The Frameworks

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former director of global brand marketing communications at Dematic, an industrial technology company that offers supply chain and material-handling equipment solutions.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Frameworks?

We wanted to make new content that was different, more interactive, and market-leading.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Frameworks provided us with content creation and a messaging strategy. We started with a discovery phase for them to understand what we wanted to accomplish. They worked with four distinct project phases: think, frame, make, and work. First, we had a discussion and wrote a brief together. 

From there, they went on to the thinking phase; they presented options to solve the problem within the budget and timeframe. Then, during the framing phase, they did research externally, including the customer’s voice. They also did internal research with our subject matter experts (SMEs) and key stakeholders. At the end of the framing phase, they presented a proposal. 

The team produced content for our website, which involved an interactive tool. This tool collected information from our customers that we would present to our sellers to reduce the sales cycle. We also gave the information to our solution development team to enable proactivity. The Frameworks produced the material, and we integrated it into our marketing framework. 

Later they helped us with a messaging strategy. They researched our vertical markets and customers and put the information into a sales enablement tool. We could put four inputs into the tool, which would output messaging for a particular vertical market or customer. The Frameworks created all the content and copy that went into that tool, which we used to train sellers and create marketing content.

What is the team composition?

We worked with an account director, two marketing strategists, Chris (Partner, BD & Digital), and another account handler located in Detroit. 

How did you come to work with The Frameworks?

The Frameworks approached our VP of marketing with some really good content they had created for another client in a similar industry. Their outreach generated the conversation that started our engagement. 

We chose The Frameworks due to their prior experience and because it was very clear how they would structure the project. Talking to the team, we could tell they had deep expertise beyond what we’d seen with other creative agencies. We trusted that they could take complex organizations and industries like ours and make something different from the competition.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April 2020–December 2021.

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

We measured The Frameworks’ success through interaction on the website; the interactive tool generated traffic and conversions. As a result, we reduced our sales cycle and increased our pipeline with marketing-captured leads and marketing-qualified leads. Moreover, we were able to convert some of that pipeline to opportunities and orders. Qualitatively, the customers the tool attracted were targeted costumes. 

As for the messaging strategy, the content The Frameworks delivered was awesome. 

How did The Frameworks perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was solid due to their four-step process and timelines. The account director would be on every call and ensure that meetings were recorded to keep track of outcomes or changes. As a result, there wasn’t scope creep. While they may have used project management tools, we used Excel spreadsheets internally to keep track of the project. 

Although we weren’t on an external deadline, we gave our internal stakeholders a date for the launch, and many things depended on that date. The Frameworks enabled us to meet those deadlines, positively impacting the downstream effects. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Frameworks delivered beyond the expectations of other agencies because of their digital expertise. The team also had great strategic skills; they quickly understood what we were trying to deliver, our audience, and what was important to them. They could work with complex internal teams; they built relationships with our stakeholders quickly to help with subsequent projects. 

When The Frameworks interviewed our SMEs, they did so efficiently and professionally. Moreover, they managed the project well; they had experience with high-technology B2B companies and large organizations, so they were very clear about what would happen and when. 

The Frameworks could make digital elements come to life to create content that resonated with customers differently, resulting in a better marketing experience. Good UX and customer experience were two of our differentiations, and The Frameworks helped us deliver on them. Additionally, they were very well-priced; although their services were expensive, the value we got for our investment was beyond our expectations. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was nothing they needed to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As with any other marketing agency, I advise you to get to know the team you’ll work with and be a good client. Understanding what makes a good client is important, such as having regular meetings and making all your inquiries at the same time — it helps to have a touchpoint. The Frameworks helped build the structure to make the project work and make our time effective.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We design, develop and implement nature-based projects which generate carbon credits fro sale to the voluntary carbon market. We also take these credits to the market, supporting customers with marketing and sales materials and thought leadership in environmental services. I am one of the two founding Directors.

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

To examine our brand and to explore ways to expand the brand into a global platform to expand our potential for achieving impact in the nature-based solutions space.

How did you select this vendor?

I was connected to The Frameworks by a friend.

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

The Frameworks designed a comprehensive brand exploration process, followed by a strategic process to create a new brand which captured the founders' vision and ambition for creating new ways to value nature and natural ecosystems around the world.

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

7 people worked principally with us. One was a partner, two were writers, two designers and two were administrators.

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

The creation of a completely new brand identity for the global entity was achieved within the year long project, and has provided the company with a powerful platform from which we can create and expand business products and extend our thought leadership in the nature-based solutions space.

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

Their team was critical to keeping us on schedule, resulting in concrete milestones throughout the process. Clear steps were outlined at each weekly cadence meeting, with expected outputs identified and the contributions expected of our team for each one clarified and followed up on regularly. short presentations of both interim and final materials were a common feature of the weekly sessions, making progress towards outputs visible and easily digestible.

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

The attention to timeliness and detail were impressive, but most of all the ability to deploy creative team members to thinking about and ultimately framing the complex space in which we work as a company was the most important aspect of how The Frameworks went about delivering on the contract.

