Fieldtrip

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the director of marketing for Louisville Public Media, an independent, community supported not-for-profit media corporation in Louisville, Kentucky. Our organization consists of three distinct public radio stations and an investigative unit.

For what projects/services did your company hire Fieldtrip, and what were your goals?

We hired Fieldtrip to create and execute a digital marketing campaign that would promote the digital offerings of WFPL News, grow awareness around our expanded local news team and help to increase support for our work.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We put out an RFP and spoke with several different agencies about the project. We chose Fieldtrip because they provided a thorough and well-planned proposal. It showed that they understood the goals of the project and were excited to be part of it.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

We worked with Fieldtrip to create the visual campaign, work with our team to develop effective language, execute the campaign across various digital platforms (Meta, Twitter, Google ands streaming audio). We were then provided recommendations for a long-term strategy by the agency.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Over the course of the project, we worked with a number of people at Fieldtrip including their Digital Media Specialist, Account Coordinator, Designer and others The Founder and President was also present for the majority of our project meetings.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Over 41,000 total goal completions took place during the project reporting period. We were provided quality digital files that our in-house designer could then continue to re-work in order to continue our marketing efforts past the scope of our project. In concluding our work with Fieldtrip, we were also provided recommendations for long-term strategy to continue our work.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was efficient and for the most part, effective. There were only a few instances where we ran into communication issues.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Fieldtrip provided clear guidelines for deadlines and client expectations from the beginning. This ensured that all parties were following the same roadmap for the project.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

There were a few points after we had entered the execution phase of the project. when we encountered miscommunication that led to missed opportunities and delays in progress, but those were largely minimal in the scope of the work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director of a quasi-governmental agency that works with both state and federal grant programs, assisting local governments. Among those programs, we have an aging program that services people who are 60 years or older. Additionally, we maintain a Medicaid program that services people with terminal diseases, helping them stay at their homes and not institutionalized.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fieldtrip?

We needed branding and marketing services. Next year would mark our 50th anniversary, and we had never gone through a marketing campaign. Additionally, we realized that we needed to improve our social media outreach, so we decided to revamp our marketing efforts and rebrand ourselves.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fieldtrip helped us create a complete rebrand kit, including a new logo, messaging, and mission and vision statements. They also helped us revisit our website, which another company had recently updated. This part of the project included changing its color palettes according to our new branding and making some small changes to include our overall marketing strategy within our website.

For the logo design, Fieldtrip provided us with various options, depending on where we would use it, and they came up with a primary logo that combined our three divisions. Additionally, they delivered very comprehensive brand guidelines and assets, including iconography, fonts, and email signatures.

Regarding their marketing services, Fieldtrip has given us tools and ideas for our marketing campaigns, which our internal staff has implemented through LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Additionally, they’ve met with our marketing committee and given us a thorough review of our brand guidelines to know how to deploy all the marketing ideas they’ve given us.

Aside from the mentioned services, Fieldtrip helps us with our media buys, and they’ve provided us with outreach opportunities. Overall, they’ve been involved in a lot of activities across our agency.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with two primary people from Fieldtrip, and I believe that two more people are working in the background.

How did you come to work with Fieldtrip?

We went through a procurement process and found Fieldtrip. Then, we launched an RFP process, and they were the most knowledgeable company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2021, and our engagement is ongoing. They completed the rebranding project around October 2021, but they’re still helping us with marketing and advertising for one of our programs.

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

Our staff has already started implementing our new branding, and it has been very well-received internally and externally. This project was a really good exercise to get our staff working together, and Fieldtrip was able to get everyone on the same page, which itself was very beneficial.

How did Fieldtrip perform from a project management standpoint?

Fieldtrip has done a great job managing the project. They’re very organized, professional, and communicative, and they’ve kept us on schedule and budget, so we’ve never had any concern in that regard. The schedule was outlined from the beginning, and they’ve followed it through, hitting every milestone. We communicate via phone calls, email, Slack, and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Fieldtrip does a really good job at speaking at an understandable level. For example, if their thoughts are different from our staff’s, they explain the reasoning behind them and present them in an understandable way to demonstrate that we are on the right track. Additionally, if we want to implement something against their input, they listen carefully and respect our decision. Thus, I think that communication is their strong point, which makes them very easy to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come with a clear idea of what you want to accomplish because it will save you a lot of the preliminary discussions.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director of transportation for a nonprofit that support the overall livability and vibrancy of downtown Atlanta.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fieldtrip?

