Liven Creative Ltd

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a department director at a building products manufacturing company. We manufacture and supply landscaping, building, and roofing products. We also build driveways and pathways at a domestic level and redesign city centers and pedestrian areas. Additionally, we own various quarries and have ancillary businesses for production supplies, such as water management pipes and bricks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Liven Creative Ltd?

The portfolios in some parts of our business are more established than others, and we aim to be either a market leader or a disruptor in each area. Thus, we hired Liven Creative to help us with our branding and marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Liven Creative helps us with branding and marketing for the different parts of our business. Given that each part of our business is different, their work varies across each one. For our brick business, for example, we tasked them with disrupting and challenging that market. Thus, we’ve worked with them on direct mail marketing, marketing strategy, lower-level advertising, presentation redefinition for senior stakeholders, and branding.

Liven Creative’s team has continuously put together communications around our unique selling points and outputs to win in our market. We’ve also been activating various direct mail campaigns and presentations to key customers. Another task that Liven Creative will be helping us with is redefining our brand from a corporate investment perspective through to a trading customer perspective. Currently, those definitions are blurred into one, so we need a complete rebrand.

We already have quite established brand guidelines, so our rebrand will focus on defining and articulating what our mission and values actually mean to each of the various stakeholders. The output will be a cultural piece internally, and it will encompass an evolution of our current brand, logo, and ecosystem.

What is the team composition?

Liven Creative is a small team, so they outsource a lot of work. They are three teammates in total, and they all join our meetings.

How did you come to work with Liven Creative Ltd?

Liven Creative approached me several years ago when I was in a previous business still within the construction industry. They delivered one of the most innovative cold approaches I had seen, which hadn’t been a lot, to be honest. It was a very clever direct mail that landed on my desk. Then, I followed up with them, and they did some work for me in that previous business.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around £75,000 (approximately $93,000 USD) so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them on this project in March 2023, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For our brick business, our market share was initially 3% of the total market, and it is now around 5.9%. We can’t even produce enough bricks to keep up with our demand. Although this result isn’t entirely Liven Creative’s achievement, they’ve certainly helped us accelerate that growth. In addition to that, we’ve seen that our competitors are concerned about the strong messaging we’ve been putting out.

How did Liven Creative Ltd perform from a project management standpoint?

I can’t fault Liven Creative’s project management. Although their prices are at a premium level, they understand things very quickly and push my team and me, which is great. Thanks to them, we haven’t missed any deadlines or gone over budget. We use Microsoft (MS) Teams to communicate and Trello to share targets. I’ve also met in person with them once or twice.

What did you find most impressive about them?

When working with other agencies, there usually is a lot of unpredictability — that doesn’t happen with Liven Creative. They want to understand our business and offer a long-term relationship, which is good.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Liven Creative is quite expensive. Although their price is justified, I would probably give them more work if they were a little cheaper. Moreover, it would be great if we met in person more often. Although for other clients might be important for their service provider to have a project plan, I like Liven Creative’s lack of formality because everything happens naturally and without any stress, so I wouldn’t change that.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Managing Director of Curo

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Curo offers profit-powered PPC management services to ambitious e-commerce retailers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Liven Creative Ltd to accomplish?

• Brand redesign
• Positioning

SOLUTION

How did you find Liven Creative Ltd?

Referral

Why did you select Liven Creative Ltd over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

What was the size of Liven Creative Ltd’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

We approached Liven Creative with a rather large goal of completely overhauling our brand identity and positioning as well as all of our brand assets. Our old brand identity was no longer relevant and felt dated, we were changing our business name as well to reflect the new direction of the business so it was important we rebranded and it was vitally important that this was done to a high standard. They provided us with:

• A new logo and matching assets
• A new website design layout
• Banners and brand identity for social media channels
• Brand guidelines to help you use the new brand going forward
• Positioning and tone of voice documents to help us communicate

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Brand awareness

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

Project management was really good, they were always available when we had queries, regular calls were scheduled to run through findings and we were always kept in the loop. Deadlines were always met and in some cases exceeded which was a very big positive in our eyes.

What was your primary form of communication with Liven Creative Ltd?

Virtual Meeting

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

We were initially impressed by their portfolio of work and the high standards of it. When speaking with them we found they had a great discovery process that was able to gather all the information they required without us realising we were handing it over. They made the daunting process of not knowing where to start very easy, pain-free, and actually really exciting.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Liven Creative Ltd could have done differently?

No, every touch point with them was a great experience. We were really happy with the work they produced for us and we would have absolutely no hesitation recommending them to anyone.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the National Product Director of Willmott Dixon

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Privately owned construction company operating in multiple sectors

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Liven Creative Ltd to accomplish?

• Create our knowledge sharing platform to help our people, customers and partners.

SOLUTION

How did you find Liven Creative Ltd?

Other

Why did you select Liven Creative Ltd over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Other

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

Create an external website that host our knowledge content in various media and offer ongoing support and maintenance. platform had to allow content updating by our team for real time changes, support various media and have access control for users with associated data capture

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• stable platform
• ease of user experience
• ability to update content

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

Always responsive to any issues, very professional and knowledgeable, helpful and give ideas and solutions to our problems, easy to work with and talk to.

What was your primary form of communication with Liven Creative Ltd?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They are flexible and adapt to suit our needs, they understand our drivers and help us fulfill our requirements, competitive on price and we always feel we receive value for money and the service we need.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Liven Creative Ltd could have done differently?

none stand out, they have always been able to adapt to meet any new needs we ask for.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of HelloDPO Law Ltd

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a law firm that specialises in data protection matters and outsourced data protection officer services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Liven Creative Ltd to accomplish?

• Creation of new websites
• Rebranding
• Creation of marketing collateral

SOLUTION

How did you find Liven Creative Ltd?

