Citizen Relations

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior manager of marketing for a distribution company in the entertainment industry. Our area of focus includes home entertainment content, movies, television, and games.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Citizen Relations?

We wanted to engage our fans and prospects with live demonstrations at the events in which they participate. We aimed to create an engaging environment for them to share with their community.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We consider their service a beginning-to-end platform for collaborative planning. The engagement started with discussions to understand our objectives and Citizen Relations’ ongoing collaboration capabilities. Our team prioritized cost efficiency and dynamism for the partnership. We worked with the event coordinators to design and develop structures, whether on a purchase or rental basis. As part of their final deliverables, the team has helped with day-to-day logistics around events, including staffing and operations.

What is the team composition?

My main points of contact are the managing director and the associate director.

How did you come to work with Citizen Relations?

In a standard RFP process, we studied our requirements for the year and how each company had delivered in terms of cost-efficiency, innovation, and creativity. Citizen Relations came out on top after we considered referrals and past experience.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in early 2017 and the partnership is ongoing. We still use them in our events agency.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We use the events’ PR coverage and social amplification to measure success. We delivered millions of impressions at the last expo we attended, plus PR coverage that was in the tens of millions. We’re continuing to grow those numbers.

How did Citizen Relations perform from a project management standpoint?

The team successfully manages concurrent projects and workflows, while keeping us informed and generating new ideas. They also hit deadlines and stay on budget.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a trustworthy vendor that understands our business and shares our goals. That quality is intangible, but it distinguishes the team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We hope they grow as our organization expands because there’s a lot of change in our business and it’s important for us to stay on top of it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager for the Americas for a leading technology and advertising company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Citizen Relations?

We needed a partner to work on our trade marketing engagements with customers and the industry in Canada.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Citizen Relations supports the end-to-end strategy for Canada, which includes branding, thought leadership and customer engagement. The only thing I do is schedule our speakers and craft the agenda and message. They also manage our trade marketing engagement for key customers. For example, if we engage with a set of agencies on a three-month campaign, Citizen Relations ensures that the agencies continue to engage in the campaign by ensuring we remain top of mind.

What is the team composition?

We work with the associate director and vice president of Citizen Relations.

How did you come to work with Citizen Relations?

Citizen Relations had done some work with one of our Canadian subsidiaries, so they were already an approved vendor. We had four agencies come in and pitch their business, and Citizen Relations had the best ideas and most realistic proposal. They clearly showed how they could add value and help us deepen our relationship with our target audience.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since April 2017, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We do customer satisfaction surveys at the end of our engagements, and all of the feedback for Citizen Relations’ events has been fantastic. 80% of people say they would come back for another event and that it influenced their spend. Citizen Relations always receives glowing reviews.

How did Citizen Relations perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re organized and always have a plan. They manage the budget well and keep us on track. Everything runs smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They understand us as a client, which I appreciate. They’re reliable, helpful, and add true value to our team. Because of their relationship with other vendors, they make sure we always get great prices and the venue we’re looking for, regardless of the city we’re working in—it’s consistently fantastic.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d like if they planned things out a little bit further ahead, so I could know what they’re thinking.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the senior director of external communications at a large retail company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Citizen Relations?

We were looking for a company to help us increase awareness of our products and services. Citizen Relations has been our agency of record for about three years.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We're a large organization and have a lot of stakeholders, so Citizen Relations has been helping us with different programs. Their scope of work ranges from participating in briefs to advertising and working with other agencies or PR teams to produce content. They help us develop insights, brainstorm challenges our consumers are facing, come up with ideas on how to handle those challenges, and work closely with influencers to develop content. In addition, they help us with public events and broadcasting of pitches for our traditional media campaigns.

What is the team composition?

We work with their general manager, a VP who oversees the work across all areas of business, a direct account manager, and consultants for various programs.

How did you come to work with them?

We submitted an RFP when we were looking for agencies to support our business back in 2015. It was a competitive process and their pitch was by far the most creative. We had been working with a different vendor at that time, but we were looking for a new company to bring fresh ideas to the table. Citizen Relations had unique ideas, so we chose them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2015 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve established a positive relationship from the beginning and my team is happy with their client service. They ask us for feedback on a regular basis and address any concerns we have. Our internal stakeholders are also very happy with the deliverables.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a large organization, so there are a lot of us, which can be a challenge. Citizen Relations has been very responsive and always available to answer our questions. When our internal team was struggling to produce the content on a tight deadline, Citizen Relations was there to help. They have weekly calls and standing meetings with different members of our team to keep the project on track.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a very talented and creative team. We've worked with a consistent talent for three years, which is unique since agencies often have more turnover.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Since we've been working together for three years, some of their ideas feel like the things we've already done. However, they're great at refreshing those ideas where they can. Whatever challenges we've had, they've always been very open to feedback.