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

Turnaround on a few deliverables was slower than expected, perhaps linked to the specialist content being handled.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I lead the Group Corporate Affairs team which delivers our company's communications, employee engagement, brand, events and culture strategy.

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

We have worked with The Frameworks on a number of projects since 2020 including the creation of new Our vision

How did you select this vendor?

Frameworks team were referred to us by

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

Over the past two years, the team conducted a series of interviews with management, employees, industry partners and clients to understand the essence of our shared culture and the unique value of the Group's different client-facing businesses.

These insights were used to develop the following deliverables: - Differentiated brand positioning for the Group's specialty businesses - New brand identity for the Group's reinsurance business - A brand manifesto/corporate narrative for Ardonagh Group - A new corporate website for Ardonagh Group - A new website for Ardonagh's company charity

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

Two partners - James and Ben - were heavily involved across all stages of our projects, they understand our company direction and culture intimately now and this is invaluable in drawing out the relevant insights for the different projects we worked on throughout the past two years. Additionally, we worked closely and consistently with members of the Creative/Strategy team, Design, Digital/Web team on various stages of our projects.

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

The feedback from deliverables from our initial project has garnered repeat business over the past two years.

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

Our Group is in a constant state of growth and evolution, acquiring new businesses nearly every month over the past two years. This means there are a lot of unknowns, shifting priorities and nuances that influence the pace and approach of brand and communications activity. Everything we do needs to consider multiple future scenarios.

The Frameworks team have understood and adapted to this throughout our relationship. For project management, they have been able to ramp up and down dependent on diversity of project sponsors and their expectations and I have been impressed and grateful for their agility and the team's ability to work within and around our other internal priorities.

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

The Frameworks team delivers solutions with intelligence, elegance, and quality that I rarely encounter with other agencies. For good reason, the businesses and leadership teams in our group are often wary and weary of overengineered marketing and brand activity. The outputs delivered by this team are always measured, well considered and ultimately play back how our teams want to see themselves represented, without the unnecessary fluff or rationale.

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

Grateful for their flexibility as we continue to scale certain priorities and deliverables up and down and only request is for this to continue!

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager for a healthcare systems and components manufacturer in the UK. One of the key things we do is provide products for radiotherapy systems for cancer care.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Frameworks?

We needed help with our marketing strategy, including support with exhibitions, news articles, presentations, and brochures. Overall, we needed help with the strategy behind promoting our products and the technology developments we were bringing to the market.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Frameworks has helped us implement various marketing strategies. They’ve also supported us with branding across our manufacturing area, including the colors and designs of presentations and artwork for exhibitions. Currently, they’re pushing the same branding across some of our manufacturing areas.

They’ve helped us with a new microsite, which is a page that comes off our main website specifically for our part of the company. The Frameworks has done the design and wording behind it; they help us communicate the right message to our customers. They’ve also worked on social media, mainly on LinkedIn, our leading platform. Additionally, they’ve written news articles and worked with our in-house marketing team on a corporate level. They use Figma as their key technology. 

What is the team composition?

We work with the design director, strategy director, one of the partners, a developer, and a copywriter. In total, we’ve worked with eight people across different areas.

How did you come to work with The Frameworks?

I found them through an association of design and content marketing companies. I explained what we were looking for, and they gave me a list of service providers; The Frameworks was one of them. 

Since we had a specific project, I put together a brief and contacted several marketing and design agencies. Through our procurement process, we interviewed various companies. The Frameworks and another agency presented, but we selected The Frameworks.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in February 2018, and it’s still ongoing.

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

We’ve had more customer traffic and engagement thanks to the various social media posts and news articles, which have also appeared on our LinkedIn posts. With the exhibitions, the messaging and design have looked much better than what we’ve done in the past. We’ve also had many positive comments from people and more engagement with those exhibitions. Overall, they’ve been instrumental in developing our company’s branding.

How did The Frameworks perform from a project management standpoint?

We usually work out the scope of the project and deliverables and then have regular meetings with them. We might set up a specific meeting to guide the project forward and ensure the right people are engaged, but we also tend to have a weekly catch-up meeting with one of the partners to ensure everything is moving ahead as we want. If we need to discuss anything, we can set up other meetings as required for each project.

We use Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and in-person meetings for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, their level of professionalism is outstanding. The Frameworks has an excellent way of engaging with us and understanding what we want to do. Then, they turn that into a marketing strategy. From the design side, they take our ideas and turn them into great branding and design. 

Moreover, we’ve worked with them for a few years, and they’ve learned about our technology, customers, and marketplaces, which takes time. The Frameworks has a good appreciation of what we do, so we don’t have to go back to square one every time we start a project. We also have lots of assets we can reuse.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t know what they could improve; we’ve been happy with what they’ve done. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to have your ideas ready and be clear about what you want. However, be open about their ideas because that’s what you’re asking them to do. Being clear about your goals is absolutely critical, but allow them to bring their expertise to the project; it’ll add something different to what you thought.