We wanted to better market transit as a mode of transportation that people should take when they commute to work after the pandemic.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fieldtrip did surveys and stakeholder interviews with our staff to understand context before creating the messaging. Then, they developed a campaign and strategy for us that we could execute, including messaging and creative. Finally, they provided recommendations for deployment across different forms of media.

What is the team composition?

We worked with five people from their team. Kento (Account Manager) was our project manager and primary contact. There were also a few members on the creative team, as well as a deployment resource.

How did you come to work with Fieldtrip?

The project was funded with federal money so we had to have a well-defined scope and competitive procurement and RFP process.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent just under $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from August 2021–February 2022.

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

We’ll have more results to measure in the deployment phase, but we were very happy with the creative that Fieldtrip developed. It’s innovative — speaking to our mission showing an understanding of what we’re targeting.

How did Fieldtrip perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great about communication and staying on time and on budget. We spoke over email and Google Meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were highly creative and very responsive to our feedback.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. The only part that was a bit difficult was getting used to their invoicing process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Provide feedback. This was big for us, and Fieldtrip told us that they enjoyed working with us because of the feedback we provided.

Please describe your company and your position there.

At the time, I was the Marketing Manager at Central City Concern, a nonprofit based in Portland, OR providing housing, health care, addiction recovery and employment services to end homelessness.

For what projects/services did your company hire Fieldtrip, and what were your goals?

We hired Fieldtrip to redesign centralcityconcern.org. The design hadn't been updated in more than 8 years and the organization had significantly grown in that amount of time. Our goals were to move to WordPress, refresh the look and feel, boost web traffic, showcase client stories, and improve user experience by providing clear pathways to services.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Fieldtrip was considered among three other vendors who submitted responses to our request for proposal. Fieldtrip stood out in part because their proposal was so thoughtfully crafted. At the time, they hadn't built as many websites for nonprofits, but they did their research in learning about the issue of homelessness in Portland and their proposal reflected that. They "got us" in a way that other vendors didn't. Another major factor was the website build process they illustrated in their proposal included extensive stakeholder engagement and user testing.

It was crucial that we gather feedback throughout the website design process, and Fieldtrip understood that the success of this project hinged on this. Finally, Fieldtrip took a risk in their proposal by recommending that we focus on clients and potential clients as the primary audience, instead of donors and partners. Fieldtrip provided research and recommendations to support this shift that resonated with our team and our aspirations for the website.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had a kickoff meeting to discuss our goals and key KPIs, then dove into the survey stage. This included stakeholder interviews and audience discovery with our key audiences. Fieldtrip developed strategic insights based on the survey phase, then built out a sitemap and wireframes which were then built into prototypes that we used to conduct user testing. Then, while my team developed written and visual content, Fieldtrip designed and built the website.

There were several rounds of meetings where we were shown certain pages and elements of the website design, and then had the opportunity to give feedback to inform the next round. Finally, once the website tested for quality assurance and launched, my team received extensive training on the new CMS and provided with tutorials and guides on key features in order to build institutional knowledge around how to use the back end. We had 30 days to alert the developer of any bugs, which were quickly resolved.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Melody - Project Manager Amy - Art Direction Carl - Development

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

After launching our site, we saw a 60% increase in pages per session and 50% increase in session duration. Furthermore, we received fewer messages through social media from potential clients who didn't know how to access services -- which told us that we were successful in building an accessible website that was easy to navigate.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Project management was excellent. Our account manager, Melody, met with me weekly to update me on progress and we communicated regularly through email. Melody was always quick to respond and I never felt like I didn't know what was happening with the website at any given time.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

There's a lot of heart in this company that comes through in a lot of different ways. We never felt like our project was less important because we were a nonprofit and didn't sell shiny products. Fieldtrip expressed a connection to our mission that shone in both the website design process and the end product. Fieldtrip went the extra mile for our clients experiencing homelessness, because they understood how important it was for them to access these services.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No, it was an excellent experience all-around.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a marketing company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fieldtrip?

