GMLV

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for SUEZ, a global environmental services company. I work in New York, and we specialize in treating drinking water. I’m a senior conservation program specialist and my job falls under external affairs and communications.

What challenge were you trying to address with GMLV?

We hired GMLV to be our design partner. Their goal was to create the deliverables we need to visually communicate with our external customers digitally or in traditional media.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I’ve been with the company for almost four years and GMLV has helped me with bringing bill inserts to life. In that process, I create a Microsoft Word document where I state the image or design I’m looking for. Then, the team follows the company’s brand guidelines and develops deliverables that align with our standards. 

They also provide direct mail services, and they create digital ads, newspaper publications, print publications, and more. On top of that, they’re our partner for Gooogle PPC ads which we started in late 2019.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with GMLV’s account managers, creative director, VP, and art director. There's also another individual who’s copied on our correspondences who I equate to as the backup in case our point of contact is not available.

How did you come to work with GMLV?

My director had an existing relationship with GMLV, which was known as The Byne Group. We chose them because they were located 15 minutes away from our office. That way, we could easily meet them in person and brainstorm together.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent close to $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in June 2017, and it’s ongoing.

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

GMLV has consistently met our brand standards. More often than not, every time they design something, we only have few comments. We’ve also been used to being a partner that provides the writing and creative concepts, but when we started working with them, the team is already doing a great job doing those work. 

I don’t have analytics on their success, but I’m confident that GMLV knows our brand. Furthermore, whenever they see that our metrics are going down, they reach out to us and discuss ways on how we can refresh our strategies going forward. 

How did GMLV perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is great. We have regular cadence meetings; we never go too long with something lingering. Believe it or not, a lot of my external partners don’t send a standard email agenda prior to the meeting so it means a lot to me that GLMV does that. 

One time, we’re scattered and got a call from GMLV — we’ve been impressed that they have a list of our ongoing projects. They also have a section for projects on hold.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're efficient and organized. Above all, GMLV has great people on their team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Since GMLV specializes in graphic design, I’d love their support in the brainstorming or creative content perspective process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get the same account managers as our company, and make sure you’re aligned with how you handle revisions. In our experience, we’ve had a new person join the company and GMLV reached out to ask how that person likes to send and receive information. That way, excellent collaboration will be possible.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager for a hospital.

What challenge were you trying to address with GMLV (formerly The Byne Group)?

We needed help with ad placements, digital asset creation, and site management.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked with GMLV on a variety of projects. One of which is managing one of our sites. Whenever we have new doctors, the team helps us create their profiles by uploading their photos and biographies. Similarly, whenever we set up new practices, they create dedicated pages that feature certain information. Additionally, they’ve worked with us on layouts for our doctor listings and patient booklets for our various departments.

Furthermore, GMLV works with us on our ad placements. Their efforts encompass all digital advertising we do across the web and our traditional advertising in newspapers and magazines. We start these projects by giving the team our input on how and where we want to advertise.

They’ve also designed some stationery, including business cards, envelopes, and letterheads. In addition, the GMLV team has created several logos and branding materials for the hospital’s centers. Another thing they’ve helped us with is our large-scale events, for which they design various collateral. Furthermore, they act as liaisons between third-party videographers and our patients who want to do testimonials.

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with Melissa (VP & Creative Director) and Diana (Art Director), who handle our day-to-day needs. We’ve also worked with Lizanne (Digital Strategist) and Loretta (Partner). 

How did you come to work with GMLV (formerly The Byne Group)?

Our senior director of marketing and PR found them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2016, and it’s ongoing.

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

Thanks to GMLV’s work, our ads have been performing on industry average. We’re happy with the results — before working with the team, our performance was usually below-average. Furthermore, we’re delighted with the designs they’ve produced. They always come back to us with really great material.

How did GMLV (formerly The Byne Group) perform from a project management standpoint?

