MarketDesign Consulting

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re an IT services company that provides for the North America region. I’m the president of the United States businesses as well as an executive for the Canadian portion of the business.

What challenge were you trying to address with MarketDesign Consulting?

We launched the US business several years ago and brought their team on as we were trying to accelerate growth in the United States specifically. It was important for us to find a unique brand identity, differentiators, and a way to attract top talent.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They took a consultative approach, helping us decide that we wanted to kick off with a workshop. She visited our office for a one-day management workshop where Kara (Owner) walked through our vision, mission, purpose, values, and more with us. We also began looking at possible keywords. During that effort, we started clustering words, examining color schemes, and thinking about organizations and taglines in both the consumer and business world. 

From there, they offered a methodology and approach to move through a brand pyramid. We used this framework to build our brand on the foundation of our mission, values, and vision. Their work touched everything from our digital strategy to taglines and brand templates. We took an iterative approach, even including our chairman and founder on feedback rounds. 

In the end, they’d helped us with everything in the brand pyramid: storyboarding, conceptualization, taglines, color schemes, messaging, a website launch, and more.   

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Kara through the series of workshops and brand-building exercises. She has a great team behind her as well, but Kara has been our main point of contact. 

How did you come to work with MarketDesign Consulting?

Because branding is important for staff, the market, and more, I spent about six months finding the right partner. I spoke to about 20–30 firms about the work, all referrals from other respected CEOs in the business. I landed on them because of their knowledge of branding and market strategy combined with domain expertise, which I initially didn’t think would be hugely essential. Having a knowledge of the industry was very important, and several other firms we considered didn’t have that understanding of the IT space.

Secondly, we quickly discovered that their president and owner has a very deep passion for her work. From the start, it felt like our engagement was more like a consultancy partnership than an outsourced team structure. I got a good feeling about their willingness to go on our journey with matching levels of emotional engagement. They understood what we were asking for and wanted to be a part of it, which was very important. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $20,000–$50,000 on their services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–September 2020. After we launched the brand, however, they continued working on our next phases of marketing strategy. In that regard, their work with us is ongoing.

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

It’s been a great partnership. Using a series of workshops to united our engineering, sales, marketing, customer service, and other teammates through her guided facilitation was very powerful. I’m proud of the work.

Leaders at the company are proud too because they were a part of building it. That experience allowed them to rally around my services. Teammates didn’t know what to expect from this project, but they left the workshops feeling committed to and understanding of our company vision. Understanding our purpose in executing our day-to-day work gave us a unified rally cry that will be felt all the way through to the recruitment process. 

Their team’s understanding of both traditional and digital marketing, as well as the tech industry, has been very helpful to us. We have customers and people from large companies commenting on our brand, saying that we’re creating a unique home for passionate employees that the generational workforce wants to be a part of.

Their team brought tech and IT to the forefront of the working world through our deliverables, and we’re seeing positive responses from customers on our newsletters and blogs. People are finding us and deciding they want to join our journey.    

How did MarketDesign Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They had a very structured methodology, and I appreciated that. Kara even walked me through some methods offline to ensure that we could push my team through tough spots in the process. She was a phenomenal facilitator, and her company has established a strong, methodical approach.  

That approach was effective and efficient. Especially considering the effects of the pandemic on most working relationships, they delivered the brand assets very specifically. Kara tracks all their work through a portal and several tools to make sure that all tasks and progress are well-documented. She’s prompt on schedule and timelines, insistent that we hold to our milestones.    

What did you find most impressive about them?

Kara is a good listener. Their team has a great ability to hear us and accurately interpret what we’re saying, making them stand out in the creative process. They can connect our day-to-day work and processes to why we’re doing them. Their ability to listen to our timelines, budget, constraints, cost, and vision to execute on all of it is amazing. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their approach is dependent on a system and set of mindsets. She doesn’t sacrifice the quality of her work, so scaling could be a challenge for them in the future.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re committed to you, so you also have to be committed to them. For instance, she sends forms to prepare for her workshops. If you put thought into completing them beforehand, that will benefit you.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of our managed services provider at Northriver IT. Our mission is to "Partner with thriving teams who value their time." What this means in practice is that we use Quality products so we can deliver premium service for small to midmarket enterprises and K12. These services typically include managed WiFi and managed firewall services.

