id8

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a tech company that develops security hardware and software for the self-storage industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with id8?

We wanted to rebrand our business and update the website and marketing collateral accordingly.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

id8 presented four personalized branding initiatives to our team, and we selected the concept that best fit our needs. After defining the brand, they incorporated the new messaging onto our website and into various pieces of marketing collateral. They also produced four videos for our website and assisted with the production of our outbound video.

What is the team composition?

Their owner was present at a few meetings, but the assigned project manager was our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with id8?

They were one of the four creative agencies that we interviewed. In addition to their competitive pricing, id8 was the best demonstrating how their work could improve our business growth.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began in December 2016 and will conclude once they deliver the final videos.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work hasn’t impacted our ROI, but we are still pleased with their rebranding efforts. Most importantly, our audience is responding exceptionally well to our company’s new look.

How did id8 perform from a project management standpoint?

They managed the project wonderfully via Asana. Whenever we needed assistance, they were willing and able to help; their office being close to ours was also a great perk.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team has many amazing qualities, but their greatest strength is undoubtedly their creativity.

Are there any areas they could improve?

All of the work that id8 produced for us was incredible, so it was upsetting when they decided to move on and work for one of our competitors. As their largest client, it would have been nice to speak with them before they made their decision.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

A clearly defined scope of work is a great asset when working with creative companies like id8. We knew exactly what we wanted, so it wasn’t hard for their team to meet our expectations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the president and CEO of Tommy Nobis Center. We’re a nonprofit that works to empower people with disabilities through job placement and training services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with id8?

We wanted to rectify a poorly implemented rebranding attempt from a few years back. We tried to rename the organization, but the change was not well-received and resulted in brand confusion among our board and in the community. We wanted to solidify our meaning and values through a recognizable brand and well-developed marketing strategies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

id8 surveyed and met with our supporters, stakeholders, and board members to gauge brand recognition. They developed a consistent theme for our organization, complete with a unique logo and complementary color palette. They revamped our letterheads, business cards, promotional brochures, and online ads and banners with the new design.

They also provided content and implemented strategies to boost our social media presence and ensure maximum brand visibility. id8 will continue to advise us through the next fiscal year on both design and social strategies.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of four or five.

How did you come to work with id8?

A colleague recommended them to our board chairman. They submitted a project proposal that showed an understanding of our organization’s desired direction and customer service expectations.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent about $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial partnership was from November 2017—April 2018, but we will to continue to work with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Social media engagement has increased since implementing id8’s strategies. Our new theme has been received positively, is easily recognized, and of high quality.

How did id8 perform from a project management standpoint?

The id8 team was a pleasure to work with. They completed each task by the established deadline and kept the project running smoothly. Their team took complete ownership of any errors or miscommunications and immediately made the necessary changes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

id8 holds themselves to a very high standard. For example, they helped design a T-shirt to showcase our new brand. When they were first delivered, their CEO saw that the shirts were too thin to meet their high standards, so they took it upon themselves to order better shirts and covered the cost.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We enjoy our time with them. They are excellent at what they do and we are looking forward to future projects.

Any advice for potential customers?

id8 responds well to open communication and open feedback. They are able to adjust quickly and accordingly to your needs and expectations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the SVP of Freshens, a company that began as a self-serve yogurt shop, but has grown into a fast-casual food brand. About 60% of our locations are on college campuses – these have been our bread and butter – but we’re also in about 40 hospitals and 50 airports.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with id8?

We were trying to find some fresh creative work to help us communicate with the millennials and Gen Z’s on college campuses, which we were expanding into. Additionally, we were upgrading our yogurt and smoothie locations into fast-casual and Fresh Food Studio’s, which involved reimaging.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provide a wide range of services for us, helping us with menu designs, graphics, websites, sales presentations, packaging, and limited-time offer development. Sometimes, we have quick-and-dirty projects for test products, which don’t warrant $8,000–$10,000 in photography, and they get us to market in a few test locations. Other times, it’s a substantive, but quick-change on the web page that matches up with changes we’re making on our electronic menu boards, social media accounts, and store-level communication with students and administration.

