Formulate

Please describe your company and your position there.

Oral Surgery Practice, I am the owner.

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

Name

How did you select this vendor?

Referral by graphic designer

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

Name of practice

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

1 - branding agent

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

I am happy with the name and process. Business is not open yet to determine success.

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

Very good communication and follow through, accessible, thoughtful and responsive.

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

She really spent time to understand what I wanted with my brand and the industry I work in.

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

No

Please describe your company and your position there.

Nvirovate Materials produce the world's only vegetable oil based adhesive portfolio that eliminates petroleum, is compostable, and closed-loop.

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

To develop our brand, investor package and logo.

How did you select this vendor?

Based on their reputation.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

Several iterations of brand/logo development, deck development, business plan.

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

The Founder of Formulate Studios.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Formulate Studios delivered purpose-driven design and brand identity as sharp as the Nvorvate founding team to help them wow investors. The team worked at the intersection of brand impact, business strategy & cost-effectiveness to deliver what was needed: PPT, logo, color palette, graphics, and thought leadership!

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

Timely, excellent communication, creative and excellent follow through.

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

They have the ability to work from minimal direction to proper execution.

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

I would recommend Formulate - I give the group my highest endorsement!

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a non-profit industry association promoting industry education, best practices and networking among peers! I serve on the Management Committee and Chair the Monthly Forum Committee!

For what projects/services did your company hire Formulate?

To modernize our website experience, including content, logo and user experience development.

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

The founder, Michelle, is known and highly regarded in our industry, among others, so the decision was easy. She has a reputation of being especially committed to ensuring complete customer satisfaction.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Michelle and her team reviewed our current website, asked us about our vision, guided us to articulating what was needed and expected, then agreeing on a path forward. Once we agreed on the desired outcome, they worked with our teams internally and created a new website and user experience, which our It specialist was able to implement with relative ease.

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

Michelle was the point person and guided each of our team members according to their required input. This made the process flow efficiently and effectively. Michelle had full control so that we, as volunteers (only our IT and Logistics professionals are hired personnel), were shepperded every step of the way.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Success came in the form of B.O.D. and Management Committee approval. We are a disparate group of professionals. Michelle was able to manage our expectations and get us to realize, through compromise, the common vision we held - and make it a reality reflected through the our new website experience.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Michelle herded us as appropriate to a mostly volunteer team.

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

Michell's willingness to work through our diametrically opposite views as to outcome. She distilled our divergent views into reasonable compromises and delivered the best, mutually agreeable outcomes.

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

They could have done many things differently. However, the result wouldn't have been any better. The challenge for Michelle and her team was to get us to work together, so she could work with us - together, as a cohesive group.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner and we provide outsourced C-Suite and Investment Operations services to asset managers

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

Slide deck and website. Goals were modern look and feel

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

linkedin

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

set goals and objectives, mock ups along the way woth detailed discussions

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

a project manager and a developer

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

state of the art slide deck and website

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

regular communications, they always met the project's requirements.

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

quality of work

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

none

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at an alternative investment boutique.

What challenge were you trying to address with Formulate?

We needed someone who could provide marketing services and design a public interface for the narrative we wanted to share for a new fund we established.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did everything from strategy to the artistic challenges in terms of designing the format and the esthetic of the presentation. Lastly, they directed and focused us on our target audience and how to deliver our message to them.

What is the team composition?

We mainly worked with just one person, but there were a couple of people involved.

How did you come to work with Formulate?

They were warmly referred to us by several entities who stated that Formulate did a great job for them. We just focused on communicating with Formulate and ended up deciding that Michelle (Digital Strategy Director) was our best choice.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent less than $10,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–April 2021.

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

Anecdotal-wise, we’ve been complimented on the clarity and succinctness of our message and the esthetics in terms of the colors and the fonts that we used.

How did Formulate perform from a project management standpoint?

