NU Creative

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Managing Director of the Advance Consultancy Ltd

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Boutique management consultancy working in complex operating environments such as public sector infrastructure focusing on team, leadership and collaborative development

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Define our brand strategy and shape our market value proposition
• Update our visual brand
• Create a newcompany website

SOLUTION

How did you find NU Creative?

• Other

Why did you select NU Creative over others?

• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned
• Other

What was the size of NU Creative’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

nu developed a market-led brand strategy that encompassed vision, values, visual identity and tone of voice that was then translated into useable collateral for Advance. THis was led by the development of a new website and brand-aligned collateral for the business including all new document and presentation templates.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Customer feedback on the impact of the website
• Internal (associate) feedback on the coherence of the brand
• We are delighted with the changes in coherence and feel the new brand strategy has given us.

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

Working with nu was seamless, it felt they were part of our team and vice versa. This project required a significant amount of mutual engagement and it was often nu driving the pace to ensure we met overall timescales. The team at nu always listened to our feedback closely and responsed, but were never afraid to challenge back,provide counter-points and throw in new and different ideas.

What was your primary form of communication with NU Creative?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Passion, energy, quality products and outcomes, genuine and authentic people who we now class as friends.

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

Te initial proposal (document) fell a bit flat as it feltlike they hadn't listened to the brief. As it turned out, what they proposed was what we actually procured but it was only through separate conversatyions with nu (Tim initially) that we were able to get under the skin of their offer and realise the value. All credit to Tim and the team for seeing that what we asked is not what we needed, but a more outcome-focuseed proposal might have made that journey easier for both of us?

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Marketing for a AI and robotics technology company. We provide real-time data insights through a digital online platform collected by fully autonomous robots for warehouse operations. We are targeting the logistics and supply chain industry as a priority, along with manufacturing, automotive, retail and eCommerce.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire NU Creative?

NU Creative were selected from an external tender to provide services to rebrand BotsAndUs, which had a perception of a robot manufacturer rather than an innovative data-led partner. Therefore we requested to change the company name, update the visual identity and positioning messages for the business.

SOLUTION

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

We ran an external tender with a number of agencies in London and outside London. Deciding factors included, ability, capability - timeframes were short, proximity to the office (to allow for regular face to face to progress - however this didn't happen in reality), and cost.

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

There were a number workshops as the brand strategy had to be established first which then allowed for the naming exercise, and then visual identity. Due to the timeframes we ran these workshops a lot more simultaneously that would have happened normally.

It became apparent that we weren't going to meet the deadline of mid September so the decision was taken to delay release until end of November, giving everyone the opportunity to review, reflect and get this right rather than rushing. The naming exercise was challenged and hence with a quick revision and trade mark checks - this too longer than anticipated and hence delayed the visual identity development.

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

• Tara - Creative Director
• Sarah - Partner - oversaw the very early stages
• Tim - Website development and UX
• Sian - Creative development
• Christina - Creative development
• Sam - Website development and deployment
• External partner - sorry can't remember the name - to help write the website at speed
• Creative copywriters - external company to support the writing of the messaging

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new name Dexory and brand have been received well and have certainly positioned us very differently in the market. It's early days (only 3 months since launch) but definitely enabled us to release a new company perception.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Early on we agreed on a weekly check in call with the main team members to ensure we were moving forward to meet the deadlines. We used Slack as a group chat to ensure questions and drafts were shared quickly.

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

NU Creative was enthusiastic from the beginning to get involved in this project regardless of the timeframes, and hence they were confident in pushing us a team to make the deadlines.

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

Tara was a main contact mostly, however I know she was busy and a lack of project manager meant she was picking up the strategic and brand development elements and overseeing the project. We did pick this up in our washup. I think we should have listed and agreed the assets required a lot earlier as felt we were playing catch up nearer the end to ensure we have everything for the launch date, However I know this was driven by trying to meet the deadline in total.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder/CEO of The Futureneers; we deliver programmes that give young people the confidence and capability to engineer their own future. Our school-age programmes help young people to develop a can-do mindset, embrace their individuality and build the self-belief, skills and knowledge they need to raise their aspirations and shape their future on their own terms. Our post-school offering helps vulnerable or disadvantaged individuals build skills and access work or start their own business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

As a start-up, we were keen to ensure that the brand we developed would appeal to the various audiences with whom we work. It was important for us to communicate our difference in a professional and fun way - which seemed like a difficult balance to strike.

Our core purpose as an organisation is to make a difference to young people struggling to engage with mainstream education and to support them to set goals and create a life that works for them. We engaged with NU Creative to develop a brand identity that would represent us well now - but also be suitable as we grow the scope and reach of our organisation.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We spoke to a number of brand agencies, and explained what we were trying to do. The team at NU Creative seemed to not only understand what we were seeking to achieve, but also were far and away the most driven to help us. They seemed to understand and support our purpose rather than just our goals for the branding exercise.

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

There was a thorough briefing process where NU Creative asked us about our goals, where we would use the brand, the values we lived by and were trying to communicate - and to whom. It was a very thorough process where we discussed brands we liked and didn't like - and why. They went away and conducted some research on other social enterprises with a focus on those operating in a similar space to The Futureneers. They created a number of initial concepts for the logo design using the research findings and our feedback.

I was thoroughly impressed by these initial concepts and each one was an incredibly strong contender (making our choice a tricky one!) We fed back and they went through a structured process of refining the chosen logo until we were happy. This was actually a simpler process for us than we expected because they understood where we were coming from and improved on our suggestions/thoughts. They walked us through a structured process delivering marketing and promotional materials for use across multiple channels, brand guidelines and website designs.

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

Four members of their team:

• Account Director
• Creative Director
• Senior Designer
• Developer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our new brand has been incredibly well received and whilst I have no concrete evidence I feel we are taken more seriously when engaging with larger organisations.

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

Relaxed, personal, human, professional - and there was a real sense of partnership - working together collaboratively. Communications were clear and budget/timelines were fastidiously observed!

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

The human side of the business, the sense of partnership and support; they helped us through a process that was quite alien to us. They offered ideas to get us thinking, explained why they were asking, and helped us to understand the process.

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

I can't really think of anything they could improve upon. I think most of the challenges that arose came from difficulty on our side in choosing the design - I did jokingly suggest that they should deliver fewer decent designs.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at Selfhood

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a gender liberation charity fighting for the equal rights and opportunities for all genders.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Rebrand

SOLUTION

How did you find NU Creative?

Online Search

Why did you select NU Creative over others?

• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from NU Creative were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

1. Brand strategy
2. Brand naming
3. Brand identity (logo and visual identity)
4. Branded assets development
5. Project management

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received a new brand, name, look and feel, logo, and strategy that fits our organisation perfectly!

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

There project management was exemplary and very thorough. We had an assigned Project Manager that guided us through every step of this process, making sure that the right people are doing the right thing at the right time. We had a project kick off and weekly project update call. There was clear, consistent communication between our teams.

What was your primary form of communication with NU Creative?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting

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

We found many things impressive about this company from their project management skills through a nuanced renaming process to their expertise in brand strategy. We were also blown away by the look and feel of the brand itself, showcasing their incredible creative talent.

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

Truly, no suggestions!