One of the big projects that id8 has been working on is the country’s first smoothie without any artificial color, preservatives, sweeteners, or flavors. They helped develop the frontend, which talks to the customers in the colleges, U.S. military bases, and hospitals, as well as the actual webpage, which helps millennials and Gen Z’s to look deeper into our products, and easily find the assurance they need that we’re not misleading them.

The fall quarter is a big time for us, with all the incoming freshman, so they help us out with new, clean, bright, point-of-sale materials every two years – that’s how often we reimage our stores. They’ve also recommended suppliers when we have a new that we’re looking at. id8 also designs the collateral that our sales team uses when they’re bidding to take over food production for a hospital or college, or at a nationwide-show.

id8 has helped with our current move into the military, and health industries. These particular categories of customers are investigative by nature, and id8 helps us stay on the leading edge. We perform research on all our products through focus groups, and they use the results to come up with an approach for universities, colleges, and hospitals.

What is the team composition?

We have the benefit of having worked with their president, and with three or four people under them.

How did you come to work with id8?

We narrowed it down to three groups that we wanted to talk to, and after we researched some of id8’s work, we awarded them the particular project, which, I believe, involved some of our corporate brochures and early branding. This evolved into working on our menu designs and point-of-sale materials, on both a project-specific and long-term basis.

How much have you invested with them?

The overall cost, so far is around $200,000, but it varies year-to-year, and every other year we spend a bigger amount.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with id8 around May 2005, so it’s been a long time, but we don’t go out looking for competitive bids. We have confidence in id8, and we know that–based on their knowledge of our brand–they can deliver a project for us quicker, cheaper, and of a higher quality, than could a new company that we would have to find and train.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re very successful as a company, and we have no debt. We spend our own dollars on marketing, and we don’t charge our stores, so we have to get sales response and profits from what our marketing. With id8 as our partner, this has always worked out well.

We now have multiple brands, and id8 has grown with us in all the efforts we engage in with our four brands. It’s been a successful and comfortable relationship, and we’ve gotten some outstanding creative made by id8, which receives comments from people visiting our web page, and from people who look at our collateral. They particularly enjoy how we go about our business, and how we promote our brands. All of this is because of id8’s work.

We’re a small company, in terms of number of employees, but we’re the largest in our field. No one else does what we do within colleges; no one has programs like us; and no one has the same products. We have a foothold in a unique area and id8 has helped us establish it.

How did id8 perform from a project management standpoint?

We have no problem communicating with them, from the top on down. I know that their president is involved in every project, and I know that she has more on her plate than just us, but it’s comforting to know that she’s looking at everything and giving it her stamp. For every project, we determine what we need and when we need it up front, and then they’ll establish a budget for us to approve. They’re always on the money when it’s all said and done, both in terms of timing and delivery.

Sometimes, we have a hard time understanding the time necessary for web page development, and the constant changes that occur. We’re dealing with a highly technical, constantly changing category, and we have a very non-visual president, who likes to get their fingers into projects. This can cause some headaches for everyone, but id8 has done a great job of holding costs to what they quote us.

It’s amazing that, after knowing someone for certain amount time, we can deal with them over the phone, or just shoot them materials in an email, and they’ll back to us with something that’s on target, and very close to being finished.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve always enjoyed working with them and their young, creative talent base. They stand out in terms of understanding our customer and brand, and delivering creative that is fresh and on target. They appeal to us because they’re able to communicate with the millennial and Gen Z customer base, and all of our products and marketing efforts target those demographics.

