Hydrogen Advertising

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the ROII marketing manager for Building Industry Association of Washington.

What challenge were you trying to address with Hydrogen Advertising?

We’re looking to update and refresh our outdated branding and marketing materials to help us target our competitors.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Hydrogen Advertising provides us with branding and digital marketing services. We started the partnership by implementing a focus group discussion (FGD) where they talked to some of our members. We’ve been working on this project for the last two years and during this time, they’ve helped us with email marketing, social media management, print marketing, and SEO.

What is the team composition?

We have one main point of contact from their team, but we also work with a project manager and the two partners from Hydrogen Advertising.

How did you come to work with Hydrogen Advertising?

Our executive officer had a previous working relationship with them. We were looking for something more creative and less corporate, so we went with Hydrogen Advertising. 

How much have you invested with them?

I believe we’ve spent around $150,000 USD.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in April 2019.

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

It’s hard to quantify our work, but we have seen a jump in engagement and the acquisition of quality leads.

How did Hydrogen Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

Under the circumstances, they did well during the early stages of the pandemic. We typically communicate through email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re extremely impressed with their team’s unique perspective and creativity — they’re great at thinking outside of the box. We had a really tall order in the beginning, but they were able to figure out a solution so we’re really happy with what they’ve been able to do.

We’re not the easiest to work with because we often change our minds and are particular about certain aspects of the project, but they’re always willing to work with the challenges, roll with the punches, and provide us with creative solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve on the focus group portion of the project. I know it wasn’t easy for them because our group only consisted of seven people providing feedback. It would’ve been nice if they implemented more metrics.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to just stay engaged and keep your communication lines open. Working with Hydrogen Advertising as a team really helps, because they always respond right away so we accomplish tasks quicker.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of brand and marketing for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands, a reproductive healthcare provider. I’m largely focused on patient recruitment and awareness for the organization and the services we provide.

What challenge were you trying to address with Hydrogen Advertising?

Towards the end of last year, we were interested in engaging with a different media agency. We wanted to find a partner who could be in charge of our creative execution and media strategy.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Hydrogen Advertising created four videos which were 30-second and 15-second video ads. The team was in charge of conceptualization, storyboarding, and editing. They used stock photos and videos so that we didn’t have to film during the pandemic. 

On top of that, they helped us with our patient recruitment campaign which was focused on bringing in more patients with insurance for care. They put together the plan and strategy so that we could reach those folks. As part of that, they put together an informal focus group so that we could get feedback on our creative campaign. As a result, we were able to show many campaign options and determine what would be most appealing to our target demographic.

They’re now helping us with pixel tracking so that we can track user behavior, site conversions, and more. They also continue to help us with video production, media strategy, and media buying. Then, they partner with firms that specialize in SEM, Google Ads, and other types of advertising so that they can tackle our complex projects.

What is the team composition?

We’re working with two account representatives, a media director, two people in charge of creative work, and more. We work closely with their account representatives, and they bring in various folks depending on the project we’re going to accomplish.

How did you come to work with Hydrogen Advertising?

We had an RFP process, and we used Clutch to help us identify new companies to work with. In total, we received about 5–6 proposals and we received one from Hydrogen Advertising.

After that, we moved forward with three companies for interviews and discussion of our project. In the end, Hydrogen Advertising was really prepared and put together all of the presentations we needed. We never met them in person despite the fact that they were based in Seattle because of COVID-19.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent a little under $2 million on advertising.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in January 2021, and we continue to work with them.

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

They’ve created great video ads and their concepts have worked well. They’ve been really creative in terms of delivering something that fits within our budget and at the same time, ensuring that it’s in line with the larger campaign we’ve envisioned. We’ve seen an 8% increase in new patients with insurance thanks to their campaign.

Furthermore, their onboarding process and way of understanding our business have been great. I also like that they ask for as much information as they could get. We’ve seen that their recommendations and decisions for specific things are justified through the data they’ve shown us.

How did Hydrogen Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

We keep in touch through video calls and email, and the frequency of our meetings is dependent on what we need to talk about. Usually, with campaigns, the first meeting will heavily dive into our campaign’s requirements. After that, there will be separate meetings where their team will be in charge of the discussions.

Overall, they’ve been engaged and pretty involved throughout the process. On top of that, they’ve been communicative, organized, flexible, and understanding.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been impressed with Hydrogen Advertising’s reporting and analytical skills. They have packaged all of our campaign’s main KPIs by placing all our advertising metrics and performance on a dashboard. They also conduct monthly presentations where they discuss their recommendations on what to tweak in the future. 

