Isadora Agency

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing at Sunbit, a FinTech company. The benefit we add is helping to alleviate the stress of buying everyday things that we need in our lives like getting our cars fixed or getting the glasses that we need or going to the dentist. We provide those merchants with the opportunity to offer access to flexible payment plans to their customers.

What challenge were you trying to address with Isadora Agency?

Our website hadn’t been updated in years and didn’t really reflect our value. It looked a little out of date and wasn’t a good reflection of the business that we had built up to this point. It was critical that we had a website that was content-rich and reflective of a modern technology company.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided a lot of guidance. They helped us in building out the look of our brand. They built a lot of the aesthetics as well as some of the actual language we use. 

The engagement started with interviews with stakeholders across our business and compiling feedback and understanding of who we are, where we’re going, who our customers are, what they’re going through, and the benefit we provide.

After those interviews, they were able to come up with some visual methods of communicating our value and benefits.

Once we decided on a way forward, we started into the development phase. Part of the development phase that was critical for us was ensuring that the business owners were able to go in an update the site and we could change content frequently, add resources, etc.

Everything is brand new. Our previous site was all hardcoded and we were hosting through AWS. With this engagement, we leveraged WordPress as the CMS and we’re using WP Engine as our hosting provider.  We will be working with them for some other deliverables as well like video.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact was the project manager. Throughout the entire engagement, I worked directly with Isadora (President). There was a user experience designer I worked with as well.

How did you come to work with Isadora Agency?

I’m very familiar with the agency world. When vetting agencies that we could work with, we had a bunch that came to us and some that we also looked at.

Part of the evaluation criteria was we wanted a team located in Los Angeles because we believe in helping local businesses and the proximity is always beneficial. The first impression of Isadora Agency, when looking at their site and the frameworks that they leverage and their past work, what they express through their aesthetics as well as the language, it just really resonated with me.

They worked with finance companies before — B2B and B2C. I felt they had a very modern approach to what they do. After our initial conversation at their office, they really understood what we were trying to achieve and they understood our vision and business model right away. I felt we connected on that.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2019 and the work is ongoing.

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

We just launched the new website. From a qualitative perspective, it’s done a lot as far as bringing energy to the business. Everyone is very excited about it. Last week, I did a training for our call center and walking them through each page. There’s a high level of excitement among our employees. 

With the merchants we work with, we’ve also gotten a lot of good feedback. Previously on our site, it was pretty light as far as content especially content for the end customer. Now we have more content which our merchants like because at the end of the day, it’s all about trust and credibility. They can then direct customer to our website and there’s language that actually speaks to them. That’s been beneficial.

We’ve also seen an increase in the number of forms we get submitted from customers. It’s positive because in the past they may have had questions but they couldn’t find the form. Now the form is much easier to find and fill out. Another thing that’s a benefit to us is the website prior to this engagement, we didn’t have any type of analytics. We had no insight into how much traffic we were getting. I’d have to go in and make assumptions. Now we have analytics set up in Google Tag Manager and conversion goals. I can’t tell you if we’ve had increased traffic because we didn’t have data beforehand but at least we have access to data now.

How did Isadora Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was great. We’d email back and forth throughout the week. We had a weekly status meeting. There’s a lot of engagement beyond the project manager. Isadora made herself incredibly available. She was on the majority of the meetings. She was very responsive via email. Their team felt like they were part of our team. It was a very fluid experience.

One of the things that was a delight is when COVID-19 happened, we went into a mode of being more diligent about our spending. The way we worked out our payment agreement with Isadora was to split the payment into three different installments. They worked with us in sending out those payments into smaller increments over time. It made us feel a little more comfortable but we were still able to progress along with the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

This was the easiest engagement that I’ve ever gone through. It was very smooth. We were all being on the same page from the very beginning. We had such a good understanding between us. We didn’t have many revisions and it was very smooth. The way they built the CMS, it made it very easy for us to make any minor adjustments that came back from our legal team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Everything went fairly smooth. We were using PDFs for review. Nowadays there are several different online products that allow for working prototypes that are more pixel perfect like InVision. It’d be nice to have that for better communication but the PDF did a good job as well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It all comes down to trust and communication. Trust that they’re experts in their craft. Make sure your vision is articulated clearly and that everyone understands the value of the product or service you’re providing.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing project manager for the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation. We’re a non-profit organization that promotes Japanese pop culture—such as animation and music—to the American public.

What challenge were you trying to address with Isadora Agency?

We wanted to create a separate website exclusively for attracting and managing sponsorship. Our site was not very user-friendly or appealing to potential sponsors. We wanted a more streamlined and flashier set-up that would attract businesses.
 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Isadora Agency built a customized WordPress website for us. They first provided us with a creative brief template that we filled out. We then went through a seamless trial-and-error process where we saw multiple wireframes and sent revisions until we were happy with their work. 

Their team provided us with recommendations and suggestions on how to achieve our goals. We don’t have a background in digital development, so Isadora Agency oversaw all development and design.

What is the team composition?

We work with three front-facing people: Isadora (President, Isadora Agency), Jason (Digital Producer, Isadora Agency) who serves as our project manager and web developer, and Alex (Vice President, Isadora Agency) who is our account executive. There’s a larger team on the backend, but we don’t have face-to-face interaction with them.