They also have a strong base of creative talent for tasks outside of their realm, like professional services, photography, and food styling. They have a good list of people, with whom we can work directly, and then coordinate back them on. Our sales literature is more focused on decision makers, but our in-store menus, collateral, web pages, and social media communicates to the end-user. id8 has done an excellent job of understanding that nuance and crafting materials that appeal to both sets.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re a very visual firm, and their visual delivery is wonderful, but I occasionally need a bit of copy addressed to corporate-level decision makers, in the case of contract feeders. In those instances, id8 has found individuals for us to work with, but whom weren’t necessarily on their staff. They did develop a group though, partly because of our needs, as well as those of other customers.

Overall, though, we don’t miss with their work. We don’t have a problem with it, and we’ve never had a mistake with it. We’ve never had any issues whatsoever, either from a creative, production, or billing standpoint.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the economic development manager for Canton, Georgia, a city about 40 miles northwest of Atlanta.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with id8?

Although our city was growing, we had antiquated messaging that hadn’t been updated in nearly 15 years. Both our citizens and business leaders expressed concern that the city’s branding didn’t reflect the opportunities and quality of life here.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

id8 designed a new logo, which features the river that runs through the city. The team used data research to direct messaged and then gave us a lot of branding advice for the official website. They created marketing collateral including business cards, hats, shirts, and beverage koozies. id8 standardized city employee emails to have the same type font and embedded logo.

id8 also participated in meetings with elected officials, business leaders, and the public. The team attended festivals, set up roundtables with the local business community, and did real-time interviews with citizens as part of their research.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with three team members.

How did you come to work with id8?

One of the team members reached out to me because we had a mutual friend. We met and id8 later bid on the project when we distributed the RFP. Their team was new to the municipal branding space, but we saw that knowledge gap as an advantage because they would have a fresh perspective compared to the other bidders with city branding experience. Based on references, interviews, and past work, we knew id8 would deliver innovative and unique results.

How much have you invested with them?

We started working with them in August 2016 and the relationship ended in May 2017.

What is the status of this engagement?

We spent between $50,000–$200,000

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Canton now has unified branding that has attracted millions of dollars in new investment. City employees have embraced the new logo, which now appears on staff badges and staff shirts for our public works and building officials. The city council supports our efforts as we plan to invest millions more in river attributes including trails, parks, canoes, and lodges.

How did id8 perform from a project management standpoint?

The scope agreement required them to check in at least once a week, but we spoke much more frequently than that. The team’s accessibility and flexibility exceeded our expectations. We specified the timeline and they broke it down into discrete deliverables. Any delays were our fault, not theirs. Our main contacts were both passionate and knowledgeable.

What did you find most impressive about them?

id8 brought creativity and an artistic point of view, which are rare in local government. They were very flexible and sensitive to feelings and emotions that arose in the course of their research. Whenever they spoke, they put the city’s needs above their own. Since the experience was new for both teams, id8’s openness to new ideas and collaboration enhanced the relationship and the results. The team was responsive and put in extra effort to participate fully in meetings with external stakeholders.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Although they were phenomenal, the team could adjust its research methods. Local governments use different platforms for research. In the future, it’d be helpful if id8 could find out what other governments use and then customize their research to that preexisting methodology. That way, their reports present data using the same language the employees use to analyze numbers.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Product Innovation & Marketing of a business services company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Financial and Locational Data and Insights for Retail

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire id8 to accomplish?

• Full rebanding
• Logo creation

SOLUTION

How did you find id8?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select id8 over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Alignment in Strategy and Creative Process

How many teammates from id8 were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Brand Strategy

1. Discovery Session
2. A consolidated, single discussion with six to eight (6-8) internal stakeholders*
3. Review of product strategy for future growth and provided research or SWOT analysis completed by ICI in advance
4. Define specific audience demographics (Who are your customers? Why are these customers receptive?)
5. Define that the strategy will look like o Right to Win o How to unify the brands under one message o Value Proposition - what is our competitive advantage o Meaningful for the right audiences (how do we win with and for the right people)
6. Answer these questions: o What is the motivation(s) to switch from another data provider to ICI? o What is the motivation(s) to search for a new provider? o How does ICI align our offerings with our customer wants?
7. Deliverable: Brand Strategy Document