They helped us rebrand our company. We turned 15 this year, so they helped us with brand guidelines and layouts. They created the wireframes for our website redesign.

What was the scope of their involvement?

In addition to website redesign and branding, they did some surveys with our customers. They were able to find the identity of our brand and put it into words, working on the written part of our brand identity.

What is the team composition?

I worked with five different people. We had two account managers, a copywriter, a designer, and the owner.

How did you come to work with Fieldtrip?

I know the owner personally. We’re in a peer group together.

How much have you invested with them?

I think it was $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June to December 2019.

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

We didn’t set any metrics besides whether it came in on time and on budget. It was slightly over-time and over budget, although that wasn’t entirely their fault. We were excited about the written aspects of the project, and although the visual aspects didn’t match, we’re making our own edits locally.

How did Fieldtrip perform from a project management standpoint?

Our overall communication was great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’d never gone through the process ourselves and we were struggling to put words to our brand promise and essence. They found it, through conversations with our clients and staff.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We weren’t exactly satisfied with the visual aspects.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take your time. Have a conversation between the clients, the account person, and the creative designers.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

 I’m the transportation planner and supervisor at a local government transportation department.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fieldtrip?

We were searching for a marketing firm that could help us with safety messaging around bicycle and pedestrian transportation.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created brand assets for us and handled all of the creative elements. We knew that we needed to have a really effective campaign with social media and print materials. They created a name and a logo for us, as well as images to use on social media and print campaigns. In terms of social media, they provide Facebook and Twitter materials. Other deliverables they provided were the color scheme and font.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Jane (Founder & President), Andrew (Creative Director), and one other person.

How did you come to work with Fieldtrip?

They did branding for a related agency in our city. We really liked how clever the name and design for that campaign was. We put out an RFP for our services and they responded.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $8,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2019, and our work is ongoing. Our current contract ends in December 2020 and we’re looking to renew that for another year.

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

We’re still launching the product to the public, so we haven’t had much to measure. The feedback has been very positive so far. People say it’s a much better name, message, design, and color scheme. It’s very modern and cool.

Fieldtrip is wonderful to work with. In the past year, we’ve had position shifts at our office and they’ve been very patient to work with in explaining the contracts and providing the documents again. The team was even willing to change direction on the project when we asked them to. They were really sweet and patient with us while we figured it all out.

How did Fieldtrip perform from a project management standpoint?

Before COVID-19, we had in-person meetings. After COVID-19, we continued our meetings on Google Meets. They were always responsive to emails and phone calls, too.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their passion really stands out. They understand the importance of our message and why we needed this specific marketing. I could tell that they took it seriously and they were passionate about making a good product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. They’re really smart, creative, and responsive. The team is well rounded and great to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re extremely knowledgeable and creative. Let them have free reign to design and create.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing and sales associate of an aerospace company. Our company designs, builds, and operates automated systems and hardware on the International Space Station to facilitate the R&D and manufacturing of health and technology applications.

We’re not just an aerospace company; we’re at the intersection of various industries. This means resonating with a variety of audiences from other fields — from life sciences and physical sciences to manufacturing potential products like artificial retinas.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fieldtrip?

One of our key objectives for the project is to develop a website and manage its maintenance. We were trying to address how to tell a detailed story about what it means to do R&D and manufacturing in space.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Fieldtrip developed a website, our key deliverable for this project. The team provided market analysis services on our business, our competitors, the industry, and the industries that we work with. They give not just insights on the current trends and market structure, but considerations we should make as we move forward. 

The team helps us identify the tone and approach we should take, as well as the key language that we should use, to stand out in our industry.

Upon learning about Fieldtrip’s capabilities, we decided to have them work on an entirely new WordPress website that is detailed to address more facets of our business. It was important for us to have our engineering hardware integrated into the platform in an animated way.

We now have advanced animations on the website, more fly-through imagery, and a wider view of the ISS hardware. Those key features provide our end users a chance to understand how we scale down their science to fit our CubeLab.

What is the team composition?

On average, we work with 3–4 people for the project, but that changes depending on the stage we’re on. For example, early on, there were about 6–7 working on the team to understand what we wanted. But since the website’s launch, the number of members working with us went down to just three — which is awesome because it helps us remember their names.

We directly work with Melody (Web Strategist), Jane (Founder), and one more employee that we definitely became close with throughout the process.