How did you come to work with Isadora Agency?

I searched online for the top 10 digital marketing agencies out there. Isadora Agency popped up, and we selected them to compete in an RFP process against other digital firms. They came out on top. Unfortunately, circumstances on our end prevented us from making a deal with Isadora Agency until this year. Thankfully, their team was patient with us throughout the prolonged contracting process.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2019, and the project is ongoing.

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

The website has launched, but its role in our main sales processes won’t start until October. Our sales team now shows it to prospective sponsors when it’s relevant in their discussions. We’re still very excited to have the tool even if we don’t have any metrics just yet. 

Isadora Agency has highly professional folks working on our project. Over the past 2–3 weeks, we’ve done a lot of QA on the site. We’ve finished working out all the quirks and kinks, the amount of which we expected for this type of project. Overall, we’re very happy with the speedy turnaround and the quality of the deliverables. However, Isadora Agency will still let us request changes until we’re fully satisfied. They’ve been excellent partners to us.

How did Isadora Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

I’d give Isadora Agency a perfect score. They’re highly flexible, and any deadlines we’ve missed are because we didn’t provide feedback fast enough. Isadora Agency used a custom internal tool to manage our project. We have a username and password that we use to log in to the tool through their website. Email is our other form of communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their biggest strength is their ability to be flexible with our needs. If we need to shift directions or change the code or timeline somehow, Isadora Agency will do so.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t see anything that Isadora Agency can improve at. Even from the contract phase, they’ve been on top of everything we’ve needed.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be very upfront on what you want to accomplish. Really hone in on your goals and be as detailed and descriptive as possible. The more direction and information that you give Isadora Agency, the better the proposal and the outcome of the deliverables will be. 
 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Kelley Blue Book is one of the best-known names in the automotive industry, empowering consumers with trusted values for the vehicles they own or are shopping for. I’m the manager of user experience that is responsible for our design system with the goal of presenting a best-in-class user experience through UI and visual design.

OPPORTUNITY/CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Isadora Agency?

We wanted an agency to help us update the look and feel of our digital experiences. We were looking for range concepts of what a modernized and more engaging look and feel for KBB.com could look like. We needed someone familiar with branding and design systems. We currently have an established system as a foundation for our current products and services. The agency had to be able to leverage that foundation and take it to the next level. They also needed deep understanding the principles of our system, and the process it supports, so that the transition from our current design system to the new one would be as seamless as possible.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Isadora Agency participated in a multi-phased initiative. Phase one, Look & Feel Refresh Bake-off and phase two, the execution of the winning concept. In phase one, they conceptualized, presented and contributed a design that we at Kelley felt was one of the better and visually challenging concepts we received. We tested qualitatively with users in-lab where their concept stood out with its clear and bold typographic treatment and how it closely aligned to the Kelley brand.

The partnership continued in phase two, after we refined the design based on insights from surveys and usability tests where we reengaged Isadora. In phase two, they took our refined direction and evolved it further, bringing a new layer of creativity and aesthetics that our survey findings supported where participants state that it was well ‘organized’, ‘easy to use’, and ‘clear’. Where 70% indicated that the design improved their impression of Kelley Blue Book. 

Isadora Agency then designed a toolkit, created illustrations, wrote guidelines and specifications a for our UX team, utilizing Sketch, InVision Design System Manager. Our UX team uses those services to design the user experience and our engineering teams use them to develop the products and services.

What is the team composition?

During our kickoff meetings, we had a core team of five. Throughout the engagement, we’ve worked with ten different producers, copywriters, and designers at different points. There was also a UX strategist involved as well.

My primary points of contact during phase one was Jason (Digital Producer, Isadora Agency) and Isadora (President, Isadora Agency). Alex (Vice President, Isadora Agency) was our main contact on the business end. During phase two, we had a project manager that was involved with day-to-day work, while Isadora focused on creative elements.

How did you come to work with Isadora Agency?

During a Google search, I found Isadora Agency on Clutch. During my research, there was also an article online that detailed local and top digital agencies. We had discussions with and reviewed several agencies to figure out who would be the best fit to take on phase one. We chose Isadora Agency and another for the ‘bake-off’ to answer what would be the right look and feel for us. For phase two, we ended up choosing Isadora Agency because of their creativity in the outcome of the designs that were executed in phase one, and their technical understanding of design systems. Our team also considered the total costs for each phase and what we were getting out of it from our end.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Isadora Agency started in November 2018 and is set to complete in September 2019.

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

We’re a UX organization that lives and breathes the craft of design. We operate in highly collaborative environment with product management, analytics and engineering among others, that utilizes agile principles, to design the best possible solution for the business, its consumers and clients. During the first phase with Isadora Agency, we needed to make sure that they understood that we’re not ones to not think through design and its impact. Initially, there was a challenge in the partnership because it seemed like we’re not what they’re used to when it comes to client relationships. Trust started building as work started right before phase two.

Because we work in a partnership, they’ve become more flexible, which has helped tremendously. In phase two, things began to shift. The lead producer has been extremely helpful, facilitating the relationship between us and Isadora. She’s open and empathetic to what we’re both trying to achieve. It’s been an exceptionally successful partnership thus far. Their team listens in order to achieve the best outcomes. I’ve come to appreciate Isadora Agency’s skillset from a creative standpoint. I’ve learned a lot about the discipline behind the creativity from my interactions with her and her team.