Barring a couple of times where the deliverables were a little bit tardy, they were right on time with the project. I also liked that we just had one interface of communication with them — that allowed us to have an easy flow concerning the project management. The ease of communication and the efficiency of getting everything done was great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The differencing factor was how empathic they were to our needs, desires, and timeframes — they respected that.  They also rectified the tardiness with the deliverables very fast; they even started to hand the deliverables to us before the deadline. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They can make things better by trying to preserve the original message. They’re very creative and they took ownership of the project, but by doing that, sometimes the message can be missed throughout the process.

Any advice for potential customers?

Define the timeline and the deliverables right from the beginning. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of an investment firm with a new fund that needed some impressive marketing materials to begin our marketing campaign.

For what projects/services did your company hire Formulate?

We needed a high quality, well-designed, concise pitchbook to tell our story and describe the benefits of our approach.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted an attractive design, including charts that told our story in an interesting way that were clear and easy to understand.

How did you select Formulate?

Formulate was strongly recommended by another investment firm who had used them successfully on a number of projects.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We had a logo that didn't work and an outline for the pitch that was too long and boring. We had a few charts from a previous pitch that were helpful, but everything needed a new look. We also had limited time and budget, but Formulate was willing and able to jump in and make it happen for us.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with Michelle and she took care of everything for us.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Everyone who sees our pitchbook says it is concise, clear, and compelling. They get what we are trying to do and what differentiates our fund and approach.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective work approach on the project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed with the quality of the design and the distinctive look of the pitchbook.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. Work was timely and responsive and high quality.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner and managing member of Port of Kenai, a wedding and event venue located in the Kenai Peninsula.

For what projects/services did your company hire Formulate?

The situation required Formulate to employ creative problem solving to differentiate our offering from the other event venues in the market. We needed design, copy, web development, and project management.

What were your goals for this project?

Our objective for the project was to construct a website to showcase our one-of-kind location. We wanted to rank in the top page of Google and stand out from the competition.Further, we needed someone to take the creative lead and run with it.

How did you select Formulate?

We selected Formulate through a referral.

Describe the project in detail.

The project entailed a discovery process to assess the competition. Michelle met with stakeholders and photographers to understand the property and take in the digital assets.

She was provided information and was asked to develop content. From there she mocked designs and iterated to a final, then developed the site. The project required soup to nuts messaging to custom design and development.

What was the team composition?

Michelle was our main point of contact. She was readily accessible and made me feel completely comfortable at every step. She has a team behind her but we primarily dealt with her.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Formulate exceeded our expectations for the project, delivering a well-designed site that ranks on page one of Google. Michelle is proactive and made post launch changes, fully meeting our goals and delivering outstanding service.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was smooth and we met every milestone without a hitch. Michelle pretty much walked us through every phase

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Most impressive is how Michelle and the tram at Formulate worked as an extension of our team. We were in good hands and received a custom site that is garnering compliments

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing I can think of. We are extremely pleased.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of business development at a brokerage firm.

What challenge were you trying to address with Formulate?

Our company has been around for 20 years, and we’re undergoing a change of ownership. We’re looking to bring our business to another level in terms of employees, products, and capital infusion into the business. We’re just starting that process.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Michelle (Digital Strategy Director) helped us build our website, which is a significant factor for us. Michelle and her team did everything, from copywriting and formatting to pictures. I gave Michelle about 20 different examples of what I liked from the websites of other brokerage firms that I saw.

Michelle encompassed all of that and put together the website. The project went through a couple of renditions. Michelle improved on the website before coming up with a final version, which we’re very pleased with. 

Michelle also came up with the design font and helped us name the firm. We didn’t have a name picked out yet, and she gave us a couple of options. We narrowed those down and found a name that we like very much.

What is the team composition?

I only work with Michelle, but she might have other people working on the project.

How did you come to work with Formulate?

We do business in conjunction with another registered investment advisor. They had a fairly long relationship with Michelle and Formulate. They referred her to us, and we were very pleased that they did.

How much have you invested with them?

The project size is less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Formulate in October 2020, and we’re still working with them. The website went live last week.

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

The only people that have seen the new website are our employees and so far, it’s been well received.

How did Formulate perform from a project management standpoint?