The GMLV team definitely meets our deadlines — in fact, most of the time, they deliver early. They’re also very responsive and always ready to help us with all our needs. We communicate daily through email or phone calls. We also have standing meetings sometimes. However, we forego it if we’re busy or there’s no need for it. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve been working together for so long that we're confident in their ability to fulfill our vision. The team is also very accessible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could provide some new, fresh ideas when it comes to ads.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Explain in detail what you need and the deliverables you require.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of business development and marketing for a law firm.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Byne Group?

We hired The Byne Group because we were trying to translate our business value proposition to our clients. We needed collateral materials to display at our events and capture people’s interest in our company’s services.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave them our detailed set of requirements at the start, and they worked to produce these creative assets for our booth at an event. For example, they created a backdrop and tablecloth to display. They also produced custom coffee cups and inserts to place within our brochures that gave specific testimonials about our services. Their team was also responsible for producing a new tagline for us, which we’ve had trademarked.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a team of 3–4 people from their company. A creative director, marketing strategist, art director, and, initially, a few principals from The Byne Group supported us.  

How did you come to work with The Byne Group?

When looking for a team, I knew we needed someone with traditional marketing experience but also expertise in producing collateral. I found The Byne Group online, and they were one of three companies that received a request for quotation (RFQ) from us. Their robust background in this area was displayed on their website, which led to us selecting them. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May–October 2019. 

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

The feedback we’ve received on the collateral has been tremendous. People view it very favorably and positively. Their work has essentially become the centerpiece of our materials, so we’re fortunate that we have something so great to share with current and potential clients. 

How did The Byne Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They were incredibly responsive. We primarily spoke through email and phone on a regular basis. If anything went off track, they were quick to communicate with us, which was fantastic. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their work was creative, detail-oriented, and they were truly accommodating whenever our needs changed. Not every project goes without a hitch but, when something did arise, they responded quickly to get everything back on track. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I honestly can’t think of anything for them to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Providing very specific information back and forth was helpful. Work in tandem with them, not against them. It’d be helpful to view them as a part of your extended team—that’s how we had our success with The Byne Group. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We oversee land reclamation projects. I'm the vice president of regulatory strategy.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Byne Group?

We are a highly technical firm, but we lack the capacity to do certain essential IT tasks. We wanted a team that could assist with website development, social media, and other types of IT services.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They customized our website, designed a fact sheet, and wrote a press release for us. The work they did on our website was critically important. We were entering a very public process, and our ability to communicate directly with the public was essential. We needed as much control of our message as possible, and their work on the website was valuable. The work they will do on our social media is also crucial. They will help with our accounts in the future to present the most accurate representation of our work.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of four or five, led by one principal contact.

How did you come to work with The Byne Group?

They came highly recommended, and they have a presence that is local to the project we're working on. We came to them through two recommendations, and we were satisfied with their past performance on other projects.

How much have you invested with them?

Give or take, we've spent around $10,000, maybe a little more.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from February-May 2019.

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

The results are very positive. The website is up and running, and it looks great. Once the review process for the project is complete, their work will become very important and the functionality will rise dramatically. We're very pleased with the product, and the fact sheet and website are tremendous.

How did The Byne Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated regularly, and they understood our limitations. We're a small firm and are involved in several demanding projects. Consequently, I don't have a lot of bandwidth, but they were patient and reached out regularly. They kept me on task and were sensitive to my limitations. It would be great to spend more time on every step, but they took it upon themselves to compensate for any gaps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're a boutique shop, and they're very easy to work with. The process was painless and enjoyable, and we have two more projects we plan to do with them in the future.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't have any significant improvements for them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I've worked with a lot of other contractors, but we've had nothing but a positive experience. They will complete your project in a timely manner and will do everything they promise. I do have more experience in branding and messaging than some of their clients, and I was very particular about certain things. They will allow the project to go where you need it to go, and you don't need to take any special efforts with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director at a senior living community called the Esplanade at Palisades. We’re an independent, family-owned and operated community for people aged 62 and over. Our organization provides an array of amenities for residents who want to downsize from their homes or are just looking for day-to-day socialization.