How did Isadora Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

We let them know that project management had to be tight with us, especially during phase two. We established with them daily standups, where we go over what we’re planning on accomplishing that day and what we owe each other in terms of feedback and timelines. There’s constant communication, which gives all involved, clarity on deliverables and expectations. We’ve tried various software management tools, including Asana, but found the daily standups to be most useful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Isadora Agency creates warmth and personality with the overall design. Their creative touch is impressive. The heart and soul their team puts in differentiates them from other providers. They not only design to the highest of quality but bring empathy from human-computer interaction.

Are there any areas they could improve?

During the first phases, their team had to get used to the way we work at our company. We had to push to create that collaborative partnership that we preferred.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Customers need to be clear and articulate what they need and how they expect Isadora Agency to work with them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of global marketing for a vision restoration company. I’m responsible for all development of current and future products. I also coordinate commercial efforts and outreach to the blind community. Our company manufactures a retinal prosthesis to restore some level of usable vision in blind individuals.

What challenge were you trying to address with Isadora Agency?

We were looking for help with web design and UX for our company. The predominant challenge was to evolve the messaging appearance and brand identity on our website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted to transition away from our existing website to one that was more accessible to the blind community and was more visually engaging for prospective patients.

They provided us with recommendations on the layout, framework, messaging, content, and structure of the website. They leveraged their experience in outreach and engaging people and applied that to where content should be located. They had a fairly clear idea about how the website should be structured, but they were also open to input such as examples of websites or peers in the medical device space. They provided recommendations for where additional features should be housed on the site such as an online quiz and contact forms. They provided clear expertise on how we can lead prospective patients to our website to drive better engagement.

As they gained a deeper understanding of our business, customers, and messaging, they also helped us ramp up our digital presence to improve our digital outreach. Initially, this was on Google AdWords, and that also transitioned into SEO, text and banner ads, and remarketing advertising. We will continue to ramp that up in the first quarter with a focus on social media outreach.

What is the team composition?

Initially, we worked a little with the founder. Their VP was the initial point of contact, and he walked us through their bid of work. We also interacted with him regarding contracting, budget, invoicing, and commercial aspects. For the website, we predominantly worked with their digital producer on a daily basis. We also worked with their digital producer on the metrics, analytics, social media outreach, SEO, and banner ads.

How did you come to work with Isadora Agency?

We have a fairly low budget operation, and Isadora was recommended to us. We reached out to Isadora because they have experience in this area and asked them to bid on the website project.

How much have you invested in them?

We invested approximately $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in August 2018, and the work is ongoing.

The website project is drawing to a close. We have been going through an internal review process to make some subtle changes. We are working with them on what those changes and layout look like. We expect the website to be launched within the next 1–2 weeks.

Now that we are close to launching the website and have a more meaningful way to bring prospective individuals through the intake process and have a more effective landing page, the digital aspects will be ongoing throughout the remainder of the year to drive outreach, awareness, and patient recruitment through our digital channels.

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

We had great feedback from our board of directors. They love the images that Isadora created and the simplified layout and structure, which is exceptionally clean. It’s fresh and different from what we had in the past. They love the engagement tools we’ve implemented on the website. The website isn’t cluttered like the old one was. These are significant enhancements that our board and executive leadership team have commented on in a positive way.

We’ve seen substantial traffic, which has been positive. We’ve seen a large increase in visitors through the text and banner ads. We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response to our engagement with Isadora.

How did Isadora Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is one of their strengths, and they were ideal. They kept us up to date on any changes or delays. They were great at holding us accountable for the information they need to move forward. They were upfront in communicating timelines, add-ons, and changes, and, they were also flexible and open to feedback.

Their digital producer interacted daily with the lead project person on my team and they met one-to-one on a bi-weekly basis. As the team designed the pages, she presented them to us and lead us through the thinking on the design, layout, and structure. 

We also had a regular call with the digital producer on a bi-weekly or monthly basis to walk through the metrics. We had interim landing pages to test concepts, messaging, words, graphical images, and product and brand images. 

We used their dashboard where they posted information. They posted the framework or an updated website layout to the website, and then we went to that website and got back to them with feedback.

The fact that we’re both small organizations resulted in a good synergy between the teams. They were great at reaching out directly if needed. Overall, they have been a great partner.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are extremely approachable and flexible. We were impressed with how quickly they got up to speed on our content, product, and brand identity, and how quickly they were able to add value and suggestions on what the website should look like. They had the team working overtime to try and get that done, and they had a strong focus on that. 

Midway through, when we wanted their support on the digital side, they thought it would be too difficult as they didn’t have the bandwidth. But, they came back with a proposal to make it work for us by splitting some time and allocating additional resources because we are a valued partner and they wanted to make it work. That was truly appreciated because we didn’t have to start from scratch with another partner. We highly appreciated that they were flexible and understanding of our needs. 

