HAPI

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of branded partnerships for an apparel subsidiary of a major retail company.

What challenge were you trying to address with HAPI?

We were looking to rebrand one of our subsidiary sites.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They came in as an extension of us so that we could reposition the brand and go out into the world with new marketing. They worked on rebranding, brand positioning, logo redesign, tagline creation, and more.

We had a yearly marketing spend already, mostly for display media, print, social, and regional TV. They worked closely on all of those efforts, most notably display media and our regional TV spots.

What is the team composition?

I worked with 3–4 members of their team, and had two main points of contact.

How did you come to work with HAPI?

We were looking for an agency of record to become a partner of ours. We submitted an RFP, having roughly 5–6 agencies propose.

HAPI had proposed to us before but didn’t get the previous bid. They submitted another RFP for this project and presented to our leadership team. We liked that they were a small, hands-on boutique firm.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked from January 2013–December 2016.

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

We saw a shift in consumer recognition — our brand recognition increased, as did our brand awareness. Everything was consistent, and the brand was very cohesive. This helped us garner attention.

Our goal was to increase our trust in the consumer base, and augmented awareness helped to increase this trust. We re-engaged existing customers, bringing in new customers as well. For this, we give credit to HAPI.

The TV spots and displays that HAPI made were ahead of their time. People appreciated the marketing, and we received positive feedback that our marketing looked and felt great.

How did HAPI perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very thorough. We flew back and forth to meet with them, and they were involved in all projects. They hit all timelines and deadlines, always being accessible to my team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very in-depth, and that’s evident from the beginning. We spent months focus-grouping, doing research, and preparing. They came in and took the time to understand us, our company, and our brand. It wasn’t rushed; they spent the time to believe in our brand as we did.

Their vested interest in the brand made me feel like they were true partners. I trusted them and this improved the quality of their work. I’ve hired them for other projects since because of our mutual respect.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were smaller when we first hired them seven years ago, but they’ve expanded since. They’ve grown tremendously — we actually have grown together.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We’ve had a great partnership, but here are some little pieces of advice:

• Be very open and honest.
• Live and breathe your brand.
• Work together.
• Become a team with them.
• Be open to their ideas.
• Give them feedback and listen to theirs.