The Label Collective

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Brand of a software company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We empower companies and agencies of all sizes to build, power, manage, and optimize their WordPress websites and applications with confidence. 
Serving 1.5 million customers across 150+ countries, the global technology company provides premium, enterprise-grade solutions, tools, and services, including specialized platforms for Managed WordPress and Headless WordPress, industry-tailored eCommerce and agency solution suites, and developer-centric tools like Local, Advanced Custom Fields, and more. 
Our innovative technology and industry-leading expertise are why 8% of the web visits a site powered by us daily.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Label Collective to accomplish?

• Provide creative strategy and execution support to unify and elevate a brand system
• Ideate and develop a full-funnel paid advertising assets

SOLUTION

How did you find The Label Collective?

• Online Search
• Clutch Site

Why did you select The Label Collective over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Company values aligned
• Creative style alignment

How many teammates from The Label Collective were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

• A brand system proposal that strategizes our brand strategy and creative execution
• A brand & component library that serves as the single source of truth for different internal Figma projects, inclusive of logo, iconography, photography, etc.
• A brand guideline that integrates brand identity and creative elements
• A set of paid media ads with 50+ full-funnel deliverables 
• An exploratory creative diagnose on the email design system

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• A brand system that received unanimous agreement from the leadership and successfully proceeded to a rollout in May.
• A brand component library that has been widely used by the internal designers across the company
• A set of brand paid ads that have been consistently performing better than benchmark through A/B tests on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn.  

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

• The Label Collective (TLC) team are extremely responsive agency who are proactive with the project planning, progress, blockers and expectations, and deliver every project on time.
• We address account questions via weekly meetings plus slack messages; and project meetings are scheduled on regular basis depending on the timeline and feedback.
• We have a dedicated account manager who is on top of everything project management, from burn-rate, project briefing, project timeline, to deliverable confirmations. 

What was your primary form of communication with The Label Collective?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• The Label Collective team's adapability is impessive where they pivot quickly to update the pricing model to fit in our budget and desired scope, and they adjust working style quickly to match the internal team's energy and preferences.
• The team was extremely strategic, logical, and process-driven, especially when it came to bridging the gap between brand strategy and creative execution.
• They are excellent presenters who can either do well as a sole project owner or serve alongside a great sidekick, which are incredibly important to receive internal alignment for large-impact projects like a brand rollout. 
• The agency is also extremely well-versed in the digital media landscape, and their concepts delivered can easily fit into the existing media plan, or be quickly adapted to perform and scale.

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Label Collective could have done differently?

The only thing I'd say, which is probably unique in our instance, is that the level of meticulousness in the creative deliverable that don't necessarily match from the agency to the internal creative team on some deliverables. But it doesn't impact the overall quality. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior product marketing manager at Anaconda. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Label Collective?

The Label Collective provides graphic and creative design services for us. Our overall goal is to have one place where we get a variety of content templates and designs for our brand. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first engaged The Label Collective on a brand refresh in 2023. They redesigned our brand with new templates and content tools that would be easy for our staff to use. They worked with us to get input from key stakeholders, such as individual contributors, managers, and executives. 

From there, they gave us recommendations on how to proceed with the brand refresh. They then collaborated with us to get approvals and execute the recommendations. We reviewed design options and eventually chose one.

At present, they help us with our graphic design function. They’re involved in projects that require materials supporting our brand and communications, such as PDFs, booth designs, letterheads, and social templates. Moreover, they’ve designed a signature report for us for many years. It’s an original research we do on the state of data science and AI every year.

What is the team composition?

On any given project, I work with an account manager who assigns tasks to Chris (Graphic Designer). Chris then does the job and delivers it to the account manager. 

How did you come to work with The Label Collective?

I wasn’t yet in the company when the engagement began.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested over $250,000 in their services over six years. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with The Label Collective in June 2018, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Label Collective has done a great job of providing high-impact visual and physical designs that have helped our brand stand out in a crowd of companies doing data science and AI. For instance, our 2022 report on the state of data science and AI has generated around 250 qualified leads. Overall, the quality of their work is high. They do a phenomenal job in terms of design and consistency. 

How did The Label Collective perform from a project management standpoint?

The Label Collective’s workflow is efficient, and they’re great at giving me reminders when they need approvals — they’re gentle about it, so it’s easy to engage with them. For communication, we use Slack, which is great since we can communicate directly with them inside our own environment. The team has also created an Asana form that lets us tell them about projects without directly contacting them. 