• BRAND EQUITY ANALYSIS Exploration, research, and analysis to determine if the current brand has equity to move into varied markets. Specifically, the questions to answer are:

1. Using the Brand Equity Analysis process, answer the four (4) questions listed below: o Does the name (and the brand associated with it) have equity? o How do people feel about ICI (Creditntell, F&D Reports, ARMS, etc.)? o Can we maintain the name "Creditntell" and then sell various data services beyond the current sector? o Should we change the name (evolut ion) or revolution or not at all? o How can we improve our customer experience?

• Perform a Brand Review to understand the current positioning of the brand in the eyes of the business leaders***
• Build and execute the Brand Equity Survey to evaluate of consumer perception of your products and services. It is the perceived value in the hearts and minds of customers, and it is the measure of awareness, regard, relevance, personality and engagement. The survey will be sent to the employee base along with partners, vendors and potentially customers if needed. Additional questions to measure the pliability of the name and brand across other market segments and customers.
• Private Equity firm performed due diligence on all brands and products--this could perhaps be where brand equity, competitive analysis, and brand recommendations may reside. o Critical input into our refined scope. o Focus brand strategy and brand equity on growth markets (Financial sector), clients, and products o Utilize existing external customer survey/interview transcripts that private equity provides
•  ***Business Leaders: Three or four key individuals from ICI who are helping to tell us more about the structure of the business to better help create a customized survey. (Expect 1 meeting and 3 rounds of feedback of survey questionnaires)
• Collect and analyze Brand Equity Survey results, Private Equity research into a deliverable Brand Equity Analysis Results and Findings.
• Deliverable: Brand Equity Analysis Results and Finding report includes: critical takeaways, key insights, findings, analysis results, recommendations, & next steps.

1. BRAND BLUEPRINT (Positioning and Messaging) id8 will develop positioning and messaging to utilize when communicating about the brand. The Brand Blueprint is essential to define the company's position in the market place. This Brand Blueprint (positioning) should drive the naming. The naming is an expression of the brand value.
2. The brand blueprint includes:
3. Exploration, research, and analysis results in the brand's positioning statement
4. Competitive Matrix and window of opportunity
5. Customer Personas Defined • Brand position and core messaging for how to communicate internally and externally to specific audience types. The message will clearly separate the ICI brand from the competition and define the primary offerings in unique, concise language
6. Tone of Voice
7. Brand Advantages
8. Boiler Plate
9. Includes up to two (2) rounds of revisions on the presentation.
10. Deliverable: PDF Presentation to include Situation Summary, Point of Need, Competitor Themes, the Competitive Matrix, Audience Personas, Brand Positioning and Core Messaging, Tone of Voice, Brand Advantages, and Boiler Plate.

• BRAND IDENTITY PACKAGE id8 will develop a new brand identity package for ICI based on the information collected from discovery and creative direction. The process includes:

1. If possible, tours of the headquarters to understand the culture and what it feels like to be an employee
2. Brand family architecture (visuals) for the primary brand and divisions or new offerings
3. Creative exploration and ideation for concepts that support the business intelligence company's brand position and speaks to the target audience(s)
4. Creation of marks that emotionally connect with the biggest supporters of ICI bridging the past and the future together
5. Two (2) distinct designs and concepts for the primary mark (logo)
6. Exploration of fonts, style, colors, organization and layouts
7. Writing the conceptual thinking (story) supporting each logo concept
8. Comparative Matrix of Logos to see how the old and new logo will fit into the competitive environment 
9. Application of the brand into a corporate identity set (business card, letterhead, envelope, email signature, social/digital ID, folder)
10. Application of the brand into a "Brand Voice" micro-brochure ICI Brand presentation for committee and board (as necessary)
11. Includes up to two (2) rounds of revisions for each deliverable item
12. Final Logo in four-color process, spot colors, black and white, reversed white each provided as EPS (vector), PDF, JPG, PNG for print and digital.
13. TBD: Final sub-brand or master brand logo set for the business units or family of brands
14. Final press-ready artwork for a business card, letterhead, eletterhead, envelope, email signature, social/digital ID, folder
15. Final press-ready artwork of a "Brand Voice" micro-brochure utilized for internal communications about the new brand
16. Final multi-page presentation (PowerPoint) to communicate the story/launch of new brand
17. Presentation assistance/support to the executive team, as needed