For what projects/services did your company hire MarketDesign Consulting?

After spending the greater part of 2020 working on internal communication, values, mission, and vision with my team I found that I did not have a great way to communicate that internally or to the outside world.

The initial driver to hire MarketDesign was only to acquire more inbound leads, early in the conversation I discovered that I really needed more help than I realized.

What were your goals for this project?

The basic initial goals were all centered around inbound lead generation and conversion expectations. Additional outcomes include scheduled meetings to update and refresh content along with a timeline established nearly a year in advance so both my company and MarketDesign knew what to expect.

How did you select MarketDesign Consulting?

I had worked haphazardly with a few other marketing individuals, but never wanted to hire a firm and was concerned about cost. What I realized about every solution I had explored in the past they only covered one or two items, examples include only a branding exercise or only lead lists.

While it may have been possible to save money if I would have explored another firm I was certain that I would not get the expertise, attention, specificity, and holistic approach provided by MarketDesign. Considering our company lacked any marketing I needed a complete solution

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Their scope included a branding exercise, website refresh, content creation, content management, migration to a new CMS, and a new CRM with analytics. I would not have received this complete of a package with the industry knowledge provided by MarketDesign anywhere else.

What was the team composition?

I have worked primarily with Kara and she has introduced be to a few other team members throughout the project. I can tell from the product I am receiving that while multiple members are involved Kara is doing a fantastic job of managing expectations for both the crew behind the scenes and my deliverables.

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

Our first email campaign went out at the end of December and we achieved a greater than 30% open rate on one campaign. Prior to this we essentially had 0 marketing so unfortunately I have nothing to compare this against.

While I do not have a baseline of past experience I can say that the MarketDesign team has consistently made their deliverable commitments, which gives me confidence in the expected outcome and success of the project.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication and follow-up from a project management perspective has been stellar and I have learned some things from MarketDesign on how I could and should interact with my own customers in the future.

In particular the use of HubSpot and enhanced use of ConnectWise in our organization assists in the true follow-up required to be successful in establishing next steps whether it is a sales or service request.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was forced to make a leap of faith as I was so unfamiliar I had no idea what I was getting into or what I was paying for. It reminded me of what my customers face when making an IT purchasing decision and are presented with a monthly rate and are easily confused about what is or is not included in this rate.

The reason my expectations have been surpassed is because of the ongoing milestones and follow through by MarketDesign.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The quality was great and delays were insignificant or minor and had no impact on the outcome. I am impressed by the ability of the MarketDesign team to manage the workload effectively.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the president of Microtech Systems, a managed service provider. We provide computer and IT needs to small businesses.

What challenge were you trying to address with MarketDesign Consulting?

We were looking for marketing support to help generate leads.

What was the scope of their involvement?

MarketDesign Consulting managed everything from a marketing standpoint. They manage the company website and communications. The team conducts interviews for our monthly blogs and creates email campaigns around these blogs. Additionally, they manage our social media, particularly LinkedIn and Facebook, and our newsletter.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is Kara (Owner, MarketDesign Consulting). Having one person to communicate with was our decision.

How did you come to work with MarketDesign Consulting?

Our previous marketing consultant had done work with MarketDesign Consulting in the past and recommended them. I was impressed with Kara, so we decided to work with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $3,000 a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement began in December 2018.

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

We agreed upon KPIs at the beginning of the engagement, which we track and monitor on a monthly basis. They’ve done a great job so far. 

How did MarketDesign Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

Kara has been great. They meet every deadline and are reasonable in terms of setting timelines based on the project at hand.

What did you find most impressive about them?