How did you come to work with Fieldtrip?

One of our science partners used to work with Fieldtrip for their website and branding needs. We saw how their engagement went and what they had done for them before. We saw their ability to cater to a growing team, manage conversations, and keep a positive attitude. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $80,000 on the current deliverables.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing collaboration started back in September 2019. The project started off small and eventually progressed to a much bigger partnership.

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

We kept a quantitative counter rather than how much content imagery was delivered, but we still keep tabs on qualitative feedback by looking at the user experience and paying attention to the current reach. Fieldtrip helps us identify the average users and how much time they spend on our website — and we have seen an increase in these.

Our company’s close partners have told us that the website looks fantastic and it represents a deeper meaning of our story. Meanwhile, the general public has informed us that the site is beautiful, detailed, and tells a passionate story. We also recognize that the website provides more access to various information in terms of what our business does. 

How did Fieldtrip perform from a project management standpoint?

Fieldtrip has a unique and beneficial project management process that they follow. They are open to cater to our kind of project management process which helps us since we’re a small company in this industry and we still abide by launch timelines.

This might be difficult for some companies but Fieldtrip’s team is able to deliver the outputs on the given timeline. They are very flexible and can adjust to our preferences, such as communicating through our chosen platforms.

Our teams keep in touch through Google Suites — Gmail and Google Meet — which is helpful during this COVID-19 pandemic. Their team has a hands-on approach to work, offering a consistent overall timeline for us. Aside from all of those, Fieldtrip also gives us a detailed functionality matrix that is a massive help in keeping track of the project progress and challenges. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their calm work ethic in this high-stress level environment impresses us. This helps us a lot as it also helps ease the stress on our side, making it an easier and enjoyable process. They’re a small team that can get big accomplishments done. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We cannot directly attribute this as a con to them but since we are a space company, and they haven’t worked with an agency in our industry, it's been a bit of a learning curve. We are heavily inclined on the tech side of things as we abide by regulations and government laws, so we notice this a lot.

Everything is an educational process and we’re still looking forward to continuing our partnership to see both of our companies grow. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to ask for their opinion; they’re a very creative team with big ideas. Fieldtrip has a unique understanding and learning your company first before providing their feedback. We also suggest identifying internally what you want out of the project, set baseline goals, and their team will hit the ground running from that point forward.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a chain of five Ashley Furniture Homestore locations. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Fieldtrip?

We needed help with advertising and growth.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They reached out to our customers, prepared our SEO, and executed online advertising. They did keyword research on Google Ads as well. They’re our bridge between us and our corporate branch. The team tracks our metrics so we can analyze if things are working or not. Additionally, they help us deal with Yelp, Google ratings, Facebook, and email solutions.  

What is the team composition?

We worked with three account coordinators from their team.

How did you come to work with Fieldtrip?

They worked with other branches of our brand.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2009, and our work is ongoing.

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

They really helped bring us into the 21st century. We went from two stores to five. They’re very involved partners. They don’t just throw out ideas, they’re tracking everything that we do. They make sure that it’s productive.   

How did Fieldtrip perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly meetings with our account coordinator. Every Friday, they’re on a conference call with all of my store managers to go over the weekly promotions.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their dedication and knowledge really stand out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to meet with them and let them show you what you can do. They’re a great company.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former director of marketing at Whayne Supply & Walker Machiner, a heavy equipment service provider.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fieldtrip?

Our company was over 100 years old and had built extensive relationships with larger accounts. About 80% of the sales volume came from 5% of our customer base. Meanwhile, thousands of accounts never got touched. We wanted to better understand how to engage that customer base and maintain a relationship without having people touch them every day.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We went through a website redesign before engaging Fieldtrip. They came in and helped put some strategy into how we were relaunching our online presence. It laid out how to combine SEO and social media efforts to meet our target audience. That gave some focus behind what we were trying to accomplish.

Fieldtrip provided both the strategy and the management for our social media accounts and paid search campaigns, which included Google Ads. We had measured KPIs that their team reported each month. 

What is the team composition?

We had an account manager who was our main point of contact. On a weekly basis, we worked and met with a strategic team of 5–6. That expanded to the full agency when necessary.

How did you come to work with Fieldtrip?