• BRAND GUIDELINES id8 will develop guidelines for the product line for how to use the logo, fonts, colors, spacing, and style for future brand sustainability. The brand guidelines include:

1. Definition of appropriate fonts and font styles that can be used in branded materials in both print and digital applications
2. Rules for placement and usage of the logo on various materials
3. Identification of the spot colors, CMYK conversions, RGB conversions so that the logo has the correct color when seen digitally or in print 
4. Extensions of the brand
5. Secondary graphic elements and applications (colors, graphics, charts, fonts, colors and how to use them to achieve brand consistency in future marketing materials in both print and digital)
6. Deliverable: Multi-page PDF with guidelines for logo usage, color palette, acceptable fonts, secondary graphic elements, infographics/charts

• BRAND COMMUNICATIONS id8 will develop a strategy to launch, build, and sustain the brand with a strong sense of purpose.

1. Create a repeatable marketing and communications strategy for launching a new brand
2. Define objectives, goals, and specific tactics for six months prior to the launch through six months postlaunch (one-year period)
3. Tactics will address both the internal and external audiences along with How, When, Who to communicate the brand change (NOTE: This does not include a content calendar or media plan (paid and organic). Which would be included on a separate proposal.)
4. Deliverable: Presentation defining the communications strategy for a weekly calendar for six months that defines objectives, goals, and specific tactics for internal and external audiences. This includes activity, collateral pieces, purpose, timing/frequency, communication channels, and responsible parties.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Deliverables from SOW against calendar created at start of project

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Very responsive with delivery mostly on time. Biggest delays were on us, not id8. The team was very responsive and flexible in meetings and communications.

What was your primary form of communication with id8?

• Virtual Meeting

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

Attention to detail and follow-up. Great, consistent communication and welcomed creativity

Are there any areas for improvement or something id8 could have done differently?

Initial market research based on a better understanding of our products.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the marketing manager for a large medical stop loss company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire id8, and what were your goals?

We had id8 put together a 30 page booklet style report last year. We liked it so much and had great feedback from it that we decided to use them again for this year's annual report.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

The president of our company raved about id8. I believe that our parent company Tokio Marine used them.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We give them data and they come up with a concept and present it to our group. Then they create graphs and put together the booklet. We go through a few revisions and then it's off to the printer. They send me a digital version so I can do email blasts around it.

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

We worked with three id8 employees. Senior Project Manager, Creative Director, Senior Graphic Designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The crew was amazing to work with. Great communication. Excellent eye for detail. Very creative and really took the time to understand our data.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow has been very smooth. 

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

Their ability to take our data and make it into a journey.

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

Not at all.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of Scott Litho, a third-generation trade printer in Georgia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire id8, and what were your goals?

Website rebuild and security

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I served on a volunteer board of trustees with Kriston.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

After a recent “hack” of our website and months of undelivered deadlines by another company to secure and rebuild our site, id8 stepped in to save the day! The team quickly understood the security we needed and the functionality we wanted our site visitors to experience. To keep the process progressing, they made on-the-spot creative decisions and the end result was exactly what we had envisioned!

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

Julie Cofer, Creative Director

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Thanks to id8, our website is back and better than ever.

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

The team is professional and explained each step of the project along the way.

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

The id8 staff recognized the value of having our website functioning as quickly as possible and made on-the-spot decisions to get us back up in a matter of weeks.

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

None.