What challenge were you trying to address with the Byne Group?

When I joined my role, I saw various rebranding opportunities, the most obvious being our logo. The previous one was about 16 years old and was too dated; it no longer represented who we were. Our print collateral also featured outdated information for services that we no longer offered. As a result, we needed resources to not only update our logo but also our marketing assets.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Byne Group led our rebranding campaign, creating various marketing pieces and refreshing our image. Initially, they redesigned our logo to have a timeless look that better represented our organization. They then created new marketing assets and ensured that the information was up to date. This included print brochures, letterheads, photos, and two ads. Finally, they helped us copyright several of our pieces and made sure that our image was consistent across all of our materials.

What is the team composition?

I primarily worked with two main points of contact, but, as a whole, it was a full-team effort. During the photo shoot, even the owner came down to work with us.

How did you come to work with the Byne Group?

Because our industry is so unique, we wanted to find a vendor that really understood the senior living community and us as a company. As it so happened, their owner’s mother-in-law lives with us, so they had firsthand experience of our organization from both a personal and business perspective. It was a perfect match.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work lasted from January–October 2017.

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

We’re currently working on gathering hard metrics, so we don’t have any on hand. However, from a qualitative standpoint, we’ve received positive feedback at trade shows. The artwork and visuals attracted visitors to our table, and people complimented our brochure and logo.

How did the Byne Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Their account manager kept us organized throughout the project. After every meeting, she would send us an outline of our discussion and remind of us our next steps. She went beyond expectations to helps us remain focused. The project took a bit longer than we thought it would, but this was due to delays on our end. We needed to mull things over and meet internally, and they were happy to accommodate our schedule.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated how hands-on they were. We interacted with personnel from every level of their company. Even the owner stepped in to share some of her experience and expertise, which helped move the project along when we were in a standstill.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. I don’t think they could have done anything differently. In fact, we had such a positive experience that we decided to keep them on contract to do creative work for future advertisements.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re going to hire them, really trust them to do their work. They’re professionals and know exactly what they’re doing.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the executive director of a trade organization.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Byne Group?

Our existing website was dated and very unwieldy to update. We hired The Byne Group to improve the website both aesthetically and in terms of functionality. I needed the ability to do minor updates on my own in real time without having to go back to the agency.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, I provided them with a creative brief. We had a kickoff phone call to define our objectives for the site, and its look and feel. I specifically asked for the backend to use WordPress, which I'm able to update without knowing how to code.

It's primarily an informational site, rather than transactional. They gave the platform a facelift and improved navigation. All of our content remained the same, but it looks a lot fresher. They created a module that converts PDFs into a word documents so search engines can pick up individual words for SEO purposes.

What is the team composition?

My primary contact was Julia Light. We worked with one creative, two people from the web group, and back office accounting staff.

How did you come to work with The Byne Group?

I've known Julia Light professionally for years from working in the same industry in New York City. I was set on using them, as long as they could accomplish our goals within the allocated budget. Having seen some of their other sites and based on our prior working relationship, I was confident they could deliver. It felt much more comfortable than randomly picking a company where I didn't know anyone.

What is the status of this engagement?

When I approached them in October 2016, I asked if they could finish the project by January 2017. Delays arose from our end, and we took nine months longer than we thought. That had nothing to do with The Byne Group. We wrapped up the project in October 2017.

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

Our entire board is pleased with the aesthetics of the new site. It's easier to navigate now, and much more user friendly. Our old site required users to click up to four times to arrive at a certain page. Improved navigation makes content much easier to access, via just one or two clicks.

How did The Byne Group perform from a project management standpoint?