Further, their account management has been great, and they have good follow-up. There have been some months when we don’t do a lot of work with them, but they’ve been truly patient as they wait for us to get our things together. On top of that, they’re local to us — this proximity has been helpful. Since we’re in the same time zone, it’s easy to figure out when things get printed.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their entire team has been amazing. They work well together, making our experience absolutely seamless. We count on them to be experts, and they’ve shown time and time again that they’re truly reliable. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The Label Collective should get comfortable with thinking big when it comes to special projects requiring a unique image that we’ll only use once. They should be super creative and not be afraid of coloring outside the lines. We count on their consistency in terms of corporate materials, which may have pretty basic designs. However, every now and then, we need an image to put on a t-shirt, and I’d love to see them get super creative in those projects. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear understanding of your goals, and The Label Collective will help you figure out what you must do to achieve those goals. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Plural is a legislative tracking and intelligence tool used by public policy professionals. I am the VP of Marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Label Collective, and what were your goals?

We went through a rebranding exercise with another agency to determined the final name, logo, and brand story. We needed a creative agency to bring it life and produce all of our rebranded materials.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I have worked with The Label Collective in the past (different tech company) and have followed their work over the years.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

Final Brand Guidelines and templates.

Branded Social Media Header Images

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn Branded Business Card Template Branded Homepage Banner (for Squarespace reskin)

All internal pages of website (100 pages)

Branded One-Pager Template

• Build of One Pager (Overview) Branded eBook Template
• eBook (The Future of Public Policy Work) - 14 pages
• eBook (Authentically Engaging with Your Stakeholders - Toolkit) - 25 pages
• eBook (How to Prepare for the 2023 Legislative Session) - 20 pages Branded Case Study Template
• Build of Case Study - Georgia Tables and Enview
• Build of Case Study - CSME Branded Google Ads Templates • Build of Ads (Brand Announcement) - Google (1080x1080 + 1920x1080) Branded LinkedIn Ads Templates
• Build of Ads (Brand Announcement) - LinkedIn (1200x628 + 1200x1200 + 628x1200)

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

I worked with Erin, Kristin, Kandance and Julia, among others on the team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The brand launch happened on-time...with no wiggle room for error. They worked over the weekend to get the outdated website brand-compliant. The quality of design was amazing, and their approach to gathering stakeholders feedback was great.

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

We used Slack to communicate, and they updated us along the way. Project was delivered on-time and under budget.

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

Ability to take an existing brand and bring it to life in a meaningful way.

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

Nope!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing for a SaaS and tech company that supports the physical security software space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Label Collective?

We needed someone to help us bring our narrative into creative campaigns and outreach efforts to bring our vision to life.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Label Collective mainly provides creative services. They do banner ads, blog posts, images for social media, and content assets that we deliver through various channels. They use InDesign and Illustrator. To start, we provide them with a creative brief. For more complicated projects, we do a kickoff call to discuss our vision and how we’d like to bring the research paper or piece of content to life. They take that input and deliver three different concepts. From there, we select one, which becomes how all the assets underneath a campaign come to life.

For example, they recently did our media research reports. They’ve done several research reports for us, and not only do they execute the design, but they also do all the ancillary assets that help promote the report in the market. They deliver the blog post headers, social image posts, thumbnail images, and everything else that goes through the integrated campaign.

What is the team composition?

We have an account executive who acts as a project manager and a primary designer. Erin and Kristin (Founders & Creative Partners) are the principals; they manage the strategy with us.

How did you come to work with The Label Collective?

I worked with them in a previous role; they did good work for me in the past. When I came over, I tapped them. However, our initial interactions came from a referral.

How much have you invested with them?

We pay a retainer; it’s about $10,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2021, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve been able to deliver against our time metrics and ensure we’re pushing and launching our campaigns. Moreover, they’re very responsive to our budget management.

How did The Label Collective perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re always on time with our projects. Also, we’ve worked with them on going into a retainer model to see how many hours we have available to complete the tasks and stay within budget.

On the other hand, communication is great. We use emails and Slack and have a weekly Zoom meeting. For project management, we use Monday to share rounds, reviews, and the overall ticketing process. When they have a version ready, they push it through the platform. Also, they’ve helped us build the automation and triggered alerts to our campaign managers so they can provide feedback and send it back to them. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really collaborative. The creative process can be arduous and daunting, but they listen to what we’re looking for and deliver even more fantastic ways to bring our vision to life.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing at this point.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

In general, a good partnership is made of good communication. Just make sure you’re available to provide feedback and timely input into the rounds so you can get the best possible service.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the head of growth marketing for Ascend.io. A data automation cloud firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Label Collective?

We needed a steady graphic design team to help make our brand more ad-hoc to allow us to start gaining more recognition in the market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired The Label Collective to be our primary graphic design partner. They’ve provided their graphic design services for our website, trade show booths, and event giveaways.

What is the team composition?

I directly worked with the two co-founders and a project manager.

How did you come to work with The Label Collective?

I came across The Label Collective while researching for graphic agencies on Google.

How much have you invested with them?

I believe they’ve spent somewhere between $15,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in March 2022, and I believe they still have an ongoing relationship with the company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Label Collective has helped the company gain more traffic and engagement, resulting in more people being drawn into our trade shows.

How did The Label Collective perform from a project management standpoint?

They were fantastic from a project management perspective as they were able to quickly organize our project, provide us with rapid changes, and garner positive results.