Despite the limitations brought by COVID-19, they’ve been able to film well and overcome unique situations that have come up during the project. Overall, they’ve been great partners to us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’ve been very happy with them. We don’t have negative experiences to mention, so I have no suggestions for improvements or criticisms about their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you can share a lot of data related to your project with Hydrogen Advertising, they can utilize that well on the strategy they’re going to implement. In our case, we’ve spent a lot of time looking for what they’ve needed, but we know that it’s going to be worth it in the end.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company is CPRS. We're based out of Bellevue, Washington, and work B2B with Fortune 500 companies in different ways. We review contracts for accuracy,  try to recover overpayments, and do merchandise recovery audits in the world of major big-box retailers. We also work in the sales tax arena, finding out where our clients overpaid sales tax to individual states.

What challenge were you trying to address with Hydrogen Advertising?

We're a 30-year-old company. Our marketing didn't really represent our brand or who we were today, so we had difficulty positioning ourselves in the industry with the strength of our brand. We need to update our website, and the scope grew from there to become a rebranding

We'd never really gone that deep into what made us tick or how we were special, so we reached out to several companies to talk about branding and website development to see what they would propose. Ultimately, we felt most comfortable with Hydrogen Advertising helping us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we started, they helped us with a full rebrand of the images and phrasing that were associated with our company. After that was done, Hydrogen Advertising designed different documents that we used for sales and internal processes. We didn't quite get there, but they were going to help us with designs for trade shows. They had a lot of creative ideas for how to represent us and visuals for the trade shows, but because of the pandemic, they were postponed.

As for our website, our previous site was pretty stale as far as functionality, and we wanted the new one to represent our three different divisions. They started a new site from scratch using Squarespace. We also wanted to have a client portal. That needed to be easily upgradable and be able to hold documentation, have people sign up for our newsletter or white papers, and include other functionalities. 

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, we had two partners. As the project scaled, we ended up working together with five people.

How did you come to work with Hydrogen Advertising?

We reached out to 5–6 firms, and we had some calls and different communications with them until we narrowed it down to two companies.

The level of comfort that we had with Hydrogen Advertising was what set them apart. They represented themselves very well, and the other projects they had worked on were 180° modifications for brands, which was something I desired. I wanted a real different look and feel to the firm.

It felt like they were going to hit all the different areas that we needed. Hydrogen Advertising was strong in all areas as opposed to the other firms that had a more laser-focus approach or were only strong in one area.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere between $50,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

For this project, we worked with them between January–December 2019. We still work with them on different projects from time to time. 

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

We didn’t have tools for tracking nor any specific measures before the rebranding. We've had more traffic since then, and now we have visibility to the numbers.  

How did Hydrogen Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

Hydrogen Advertising’s team was very thorough when it came to project management; their response time was amazing. They went above and beyond what the scope of the project might have said to try to help. For example, they signed up for our competitor’s newsletters so that we could have visibility to those without us signing up directly. Overall it felt like they were taking care of every little thing at all times.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We don't have a lot of experience with other providers, but my experience with Hydrogen Advertising was and has continued to be excellent in any job that we've come to. They've been very upfront as to whether they would be the best choice or if we should look elsewhere, and they’d usually recommend other people. 

Their pricing was always fair and well-explained. They kept to the budget that was set in the pricing, and they’re just great people to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I know of. They were 10 out of 10 in every way.

Any advice for potential customers?

Try to give Hydrogen Advertising as much information as possible. That was the attitude that we took. We were going to be very transparent about our organization, and I think that went a long way for the success of the engagement.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a private forestland owner membership organization founded in 1908, and represent working forest management and conservation issues in various forums, including education.

What challenge were you trying to address with the vendor?

Increase the public knowledge of active working forests, and conservation.

What was the scope of their involvement?
TV, digital, print, out of home, social media and website. The full scope of our annual media campaign.

What is the team composition?

Internal and external teamwork with consultants, staff and member company participants. Also present work to our governing boards and committees.

How did you come to work with the vendor?

During an agency transition we were able to work with Hydrogen leadership again, whom we have worked with in the past – at other agencies.

How much have you invested with them?
N/A

What is the status of this engagement?
Ongoing

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

Media and social media metrics exceed expectation.

How did the vendor perform from a project management standpoint?

Very focused, delivers results-plus. Exceeds expectation. The media and digital results show the impact.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Clarity of focus, listening to client (in our case, many people involved) and develops creative and media solution that are outstanding.

During the coronavirus this year, we were able to work with Hydrogen very successfully because of their focus, flexibility, and acute awareness of message delivery during a very uncertain time.

Their name reflects core values of taking complex communication challenges and finding the simplicity in the challenge. I believe this is their real advantage, the team is very talented, intuitive and creative.

Are there any areas they could improve?
No. After performing so well during the pandemic, we found another gear we didn’t know was there.

The flexibility, focus, and perseverance it took to communicate in a way that was sensitive and connected with our audience resulted in outstanding performance this year.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We provided personalized health and benefits solutions that navigate people through the healthcare system with trust, empathy and ease. I was the senior content marketing manager for both B2B and B2C efforts.

