MiLK&BULL Creative

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Manager of a perfume retailer company. The company offers a perfume discovery kit customer for each customer according to their preferred scent.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire MiLK&BULL Creative?

For a cigarette box like packaging to hold 3 tester bottles.

SOLUTION

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

We’ve selected this vendor according to reviews on this site.

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

We agreed to have 3 rounds of revision, and paid 50% to begin. The vendor gave us a time of 7 days to explain and give examples of packaging designs we liked and a color palette. After that was the first round of deliverables. The designs submitted was nothing near to the examples we introduced in the document. We asked them to combine the front side of a design and backside of the other plus removing some colors.

The request was submitted as the second round. The outcome didn’t look as what we had in mind. We wanted a perfume box and ended up with a box looking like a tissue box. So we had to draw our own design and just ask for it to be done. The design we wanted and draw ourselves was submitted as the final round but the writing and images were very small with thin outline which was hard to see. We requested for the images to be a bit bigger as we could barely see what was it. They had to put a price for this as they stated that they don’t work for free and already submitted 10 designs.

The designs submitted were 8 not 10 and the final round with the tiny design seem to look as if it was on done purpose. After some negotiation they agreed to do it for free. After receiving the package from the manufacturer we discovered so many faults with it as it didn’t open well and the inserts didn’t sit well inside the package. It took us time to compare and purchase so many products for the case of just looking inside the boxes and see how it is designed. We discovered the things that should be done.

After discussing the matter with the company they stated a price of 625$ to fix the design. The price was very high due to that we did all the work when we tried to negotiate the price and that it isn’t our fault the design was faulty they replied that it’s the manufacturer to blame.

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

In total, 2 employees. AJ which is Vice President and Nick the creative director.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

No success happened here

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They promised more than what they can do. I think they may be good in designing label stickers but no way they have experience in boxes. Workflow was average level.

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

They changed the colors of my design that I did to be more suitable.

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

Never blame others for your own mistakes and be responsible of the quality of work you give to others.

Company Responses

The vendor responded on September 21, 2021.

We are the luckiest people in the world, we make art for a living, it really is a dream job; but if we are not paid then we have to close our doors and find real jobs. I would've worked with this company a million times over if they were willing to work with us, sadly they did not intend on making peace or finding a solution, they would rather burn a bridge. 

We loved this project and the work that we created together. It is unfortunate that the client did not want to pay us for our work, resulting in the project stopping just short of production. This review is unfortunate too, as there were so many other options that one can take to find a compromise before coming to this point. We were willing to work with the client at every step, we just can't work for free and they couldn't understand that. 

The review paints a very specific story. It suggests we sabotaged a project that our designers worked tirelessly on - that could not be further from the truth. The client changed their product size after 3 months of work, which had been originally estimated to take 3 weeks and that is what we had produced a proposal for. 

This entirely changed the packaging size and dimensions. Being that this came long after the ending of the three-week period that the project was completed in, meaning it fell way beyond the scope of work, we sent them an estimate for the cost of services. They refused to pay us any more money. 

If anyone reading this has any questions, feel free to reach out and ask about this review, we have photos from the project and much more — it really had so much beauty and potential — really a shame it had to go like this. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of HGRM, a feng shui consulting company. We specialize in helping individuals declutter their spaces and bring them closer to what they want regarding their lives from the different areas of the Bagua map.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MiLK&BULL Creative?

I was needing services for creating the image for our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MiLK&BULL jumped in and gave me a lot of feedback and suggestions on how to create a really nice website to start bringing traffic in. First, they helped me with the logo's colors and design. Then, they helped me create a really nice welcoming page for the website and gave me ideas on how to navigate and use the Google customer reviews.

We had a couple of conversations to talk about the colors, style, and energy I wanted to put on the site. MiLK&BULL put all that together and created the site that I have now.

The site was built in Wix, and the key features were that people could contact me through email or phone calls, book appointments online, and select which consultancy package they were interested in, and I would get a notification.

What is the team composition?

