Phoenix Advertising Group

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The Great Western Brewing Company is a regional brewer in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I’m the VP of marketing for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Phoenix Advertising?

They’re our agency of record and have worked on everything related to point-of-sale material, packaging, social media, and so on. The initial challenge was related to social media as we had no presence at all. They were strong advocates of the social space, creating unique properties for each one of our brands.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created brewery sessions for one of our brands and developed its most recent advertising campaign that ran a number of times. We’re continuing to track the results to keep it in the upper echelon. They also developed beers with local influencers for another brand.

Recently, they’ve created a brand and packaging design for our entry into the Belgian wheat space. They worked on the cans and cartons, outdoor boards, and social material. That brand is now the number-one wheat beer in our area. A couple of weeks ago, we launched a new brand that they brainstormed, recommended a name for, and designed the packaging for.

What is the team composition?

We have a main partner we speak to daily who oversees the account but isn’t involved in the day-to-day activity. An account director is responsible for the daily work and coordinates all the projects internally, whether they be packaging, a point of sale material, advertising, or anything else. I have some interaction with their partner for design, and one of their directors of design.

How did you come to work with Phoenix Advertising?

We were looking for a new agency, and someone shared their name with my CCO. We had them come and pitch, and we decided they’d be a great fit for our business.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend an average of $300,000 a year with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October 2014, and our collaboration is expanding.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our advertising performance has been at the top of the charts in the database of the research company. We’ve outperformed with every campaign and Phoenix has played a role in that as they develop our materials.

By entering the segments that we have with them, we had a stretch to get into a leadership position, but we got there within six months. They played a role in that with the new design architecture of our branding.

How did Phoenix Advertising perform from a project management standpoint?

They have strong project management skills. It’s important for me to be ahead of schedule with all our work. They know that and operate in a way that ensures it happens.

I keep annual advertising trackers, pre- and post-campaign. They’re strongly supportive, and they utilize the recommendations that come back. We use those to build the next campaign and to develop recommendations for the media plan.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They don’t have a big ego. I’ve worked with other design agencies that required me to take everything through the project or account director, rather than talking directly to the creative team, which meant my feedback felt overlooked. Phoenix isn’t that way at all—they’re collaborative, they want us engaged for objective feedback, and we’re open with each other. We have a really good connection, culturally and they always want to improve for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing major at this point. We currently have a large funnel of projects going through them, and they’re managing those well. They interface with us to ensure we can achieve certain timelines and make adjustments accordingly.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

There’s a big responsibility to establish the strategy and build a brief to work toward something clear. It’s important to work collaboratively and answer any questions before the brief is sent to the creative team. Be willing to put in the time upfront; then Phoenix is a good company to work with.

Phoenix can help build better briefs, and they want to make you look good. They don’t have big egos, and they respond well to feedback. It’s important to assess your cultural fit between both teams—Phoenix can operate like a top-five agency, but they don’t have the same culture.