We couldn’t be happier with the work we’ve done with them and the way we interacted with them. It has been enormously positive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, no areas for improvement at this point.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open, honest, and trusting in working with them. They are certainly experts, and they demonstrated that. Understand what you want and how you want them to help you, and trust their leads on layout and areas of their core competency around website development.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Razor is a scooter and electric vehicle company based in Los Angeles, best known for our kick scooter. We've been around since 2000, and have grown substantially over that time. I run all of the areas in organizational sales.

What challenge were you trying to address with Isadora Agency?

We needed significant improvements done for our website. It hadn't been revamped in a number of years, so we were looking for firms to help us with that endeavor.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our project centered on branding, and stages included discovery, customer research, design concepts, and development. They focused on making the technology feel intuitive and easy to use. Our platform is a WordPress site, with BigCommerce powering the e-commerce engine. Since we conducted a full-scale relaunch, we didn't keep much material from the original page.

It’s built around three core areas: product, video, and support. The product dimension simplified the process of online shopping, and lets users learn more about our offerings. Customers needed to be able to easily navigate the assortment. The team essentially built a hub for our fans, and showcased the substantial amount of video content we had available. The support section includes owner's manuals, facts, and replacement parts. Each facet involves specific technology that's integrated within the platform.

What is the team composition?

Isadora Marlow-Morgan, the founder and creative lead, worked on the key design concepts and variants for the site. We've interfaced the most with our project manager Michael Fruta, who helped us iterate through the site.

How did you come to work with Isadora Agency?

We found them using your website, Clutch.co.

What is the status of this engagement?

This eight-month project started in June 2017, and our launch is this Friday. I'm sure there will be some QA and development work to complete within the coming month or two. Through this next year, we'll add any additional functionality that goes beyond the scope of the initial project.

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

Isadora Agency has been fantastic. They exceeded expectations at every turn. They've been great, and we will continue to use them as an ongoing vendor for our site. There are really no areas for improvement that I've seen. The work they delivered has been exceptional, and we’ve gotten great feedback. They hit on everything we wanted, and I recommend them wholeheartedly.

How did Isadora Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

Michael has been a great project manager up to this point. He is detail oriented and follows up. Typically, I email or call them. The dashboard they use for their clients is helpful, especially for reviewing designs and providing feedback. Our project has evolved into a daily scrum over the past couple of weeks as we've approached launch. They've done a great job sticking to the timeline.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, the process was pretty great. Our company has historically struggled to articulate our brand. It was very serendipitous that Isadora Agency took on this project, which is much broader than just putting content within established brand guidelines online. They concretized our brand in an appealing way, and I was very impressed.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I highly suggest deliberating with them. We spent a lot of time with them on the design concept. It probably took more time than they anticipated, but that process helped us generate the best ideas possible and yield a product we're very happy with.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're a healthcare consulting and technology company focused entirely on healthcare, staffing, and scheduling, and we’re a division of the largest staffing agency in the country. In my role as senior marketing manager, I oversee all marketing aspects, including sales support and web development.

What challenge were you trying to address with Isadora?

We were launching a new tech product and needed a developer to build a landing page, something basic but stylish to direct clients to.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had a discovery call with Alex [Mathias, vice president] and put him in touch with our technical team so he could get a better understanding of the product. I provided a login so they could familiarize themselves with the product in order to incorporate it into their web design.

One of the things I requested was a parallax scroll, and they did a nice job designing one that was eye-catching, but not overly done. They also did an excellent job mocking up the images and screenshots I provided, giving them a trendier, modern aesthetic. They gave the page visual depth, but kept it clean. I find that many websites can be overly stylized, but Isadora managed a delicate balance.

For content, I trusted them to tell me how much text was needed to match the design requirements. The end result is a web page with strong, uncluttered copy.

In terms of functionality, we needed a way for users to send us information forms. I initially wanted the site to generate an email, but we had trouble receiving those emails because of our company’s sensitive firewalls. Isadora built a web database that stored these forms on the backend. This was something I requested relatively late in the development, and Isadora delivered without any trouble.

What is the team dynamic?

I worked directly with the project manager, who in turn referenced other developers. He was my only contact and was able to answer any question and kept me updated.

How did you come to work with Isadora?

I often read through "Best Websites of the Year" lists and discovered them that way. They’ve always been one of the sites I've returned to for new development ideas, so when this project came up, I decided to contact them.

I've worked with digital agencies in the past and they’ve always left me unimpressed. I liked the design of Isador’s site, and felt confident they could meet the needs of our landing page.

How much have you invested with them?

Between $10,000-$15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first talked in May and began work in June. I was concerned because I couldn’t be present for two weeks during a crucial time in the initial development. I left the project in the hands of someone at my company, but Isadora never missed a beat. I had the first set of proofs when I returned, and we then went back and forth with requests and adjustments. There were a couple of snags toward the end while migrating to a live site, but that was because other priorities popped up on our end. Isadora could have completed the project in three weeks. They work very fast and can knock a project out quickly.

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

We don’t have any ROI stats yet since the site is still new, but we’ve had tons of positive feedback. They did an excellent job of maintaining the spirit of our brand while still pushing the envelope. The site really represents the product well, and the design quality is a notch or two above what we’ve had in the past.

How did Isadora perform from a project management standpoint?

They had a website where I uploaded my changes and documents, but weren’t sticklers about this system. I sometimes e-mailed them directly and they were always cool with that.