I work with two people from MiLK&BULL. Nick (Creative Director) works on the design part and AJ (Account Executive) is more involved on the administrative side. AJ was the one to help me with the business reviews on Google, and he also helped me define the color scheme, create the logo, and set the whole page up.

How did you come to work with MiLK&BULL Creative?

When I was needing help with my website, Wix gave me several options. I reached to MiLK&BULL and another party, but, once I sent the information to the other party, they didn't follow through.

I went along with MiLK&BULL because they were more interactive and immediately reached out to me. We made a connection and were able to work together.

How much have you invested with them?

This project has cost me $1,600.

What is the status of this engagement?

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

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

MiLK&BULL’s professionalism is excellent — I’m very happy with the results. They’re also good listeners, and they want their work to be a reflection of me. They listened to what I envisioned and captured my ideas. They came back with different options and ideas from our feedback exchange.

For example, I already had a logo, and AJ was able to express different colors that would be great. He asked me what colors I wanted, and, when he showed me two different options for the logo, I told him that it wasn’t still vibrating with me. We had very open communication back and forth, and they were very patient with me.

This was also great because I was still working my nine-to-five while trying to establish this feng shui company. MiLK&BULL was able to see through that and help me figure out the best logo and image for my site. I will definitely continue to work with them and refer them to others.

How did MiLK&BULL Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

MiLK&BULL’s project management is on point with what I’m looking for. If they have any questions, they reach back and discuss further — their communication skills are great.

I can reach out to them and they contact me immediately. If they can’t do it at that moment, they send me an email and reach back out to me right away. We communicate via email, phone calls, and texts.

What did you find most impressive about them?

MiLK&BULL is flexible with their time and works around my schedule, which is great. The fact that they’re also flexible in their communication is also great. They’re very dynamic and work well together, which is awesome.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any constructive feedback for them — they’re flexible and always ready to work with me.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be honest and straightforward, and let them know what you really want your page to look like. Tell them what you envision, don’t be afraid to tell them what you don’t like, and speak up because you’re paying for a service. At the end of the day, you need to be happy with the result, so it's always good to have good communication to achieve that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of business development at a healthcare center. We offer outpatient/inpatient and respiratory services in nursing homes. We take care of a large realm of healthcare, and we have different entities that offer different services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MiLK&BULL Creative?

When I came on board, my job was to get some networking out. We wanted to work on a web page and different marketing strategies, so I started looking at different organizations that offered website design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired MiLK&BULL Creative to design our web page and coach us on setting up other marketing strategies on social media. As soon as we signed, we did a Zoom call and talked to them about what our goals were and what we were looking for.

They said they could get everything going within a week. I sent them content that we wanted on the website, and they took over and started designing it. They also helped us redesign and revamp our logo several times.

They updated the website and had it up within a month. Then, throughout the next 30 days, we just made changes and got it to where we wanted it to be. We had weekly contact during those two months to check on all the different things we were working on.

Furthermore, MiLK&BULL Creative worked with the content we gave them and did a little bit of rewording to make it sound better. They handled the layout and put in the different features — lettering size, color, and functionality. We gave them the description of our services and all the pictures, logos, and more, and they set up everything like we wanted. They’ve also helped us set up our SEO and social media. Now, they’re going to help us with an app for our company.

For the website, we used Wix because they said it was a good platform to get started on — you can customize several different things and it’s really user friendly.

Our page has an informative approach. We’re still affiliated with the hospital, so anything related to our outpatient services goes underneath them. If a patient comes to our page, they can read about our company and see all of our services — outpatient services, critical care, pulmonary program, and lung cancer treatments. We also have a blog and a contact tab, where patients can write in their information.

What is the team composition?

I speak with Nicholas (Creative Director) the majority of the time, but here’s also another person.

How did you come to work with MiLK&BULL Creative?

Our doctor/president found them and told us to check them out. We saw their prior projects, and we liked what they had to offer. They were really responsive and easy to talk to, and they answered all the questions I had for them. Compared to the other three companies we were looking at, MiLK&BULL Creative seemed to be closer to what we were looking for. They knew exactly what we wanted.

