Frederick Swanston

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the former brand strategy and advertising manager for the Metro Health System of Cleveland, Ohio.

What challenge were you trying to address with Frederick Swanston?

They were our agency of record for three years, and we assigned several projects to them.

What was the scope of their involvement?

All the projects we did with them built upon one another. They researched our consumers and uncovered key insights that influenced our brand platform. We identified and articulated our position and messaging, which led to a compelling, believable brand image. That established a firm foundation for the steady growth of our key metrics, and they made sure our brand standards were consistent across our logos, fonts, and anything else that made up our image.

We had a collaborative relationship with them, but certainly, let them take the lead in a lot of ways. We considered them an extension of our marketing team, and they were very well positioned to provide us with all the tools and resources we needed to be successful.

What is the team composition?

We had two account managers who worked very closely with us. One had a background in healthcare and was a good peer to our senior vice president at the time. We also had a creative lead, and one of the company owners was very involved.

How did you come to work with Frederick Swanston?

As a public hospital, we search every few years through a public bid. They submitted a bid in 2014 to become our advertising agency of record, which we accepted.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $3 million–$4.5 million throughout a three-year engagement with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from the first quarter of 2014 to the first or second quarter of 2017.

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

We saw small, but very steady growth in several key metrics, including brand awareness, recall, and preference. Our first campaigns focused on vocal advocates who believe that our institution was worthy of support. That campaign yielded significant increases in consumer awareness and support of our master facilities plan and other transformative projects. The second campaign focused on shifting our image and position as a company that keeps people healthy. That yielded statistically significant increases above baseline scores on seven attributes we measured specific to those campaign messages.

How did Frederick Swanston perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very strong project managers, perhaps the best I’ve ever seen. They were very well-organized and made a good team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They took time to get to know our brand, and personally dedicated themselves to our strategy. We’re an underdog in our market, and they did a great job developing strategies and creative options that helped us stand out and outthink our competition.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve their media strategy. Our placement was strong, and things continued to grow exponentially in the digital space, but we had to be very careful with our spending. Stronger recommendations would have expanded our sphere of influence.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They always challenged me to provide constructive criticism, and we had a very open collaboration. If you keep the lines of communication open and provide them with the information they need, they will serve you well.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Kolter Homes is a homebuilding company that serves the Southeast region of United States. I'm the VP of Marketing, so I oversee various advertising and marketing activities.

What challenge were you trying to address with Frederick Swanston?

We were starting a new active adult community. We were looking for a vendor to lead our brand awareness and advertising campaigns to help us reach an active adult market and other regional homebuyers.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a media buying campaign, the purpose of which was to interest the community in buying homes. They've also worked with us on branding development, overseeing both the tradition media and the digital marketing side. They’ve helped us build some microsites and landing pages for email campaigns, providing recommendations and assisting with the coding. We now maintain those sites internally. In addition, they’ve provided footage for our videos, edited them, and marketed them across various channels. Their artists design and oversee the production of collateral for us: they create floor plan inserts, brochures, location maps, and displays for our sales office.

What is the team composition?

We have three primary points of contact and we also work with a design team, a digital team, and a media buying team.

How did you come to work with them?

One of our project directors worked with them previously.

How much have you invested with them?

This information is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2012 and the project is ongoing.

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

About two years ago, we had a number of active adult communities that were all marketing and advertising themselves independently. There was no feel of a collective adult brand. Last year was our first year when we ran the collective active adult campaign Frederick Swanston helped us develop, which included everything from outdoor billboards to digital advertising and call-to-action campaigns. It was very effective and we saw a 40% increase in our online inquiries. We're hoping this year's campaign will be even more effective.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

We have monthly or quarterly calls with them to discuss the status of the project, the client's feedback, and Google analytics. We're constantly developing more effective and efficient ways to handle the project. They're extremely accessible by email and phone. Besides, they're responsive to our feedback and go above and beyond to meet our needs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Truly invested in our success, they've become part of our team. I never feel they're doing it for the sake of billable hours. Besides, they're very creative and have a solid strategic approach.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything. Their work is solid on all fronts and their team spirit is great.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an 115-bed privately owned non-profit hospital. I am the director of marketing and community outreach.