Overall, I'd give them a 9 out of 10. We’re based in different time zones, so it occasionally took a day or two to receive a response. Still, ours was a brand new relationship and they did a great job.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They always listened to my needs and met my expectations. This may sound obvious for a web design firm, but they're very good at design. They built a clean, attractive site that does exactly what I envisioned.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were a little persistent on asking for payment. We're a division of a corporation, so it takes time for billing to go through accounts payable. They were a little impatient since everything was due upon receipt, but I get it, they're a small agency and they need to make payroll. I kind of had to fight with my accounts payable to keep the project going, but I also totally understand where Isadora was coming from.

Please describe your organization.

We are a mobile device accessories company and I am the marketing manager for the business division.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Isadora Agency?

The business division of our company was handled in a way that deviated from the greater company. The branding was a little off and didn’t align. We needed a partner to help us gain alignment with the larger company and still stay true to the roots of what the business division was serving.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Basically, we redid our brand guidelines and they provided us with suggestions, direction, and elements that we could add—how to execute on certain elements, how we could differentiate while still being on brand with the greater company. These brand guidelines are the backbone for everything that we develop. We had the direction set, and they helped with carrying out the direction.

After the guidelines were developed, we continued to use them as a partner to execute on activities all the time, like flyers, toolkits, case studies, and that type of thing. My main contact is Michael [digital producer]. Isadora [President] is heavily involved from the creative side. Mariana [Social Media Coordinator] is a hybrid between copy and creative. Those were the 3 main executional people that worked on the project that I’m aware of. Alex [VP, Client Services] is involved in the business side of the relationship. I was their main point of contact, but they were also involved with meetings including our senior director of marketing, our CMO, and our vice president.

How did you come to work with Isadora Agency?

We interviewed 5 different companies in order to find a long-term partner. We wanted to make sure we were working with a partner that understood the business side of the house, and that we’re a consumer-heavy company. A lot of our work was going to be digitally-focused in the future and Isadora Agency had a specialty in digital. Those were some of the deciding factors.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them August 2016 and have been working together since.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

It went over very well. We vetted it through many key stakeholders. Before it was even finalized, we had a lot of buy-in and input. We had everyone’s stamp of approval from all across functional teams.

How did Isadora Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

I wouldn’t say excellent, but it’s good. They have a dashboard. It’s like a tracking tool where you can see what open projects you have and where they stand. The creative team was really easy to work with. They understood feedback and were able to take it and run with it without having a million questions at every turn. There wasn’t too much handholding, which was nice. They’re very easy to work with.

What distinguishes Isadora Agency from other providers?

They’re very creative and insightful when it comes to digital advertising. It’s a big strong point of theirs.

Is there anything Isadora Agency could have improved or done differently?

They can improve on project management. Some of the communication style could be worked on. Some of the showcasing of our work, with our permission, could be improved on.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is News Corp. We are a portfolio company and the owners of businesses such as Dow Jones, Harper Collins Publishers, The New York Post, Realtor.com, News UK, Storyful, and News Australia.

I am the SVP, global head of benefits in HR. My function specifically deals with employee benefit programs.

What challenge were you trying to address with Isadora Agency?

We provide employee benefits to all 8,000 of our US-based employees. Employee benefits are a significant cost for any employer, but they tend to not have an equivalent degree of value within the perception of employees. That largely is the fault of people in my role. They may be good managers of these programs but are generally not the best communicators.

A colleague of mine and I came up with this idea about engaging with a firm that had no sector knowledge about benefits. Obviously, most people employed by a firm or large organization has their own personal benefits, so they would understand it from that perspective—the end user—which is the audience that we’re trying to target.

What was the scope of their involvement?

There were a couple of phases to the project. The first was an assessment phase, where Isadora Agency identified the weaknesses of our existing website as well as market-based reviews. They went out, and looked at how others communicated their benefits. Their research also went outside the benefits spectrum. They also came up with target groups, straw-man examples of people that we’re speaking to. We needed to ask, “Would this person interact with this content?”

Then we went onto the development phase. They created a brand identity for us, a look and feel. The website is the core piece, which had some very cool functionality built into it. In addition, they also built us templates for PowerPoint, email, postcards, and other collateral.

They also helped us develop our new site in WordPress. With benefits, you are doing it for current employees and for candidates because we want to be recognized as the attractive company to work for that we are. We want people to choose us over competing. We’re avidly engaging with our recruiting teams to say, “Familiarize yourselves with this site and make sure you’re passing it along in the early stages of a candidate’s interactions with us.” Another thing with employee benefits is that a spouse or partner can be as much a decision maker in the enrollment choices as the employee. For that reason, we also didn’t want it behind any firewall because it might be the employee simply forwarding the link home saying, “Take a look at this.”

How did you come to work with Isadora Agency?

We sourced a number of different design firms through Google, searching for award-winning design firms. Then we created an official RFP which we issued out to the various firms. One of them was more accustomed to doing work in the employee benefits space, but we just fell in love with Isadora’s work. Their website was great, which was obviously telling. The clients they had seemed to fit because it wasn’t all sexy clients. We also have a very unsexy topic to talk about and I felt if they could be so engaging with existing clients, this was going to work for the employee benefits side.