When I reached out to them, we asked them for a quote and what services they’d be offering. They wanted to help us create a web page and were willing to help us get our social media up and going. They didn’t put that as part of their package, but they did help us get started.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $1,600.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2021, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Comparing April–May to May–June, total site sessions were 83, with 68 unique visitors. New visitors increased 88.24%, and we had about 12% returning visitors. Also, more people came directly by typing in the website, rather than LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google.

One person gave us feedback and told us that the website looks great and they’d loved it.

How did MiLK&BULL Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is excellent. They follow through with what they promise and then some more. They collaborate very well with us.

They’ve been responsive the entire time. We communicate every week or even more often. We usually use emails but if they ever want to get on a call and share screens, we use Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They did an awesome job at taking our ideas and putting them into a website. They’re very creative and great at what they do.

Also, they’re also very responsive — it’s quite easy to get a hold of them. If we have a question, they get back to us within 24 hours or no more than 48 hours. They look out for the company and tell us what's in the best interest of the business, not their opinion.

Are there any areas they could improve?

A couple times, we could’ve been more streamlined if we would’ve had more face-to-face communication. It isn’t anything bad, and we've worked through that. It also would’ve been better if we had discussed our logo more with everyone involved.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go to them with your ideas and requirements already in mind. They’ll direct you in what they feel is appropriate and work with you to turn what you want into a reality.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a regional oil company. They do a lot of trading, meaning buying oil for other people, along with gas stations and home heating.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MiLK&BULL?

The company hadn’t actually done any considering marketing, but had grown organically since it was an older company. We hadn’t been on the web or made efforts to understand how digital media works, so I was tasked with making that happen and hired MiLK&BULL to help with that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve provided comprehensive work for us. For example, we had all these different physical assets that hadn’t even been registered with Google, so they identified missed opportunities that we didn’t see in the past. They started by developing our branding and design. The designer built a logo, including about 30 or so directions to see what we liked best. They showed us options ranging from nostalgic to modern. 

Once we approved the one we liked and they handled the brand development, they then moved into the marketing efforts we’re currently working on. 

What is the team composition?

There are around 3–4 people working with us, including a highly regarded designer. 

How did you come to work with MiLK&BULL?

I’m a serial entrepreneur, so I have many businesses ranging from fitness to self-storage to this gasoline station asset business. In the fitness business, marketing is a priority, so I had a marketing team there that I compared to MiLK&BULL when I was looking for a team for this project. MiLK&BULL ended up being more comprehensive, so I went with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

I believe we’ve been working together since around June 2019. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’ve worked with a lot of marketing companies, but MiLK&BULL’s end of month reports are truly fantastic to show our progress. I have an understanding of the marketing and metrics, but other companies don’t, so when the team tells me how many views, how much traffic, and how many conversions we saw, I know it’s really comprehensive — it’s pretty amazing actually.

How did MiLK&BULL perform from a project management standpoint? 

Because of COVID-19, we communicate primarily through email. Their response from corporate is not as active, but they’ve done well. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We know where everything is with them — marketing can be very elusive sometimes, but they make it clear what they’re working on and how it’s helping us. They ask what we think. A lot of companies just think you understand what they’re doing, and unless you’re in a company that is very involved in marketing, you actually won’t understand it all. MiLK&BULL keeps that perspective in view. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Waiting for responses from corporate means the project moves slower than I would like, but I can’t really blame them for it. I think a lot of this has to do with COVID-19, since people get a thousand emails, can’t answer them all, and then a week will pass while marketing needs to be timely. I don’t know how to tell them to make that better, but that’s an answer that could be improved. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As it relates to marketing, most people don’t know what they don’t know. If you get MiLK&BULL, you’ll get a real understanding of what the scope of work needs to be for your goals. Sometimes, people don’t understand the difference between just selling Google Ads and coming up with a plan for your goals. This team takes the time to explain what to do, makes suggestions, and won’t waste money.