Pahnke US

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director of Werther’s Original brand. I’ve been working at Storck USA for eight years. We’re a candy manufacturer headquartered in Germany. We have offices in the US that handle everything but production. All candies are made in Germany, shipped overseas, and distributed and marketed here.

What challenge were you trying to address with Pahnke US?

We had a significant business opportunity to expand our marketing presence during the fall of 2020. We saw this opportunity because caramel over-indexes during that time, and we typically do pretty well. However, within the last couple of years, we had added some new seasonal flavors, and we had the desire, opportunity, and insight to also expand into baking.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our media buy is very linear, traditional, and TV-focused, and Pahnke has helped us broaden our horizons in digital media. They’ve shown us the value of digital marketing, and they’ve led and built our social media strategy.

Back in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we acknowledged that people were going to be stuck at home for a while, so they would start to bake more. We’d already been working with Pahnke on a baking campaign through Pinterest. We ramped it up early and pulled that together in the spring. We saw great success, so we leveraged it once again in the fall and dialed up the baking campaign through social media. We also dialed up our core and seasonal portfolios and utilized a lot of new digital media, including some shopper-specific platforms such as Instacart.

At the same time, we tapped them for other social media content that revolved around driving human connection. Since people couldn’t be next to each other face to face, we were trying to find small moments of joy where they could FaceTime and share stories about loved ones — really just trying to generate strong, golden connections. The name of the program was “Golden Connections'' because of that.

Right now, we’re developing a new TV campaign with Pahnke that highlights the growth and opportunity of the fall. We’re building upon the success that they generated in 2020.

What is the team composition?

We work with 4–5 people.

How did you come to work with Pahnke US?

It was a unique situation. We have a relationship with Pahnke in Germany, so we agreed that we would be their first client if they started an agency in the US.

How much have you invested with them?

For this project, Werther’s Original has spent about $400,000–$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We formally started working together in January 2020, but we probably had some discussions a little bit earlier than that. Our fall campaign is wrapped up, but we’re taking it to new heights in 2021, so the relationship is ongoing.

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

We reached 40 million people through their social media campaign, generating 5 million engagements and a 77% positive sentiment.

How did Pahnke US perform from a project management standpoint?

They have access to tools, but we’re not allowed to download anything or even access Google Drive, so we have very limited access. Previous agencies had a really hard time sharing documents with us. We did everything via email, but then we wouldn’t know if we were looking at the latest version.

Pahnke has done a really nice job for us creating a SharePoint website to upload everything. They make sure we always have the latest version, and we can work on the documents simultaneously. There have been a few instances when I’ve worked on presentations alongside them, which has been really beneficial. We have two live documents — one is the status of open projects, and the other one is the timeline, so we can see where we are in the process, when the completion is expected, and when the key dates are.

We also have a media agency, and they’ve worked very well together with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re more in tune with what we need and what we’re looking for than other agencies. We work together instead of having them pitching to us, so they bring ideas and recommendations, but it feels like we’re working on the same team. With other agencies, sometimes you share an idea, and then they stray from that and expect you to just give feedback.

They’ve also done a great job at having difficult conversations. They’ve given us a peek behind their creative process and how they manage the campaigns, programs, executions, and more. We’ve had a few key members train with Pahnke to learn the best ways to work with them. They’ve explained and helped us understand what they do with the information we give them, how they react to and take action on our creative feedback, what the best ways to write them so they’ll respond well are, and what the right ways to work together to manage projects from a timeline or briefing standpoint are. This insight has been really helpful because it instructs us on how we can adapt to each other’s strengths and styles.

Another thing they’ve done really well is identifying our knowledge gaps. For example, we didn’t have a presence in Instacart, and they jumped in and learned about it. They’ve been driving our business forward and having great success.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I think we just have to continue to get to know each other and work a bit more so that they understand our business and predict our challenges. They’ve done a nice job with that so far, but the longer we work together, the better they’ll probably be.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear on the goals and objectives from the beginning. That’s true of every agency, but the more they understand where you want to go, the better job they’ll do at delivering it.

This review was published on March 11, 2021.

Kelly Cook

VP Marketing, Storck

Consumer Products

5,001-10,000 Employees

Chicago, Illinois

$1,000,000 - $9,999,999

Jan. 2020 - Ongoing

Project summary: 

Pahnke US is the marketing partner of a global candy company’s US subsidiary. They develop marketing strategies and creative assets, and they also manage all of the client’s social media accounts.

Feedback summary: 

Thanks to their thorough understanding of the project, Pahnke US has delivered outstanding work that has led to a significant increase in the client’s brand awareness and social media engagement. Despite their small size, the team is prompt in producing high-quality assets that exceed expectations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the VP of marketing for the US subsidiary of a global candy company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pahnke US?

Our goal was to remain relevant in the local marketplace and create breakthroughs for our brands.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Pahnke US is our strategic partner — they help us decide which initiative and tactics to take, and they then execute these strategies to take our brands into the local marketplace. They provide business development support, handle our brands’ day-to-day business management, and also manage our social media channels. Their work on every brand is different, but they primarily develop creative assets for our largest brand based on our creative briefs. We then use these deliverables for our marketing efforts.

