Definition 6

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your company and your role there?

Our company is an ad sales company that provides local advertising to local business owners, so they can reach their clients and their customers more easily. My role is marketing communications director and I work out of the corporate office. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were trying to address when you approached Definition 6?

We were trying to update the user interface and the messaging on our client-facing website. It had become outdated and a little off brand. We didn’t have enough head count to do it, and then the strength in the digital background in order to do that.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of the project?

They were involved end to end. They helped us create strategy around what should be on the website. They helped us design the look and feel. They provided copy for the website. They also developed, on the backend, a content management system  for us to manage the website. They took the content that was on our original site and moved it over to the new CMS.

Do you know what type of CMS it was?

It was one that they had custom-built using Umbraco. This is a solution that they purchased and use with all their clients that they helped develop sites for.

Did they also provide training and ongoing support?

Yes.

How long did the project take?

I would say nine months. It started last July [of 2013] and we just wrapped up in May [of 2014]. There was a month or two in the middle where we had to pause [the] work. So, overall, we were actively working on it for nine months.

How did you select Definition 6 as your solution partner?

We had partnered with them in the past for some other strategic advertising campaigns. They seemed like they had the capabilities in order to help us out with this, too.

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

It was a $250,000 project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they’ve delivered?

We’ve received internal feedback from our user groups that helped us test it. They thought it was easy to navigate and they really liked the redesign as far as the look and the feel goes. One challenge that some of the users have is on the backend: The CMS. A lot of the functionalities [within the CMS] were not turned on for us. So there was a lot of back and forth we had to do with them to get some of the basics turned on for us to use, so that was a bit of a challenge for our internal development team.

Is that an ongoing issue?

Yes, when we identified this issue as it came up, we logged it and they resolved it for us. So, we just keep that running log going and as we identify more, they help us resolve them.

Do you feel that that has a negative impact on the project as a whole?

Yes.

How would you describe Definition 6’s performance?

I believe they have definite strengths that played into the success of the project, but we identified some weaknesses, too. In terms of the strengths that they brought to the table, they were really great at the creative, the look and feel. The look of the website was very refreshed. The colors and the layout were very thoughtful and were very in line with where web design is heading. We’re very pleased with that.

There were three main challenges we experienced. The first was in copywriting. We basically rewrote all the copy for the site from what they had originally submitted. The underlying issue there was that the copywriter that they had working on our project really just didn’t understand our business. We went back and forth a few times, and what we found was it would just be faster to do it ourselves than try to explain to the copywriter how to write about our business. So, that was a waste of hours and resources, and a bit of a disappointment.

Another challenge was with documenting and going back to the agreed upon user requirements. So, we get down the road and determine this functionality doesn’t exist, and there’s a bit of confusion about whether that functionality was agreed upon to begin with. Our lesson learned there was to have more stringent and better-documented user requirements or business requirements, so there wouldn’t be any back and forth with them once we got to that point of the process.

The third challenge was just the time it took to resolve some issues that seemed straightforward or turnkey. Not in the sense that they were actively working on them and just couldn’t reach a resolution, but that some issues seemed to fall by the wayside, from my perspective. When we brought them up and asked for clarification, it was like they were just hearing about them for the first time. That was frustrating as well.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your organization and your role there?

We are a digital content management and distribution company. We provide content management platforms for various industries including the film and movie industry, where we manage and distribute all of their digital content. We secure it for them, distribute it, and then provide them with analytics to let people know what happens to their content. I’m the CEO and chairman.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were trying to address when you began working with Definition 6?

[Upon] launch, we were actually branding the entire company. It was to build us a presence in the industry. We were a brand new business. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their work to that end?

Everything from social media to the launch of the brand into the market to give us a voice to setting us up as authorities on digital media, content management and distribution within the film industry right through to design work.

[They focused on] the look and feel of what our product would be and how we presented ourselves to the industry. They handled our PR [public relations] and spent a lot of time placing us as speaking guests on panels.

How did you select Definition 6 as your solution partner?

It was a recommendation from a trusted colleague who I had known for years. He is an adviser at Definition 6.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in monetary terms or a personnel work-hour figure? Ranges would be fine.

General cost range for the last two years was just under a million [dollars].

Is this ongoing work?

Yes. Some of it was completed, but there are still elements that are ongoing. They spend a little bit more time focused on the public relations side of it for us now. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any metrics or feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they’ve delivered?

From a PR perspective, they were exceptional. We were very happy with them. They certainly gave us the voice we wanted. We found that they did all that they said they would do from a PR standpoint.

How would you describe their performance?

Good. They’re very communicative. They stay in touch a lot. They communicate every day. We talked with them all the time, constantly. We found them to be great, never had an issue with them. We still don’t, with the ongoing work we’re still doing. They’re fabulous.

Is there anything you’d consider unique or special about them that distinguishes them from other vendors you’ve used?

They do have a really good understanding of the international market. I’m surprised that they didn’t have any issues adapting. We do a lot of international things, and they never had any problem. Their PR team managed to fill our diaries with interviews at all of our international trade shows. That’s often really hard to do, but they managed it without any problem. Their PR team is exceptional.

In retrospect, are there areas that you think they could improve on or that you would do differently?

Not really.