I mostly connected with them through Asana and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with how they were able to quickly turn around the project for us and their delivery agility.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they needed to improve when I was still working with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend you listen to their advice and expertise and provide them with as much detailed information about your goals as you can.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing for The Regis Company, a software simulation edtech company that works with Fortune 500 organizations on learning and development programs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Label Collective?

We needed someone to provide us with digital marketing services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Label Collective is our primary advertising partner, and they serve as an extension of our marketing team.

We work together to identify our strategic objectives, generate ideas on how to execute them, and finalize the entire scope. Most of their tasks include marketing production, creative asset design through Illustrator and Photoshop, sales op management, content writing, SEO, and web development and maintenance.

What is the team composition?

We mainly interface with Erin and Kristin (Co-Founders & Creative Partners), but we also work with Staci (Art Director), a developer, a HubSpot specialist, and an SEO auditor.

How did you come to work with The Label Collective?

They already had an existing relationship with our company so when I came on board, I inherited the relationship. We chose to continue working with them because they have a great process and we were able to work seamlessly from the get-go.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership began in March 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Label Collective’s approach is extremely collaborative and I admire their diplomacy. Stakeholders can have very diverse opinions, but their team is very good at straddling tension as they’re very experienced people with their own opinions and they also know when to take cues from what the client wants.

We just work efficiently together and I feel very comforted and supported knowing I have them as partners.

How did The Label Collective perform from a project management standpoint?

They consistently adhere to schedules and budget, and they’ve never missed a deadline. We have weekly huddles and use Slack for our day-to-day communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with their capabilities of being strategic thinkers and understanding the context of what’s being asked of them, to deliver a wide variety of services.

I compare them to a Swiss army knife, as they can do a range of services within a lean organization.

Apart from that, we like their flexibility, adaptability, and general pleasantness to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they need to improve on because I’ve just been happy with the partnership.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The Label Collective does everything they can possibly do, very well and elegantly so as a partner, you have to maintain a level of transparency and communication to make sure you’re providing the right context for the strategy you want to implement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Senior Content Marketing Manager at Liquibase, an enterprise database DevOps tool based on an open-source project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Label Collective?

The Liquibase open-source project was approaching a big milestone — a 15-year anniversary. Many open-source projects don't live to see this milestone, so we wanted to create a microsite to celebrate the journey. We came to The Label Collective for ideation, design, and development work to make this project happen.

SOLUTION

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

I based my selection on previous projects I had done with the team at The Label Collective. We needed collaboration, great design, and solid web development on a tight timeline. I knew I could count on them.

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

After a quick discovery process, we collaborated through Basecamp to share ideas, files, and putting a timeline in place. We were able to scope out what was possible in a tight turnaround:

• New design of a 15-year graphic that could be used on a t-shirt and on the website and social media
• Design style built on our existing brand guidelines, but special for the occasion
• Development of a microsite to create a timeline of events with images and milestones based on the provided content from our team

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

We worked with both Erin and Kristin for the ideation and plan, a designer for the 15-year graphic and style for the microsite, and a developer for the development of the microsite itself.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everyone loved the 15-year design and enjoyed getting a t-shirt with it to celebrate the milestone. Having a microsite as a destination to share our story was great to use on social media and for the PR we received for it.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Erin and Kristin are always responsive and easy to communicate with and this project was no exception. The website developer on the project was also super easy to work with.

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

No matter what type of project and timeline I throw at them, they have great ideas to make it work and can find the resources to support it.

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

No, this project went super smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of a plant-sitting marketplace

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Two sided marketplace for plant sitting

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Label Collective to accomplish?

• Logo design
• Brand collateral
• Website design

SOLUTION

How did you find The Label Collective?

Clutch Site

Why did you select The Label Collective over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from The Label Collective were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Brand identity, logo design, advertising materials, website design

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Completion of project

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

They delivered on time and made sure I was satisfied in every regard.

What was your primary form of communication with The Label Collective?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Good culture fit and understanding of project

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Label Collective could have done differently?

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Executive Director at the Wine & Food Foundation. We are a non-profit organization that brings cutting edge programming & events to a community of wine lovers and foodies. And we raise money to support our local hospitality community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Label Collective, and what were your goals?

Re-brand, website re-design, ongoing website support, event graphics.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I came into the role with Label Collective already in place as our partners, and have been absolutely thrilled with their work and partnership.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

They created an entire brand package for us, a full website re-design, and work with us on an ongoing basis on website support and event graphics.

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

We work with several members of the team from graphics to IT support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our community is much more engaged with our website and we've received excellent feedback from our Board of Directors as well.

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

They are highly deadline-oriented and manage projects with precision. They have incredible communications and are very process oriented and organized.

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

They are goal-oriented with excellent and clear communications, and also very patient. They're not afraid to pick up the phone when communicating gets complex or confusing to ensure we have clarity.

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

no.