For what projects/services did your company hire Hydrogen Advertising?

We needed to overhaul the branding, theme, visuals, and voice of our member marketing materials, starting with a New Member Welcome Kit. We needed a messaging framework, as well as several individual marketing materials.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improve engagement rates with members by building trust through a multi-touch marketing campaign.

How did you select this vendor?

We conducted internal research and met with a few firms. Hydrogen provided the quickest response and the most thorough understanding of our brand and needs. They presented to our EVP of marketing and various members of our team -- it was a no-brainer decision to go with their agency. They demonstrated clear strategic vision and pushed us to think bigger than the initial ask.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Kick-off, strategy sessions, stakeholder interviews, conceptual design and messaging, asset creation (emails, social posts, ads, printed materials), and final copy doc for reference.

What was the team composition?

Four people were involved in the day-to-day operations: Head of demand generation, content manager, member marketing manager, and lead graphic designer. We each stayed involved closely throughout the entirety of the project.

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

I left the company before quantitative results were shared broadly, but the visuals helped guide a new direction for not only our member marketing, but also for the actual UI of our product.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was very effective as Hillary and I maintained frequent contact through email, phones, and meetings. No project management tools were used.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were flexible and creative while pushing us to think beyond the initial creative brief to truly reach our target audience. They were quick with incorporating feedback, and always met incredibly ambitious deadlines.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Only on our internal side :)

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of marketing for Heritage Bank, a $5.3 billion financial institution.

What challenge were you trying to address with Hydrogen Advertising?

We’d just recently merged with a similar-sized organization and needed to refocus the brand and make it consistent across all our branches. We needed a partner to define our values and run an internal campaign for employees and brand awareness campaign for new and existing markets.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Internally, we did a brand video that our employees starred in. Hydrogen Advertising also helped create a brand manifesto and brand guidelines book, which we distributed to employees during our internal campaign. Every branch received posters and other material that reflected the brand.

For the external campaign, we created marketing content that focused on our commercial and business clients. We made print and television ads that centered on four clients and also used that content to create posters, signage, and digital collateral.

The scope of our project has changed throughout our partnership, but it’s always been focused on “What’s your heritage,” which is the name of our campaign. Throughout the years, we’ve added new customers to the ads. Hydrogen Advertising also did a full website redesign, using the same platform but updating the design, layout, and navigation. We had a third party create our new logo, but Hydrogen Advertising incorporated it into all of our work.

What is the team composition?

We have one main point of contact, and the rest of the team changes depending on the project. We’ve worked with as few as four and as many as eight people.

How did you come to work with Hydrogen Advertising?

We had a consultant who found two agencies we could work with. We interviewed them, reviewed their past work, and told them what we wanted. They then each presented their proposals, and we chose Hydrogen Advertising because they had the capabilities we needed and had worked with a financial institution in the past.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $1 million–$5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We partnered in August 2014, and the work is ongoing.

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

The merger was extremely successful and created a strong foundation for our new brand. We’ve gone through three more acquisitions since then, and Hydrogen Advertising has been a vital partner in ensuring the success and the growth of our brand. They’ve helped us launch into new markets and succeed as a bank.

How did Hydrogen Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

They foster a collaborative environment, holding weekly meetings and monthly full-group meetings. We use Asana for social media and PR tracking, Basecamp for our website, and Airtable for our weekly meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their design skills are phenomenal and helped us distinguish our brand in the market and make it stick out. The team focuses on building a strong relationship and working together to create great ideas. Their process is collaborative and iterative.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be more organized in how they create and distribute content, but that’s something we’re working on.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Know what you want and understand your scope of work before engaging with them. If you can clearly communicate what you’re trying to accomplish, then it will optimize the relationship.

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I'm the director of marketing and communications at a multi-specialty healthcare clinic in Seattle, Washington.

What challenge were you trying to address with Hydrogen Advertising?

We work with them on brand awareness advertising. They help us build general awareness of the clinic in order to get new patients in the door.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Hydrogen Advertising does media buying as well as creative development and implementation of our brand awareness ads. We have them on retainer and they do all of our brand awareness advertising for the year. Most of what we’ve done with them is more traditional out-of-home ads such as billboards, buses, general transit, radio, and movie theaters. They do some online ads but we have a different agency that we use for digital.

In terms of process, we develop a creative brief together. They’ll do research on the marketplace to help us identify a space where the clinic can stand out against our competitors. Hydrogen Advertising helps us think through what specialties and services to focus on and where we're trying to grow. Where there's whitespace in the market, they’ll come up with creative based on mutually agreed upon goals about the business. They come up with the creative when we develop new campaigns. We typically use a particular permutation of an ad campaign for 2–3 years before they help us develop a new one. 

What is the team composition?