What challenge were you trying to address with Frederick Swanston?

We were facing some community perception issues and were looking for an agency which could help us convey a different image. We wanted to show that we are not just a community hospital that people visit when they're really sick, but rather a community health partner.

We also wanted to relay the fact that we've been a part of the community since 1939, but we have evolved beyond the small-town hospital of that time. We have much more services to offer the community now and the advanced technology that is found in larger establishments but with a small-town feel. The goal was always to change community perception and grow volume.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Frederick Swanston is our agency of record, providing market research interviews and studies within our community. These were both man-on-the-street interviews, as well as interviews with key community leaders, in order to understand our perception and hear what the community wanted from a hospital. This helped us craft an appropriate message which resonated.

Frederick Swanston underwent a full campaign development, including new branding and logo designs. We have worked this into key service line initiatives. Frederick Swanston has also handled the production of commercials for our hospital, and the design of brochures for our sales team working with our secondary market. We are also working on website design and development. 

How did you come to work with Frederick Swanston?

I was looking for a new agency, and I wanted one which would have a good fit with our hospital or one which had had success within community hospital settings. Frederick Swanston had a few case studies for hospitals in smaller rural communities similar to ours. They had had great success, so I included them in our request for proposal. We found that Frederick Swanston was the right fit for our community and organization after meeting them on site. Frederick Swanston would be a perfect complement to what we had in place.

How much have you invested with Frederick Swanston?

The cost of Frederick Swanston's services has been around $150,000 in 2016.

I've always worked with smaller agencies. The expense may have seemed lower, but I find Frederick Swanston's cost to be reasonable based on the amount of work we've gotten.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Frederick Swanston in March 2016, and the work is ongoing. 

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We monitor growth metrics, which can include admissions, market share, and so on. Our admissions have gone up by 10% year over year, while our market share has increased by about 2%. These numbers are attributable to many factors, Frederick Swanston's work being one of them.

We have started relaying the message from our marketing campaign to our actual patient encounters, making sure that each one would be exceptional. When the campaign first launched, we received many comments from the community saying that it was excellent. It takes something which seems daunting and overwhelming, like living a healthy lifestyle, and makes it something manageable, taking it one step at a time. People have said that this is the best health-issue campaign they have seen.

Hospital visitors are saying that we aren't the same hospital they remember. Changing our messaging and actually living it has certainly helped change the community’s perception.

How did Frederick Swanston perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a small internal team, so Frederick Swanston has helped keep me on-task, beyond just staying on-task on their end. We have a weekly status meeting going over every project on the list, taking care of any open ends. Each project stays on the list until it's completely closed, which is phenomenal.

What did you find most impressive about Frederick Swanston?

Frederick Swanston is easy to work with. Our communication, although business-oriented, is very conversational. We work as a team. Instead of Frederick Swanston giving me things to sign-off on, they work with my ideas and feedback. More than anything, Frederick Swanston is an extension of our hospital's marketing department. We have come together in order to make the best possible product.

Are there any areas Frederick Swanston could improve?

I can't think of anything.

Please describe your company and your position there.

North Point Hospitality Group is a hotel development and management company with 13 hotels in the southeast. I oversee the marketing and communications for all locations.

For what projects/services did your company hire Frederick Swanston?

We wanted to create a new logo for our company as well as build a new site.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to update the look of our logo while ensuring that its integrity remained intact. Additionally, we sought resources to build a new site.

How did you select this vendor?

We bid on several agencies based on research and word of mouth recommendations before choosing Frederick Swanston.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Beyond providing an updated logo, they designed and implemented our site.

What was the team composition?

Their agency collaborated with our internal stakeholders including myself, the vice president, and the EVP.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Since launching the new site, we’ve seen our numbers increase. Not only did we meet all metric goals, we exceeded our expectations.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project was highly organized and efficient. We could easily share files and information between teams, and the project was completed accurately and on time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their organization and structure paired with their creative ideas and suggestions led to a successful partnership.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I can’t think of anything. We continue to utilize them for other projects and have an ongoing relationship with the team.