What is the status of this engagement?

The website development was from August through November. When we began contracting, it ate up a lot of time. We’re now on an ongoing project by project basis to keep the site fresh.

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

It’s so new that everything’s anecdotal. I don’t have measurements. We launched on Tuesday. I sent it out to the benefit vendors —the ones that are featured on this site so they would know what we’re saying about them. The vendors went crazy. I sent the blurbs over to our design lead at Isadora. One of them said, “This is the greatest site I’ve ever seen in employee benefits.” That’s one set of very positive, unsolicited feedback. Some HR staff have been getting stopped by employees in the hallways saying, “Wow, that site looked really great.”

Isadora also did an excellent job in the assessment phase. Even if we had only hired them for that, it would’ve been pretty amazing because they did such a thorough review of our current state. For the templates, what’s cool is that they are distinctly different from how we’ve worked with other firms in the past. They’ve empowered us to use their designs to communicate and maintain our brand and identity. Going forward, any email we send out and any PowerPoint we present will have this template. I really am thrilled about how empowered we are now and that we can work with the site on a much more organic basis.

How did Isadora Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They did extremely well, especially in the earlier stages. As we got to the very end, it became a bit of a hack-a-thon. Some of the formal structure had to go out the window just to get everything done. We had a hard deadline because we needed everything to be ready for our annual enrollment period. But the last week or 2, I was taken aback by how incredibly tight they are in terms of their structure. You know exactly what’s coming when it’s coming. They hit all their deadlines. They also hold you to these deadlines too, which we were very respectful of because a lot of thought went into them.

They have a great internal tool that they use, a project management tool that really lays everything out. You could see the history of everything you’ve looked at. If you need to go back to stuff or get samples or anything, it’s all there for you. You can see you need to review this, this is when we need your feedback, here’s how to submit your feedback, and all that. It was great because we knew what we needed to do. We knew what the expectations were and we could work as a collaborative partnership. It wasn’t just emails flying around or “I forgot” or something like that. It was very clear.

What did you find most impressive about Isadora Agency?

I was impressed that Isadora herself was involved. I didn’t expect that. She was coming to meetings and giving ideas and setting the stage for things. They did a lot of stakeholder meetings, so that was great for me. In a large organization it’s very easy to be going down a certain path and then somebody comes in and says they don’t like it. They must have had that experience because they did all these stakeholder interviews. Everyone felt like they’d been heard and had a chance to make decisions without derailing us mid-project.

Are there any areas Isadora Agency could improve?

I would only say that it got a little hectic at the very end due to external factors on our side. But we pulled it together and we’re happy with that.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

PowerSchool is an education technology platform from K to 12 that is number 1 best in cost. We used to be a part of Pearson Education but we became a standalone company in 2015. Since then, we’ve invested more than $200 million in innovation and acquisitions. When PowerSchool was a product of Pearson, it was mainly a student information system. Now, PowerSchool is more robust and we do more than just student information. Currently, we offer the unified classroom. We offer student data management, assessment in learning management system, registration, a bit of analytics, reporting in dashboards, and special education. We have an HR in finances and a library management piece as well, making us more all-encompassing. Most of our users are parents, students, and teachers, but we sell to schools and districts. We serve at least 24 and a half million students in more than 6,600 districts. That includes 1 million teachers and 43 million parents. In total, that makes for 65 or 67 million users worldwide.

I'm a digital media and design manager at PowerSchool. I run all of our websites, some internal, mostly external. I handle some of our social media with our PR in communications, all PPC digital advertising. Anything that is digital and online to do with our company, I'm there; it falls into my category. For lead generation and lead optimization, we work closely with our mocking operations team.

What challenge were you trying to address with Isadora?

We had many challenges, the first being lead generation. Second, we couldn't update the site ourselves as it was. We had to rely on our web development team to do it, which was a huge problem for us because they had so many other projects. Updating a website was not a priority when you consider the big picture of the company and what they had to do. As a result, stuff just wasn't getting updated. Third, the site didn't reflect who we were as a company. It didn't give us the flexibility and leverage to grow the site with the gross of our company. That was a big thing for us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Isadora was heavily involved in this project from the beginning, including development and project management. We started by determining PowerSchool’s official identity, who we were as a company. It's hard when we've done 7 acquisitions in 11 months as a company. When you have a project that's been going on for 6 months, all of a sudden what your company has offered is changing while you're trying to develop a project with some sort of stability. Isadora spent all that time getting to know who we were as we were doing acquisitions. Then they said, “Here are the opportunities that you have with the website. Here are the personas you're going after.” They did a lot of research on their end, sending us a proposed site map and user click path. We went back and forth around the wireframes and edits. It was the same for designs. Once we tied down all the designs, it was easier to move into the development stage. Next, we went into content development, gathering and pulling everything together based on the number of pages we had in our site. Then the content that we had from white papers was turned into graphic blog posts and e-books. Our involvement was, “You do your stuff, we do our stuff.” We had QA testing, which was great, before they handed over the site to us. We put in all of our content and then launched the site.

How did you come to work with Isadora?