Michelle is great. She called me whenever there was a deadline and returned my calls within a half-hour, no matter what time of day it was. She came up with her own great, independent ideas and bounced them off of us. She was totally accessible and even made a trip out to us. She was absolutely great — I couldn’t speak more highly of Formulate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Michelle’s hands-on approach separates them from other providers. She picked up the phone and walked me through my questions. She usually had a better vision than me, and she always explained why she did certain things to help me understand.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so. I’ve built websites with other companies, and I don’t think Michelle could’ve done anything differently. I didn’t feel anything was missing.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Tell Michelle what your vision is, and let her come back to you. Don’t try to do what she does — she does it well. Let her come to you with what she thinks makes the most sense, and start from there.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Founder & CEO of Jackalope. We're a small team with big aspirations of fighting unemployment and underemployment by bolstering the Gig Economy and making it easier for gig workers to be their own bosses and work smarter, not harder. I started out with the vision alone and needed help to bring it to life.

For what projects/services did your company hire Formulate?

I had some branding concepts and simple mock-ups of what I envisioned to be core features but very little experience in full-scale UI/UX design. I hired Formulate to take these ideas and turn them into fully-fledged app screens with a cohesive user flow.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create an elegant, yet powerful, platform, capable of being scaled fast and wide.

How did you select Formulate?

I had been browsing portfolios and case studies for weeks to find a company whose quality of work was consistent and whose style was sleek and modern. I connected with Formulate on LinkedIn, was impressed by their portfolio, set up a meeting, was presented a very accommodating scope of work and estimate, and never looked back.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we had a contract in place, I brought them into my company's Slack to better manage files and communication. We set deadlines, worked through numerous revisions and built each feature and the entire user flow from the ground up. Once we had all the screens designed, they continued to help implement and respond to pressing needs as we worked with our developers to bring the app to life.

What was the team composition?

Initially, it was just me overseeing both the design and development with Formulate and our development agency via our Slack channel and weekly calls. Formulate's Digital Strategy Director acted as our design project manager and our sole point of contact for design needs. When I brought on a UI/UX intern, she was able to slot in and work alongside Formulate to provide additional resources.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Within three months since our initial launch on the App Store on iOS, our organic acquisition, user retention and bounce rate are all beating the forecasts by a fair margin. Users are spending time in the app and it is evident that they are getting a lot of value out of the functionality that Formulate helped design from the ground up.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was consistent, schedules were maintained, and updates were frequent as we progressed. Plugging right into our Slack, Formulate made it easy to streamline the workflow.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was very impressed by Formulate's willingness and ability to step in at such an early stage to take the concepts I presented and run with them to design a world-class app. Our brand as a whole was elevated and modernized thanks to Formulate.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Small things, like adhering to external partner's guidelines was something we ran into, but after a couple iterations to resolve the issues, I'm confident it wouldn't get in the way again.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a hedge fund.

What challenge were you trying to address with Formulate?

We commissioned them to provide branding services.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided a variety of services including a new website, copywriting, and marketing collateral. They pinpointed our value propositions after talking to our shareholders and brought a new sense of creativity to our brand. Over the past several years, they’ve put together four marketing decks. 

They’re also doing another website right now for our sister company. 

What is the team composition?

I have one main point of contact, Michelle (Digital Strategy Director). 

How did you come to work with Formulate?

When I started my firm, Michelle was working for one of the allocators that I was managing money for. I got to know her that way and eventually decided to reach out to her. 

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent between $50,000–$200,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Michelle about five years ago, and our relationship is ongoing. 

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

The marketing materials that they put together helped me raise a decent amount of money in the early stages of my company. I got positive feedback on my branding. I think it was very powerful. 

How did Formulate perform from a project management standpoint?

They have strong project management skills. The work is always thorough, and it’s delivered on time. Michelle has never been late. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They love what they do, and the passion shows through in their work. I’ve referred Formulate to multiple people because I’m so happy with the relationship. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

No, I’m really happy overall. I appreciate the creativity that she brings to my business. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Make Formulate feel like part of the team and allow them to work creatively.