MarketDesign Consulting approaches each situation with expertise and professionalism. They don’t use a cookie cutter approach, which distinguishes them from competitors.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’ve been pleased with their performance.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re considering working with MarketDesign Consulting, know that you’ll be in good hands. They’ll take care of you and do great work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a ComSource, a solutions provider in the IT industry.

What challenge were you trying to address with MarketDesign Consulting?

We needed to go through a rebranding process.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Kara (Owner, MarketingDesign Consulting) walked us through a very efficient process to come up with the creative designs. They worked to help us understand our target market and the right branding approach to address them. They helped us develop a new logo, tagline, and all new digital and print marketing materials from scratch, including our mission, vision, and values. They worked with us on the colors and shapes for the materials, too. 

They did a full redesign of our website, too. Along with that, they created a promotional video to differentiate us from our competition. Their team also supported us in producing materials for a trade show and industry conferences. 

What is the team composition?

3–5 people worked with us at any given time. 

How did you come to work with MarketDesign Consulting?

I’d known Kara for a number of years. She had a great reputation, so we had a lot of confidence in them before we even started. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $120,000 on their team’s services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January–July 2019. 

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

Their work was almost perfect; all of our expectations were exceeded. She delivered a great end product. 

How did MarketDesign Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated both in-person and virtually, just depending on the nature of the work. They did an outstanding job managing the project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The whole process was very efficient. With other companies, there is a lot of searching for the right answer. With Kara’s process, we never wasted any time and our team really liked working with her. They have a personal, boutique approach combined with speed, so it was great. Kara brings in the right partners at the right time. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they were pretty good. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

There’s no question that they’ll deliver a quality product. Make sure you understand who’s working on what part of the project and it’ll go smoothly. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director of an IBM partner company. We implement solutions for IBM and Pitney Bowes software. Our company does consult for analytics, data science, AI, data governance, location analytics, and data sets.

What challenge were you trying to address with MarketDesign Consulting?

We engaged them t redesign our website. Our company was using the same site for about 10 years and no longer seeing much traction from it. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

We tasked them to come in with a communication and branding plan. Then, they were to take those plans and rebuild our site to be more efficient with messaging across multiple platforms. We’re a small operation, so we weren’t able to leverage social media before this engagement. 

Along with redesigning the site, they connected us with HubSpot. That’s allowed them to incorporate marketing automation into our workflows. Now, everything is consolidated through that platform.

In addition to digital marketing, they helped us with marketing materials, collateral, and case studies. This wasn’t a full rebrand, but they enhanced our brand through additional colors and graphic elements. This effort is ongoing. We enjoyed our collaboration on our site, so we wanted to keep their team involved with our branding decisions.   

What is the team composition?

Kara (Owner) is my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with MarketDesign Consulting?

They were recommended to us by another company. MarketDesign Consulting handled a brand revamp and website for them, so we were confident in their work. Their portfolio was impressive, and we appreciated that they were a small company delivering great value. 

How much have you invested with them?

In 2019, we spent about $30,000 on their services. This year, in 2020, our spend will come out to about $50,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started collaborating with them in August 2019 and continue to work together. They’re becoming more and more critical to our daily operations as time goes on.

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

The turnaround time on their work is fantastic. They’re responsive and flexible about anything we throw at them. Sometimes our timelines are truncated and difficult, but they’ve been flexible in rolling with that. They’ve churned out great results according to our timelines.  

How did MarketDesign Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication is stellar, they’re tremendously helpful. Using tools like Asana, they keep everyone on task. Our project manager has met or exceeded all deadlines, and the quality of her work is outstanding. I can’t recommend them highly enough. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They instinctively understand shifts in project direction and are able to advise us on what’s best for our company. We have a relatively small budget, so she’s been fantastic in helping us spend wisely and invest in our future. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything that could be improved upon. The results we’ve received have been tremendous, and I can’t recommend them enough. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Schedule a meeting and talk to her. You’ll be amazed at what she can do for you.