Engine Digital

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of brand and digital strategy for a wealth management company based in Canada. We serve credit unions as well as independent portfolio managers across the country.

What challenge were you trying to address with Engine Digital?

The main project was for our online brokerage platform -- it needed a revamp.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Engine provided web strategy, web design, and a refresh of the brand identity. This was very important because as an online brokerage, we have no physical footprint. We went through their rapid prototyping process. They led a project context workshop at the very beginning of the engagement to come up with several concepts. We then voted on the final concept, which ended up being an amalgamation of the top three ideas. Within seven days of the workshop, we were able to test a working prototype with actual users.

They also led us through a highly-analytical brand positioning exercise in order to understand where our offering fit in within the market in terms of brand attributes. They helped us think about color palette attributes around being human versus corporate, as well as innovative versus traditional. We retained our existing logo but they helped us with the look and feel of the website, typography, and photography. The site came together and was launched in a 6–7 week timeframe.

What is the team composition?

We worked with five key members of their team: a brand strategist, the head of project management, the VP of operations, a lead designer, and a frontend developer.

How did you come to work with Engine Digital?

They reached out to us via a cold call. I’d also met their VP of client engagement several years ago at a marketing industry event.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $100,000 CAD ($78,306 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2016 and the site launched in July 2017.

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

The site Engine redesigned is our lead generation site. Within the first few months of the site’s launch, we saw a considerable increase in the leads that we were able to send to the top of our online account opening web application.

How did Engine Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Engine’s project management is very strong. We primarily used Basecamp and Google Drive to collaborate on documents and copy decks, and then BugHerd during QA. They have a very well-structured process that brings different stakeholders together to ensure clarity on the business context and goals. There was a really close collaboration between our teams. They provide perspectives from different functional areas including development, UX, creative, and the business standpoint. We really appreciated the rapid prototyping process; having a testable product in just seven days was amazing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're a really fun and dynamic team, with a lot of expertise. Engine’s unique process gives them the ability to understand the business needs, the context, and the strategic brand considerations. They’re able to tie the goals of the site back to the business. Working with Engine felt like more of a custom experience. Many other firms are locked into a certain CMS and can only offer a limited template. Engine uses WordPress to build their sites so we had a lot more flexibility.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing that I can think of.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Definitely invest the time in the upfront project context workshops in order to align all project team members. This process helps clarify roles and align expectations related to business goals and scope. Then get ready to move quickly because they’re fast.