We regularly work with five people, including a main point of contact. I don't know how many people they have working behind the scenes. 

How did you come to work with Hydrogen Advertising?

I don't know. I've only been here four years and we've been working with them for a decade. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership started around 2009, and work is ongoing.

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

We don't have any hard metrics because brand awareness is so difficult to measure. We used to do brand awareness surveys but we haven't done one for quite a while. Hydrogen Advertising does a very good job of finding unique whitespace for us. Seattle has a really competitive healthcare market. They’re fantastic at identifying a unique space for us to own. 

Also, we have a fairly small media budget compared to our competitors. They do a nice job of making the budget work. Anecdotally, I've heard people say they thought the clinic was much bigger than it is based on how visible we are in the community and how visible our ads are. They do a really nice job both on the creative side and on the media side. 

How did Hydrogen Advertising perform from a project management standpoint? 

Their team does quite well. I regularly work with the VP of accounts, who has really good project plans and clear outlines. I come from an agency background so I understand how they work. Between the two of us, we do a pretty good job of keeping things on track and meeting deadlines. 

Our communication depends on where we are in the campaign process. We try to check in monthly. I’ll talk to them several times a week when we're in the middle of developing a new campaign. We may even meet several times a month in person. Then I may not talk to them for several months once the campaign is underway in the market. We generally use email, in-person meetings, or phone calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them? 

Their creative execution is fantastic. Hydrogen Advertising does a great job identifying ways to differentiate us in a sea of sameness. Their media buyer negotiates incredibly well on our behalf to make sure we're getting the best possible deal. She also brings us great opportunities because of her relationship with vendors. They make our limited media dollars work really hard. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

Their bill rates are fairly high. They’re efficient but they do employ a lot of senior people. While that makes them good at their job, the bill rate is high even on simple projects because of the lack of junior staff with lower rates. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

As with any agency, treat them like a part of your team and give them information. You get out of Hydrogen Advertising what you put in. They can only do good work for you if you include them in important information and help them understand. Be clear about what you want from them and give them enough time to do their job. You can't expect an agency to work miracles and turn things around in a matter of weeks. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing coordinator for an international natural grocer, overseeing new start opening and retail marketing plans.

What challenge were you trying to address with Hydrogen Advertising?

We were looking for an agency that could coordinate all of the idiosyncratic details that come along with a multifaceted advertising plan. This involved navigating all of the different advertisers, designs, and specs to produce a timeline and deliverables list. The final product needed to be a turn-key roadmap that our internal team could follow.

What was the scope of their involvement?

In total, we’ve completed six store openings with Hydrogen Advertising. Their team handled all of the back-and-forth project management between ourselves and the advertisers, including ad deliverables, specs, substrates, and timelines. The media buying was particularly fantastic; they negotiated excellent rates for us and provided value-add into our packages.

Afterward, they gave us an extensive recap of everything we’d done together. This made it easier for me to compile my overall work and clearly show the added value. Outside of store openings, they supported us on seasonal campaigns and other projects.

What is the team composition?

I had two main points of contact, including Lauren Meadows-Rose (Media Director, Hydrogen Advertising), but there were also about 2–6 people working behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Hydrogen Advertising?

My colleague had just started working with Hydrogen Advertising and referred me to them before he left the company. When I took over his position, I continued working with them. They became my right arm; I couldn’t even imagine what it was like before them.

How much have you invested with them?

While I can’t disclose the project size, I will say that they worked with all of our limitations, from large to small budgets. We didn’t keep them on retainer; rather, they worked project by project.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work lasted between February 2014–December 2017.

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

We got a fair amount of value from Hydrogen Advertising’s efforts, and they always produced a great ROI. There was rarely a time when I called them to ask about campaign performance. When they assisted with campaigns that had a clear call to action to our store through coupons or free item redemptions, those numbers were typically strong. In general, that value generation was built into the entire portfolio for the new store opening.

How did Hydrogen Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

Not only were they easy to understand and organized, but they were also very clear about timelines while remaining flexible. That is to say, they established a schedule for when and what we needed to deliver. If we weren’t able to deliver, they still worked with us to troubleshoot, identifying realistic timelines and informing us of our options if we missed them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Lauren has so much energy and passion around her work that it really felt like she and her team were a part of ours. They completely grasped our initiatives and our drives, not to mention the pressure we felt to perform; it’s a unique trait. I appreciated working with Lauren because she made me look amazing at my job. Their team clearly loves what they do, and their passion drives excellence.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so. We went through a couple of iterations of their project management system, and they were very honest. They knew where their opportunities were and constantly worked to improve them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Their a smaller firm, so you’re able to get a lot of personalized attention. As a result, what you get out of the experience depends on what you put into it. If you treat them as just another vendor taking an order, then that might impact your outcome. But if you engage in the relationship, then they’ll go to bat for anything you need.