I was tasked with redoing the website, so I went out, got proposals, and vetted companies. Then I presented our options to the VP, my boss, and the CEO, and then we picked one. I went to several award sites for companies that deliver excellent projects and designs and Isadora came up. I looked at them and we liked the work they'd done. We were also really impressed by the proposal that they gave us. We felt it was going to be a good partnership on both ends because I know they don't work with everyone that they got a query from. After that, we signed the contract.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think it began in April and we launched on the 26th of September. The project lasted for 6 months.

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

Thanks to Isadora, our site now allows us to position ourselves as a thought leader in the education market. We had multiple compliments, not just internally but externally, on the site design and how it really reflects our company. This is a big deal given how much the company has changed in the last 11 months. It's definitely a big upgrade for us.

I'll tell you a story and this might give an insight into it. Our software is interesting in that we sell to schools and school districts, but most of our users are parents, teachers, and students. We have a mobile app with a parent portal and a student portal. People can go in and check their grades and their assignments. Parents can see if their child attended a class. If a child didn't attend a class, the parents would get a notification. Parents and students usually Google PowerSchool because they're looking for the login.

When we launched the new site, we put a button in the top right-hand corner that said: “Get started.” It was us trying to make it easy for schools and districts to say, “Hey, I'm interested in PowerSchool. I want to learn more about you guys.” So we had a contact forum up there with instructions. Instead, the link gets flooded with requests from parents saying, “I don't know how to log in,” or “I forgot my password.” That flooded our sales team and support, so we immediately started experimenting and testing to see how we could improve this. We built a parent and student resource center as well as a teacher resource center. We made a “Get started” page where people needed to pick an option: “I'm a parent or student,” “I'm a teacher,” or “I'm interested in purchasing PowerSchool Solutions or learning more about PowerSchool Solutions.”

That immediately dropped the number of requests from parents. After the change, they were able to find the information that they were looking for in the first place. It was interesting for us because if we hadn't done this project and the site was designed the way it was, we wouldn't know how many parents are actually coming to our site and how many students are coming to our site. Isadora’s design helped us increase the accuracy of our leads and increase conversion rates because we're basically getting rid of the fake leads that are coming in. It decreased the volume for our support team because people are finding the information they need. It's also helped our clients find the information they need, like how to reset a password. That seems so simple, but it's so effective. 

They're very good at design, but they're also good at delivering a functioning website. Those are the 2 things that we want. They really took into account our users and helping us to drive lead generation. They tackled the problems we wanted then to tackle very well. I had also been involved in another project that was created in WordPress and I have to say that they are very clean with their coding and very clean with their setup. You don't necessarily see somebody else's backend of their WordPress, but they've done a very good job of it. That is good and a compliment to them.

How does Isadora perform from a project management standpoint?

They're fabulous. They're clear about telling you when the deadlines are on the whole. They give you a dashboard and they set a milestone for the project. Once you get something given to you, you have 48 hours to turn it around and give it back to them for feedback or changes. They're very clear. They know how long it's going to take them to do something. They know to remind you of deadlines and say, “If you miss this deadline, here's the impact of that.” Also, they say, “If you're in the middle of a project and you decide to go a totally different way, that's great and that's okay. Projects can have flexibility, but the effect is going to be X, Y, and Z.”

They're some of the most persistent people that I've met, and that's meant to be a compliment. It helps you as a customer that you don't have to monitor the project yourself. You can count on them to tell you you're missing something, you need this, or this task is yours. A lot of delays were largely due to us, such as the difficulty of trying to get 3 VPs together in a room because of their schedules. If somebody's away for a whole week, that sucks for your project but there's nothing you can do. That was more on our end than on their end.

What did you find most impressive about Isadora?

They're very good at listening to the feedback from the customer. They're not afraid to go back to the drawing board. The first design that came out for our homepage, we said, “This does not reflect our company. We don't like this at all.” They took everything and listened to what we said. They turned around and gave us a totally different design. We said, “Yes, that's it. That's better. That felt more along the lines of what we are as a company; who we are as a company.” That obviously is a big one when you're designing the entire face of the website.

That's one example, but there are multiple ones where we were said, “No, we don't like this,” and they went back based on our feedback. That is so valuable because if you're working with a company that doesn't listen to you, then you're going to get very frustrated. You're also probably going to end up with something that doesn't have as much value. That's one thing about them that made a big difference.

I trust them to deliver what I want, to listen to what I want, and to deliver quality. Trust is a big issue when signing a big contract. It just depends on the size of the site and what you're looking for. They're great people. They're patient and they listen. They're honest with you. They're going to tell you what's going on and what's not going on. That sort of transparency is valuable in building trust with somebody who’s building a large digital asset for your site.

Are there any areas Isadora could improve ?

It's funny you say that. The only thing I'd say is that while their proposal was good, it wasn't as good as some of the others we got. That’s in terms of detailing what's actually involved in the project in terms of timeline and major deliverables. Alex, who runs the company, actually went around and asked for feedback from a bunch of people on the proposal. I'm sure they have changed it since then since that was a few months ago.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are Martinkovic Milford Architects. We’re an architecture firm. My role at the firm is Director of Marketing and Business Development.

What challenge were you trying to address with Isadora Agency?

