Idea Peddler

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the tourism marketing director for the tourism and marketing department of the town of Taos, New Mexico. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Idea Peddler?

I’m the only person in the marketing department, so I outsource our marketing, PR, social media, and advertising needs to Idea Peddler. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve come up with a scope of work for Idea Peddler for 12 months of service. This includes PR and digital marketing services. Our teams work together to figure out who and how we’re going to target tourists for the community and in which seasons to do our campaigns. We also have a budget for social media marketing; Idea Peddler has a calendar of how many times they’re going to post on social media outlets and what deliverables they must have. 

Moreover, Idea Peddler is in charge of the copy and visuals that we need. We also do email marketing, and we have a MailChimp account where they create content for our monthly newsletter. The team is also responsible for responding to comments on social media. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, we’ve kept Taos top of mind. Idea Peddler has worked with local businesses to create Bring Taos Home boxes, where local products are sold to people outside of town as gifts. 

What is the team composition?

I have two main points of contact, and they bring in other team members to our weekly calls depending on our agenda. Those team members include social media managers and digital marketing specialists. 

How did you come to work with Idea Peddler?

Idea Peddler was one of the 17 companies that responded to the RFP that we sent out to vendors. We hired them because they had a great presentation and proposal. They also had extensive experience in our region; they’d previously worked with a state tourism department and with a big private resort company. 

I also had experience dealing with some of their team members through other programs that I worked on within the private sector and the government.  On top of that, they were responsive; if I wanted to pivot or change something, they could flexibly do it. As a result, we decided to hire them. 

How much have you invested with them?

Our whole budget for this is $230,000–$250,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Idea Peddler in October 2020, and the engagement is ongoing — we’ve signed a second-year contract with them.

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

Our lodgers’ tax has increased significantly over the past summer, and the Bring Taos Home boxes have also been good support for our community. The team has been involved in the whole campaign from beginning to end, creating a lot of buzz about it through PR and social media efforts. Overall, the Idea Peddler team has done a good job, and the community is happy with them — the project has been successful. 

How did Idea Peddler perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is good. We don’t use any specific project management tools, but I get updates every week. I don’t have any complaints about their communication and ability to stick to the schedule. I keep a tight timeframe on a lot of things and expect people to follow it, and the Idea Peddler team has done well in that regard. To communicate, we use emails. Once a week, we talk through Zoom. Emails go out to the whole team, so everybody knows what’s happening.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Idea Peddler has a wide range of knowledge within their team, and that’s nice. Their creativity level is good, so we always get different ideas from different people from their team. On top of that, their resources are always excited and optimistic about making something happen. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Idea Peddler is in Texas, and we’re in New Mexico. They know New Mexico, but they’re not here every day. As a result, if you’re in a small community like us, you have to adjust for the difference in location. Otherwise, take time to come out and meet them at the beginning of the engagement. That makes a big difference. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I retired recently from the Georgia O’Keefe Museum as the communications director.

What challenge were you trying to address with Ideapeddler?

We didn’t have a very robust paid digital advertising campaign. We hadn’t been able to find a good vendor to help us and we didn’t have a lot of expertise in it.  We’d found people who’d give us slivers of what we needed, but not helping very holistically. We hired Ideapeddler to help us with this.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re primarily a tourist destination, so 80% of our nearly 200,000 visitors are tourists. Because of that, they looked at the audience we were trying to reach and helped us build a campaign. It was a mix of display advertising and social media mirroring campaign in areas where there are tourists or in our town. 

An example of a campaign is when we did an in-town campaign with geofencing to get people to buy tickets. It wasn’t working and wasn’t the best use of our dollars, so they revamped it and made a Facebook mirroring campaign to find people who look like our existing customers. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with 1–2 people. 

How did you come to work with Ideapeddler?

They came very highly recommended by colleagues. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $40,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April–October 2019 on this project. 

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

The biggest win for us as an organization was having metrics that were not only there, but were also easily explained. They helped us understand what the metrics meant, showing us why something was or wasn’t a good result. They were able to look at our campaign, identify what would work better, such as a Facebook campaign, and find a way to use our dollars to make them move the needle. 

For someone with not a lot of expertise with metrics, it was really helpful to have Ideapeddler explain everything to move through charts and graphs. It allowed me to tell my supervisors what was happening. I got commended in my own review for finding the right vendor for us, so that was great. 