It began with an RFP process. We didn’t want to get swallowed by a larger agency that had the right skill set but lacked the personal connection. We’re a relationship business, and we were able to turn our connection with Jane (Founder & President) into a similar relationship that we look to establish with our key customers. We really viewed it as a partnership rather than a client-vendor relationship. 

How much have you invested with them?

I believe we spent about $400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership ran from January 2016 to July 2019. I left the organization in 2018, but Fieldtrip’s contract ran until 2019. 

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

Our goals were to engage our key targeted market segment and to create new business within that market space. We were expanding our capability and product offerings, so we were going after a new type of customer we hadn’t tried to target before.

As I was building out our core marketing team, Fieldtrip was there to fill the void of managing our advertising and promotions. It let me focus on our business development and understanding the reporting from our analysis of this new market segment, which we hadn’t had in the past.

How did Fieldtrip perform from a project management standpoint?

They never had an issue getting quality work out by a deadline. We paid quite a bit to hit deadlines, but that’s okay. They used a cloud-based management tool to manage the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate their willingness to join my team as if they were part of our organization. other marketing companies, I spent a lot of time going to them to pass on information and feedback before they disappear. Fieldtrip took a different approach and embedded themselves in our company to try to better understand what we do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As a growing company, there are always opportunities to improve. Had I not left the organization, we could have taken a more focused approach and tactically focused on smaller, specific areas for quick wins. That’s on my direction rather than Fieldtrip’s execution, however. 

Any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking to partner with Fieldtrip, ask yourself what you’re looking for in a provider. Many agencies say they’re committed to their client and to quality results, but Fieldtrip lives and breathes it. They don’t do cookie-cutter results; they’re very focused on pushing that edge and understanding the client’s brand strategy. They’ll come in and shape who you are today and who you want to become.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is a new web app called Bridge Bee, which is associated with another company that sells supplies for the card game bridge. I am one of the owners of the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Fieldtrip?

In an effort to monetize our content, we decided to build a bridge app that lets you play the hands in our bridge books.

What was the scope of their involvement?

One of the main things that we wanted to accomplish with our app was for it to stand out from the existing market because the current bridge apps are very functional but are quite lacking in terms of UI and brand identity. Our first major goal was to make sure our brand identity was really well researched and thought out and that our UI was completely intuitive.

We had a developer and a UI designer already in-house, so what we went to Fieldtrip for was the logo design and the brand identity work, including colors, font, and layout of the home page and our ads. They did the digital backs of our cards, as well as an ‘album cover’ for each of the available hands.

What is the team composition?

Jane (Owner) was our main point of contact and worked with us to set everything up and decide on the deliverables. We also had a person in charge of our timetable and scheduling as well as a designer who created the look and logos and everything.

How did you come to work with Fieldtrip?

I really wanted to work with someone local that I could meet with in person. I met with several different options in Louisville and ended up deciding to go with Fieldtrip because they were the most reasonably priced but also seemed like they had the best handle on what they were doing. They really seemed to ‘get’ our project and what we were trying to create, so we decided to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a total of $16,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from June–September 2019.

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

The app actually goes live this week, so we don’t have a ton of user data, but we’ve had beta testers who’ve said that the app itself is the best way to play bridge they’ve ever seen. It looks really good and is extremely user-friendly, so we are very pleased with all of those results. We’re very confident about the eventual reception that it will receive.

How did Fieldtrip perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m not sure what systems they use on the backend, but they always made it very clear where their expected goals for delivery were for both of our teams. We had our own timelines for things that we needed to provide to them, and they made those clear to us as well. Occasionally, we got things to them a little late, but they never delivered after a date that they had promised us. Everything was on time, if not even earlier.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They just felt completely approachable throughout our work with them. It barely even felt like we were business partners because of how smooth our collaboration process always was. Their team clearly shared our goal of creating the best look and feel for the app that we possibly could.

I also really appreciated the close involvement of the owner of their company in our process. That and the level of intensive investigation they did before committing to any of the brand identity and logo work were things I had never experienced before and really impressed upon us how seriously they were taking our project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I really think they did a perfect job. I couldn’t be happier with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just listen and trust the process. This team is made up of experts on what they do and can deliver a great experience and final product to you if you keep an open mind and let them do their magic.