and now we have a three-year contract at $206,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our first project was from March 2013–September 2014, but we’ve been in contact since then and just brought them on board for a three-year project.

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

We have gone from being bankrupt with an annual budget of $203,000 a year to being fully staffed with $1 million dollars in reserve. We are now the indisputable international leaders when it comes to lymphatic disease research and education. At this point, we have 30,000–40,000 individuals worldwide in our database compared to the under 10,000 we had when we first started working with Citizen Group.

How did Citizen Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Basecamp to communicate — we have an internal marketing team that is heavily involved with Citizen Group and it is important they communicate on every aspect of the project. Citizen Group’s team is very responsive and kind.

What did you find most impressive about them?

For me, it is great that for Citizen Group, it’s not just about the creative aspect of the work — they’re also fully versed in the human element and the causes we’re advocating for. Their empathy comes through strongly in their deliverables. 

Even when there was no funding for them in between projects, they continued to support us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Weakness is in the eye of the beholder and I don’t like to dwell on it — if there were any significant weaknesses, I wouldn’t have just brought Citizen Group in on a three-year project. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Hire them!

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is the official philanthropic arm of the San Francisco forty Niners. I am the executive director.

What challenge were you trying to address with Citizen Group?

We needed help with executing our annual report. Our in-house team has a lot of expertise, but that particular task isn’t one of them, so we worked with Citizen Group to put that together.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started with a really significant discovery process, conducting a deep dive with various members on our team and stakeholders from ownership down to workers within the programs. From there, we gave them a lot of direction as to what we wanted the report to look like on a basic level, and they actually created all of the content themselves for the past three years.

The report itself is pretty comprehensive, so it includes not just data about our impact in various areas, but also a narrative version of the story that a lot of people might not know about. We have a lot of different verticals involved in our charitable work, and they really threaded the needle necessary to tie together the commonalities between them in the report. This year, they also added a digital element that replicated the feel of the magazine online.

What was the team composition?

We worked with four different people from their team, including two project leads, David (Brand Strategist) and Robin (Founder). They handled most of the communication with us together, and Robin did a lot of the copy while David helped with framing the story and bringing the photos together to help build out the visual aspect. There were also two other individuals who help with the design and helped to make the report come to life both in print and digital formats.

How did you come to work with Citizen Group?

I did some research online and decided to sit down and have a conversation with them to discuss the project. They really stood out because of how well they listened, and how clear it was that they didn’t just want the account. Their team sincerely thought that they were the best people to tell our story and gave us the confidence that they could get the job done.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a total of around $10,000–$25,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

This year, our initial call was around July 2019 and we finished in March 2020.

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

In the beginning, I didn’t value the legwork that they were putting in as much as I do now, because it made things so much easier when we got around to actually putting together the report. We were able to discuss the programs with equal knowledge about how they run, and they had a great grasp on how to put things in our tone, which helped us a lot.

At the end of the day, we had a lot of conversations about the work, but we didn’t really have any direct input into the product itself, so then seeing how they brought all of our feedback and suggestions together and created the final report was like Christmas morning. The fact that they were able to get everyone on our team behind and excited about the product was fantastic. We’ve gotten a lot of good feedback and had other organizations ask who designed the reports.

How did Citizen Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They are super communicative, holding weekly calls throughout our work with them and providing a benchmark document at the beginning of each project to lay out the timeline for each of the planned deliverables. Their team did a great job of driving the bus to make sure that everything was completed on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The best part of working with them is definitely just the people. They are great to work with and always leave you with a good taste in your mouth. I genuinely look forward to working with them because of how they challenge us to think and do things differently.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, nothing comes to mind in particular that I wish they could improve.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the communications manager at a healthcare company. We provide a wide spectrum of benefits for over 120,000 members and their dependents.

What challenge were you trying to address with Citizen Group?