How did Ideapeddler perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very helpful to me because, when I didn’t understand the metrics to the degree I probably should have, they would fix it and constantly change how things were being delivered for maximum effect. When we needed to change the in-town campaign to a Facebook campaign, they were able to explain things to me in a way I understood and could tell my boss. 

They were very clear communicators. In fact, they helped keep us on point and on track, which was enormously helpful. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They looked at us and our market holistically, which other companies didn’t do. They looked at our project as a continuum, and part of a larger whole. They did exactly what we were trying to do, but didn’t know how. Their expertise helped educate us, which was the absolute value proposition. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really can’t think of anything. I was really pleased with their work and the results. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you have a good budget. Be prepared. Don’t nickel and dime the cost, be prepared to pay it and pay it gladly. Also, know your audience and your objectives. You may learn something new and they’ll show you a different audience — they’re a true partner. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing for Taos Ski Valley, a ski resort in northern New Mexico. We have year-round operations with offerings in the summer and winter; although winter is our primary season.

What challenge were you trying to address with Ideapeddler?

We do a substantial amount of advertising in various regions. Our primary regions are New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. My team already works with a digital media buying agency, but we wanted to bring someone on board to help with out-of-home, print, and broadcast advertising.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ideapeddler conducted a lot of research about the markets throughout our primary regions. This was in efforts to discover where we could best allocate dollars to find people who’d be interested in taking a ski vacation. They also focused on key areas that influenced our messaging and ensured it was repeated across all the advertising channels.

Ideapeddler also communicates and collaborates with our digital agency to make sure the digital ads are being placed in the same regions in order to drive revenue.

What is the team composition?

It’s a small team; I work directly with the owner and one account manager.

How did you come to work with Ideapeddler?

Ideapeddler was a referral. They also do media buying for the New Mexico Department of Tourism and that’s how we heard about them. Their team has an excellent reputation, and we’re thrilled to have them on board with us.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership began in May 2018.

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

Two years ago, we started a new line of business called Taos Air, and it’s a very unique operation. Taos Air flies directly to New Mexico from private airports in Texas and is a very high touchpoint operation for the guests. We had a relatively short amount of time to get everything together for the program.

Ideapeddler did a good job of being nimble and finding advertising avenues in both those regions. This directly resulted in a lot of exposure for the program and a successful year of operations.

How did Ideapeddler perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very organized, implement good details, and are extremely thoughtful in putting together proposals and media plans.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Ideapeddler really knows the markets they’re working in. They have great relationships with the various advertisers we work with and do a good job with negotiating prices with those advertising partners. Their team has demonstrated genuine care and passion for helping us achieve our goals.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have any critiques of what they’ve done so far. They’ve been a pleasure to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be completely open and honest with what you’re looking to achieve, and they’ll be able to deliver on that.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Briggo is currently in scale-up mode, growing from Texas markets to the Bay Area and beyond. As VP of Marketing, I led all brand and marketing strategy, supported business development, forged strategic brand partnerships, designed and implemented retail sales programs, and drove Briggo’s product roadmap.

For what projects/services did your company hire Ideapeddler?

We needed an agile advertising agency who could help us target both business and consumer audiences for awareness and acquisition campaigns.

What were your goals for this project?

B2B = website leads & form conversions B2C = awareness & app downloads

How did you select this vendor?

Prior experience in a former life and local referrals.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Ideapeddler helped us construct focused B2B campaigns targeting foodservice and concessionaire decision makers seeking new, efficient, high quality office/airport/retail coffee services. We constructed messaging, creative, and targeting techniques and deployed across paid search, social, and display retargeting.

In parallel we targeted consumers in high-traffic areas surrounding Briggo locations including airports, Whole Foods stores, hospitals, and convention centers. We tested various creative messages and image/video to drive local awareness and performance ads for app downloads.

What was the team composition?

We had direct engagement with the principal and their support team.

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

Throughout our campaigns, we consistently drove lower CPM's and higher direct response rates month over month.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were incredibly responsive, informative, and flexible given our evolving business goals, new retail openings, and budget fluctuation.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We appreciated their ability to coach and guide, educate, and execute with relative fluidity.

Are there any areas for improvement?

N/A