We believe that a good partner understands our business challenges and is aware of our performance in the marketplace, so we provide them with monthly business performance updates and overall brand strategy documents, which they build upon. Using this information, they work with us on refining and determining our target audience. 

What is the team composition?

We work with 12 team members.

How did you come to work with Pahnke US?

We’re a German-based company, and Pahnke Germany manages our company’s business internationally aside from our particular branch. We really liked that they valued open, transparent communication and thought leadership, so we determined that the best solution was to open a branch here in the US instead of searching for a local agency. We ended up partnering with them to found Pahnke US, and we were also part of the selection committee during the staffing process. The goal was for them to service not only our business but also other clients. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent upwards of $2.5 million in the last year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2020, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our brand awareness has increased since they've started focusing their work on specific brands. Our engagement scores across our social media channels have also grown to be significantly above the industry average. The quality of their work is outstanding, and their creative instincts are strong and powerful. Overall, the results have been fantastic — the numbers we’ve been getting are higher than any engagement scores we’ve previously seen.

How did Pahnke US perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management has been very strong — their timelines are always clearly communicated, and everything stays on track and on time. In terms of communication, we had in-person meetings before COVID-19, but now we typically use phone calls and email and other web apps like Microsoft Teams for video calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s impressive how they utilize their small team — you're able to get the best people that they have working on the right assignments efficiently and quickly. It’s easy to get everyone on the phone to discuss a task and move it along. Their size really makes them nimble and creative. 

Furthermore, they take a lot of time to understand a briefing fully, and they ask intelligent questions, which allows them to over-deliver because they know our business so well. They're able to anticipate the best ways to address not only our immediate needs but our long-term needs as well. Overall, they’re just really wonderful people.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything at this point because we’re still early on in the engagement. Pahnke US opened during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were able to onboard an entire staff virtually — at this point, there isn't anything missing from the business’ overall staffing, and to accomplish that is just so tremendous.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to lean into them. The team is flexible and can manage projects big and small — they can take on a minor first assignment for you to get a feel for them, and they can take on an entire annual business plan. No project is too big or too small for them, so really lean in and explore what they can do for you.

Star Ratings

Overall rating: 5

Quality: 5

Schedule: 5

Cost: 5

Willing to refer: 5

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’ve been marketing director at a candy company called Storck for over a year. We produce caramel candies, chocolate, Mamba fruit chews, all of Werther’s Original products, among other sweets. My role is to oversee four chocolate brands in our portfolio, plus Mamba.

What challenge were you trying to address with Pahnke US?

We approached Pahnke to find the right creative and strategic agency to build our store brands and portfolio. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Pahnke provides us with marketing and advertising services, from organic social media to daily community management, as well as account leadership. The team takes care of brand planning⁠ — putting the strategy and positioning together for the consume r⁠— and helps us with any kind of development in consumer insights. For our marketing, we use traditional TV, points of sale (PoS), online video, and social media like Instagram, Pinterest, and more. 

They support us when our company has key moments. For example, they help with holiday campaigns—which are the biggest of the year—and with at least three activations we have each year for the Merci brand. 

We’ve also started using their services recently for Instacart. 

What is the team composition?

I work with a lot of people on their team. I’ve worked with Rick (President & Partner), Susan (Executive Creative Director & Partner), Maggie (Brand Director), Rachel (Group Director of Digital Strategy), Brian (Digital Strategist), and Liz (Brand Manager). Sometimes I get to see the behind-the-scenes team, like the art director or copywriter. 

How did you come to work with Pahnke US?

The team was brought onboard two months before I started at the company. However, I think one of the main reasons they were hired was because of their creative skills and notion of consumer insights.  

How much have you invested with them?

Our company has spent over $1 million. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Storck engaged with Pahnke in January 2020, and our partnership is ongoing. 

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

They’ve done a fabulous job. Most recently, we did a Merci Valentine’s day execution, and the team was able to deliver one of the highest engagement rates of a Merci activation yet.

We also asked Pahnke to come up with a new spot for our Merci ad campaign, and they were able to deliver an idea and a campaign that over exceeded all of the benchmarks of our Kantar approach for testing media. We did high brand associations to make sure of the messages we wanted to test.  They achieved the highest engagement and brand disposition score out of all spots and were able to create a strong brand affinity and a feel-good factor. Our company asked them for an emotional spot, and they delivered. 

Our influencer campaigns have been on par, having a high engagement, good impressions, and comments. With Instacart, we are pushing our brands forward, and we’ve had strong results with Pahnke’s efforts; they’ve outperformed our expectations. 

How did Pahnke US perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate mostly through email, phone calls, and video conferences. Everybody’s always making sure that we touch base; we have wonderful weekly check-ins. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I truly appreciate their willingness to be a partner with us. They are as invested in our growth and brands as if they were part of our team, and that can go a long way; it helps your company become more successful. I really value our partnership. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing for them to improve. 

Any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking for a passionate group that starts from the consumer perspective and insights, then you’ve found the right agency.