We’d been struggling to persuade our members to read about and enroll in benefits before our deadlines. We needed to communicate a high volume of complicated information on health benefits in an interesting, engaging, and aesthetically pleasing way.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We collaborate closely with Citizen Group to produce quality materials that effectively share our message and essential information with our members. So far, the deliverables have included videos, web pages, newsletter templates, posters, flyers, handouts, well-being programs, icons, banners, and other print and digital materials for our specific campaigns.

We’re very impressed with their work on the videos. First, they had me fill out a narrative, which they used to inform the script. We went through a series of edit rounds with my team and our stakeholders. We reviewed several renderings and storyboards until all parties were happy with the final script. Then, we produced the piece together.

What is the team composition?

Amalia (Engagement Manager, Citizen Group) is our primary point of contact, and she is consistently available and responsive. She manages a larger team of talented staff. I’ve also interacted with Robin (Founder & Executive Creative Director, Citizen Group).

How did you come to work with Citizen Group?

The company hired Citizen group before I started, but I believe they evaluated vendors based on proposals. They were looking for an agency that could work while respecting our industry regulations.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent within the range of $150,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2017, and it’s an ongoing relationship.

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

I’m always excited to see their work. It’s consistently attractive, clean, vibrant, and modern. Additionally, my stakeholders love the videos, and our members find them helpful. The visuals drive more traffic to our website. For example, they did a webpage for our annual open enrollment, and it generated about 20,000 hits.

How did Citizen Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Their approach to project management is excellent. We track the workload on Basecamp, and it’s been very effective. It’s clear that they know what they’re doing. They gather and share information about the project in a professional and accessible manner. All team members are quick to ask questions to avoid confusions or misunderstandings. I can’t say enough positive things about their service; overall, they’re flexible, determined, and creative.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their customer service stands out among others. They prioritize satisfaction, ensuring their clients’ happiness at every step of the engagement. Also, their team has depth. They’re skilled, friendly, and communicative.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t name any specifics.

Any advice for potential customers?

Clients need to provide a capable point person. If they’re engaged in the project and actively provide Citizen Group with information, the partnership will be more rewarding. We’re really happy with their work, but it’s definitely a two-way street—we both hold ourselves accountable for our respective responsibilities.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was VP and director of communications at a think tank that focuses on climate change, energy policy, and early childhood development.

What challenge were you trying to address with Citizen Group?

We were preparing a major report on the economic risks of climate change in the United States and needed a way to visualize data. We also wanted to segment out findings to media markets in a way that was relevant to those locales.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They led the physical report’s design and production. The team developed a series of digital visualization tools and maps that aggregated the regional impact data we provided. We set the overarching narrative, which Citizen Group then applied to interactive maps. These tools formed the basis of the earned media campaign. We also held a launch event to release the report with its authors and advisory board in attendance.

We weren’t able to budget advertising. Instead, we leveraged the report principals’ brand profiles. They included well-known politicians and CEOs. Citizen Group and one of their partners produced short video statements by each of the principals, none of whom had time for media interviews. We then shared those videos with the press; reporters either pulled quotes or posted them on their websites.

What is the team composition?

They assigned an account manager, a developer, a designer, and a production team. However, I only interacted with the account manager.

How did you come to work with Citizen Group?

I met the founder through social and professional networks in the sustainability space. After obtaining funding for the project, we solicited bids from two or three firms including Citizen Group. They were the most competitive with price and creativity; their visualizations were as good as anything I’d seen. I also thought we’d get the best service from them. Their office was close to ours, which made in-persons meetings feasible.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $80,000–$100,000. However, I can’t remember the exact figure because the engagement was so long ago.

What is the status of this engagement?

Work started in October 2013 and ended in September 2014.

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

We didn’t get quantitative metrics that reflected Citizen Group’s involvement because we didn’t go for brand impressions, click rates, or letters to congressmen. But the project was successful in leveraging the principals into a set of conversations with government stakeholders on how climate risks are integrated into financial decision making. The video statements enabled us to reach even further than we would have otherwise. People also loved the maps. They were interactive at the county level, which made them useful for our national audience.

How did Citizen Group perform from a project management standpoint?