The team was on top of the project the whole way, and met all the deadlines. Content was slow coming from our end, but they were very diligent about following up. Most of my interactions were with Julia Light. Usually, I sent feedback in writing and followed up with a phone call. They were always very receptive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They showed extraordinary patience in waiting for their client to provide information they needed to move on to the next stage.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were some communication issues between the buying and web groups where emails were missed. At one point, I had to request a couple passwords twice, and search through a bunch of emails to find it so I could proceed.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the executive director and administrative head of the Historical Society of Rockland County, a non-profit organization that serves as the main repository for collecting, exhibiting, and educating the residents of Rockland about our county's history.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Byne Group?

We wanted to begin building a new identity as a central location for people to get information about Rockland County history and how they can locate historical resources, such as other museums and sites for themselves.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked with us to develop a new identity brochure that involved creating or modifying our logo, putting together graphics of our programs, and working closely with our county's tourism department to coordinate the design with the driving map that they already make.

They helped us to choose graphics, reword the text, figure out exactly what we needed to say to get our message across, and to print the brochure so that we could distribute it widely. I supplied the content. It was a modification of the brochure we already had in place. They made some wonderful suggestions for punching that up and fine-tuning it. We now do the promotion and distribution of the brochures.

How did you come to work with The Byne Group?

I chose them after looking at 3 different graphic design firms within Rockland County. We wanted to stay in the county. They came highly recommended by the county Tourism Department, and I had heard many good things from other clients of theirs.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent about $3,500 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in June 2017 and we completed the project in September 2017.

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

Everybody that has seen the brochure to and we've distributed it to tells us it looks great, clear, and says what we needed to say. For example, we had visitors from Minnesota come in looking for a way to get around in Rockland and they didn't know where to go. Being able to give them the new brochure alongside the driving map gave them a plan for their day. That's one instance where it worked really well.

How did The Byne Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They're a pleasure to work with: lovely people, and very professional. They were fantastic at deadlines and being responsive to us. They're also very good at keeping on me to keep the deadlines, which is more of an issue.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The reason that we went to them in the first place was that they are a local company and they are working with a lot of organizations. They know the community, and we found that expertise really helpful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the general manager of The Thayer Hotel at West Point. We are a full-service hotel located on the Hudson River. We’re a boutique, historic property.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Byne Group?

We had won a grant from the state of New York for marketing to drive regional tourism to the area. Our goal was to drive overnight stays at our hotel by raising awareness to corporate clients and groups, our venue as a wedding location to future brides and grooms, and for transient leisure travelers.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We met with them several times and talked through what our goals were. They looked at the collateral that had at the time. We talked through some of our challenges to reaching those different groups and markets and how we currently approach it. They gave us ideas on what would be the best approach. They gave us several options. Once we settled on the overall theme, we started to work through the details of what each of the copies would look like.

They came up with the campaign that was to be used on billboards throughout the Tri-state area, as well as on Metro-North train advertising and ferry advertising. They were responsible for the design and the photography. The ads were placed on 4 major billboards. They were placed on I-95, the West Side Highway, I-80 and I-84. On Metro-North, they went to over 110 digital platforms. They also did a couple different ferry ones. The ferry platform ones were not digital, but the ones on the ferry were digital. We did some mobile geo-targeting. They helped design what that ad would look like within the app that they were projected on. They also designed the landing page for the app.

What is the team dynamic?

We had 1-point person, but every time that we met with them, the team came. Daily communication was with the project manager on their side. The meetings where we were doing creative, we had about 3 or 4 people that would come.

How did you come to work with The Byne Group?

We searched online. We had several folks in for interviews to go over what we were looking for. They were selected as number 1 of about 6 that we interviewed.

How much have you invested with them?

$30,000-$40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2017 until June 2017. We are working with them now with additional advertising.

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

They were a great partner. We’re working with them again with some additional advertising. We’re going to use them again if we win the grant again next year.