Referral

Why did you select Liven Creative Ltd over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me

What was the size of Liven Creative Ltd’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

We used Liven Creative to create new websites for our businesses. This involved a re-branding exercise, identifying our corporate values and developing new logos, brand guidelines and tone of voice materials. We have also used Liven Creative to create new branded templates and marketing materials.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Launch of new websites
• Creation of new brand identity

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

Liven Creative were great at project management, they communicated effectively, kept control of timeframes and were flexible with their approach to meet our needs.

What was your primary form of communication with Liven Creative Ltd?

Virtual Meeting

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

Liven Creative took time to get to know us and made sure they fully understood our requirements and our values as a business. This ensured that the re-branding that they undertook reflects who we are and feels authentic. They are creative and proposed interesting solutions that challenged us but also stayed within the brief that we provided. They are also a very personable team who are great to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Liven Creative Ltd could have done differently?

Nothing I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Mi Project Solutions. We provide web-based databases, SaaS solutions to the built environment, primarily the construction sector, within the UK. We have five applications specializing in enterprise-related information management around KPIs, social value contracts, cost management, and a process called pre enrollment, which is the onboarding of skilled workers to construction sites.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Liven Creative Ltd?

We needed a company that could handle our branding needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were actually taking an internal suite of solutions that had been developed by a major contractor in the UK. They developed some internal solutions, and they wanted me and my colleague to take those to market. Liven Creative Ltd has supported us in the strategy to do that. 

Liven Creative Ltd also helped with our brand strategy. We did a series of brand workshops and focus groups with ourselves and also with the key stakeholders from the client side. We went over our target audiences, services, sectors, profiles, vision and values, positioning statements, tone of voice, and account management. They also created our color palette, identity, design, and brand toolkit and determined where we wanted to go from creative and brand directions.

Aside from that, Liven Creative Ltd has built and is currently hosting a WordPress site for us. They’re also tasked with creating content for the site and making it mobile-friendly. They’ve also developed and implemented our go-to-market strategy.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with four people from Liven Creative Ltd, including James (Co-Founder & Business Growth Director), Sarah (Client Services Director), Andrew (Founder & Managing Director).

How did you come to work with Liven Creative Ltd?

We found Liven Creative Ltd through a referral. We looked at 3–4 other companies, and Liven Creative Ltd seemed the most dynamic and enthusiastic and offered the most comprehensive service, so we went with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around £40,000 (Approximately $46,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've had great feedback on the brand, specifically the way that it pops our messaging and how the messaging has resonated with everybody we've engaged with. Our new brand clearly and accurately reflects what we do, how we do it, and the benefits of our service, which is all we really asked for.

How did Liven Creative Ltd perform from a project management standpoint?

Liven Creative Ltd has performed well in terms of project management. They haven’t missed a single deadline. They regularly pushed back with a challenge instead of being subservient, which we really appreciated. They were challenging in their thinking to us, which really helped focus the message and drive the appropriate outcome or the desired outcome that we wanted.

We typically communicate through email and Microsoft Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with Liven Creative Ltd’s challenging nature and energy. We appreciate how vested they are in us as a business and how much they want us to succeed. What we do is not a simple subject, but they grasped the idea very quickly, considering they’re not industry experts. They listened very carefully and challenged where things didn't make sense, and that is important to us. They also managed to humanize some of our language in the best way to make it easy to understand for the market. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don't be scared to be blunt, and Liven Creative Ltd will sort everything out.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Chief Product Director / MD for Collida - a new business within the Willmott Dixon family of companies established to modernise construction delivery.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Liven Creative Ltd, and what were your goals?

As a new business, we hired Liven to help us develop all aspects of our brand (logo, website, key messaging framework, tone of voice, etc.)

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our parent company, Willmott Dixon, has a long and successful track record of working with Liven.

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

Liven helped us develop all aspects of our brand (logo, website, key messaging framework, tone of voice, etc.) Outputs included a Brand Standard document with all supporting logo files, document templates and a Wordpress-powered website.

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

We worked directly with their James G., Andrew M.and Sarah P.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are still in start up mode so too early to answer this.

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

As the work was predominantly undertaken during lockdown, we had regular sprint calls via Teams to progress - with more granular conversations progressing in the interim via phone and email. Liven established and communicated a clearly defined process and timescale for delivery - which they met without delay.

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

Their commitment and willingness to go the extra mile, the ease of interaction, and their creativity are outstanding!

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

Nothing that springs to mind.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Greeen+ is a lifestyle horticulture expert and a market leader in the supply of added value potted plants to UK supermarkets and retailers. Head of Commercial

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Liven Creative Ltd, and what were your goals?

Greeen+ had evolved over the last 10 years, we took the decision to connect with the brand, identify our brand identity, strategy and website. Strategy - brand values, vision, mission, positioning statement, etc. Connect with who we are. Brand Identity Branding - logo, strapline, pantones, etc. Website - wireframe, CMS, etc.

SOLUTION

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

Wealth of experience, benchmarked against the competitor. I liked their ability to understand the customer and translate the vision into reality. Excellent customer service, James and team go over and above. Excellence and level of work.

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

Kick of meeting with all senior stakeholders in the business to cover all aspects of the business. Numerous meetings and workshop. Branding cards and mapping exercise with team.

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

3 - Directors

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Brand Identity, greater recognition within customer base Website https://www.greeenplus.co.uk/ Customer presentation deck

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

James took lead with branding side. Andrew website wire framing and CMS. Sarah project managed weekly meetings.

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

Relevance - the whole project, the ability to highlight relevance now and future. Engagement and results.

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

Branding - due to Covid they couldn't come to site. It would be great if they could actually speak to staff and get their view of what they believe company brand values are.