If it were a grade, I’d assign a B+. The team was easy to work with, but there were transparency issues surrounding the budget. I created a couple of tickets for that because I was managed the finances. Citizen Group was able to rectify the situation while remaining responsive and open to feedback. We had a few in-person meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They knew it was a high-stakes project because of the principals involved. The team put in considerable effort to produce quality work and maintain good relationships.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The project management side had a few issues. But they resolved them, and the engagement turned out successful.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of sales at AtmosAir Solutions, a provider of air purification products for commercial and residential facilities. Our systems utilize bipolar ionization, which is a technology that involves pushing positive and negative ions into a space, purifying the air from contaminants that may contribute to respiratory problems like asthma or allergies.

What challenge were you trying to address with Citizen Group?

We originally needed to update our proposal template, focussing on the sports industry. We ended up reengaging Citizen Group later on for the design and production of marketing materials, including brochures and folders.

We neither had the time or resources to redevelop our brand from scratch, so we were looking for a vendor that could update the look and feel of our materials based on what we had to work with.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Citizen Group worked with our existing brand guidelines, making updates where appropriate, to create a proposal template. After engaging with them on that project, we later came back to their team for help designing brochures for both our commercial and residential sector, along with a folder to hold various marketing materials.

What is the team composition?

We mostly worked with Robin Raj (Founder and Executive Creative Director, Citizen Group) and David Cumpton (Partner and Director of Strategy and Account Management, Citizen Group), as well as a developer.

How did you come to work with Citizen Group?

One of the members of our advisory board introduced us to Robin. After working with their team on one project, we were so pleased with their work that we rehired them again this year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We originally reached out to them in January 2017, and just rehired them for additional projects in January 2018, which are almost completed.

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

The end products Citizen Group provided are superior to anything we've presented in the last 10 years. There's been lots of internal excitement around the new products that are sure to help market and differentiate our company from others.

How did Citizen Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They're easy to work with and exercise superior communication. In on instance, we had a very tight deadline, but their team managed to meet our demands and remain responsive throughout the project. They've often turned drafts around to us within 24 hours.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We're most pleased with both their responsiveness and ability to deliver on what we requested with added creative value. From the general guidelines we provided them with, they were able to create a significantly improved product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I was impressed that they were able to deliver on everything on time considering that we're on opposite sides of the U.S.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a well-being manager at a large municipality.

What challenge were you trying to address with Citizen Group?

When I stepped into this role, we didn't have a brand or a cohesive look. We provide a lot of different services to various audiences, so it's important for us to have a look that connects everything. Citizen created a series of campaigns which have helped define well-being and how we support our members.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Citizen Group was able to take our requests and quickly start working on our campaigns, managing several campaigns over the course of the year (they did five campaigns with me directly). We shared our ideas with them and they helped us come up with the look and feel of the campaign, developing key messages. They designed very attractive webpages within our strict and hardcoded HTML environment. In addition, they provided print collateral (usually, over 10 pieces for each campaign), making it engaging for our audience.

One of the later projects they worked on was creating some videos: they found a location, guided our novice presenters, provided the script, and staged everything. As far as marketing goes, they gave us the content and the creative, and then we pushed it out.

What is the team composition?

We worked through a project manager, who was our primary point of contact. We also had 2–3 other people who came to the meetings, including a designer and a creative strategist. In total, there were about 10 people working on our project.

How did you come to work with them?

They seemed to be a good fit for what we needed.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2016 and they're about to deliver the final product for our last campaign.

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

The look they created gets us endless praise. They designed interactive webpages and engaging materials, doing an excellent job translating our clients' needs into designs while staying within our brand guidelines. Their work also changed how our own employees are looking at our organization. We constantly receive favorable feedback from other organizations in our industry, who are impressed with our website.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

The project manager assigned was critical to our success and organization. They use Basecamp, keeping everything organized. They're responsive and flexible, letting us adjust timelines if necessary.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed by how much they care about the product. They only take on projects they believe in, so they're very invested in those projects.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, all of their work has been fantastic.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a marketing consultant for small business organizations looking to either build a team for the first time or infuse new programs and expand marketing functions. I act as somewhat of an insurance executive with many organizations in Silicon Valley and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

What challenge were you trying to address with Citizen Group?