How did The Byne Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent. We were in contact with them every day on the whole project. They came to us every time that we met, and we were on the phone with them multiple times because of a tight timeline that we had. We worked together even on the weekends. They were very available. They met every deliverable date.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really listened to us and took what we were saying and came up with great options. Although we chose one, every option they gave us, at each step of the process, were all great options.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not a single thing.

Do you have any advice for a potential client of The Byne Group?

Looking at a resource like Clutch.co would have been good so we could get additional feedback. They provided some of their references, but we didn’t look at any external resources. Had we done that, it would have given us more peace of mind going into the project because we’d never used an ad agency before. They’re excellent. I’m really glad it turned out that way.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a steering committee member of Impact100 Essex, a membership-run philanthropic organization of women.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Byne Group?

We needed a logo designed pro-bono since we’re a nonprofit. We also needed it soon because we wanted to reveal it at our launch event the next month.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Designing the logo was the main project. When The Byne Group started, they met with me and another member to assess our organization, our desired message, our objectives, and the overall look and feel of the logo and its intended impact. From there, they established a timeline so we could all be on the same page. If they ever hit a snag, they would ask for our input to make sure they were correctly interpreting the purpose of our organization.

The whole process was very smooth. They provided three logo options, in black and white, and then we chose which we liked best. After that, they came up with a few colored options, and we selected the final design.

How did you come to work with The Byne Group?

A mutual colleague referred us.

How much have you invested with them?

They worked pro-bono.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from August to September of this year.

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

They did a great job understanding our organization and translating that into the logo. People in the organization love it. 

How did The Byne Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very open about the process and how it all worked. I’d never worked with a company like this before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but they were professional, good communicators, and good listeners. They created a fantastic product in a short amount of time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their work exceeded our goals and expectations; they were organized and clear the whole time. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There's nothing they could have done differently. They did a perfect job.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our college is a comprehensive liberal arts college. We have 6000 students both undergrad and graduate. I work as the special assistant to the president and focus primarily on communication projects.

What challenge were you trying to address with The Byne Group?

We had a transition of presidents. Our previous president had been here for 37 years, and the new president wanted to change our style of communication. We had the practice at the beginning of each semester of sending out a memo to the college community talking about new developments and the different operational areas, awards, and accomplishments. Under the old president, this took the form of a memo that was 30-40 pages of text. The new president wanted to see if we could shorten the update and add photos and graphics to make it more visually attractive. We had also gotten feedback from folks in admissions and other areas that it’d be nice to have the president’s update a little more visually appealing to use it as a marketing piece.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We asked The Byne Group to help us take this memo in the form of a Word document and make it more of a newsletter with all of the graphics design that that entails. I would give them all of the content in terms of the copy, the photographs, etc. They would put it in a format that is visually appealing and consistent with the look on the website and our other collateral.

How did you come to work with The Byne Group?

I got the name from one of my colleagues here at the college who had worked at The Byne Group at a previous job. I think they had done some PowerPoint slides, or maybe a progress report document, or both. She said they did very good work for her and would probably be interested in expanding their footprint at our college.

How much have you invested with The Byne Group?

We spent around $3000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2016 and the project was finished February 2017.

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

People love the way the newsletter looks. We did the newsletter to mainly be distributed via email, but we also did some hard copies again for marketing purposes. We distributed some of the hard copies to some of the offices around campus and to some folks that do some external visits.

How did The Byne Group perform from a project management standpoint?

I was very, very pleased. They were excellent to deal with. They were able to turn around the project in a timely manner. They were very helpful to me because this was the first time I was doing this type of project. For example, knowing what type of resolution I needed for photos, etc.

What did you find most impressive about The Byne Group?

I haven’t worked with a lot of graphic designers. I found them to be really professional, really responsive, creative, and very easy to deal with.

Are there any areas The Byne Group could improve?

Honestly, not that I can think of. I think it went very smoothly. We’d definitely consider them for future projects, and I would definitely recommend them to colleagues that were looking to work with a graphic designer.