Kadeau

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the general manager of DeFazio Industries and we’re an electrical manufacturer’s representative agency, operating from Maryland to South Carolina. We sell electrical construction supplies to contractors and distributors in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kadeau?

In 2016, we were opening a business so we needed a website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did an entire discovery process where we sat down and talked about our needs for marketing and branding. They came up with several proposals, professional website wireframes, helped us with our messaging, and provided graphic design suggestions on logos. They used Craft CMS for the backend development.

What is the team composition?

I handled the marketing and branding for our company so I typically dealt with Kevin (Founder) directly. I’ve also occasionally interacted with other employees, but Kevin is my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Kadeau?

I found Kevin through Google back when he worked for a previous company, before he founded his own firm. I met with him at their offices up in Alexandria, and they became our web design vendor since then.

How much have you invested with them?

The web development was about $10,000, but we’ve done tweaks and ongoing maintenance since then. I’d say we probably paid over $25,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March–April 2016. The development only took 4–6 weeks so it wasn’t that long. Granted that our website was probably one of the more basic projects they’ve taken on, but it was still a reasonable amount of time. 

They maintained and applied different revisions to the site, but we haven’t had a major project since then. We still intend to continue our relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Kadeau was extremely collaborative and showed us multiple different options and routes we could take. They were also very attentive to our cost since we were a growing small business that just opened the door — they were cognizant of that and we haven’t worked with anybody since. We’ve no intentions of changing providers, and we’ve been very happy with Kevin and his new firm.

They’re a progressive, forward-thinking company that operates very nimbly. I’ve always appreciated Kevin as an owner. Getting to pick up the phone and talking to the decision-maker meant a lot to me. We were always a very personal client and they treated us well.

How did Kadeau perform from a project management standpoint?

They handled the project very well. I can’t speak to the specific systems or methodologies that they used, but the end product was professional and very put together.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were really a great one-stop-shop partner, and I would argue that we have one of the best websites in our industry — they really gave us a first-class product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, no. For the rate they charged and the work they did, I think they did a fantastic job and I have no intentions of making any changes.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say before working with Kadeau or any other design company, put together your own statement of work document. Try to put as much detail on the scope of your project, because that’ll give Kevin the best kind of jumping-off point to dive in, and come back with a proposal.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing at a global corporation that focuses on the legal and compliance industry. We provide a range of services pertaining to the selection and implementation of technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Kadeau?

We needed them to help us rebrand our business and update our main website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our company was originally founded in the US. Over the last years, we acquired seven companies and that really urged us to rethink how we wanted our company to be represented — how our brand must define who we were as a company. We examined the design of our website and other branding materials and thought that it was about time we update these, so they could speak more of the company that we’ve become. Kadeau then helped us come up with a plan that highlighted what must be done to get our brand’s look up to date.

The rebranding process started with our website’s upgrade. One of the main challenges that their team encountered was the old, athletic theme of our site which did not really translate to what we generally do as a company — we are a professional services provider. Their team dealt with that site issue by upgrading the color palette into a more professional-looking version, highlighting our professional services, and showcasing the range of our clients. It was basically a full brand overhaul.

Additionally, they reconceptualized our branding materials by creating more visual and vibrant photos rather than our usual block-type and dull materials. Our goal was to portray our company in a way that is inspiring to our clients, so Kadeau had to add a lot more color and fun to our brand while maintaining a professional look.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact was Kevin (Founder). We also worked with three of his team members.

How did you come to work with Kadeau?

Kevin used to be a part of another agency that worked for our company. When I was onboarded, I got to work with him and witnessed his potential. After he put up his own agency, it so happened that I needed someone to help us with branding work, so I gladly contacted him. I was willing to become one of his first customers because I knew how good he was when it came to marketing.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $100,000 — it’s a pretty comprehensive package that involved two major branding phases and a lot of additional work on migration and updates.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from March–September 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Prior to Kadeau’s intervention, our website was in a very poor state — nobody had proper access to our Google Analytics account, so we didn’t even know what our customers thought of the site and if they even frequented it. After Kevin’s team integrated web and marketing solutions into our platform, we brought in a lot of contacts and improved our site traffic.

They enhanced our SEO, so there’s an apparent and substantial uptick there that we never experienced before. Additionally, we received a lot of customer feedback and inquiries that allowed us to procure potential clients. In general, it was really nice, and we were happy to have had all these revenue-generating opportunities because of Kadeau’s work.

How did Kadeau perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicated with Kevin’s team via email and phone calls. They sent me updates and mockups of products, so I could review those before the implementation phase. Kadeau was always responsive and available. They stayed in touch with us to cater to our needs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Kadeau’s team possessed a balance between technical and creative skills. We didn’t find the need to go to a big and expensive agency just to discover that they lack one of those skills — we were happy to have onboarded a team that knew how to view things from an artistic and professional standpoint.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Since they’re not a big agency, there were minor issues when it came to scalability. However, hiring their humble team also worked to our advantage because they shared the same excitement and collaborative vibrancy as ours.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the CEO of a medical company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Concierge physician service

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Create a killer brand
• Create a killer website
• Think through the company's consumer engagement

SOLUTION

How did you find Kadeau?

Online Search

Why did you select Kadeau over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Kadeau were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Develop from a very basic concept the company approach to the consumer.  This would entail the go to market strategy, how the consumer engages and how the company draws the consumer in to describe the services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Created a consumer engagement strategy, website, branding, logo that matched our needs 100 percent!!

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

100% on time!  Very responsive. Easy to get on the phone and talk through deliverables.

What was your primary form of communication with Kadeau?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Easy to engage with.  Very thoughtful and practical and willing to go with the company/client vision but also pushing on it to end up with the best product.

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

Nothing at all! They're a fantastic company!