I've approached Citizen Group three times for branding and identity work or for rebuilding and updating websites for my clients.

What was the scope of their involvement?

For one of my clients, Citizen assisted on brand identity, providing their team with a creative brief after talking with their upper management before executing the redesign.

They've also been involved in both web design and development work for two other clients.

What is the team composition?

I usually work with 2–3 people at a time, including an account manager.

How did you come to work with Citizen Group?

I reached out to them several years ago on another project that ended up falling through. I reapproached them when the time was right. 

The breadth and depth of their work stood out. They were also great about listening and speaking to client needs when I interviewed them.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested upwards of $50,000–$200,000 for all three projects. It ranged anywhere from $30,000 for brand identity work to around $75,000 for a website redesign.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our first project started around August 2015, with our most recent project finishing up in November 2017.

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

Citizen Group's success can be measured through client satisfaction across the board.

They're not just creative; they're a very deep thinking company. Unlike other vendors, they take the time to understand each client, getting to the root of the challenge a client may be facing.

How did Citizen Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, they performed well. I'd like to see a little more emphasis placed on future planning for clients, laying out a clearer timeframe and plan of action.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'm most impressed by their thoughtfulness; they take every challenge seriously and really think it through as opposed to just throwing out a solution for the sake of moving things along.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I'd only suggest they be a bit more explicit about what should be expected through each stage of a project. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of Planet 10B, a sustainability and technology consulting firm.

What challenge were you trying to address with Citizen Group?

We needed to design a daily news campaign to engage infrequent voters leading up to the election.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided creative direction, strategy, graphic design, and web UI design.

I’ve worked with them on other projects for which they provided marketing, creative development, and event organizing services.

What is the team composition?

Robin Raj (Founder and Executive Creative Director, Citizen Group) is my main contact, but we also work with others, depending on the project.

How did you come to work with Citizen Group?

I first started working with Robin on a World Wildlife Fund project. We’ve worked together on a variety of assignments over the last 15 years.

I continue to work with them because they have a highly sophisticated understanding of the Marcom [Marketing Communications] world, as well as a deep commitment to sustainability and social change. Vendors typically have one or the other, but Citizen Group has both.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in March of 2005 and our relationship is ongoing.

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

Their creative development has helped our clients decide which direction to take their campaigns. They bring insight and engaging new ideas to every project they tackle.

How did Citizen Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They have excellent project management skills. They’re easy to work with, accomplish tasks on time, and respect budgets. They personally invest themselves in the challenges of their clients.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re dedicated to solving any challenge.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Robin is a very experienced senior strategist and creative director. Don’t hand him a small issue; give him the entire challenge. He can add value on more than just simple, tactical engagements.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a medical research foundation.

What challenge were you trying to address with Citizen Group?

We needed to rebrand the organization to better reflect our expanded mission statement. Additionality, our name was too similar to that of higher profile organizations that dealt with more well-known diseases. We needed a distinct identity to resolve that issue.

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, Citizen Group worked with us to specially define our mission going forward. Then, they were able to examine a new brand for the organization that encompassed all the ideals of that particular mission statement. That meant creating wireframes and redesigning a website that hadn't been developed for many years. They stylizing it with new colors and a new name. To accompany that change and create a cohesive brand, they were involved in creating guidelines for our all marketing materials like business cards, letterheads, and mastheads for social media.

Before we could apply those changes to the organization, we had to convince the board of directors that rebranding was in their best interest. To accomplish this, Citizen Group flew in and presented why it was necessary to make these changes. The board unanimously approved everything and we officially had a new name.

What is the team composition?

We mostly interfaced with at least four key team members. However, the whole technical team worked on the website design.

How did you come to work with Citizen Group?

Another organization started a new project with a beautifully done marketing campaign. I found out Citizen Group designed everything, so I contacted them.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project took place February 2013­–May 2014.