There were several challenges that we were trying to address. Our website was probably 6 to 7 years old at the time; it predated my time with the company, and the technology itself was just outdated—in particular, it didn’t work on a lot of mobile devices. There were a lot of technical things to improve upon, but at the same time, Martinkovic Milford was undergoing a brand redesign; it was our 15-year anniversary, and we were revising logo, colors, collateral. So the project with Isadora really dovetailed into something bigger than just a website. What we were looking for from Isadora was really to take all of that and help us emerge at the 15-year mark as a new, more grown-up company. Then, with all of the current technology in place, we wanted them to build a system that could expand and grow as we continue to grow—and really just get us into 2016.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We ultimately chose Isadora for their design sensibilities as it pertains to websites. Currently, there’s not an ongoing branding campaign, mainly because we couldn’t bite off all that at once. The reason we contracted with Isadora was, first and foremost, their technical expertise. The professionalism of their organization, the communication, the project management—all of that certainly mattered, but above all else it was really about how their designs tend to add that little bit of a difference to a website.

There are so many templates out there. It’s clearly a competitive space, and it’s hard to create anything new online, in my opinion. That said, the spirit of Isadora Agency is trying to do something different, whether it’s quirky or just a different approach to design. That is also true of our company, and so the DNA of the two companies worked well together. We really looked to them to hear what we needed to do and turn it into something that challenged us and was different. Ultimately, they gave us a presence online that is unlike anybody else’s.

We built our site on a WordPress platform, and I’m happy to say you would never know it. I wrote in our RFP to Isadora that I really didn’t care what CMS they used, but I did not want it to look like a template. They succeeded in fulfilling that requirement. Quite honestly, I was surprised that they were able to take WordPress as an engine and put something on top of it that didn’t in any way resemble what you tend to think of when you imagine a WordPress site.

How did you come to work with Isadora Agency?

We did some due diligence at the beginning. We’re in the Bay area, so I really expected to find a development shop near me—and we interviewed a bunch. Isadora got onto my radar somehow. They’re out of LA, and at the outset that was a mark against them; there’s something comforting about having somebody local. But in reality, the website digital design work we’re doing doesn’t really require the designer to be local. Once Isadora popped up on our radar, I saw the work they were doing and immediately wanted to talk with them. I spoke to the folks at Isadora a few times via email and phone before we got a little formal about it, and at that point, they floated right to the top of my list.

How much have you invested with Isadora Agency?

We have invested between $50,000 and $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Isadora Agency probably began in July 2015, when we began interviewing. We really kicked off our work in September and October, and then we wrapped up the process at the end of March 2016. In terms of true work, it was probably 6 to 7 months.

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

We have seen increased traffic to our site, as well as a decreased bounce rate. Our engagement metrics, such as time on site and pages viewed, have improved as we hoped. We’re fortunate to have good inbound campaigns on other sites, so we were attracting people. But the goal for us—and this is where we had some synergy with Isadora—was to attract the right people; even if the quantity of inbound leads decreased. That has happened. I don’t have specific metrics, but I could say that there has been a noticeable difference in the quality of calls that we have been getting. We sit in a higher-end bracket—I wouldn’t say luxury, but more of a higher-end bracket—so there’s a certain type of client that has the realistic expectations and investment level that we’re trying to attract. In the end, it is working.

How did Isadora Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

I always laugh when I say this because I’ve done website redesigns more than once, and it’s usually the people like me who screw up the schedule—the people who have to create the content and give feedback. Nonetheless, schedule was at the top of my list for Isadora. I’ve had bad experiences with firms who sell you heavy on project management and then don’t really deliver. Isadora was the opposite. In addition to online tools that they have to keep everybody on track, and a dashboard where I can log in at any time to see the calendar and where different deliverables are in the process (as promised), Isadora was on me weekly, reminding me of due dates and telling me when I was behind. We’re a small firm of only 20 to 22 people. I am the only marketing guy, so for me to produce and manage in addition to all the other things I have to do, I knew that it was going to be impossible from the beginning. Isadora did a great job and never once faltered throughout the whole process.

What did you find most impressive about Isadora Agency?

I probably hit on this point earlier. I don’t know what it is about them, or I don’t know if there’s anything proprietary that enables them to deliver different-looking sites, but it seems to be similar to the way we work. As an architecture firm, when we hire a client and they’re doing a potentially $1 million to $1.5 million or even a $2 million remodel of a home, it’s all about them. It’s all about custom; it’s all about getting to know the client so that the designs we create in collaboration with them are meant to express how they live—indeed, to help them live, help them be more efficient in their lives, help them enjoy their lives, etc. I think Isadora approaches their work in the same way.

Working with Isadora has been the best experience I’ve had with an agency or a web design team because, from the beginning, they understood we were trying to be different. Based on their previous work, I began this project with that hope, and what I can say is that the hopes I had were 100% met at the end of the project. The feedback we’ve gotten from potential clients, friends of the firm, and existing clients has been in parallel with that. Everybody thinks the site is great. Of course, it’s new and refreshed, but the feedback we’ve gotten has proven to be what we hoped.

Are there any areas Isadora Agency could improve?

No. As a client, you always wish you got more for your money, but you must keep your expectations realistic. There’s really nothing negative I would ever say about them and their process—and especially their deliverables. They were right on par with everything I wanted, and they really exceeded what we were hoping for.