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

Their work successfully helped us reach more people. Before this engagement, we had 200–400 Facebook followers and around 4,000–5,000 people in our database. Now we have close to 20,000 Facebook followers and 15,000 people in our database.

How did Citizen Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They couldn’t have been more diligent in working with us. As a non-profit organization, funding is always an issue. They recognized that and created a very streamlined budget for us. However, that didn’t stop them from getting the job done, even though it took well-beyond their original timeline expectations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They became very invested in our cause. Early on it became clear that they weren't just dealing with another client and another product assessment. They realized that what we do is very tied-in to a great deal of suffering in this world. As a result, they became equally committed partners in addressing that issue. This commitment is evident in the quality of work they produced.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I couldn’t possibly ask more from them. Given what we paid, they far exceeded my expectations.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a manager in the climate change team for an environmental nonprofit. I manage our private sector engagement on climate change and the corporate partnerships we have, with the aim of helping companies reduce their carbon footprint.

What challenge were you trying to address with Citizen Group?

We have worked with Citizen Group several times, dating back to 2002.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We implemented multichannel campaigns with Citizen Group. Our team developed a lot of the conceptual frameworks for each campaign, and Citizen Group contributed to how we can promote that from a strategic standpoint.

In one campaign, Citizen Group produced different collateral. This included video and print ads from each of the companies involved, with a quote from each CEO. The ads ran in major newspapers and print publications.

Our most recent campaign with Citizen Group was in 2013. The campaign showed how we could exceed what the science is calling for in the inter-governmental panel on climate change—by companies reducing their carbon footprint. Citizen Group developed the logo and brand identity for this campaign. They also did graphics for the report and the video. Citizen Group took the core of the report and turned it into a promotional entity that had its own brand identity.

The deliverables for this campaign included a brand, video, print ads, and a PowerPoint presentation. There was a three-minute spot for the first campaign, which ran on National Geographic television. We also condensed the video for the second campaign into three minutes.

How did you come to work with Citizen Group?

We were introduced to them by an environmental author and thought-leader. He was our connection point, and that brought a lot of credibility to Citizen Group. He had worked with them on campaigns for big companies, and that was what drew us to them. They had experience in big sustainability campaigns with business before.

How much have you invested with Citizen Group?

For the two projects, we spent between $50,000 and $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in the fall of 2008. The most recent project was completed in June of 2013. We’re not actively engaged at the moment, but we have maintained some regular conversations.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We were able to really amplify our voice. Citizen Group's collateral was used for banners and promotional material during major events. The print ads were used to raise the business voice on climate change and show that business could de-couple growth from emissions reductions. It’s hard to say how many people that reached. The print ads, in addition to the banners around the climate change talks, were also in major print publications. There were tens of thousands of people filtering through that week, not to mention the people we touched in the months before and after that. There were a lot of impressions.

For the project in 2013, we focused more on the domestic business community. The work we did with Citizen Group inspired an initiative at the international level. That meant that the idea of setting a target consistent with the proposed solution was now viral at a global level. There are now over 200 companies that have committed to setting science-based targets. There are 35 or so who have gotten their targets approved so far. Most of those are US companies that participated in workshops we hosted in 2013–2015, and Citizen Group was a part of those workshops.

How did Citizen Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We did have some challenges with missed deadlines. I think that’s reflective of the fact that they manage a lot of client work and have a relatively small shop, so we understood. Their communication was reasonably good.

What did you find most impressive about Citizen Group?

They bring a fresh, Northern California perspective. Sometimes, it’s nice to work with an agency that’s not in Washington, DC, and can think outside the box. They do a nice job with that. It also helps that they’ve done big campaigns for other large nonprofit organizations.

Are there any areas Citizen Group could improve?

They could improve in terms of meeting deadlines and taking our feedback into account more consistently. We had some trouble with the video. There were also some surprise costs not in the original proposal that got added on. That sort of thing isn’t helpful when we have processes in place in our institution, and we can’t go back and get extra money.