Pivot Design

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a biotech organization focused on rare diseases. I’ve held a series of positions in the company from lower-level marketing to running big rare-disease portfolios. I have been in charge of global marketing but currently operate in a US sales capacity, managing an organization of around 250 people.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pivot Design?

We’ve worked with them on multiple occasions. The challenges we were facing were to obtain cutting-edge creative that would cut through the clutter. Many big ad agencies don’t produce this level of content simply because of their nature. However, Pivot Design has more of a fluid model, which fosters creativity. Therefore they can quickly put out cutting edge content and creative material. It’s fresh, new and something we’ve never seen before.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Pivot Design helped us with a series of projects over the years, one of which was a rebranding and name change of our company.

We’ve also worked together on the pharmaceutical launch of a product that had been handled by a large conglomerate agency. Pivot Design was brought in after the creative didn’t meet our standards. They had the meeting campaign for our market research.

Currently, I’m working with them on an internal campaign to activate and engage employees to buy into our brand so that they can better represent our strategic direction day in and day out to our customers.

The deliverables have been in the form of digital marketing work and web design. We have gone through a whitepaper process to come up with the creative, implement it, maximize the marketing mix, and create employee engagement.

From a personnel perspective, Pivot Design has been able to retain a lot of good people over the years. Their members have a degree of loyalty, and most will swim outside of the lane in order to please the customer. I will often go directly to the creatives instead of using an account person as a liaison. If we work in different models, Pivot Design will figure out who the right people for the team are and provide a good fit. If speed to impact is the goal, having an account manager in the middle will oftentimes be disadvantageous. They [account managers] do exist in the group, but Pivot Design is open to different ways of working.

They’re very good at patient-level marketing, specifically around rare diseases. Pivot Design can talk directly to customers and patients in a way that is authentic, inspires, and resonates with patients and meets them at their point in the journey. The team comes up with solutions to communicate, and they do it quickly and deliberately.

How did you come to work with Pivot Design?

They were an incumbent agency at another company, and I got to know them. We were initially skeptical, given that Pivot Design was smaller compared to some of the other agencies we’d used. Over the years, I’ve found that they were able to deliver top-notch creatives at a fraction of the cost.

How much have you invested with Pivot Design?

There have been numerous projects, so any cost estimate I could give wouldn’t be accurate. Pivot Design basically remade our whole brand. It all depends on the range of work. Pivot Design has an hourly rate, but they don’t pad them out. They’re fair and bill us for the work actually being done.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Pivot Design in June 2009.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We’ve had a series of internal and external campaigns that have been successful in reaching patients and activating our sales team. The reception from people who have visited our site has been great.

We had a campaign for a coming-out party when our company spun off from its parent. Pivot Design not only did the branding, but they pulled it through with a patient-centric conference. They didn’t miss a beat in terms of placement. People would joke that they saw our logo on the remote controls in their room. We didn’t miss anything during this transition time.

How did Pivot Design perform from a project management standpoint?

My team usually deals with the day-to-day tasks, so I can’t comment as much. From my point of view, usually no news is good news.

What did you find most impressive about Pivot Design?

I appreciate the collaboration, speed, lack of hierarchy, and flatness of Pivot Design’s organization. It has allowed for a creative environment and top-notch outputs. In addition, the time with Pivot Design is well spent with there is little wasted time.

Are there any areas Pivot Design could improve?

Someone’s greatest strength can be their greatest weakness. Pivot Design is so cutting-edge on the creative, and they’re doing such a good job at flattening out the organization that the bureaucratic piece can be lacking. I know that this is something they work on operationally, and it’s not a major drawback.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a real estate development firm. We own 60 buildings and many hotels.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pivot Design?

We needed to have consistency with our marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Pivot Design created the brand and identity from beginning to end. They’ve done videos, mailers, and branding. Pivot also built and designed our websites. Some of the websites were redesigned while others were built from scratch. They’ve even coordinated parties for us. However, they did not provide any online marketing.

The scope of the work is different for each project. There are times we have 6–8 projects going with them. Liz [Haldeman, President & Executive Creative Director, Pivot Design] runs the company and is our main point of contact along with Kate [Karas, Creative & Client Engagement Director, Pivot Design]. They have a great team.

How did you come to work with Pivot Design?

They were recommended by a client. We asked them to work on a project to see how they would do, and they blew us away with their creativity and ideas. They do all of our marketing now.

How much have you invested with Pivot Design?

Their prices are competitive.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2009, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Pivot is a rare breed — a turnkey business that can do anything. They offer a nice combination of being very creative while running a successful business. A lot of people have copied what Pivot has done for us, which is a good sign. It’s the highest form of flattery. Our customers ask us who does our work, and we’ve sent them to Pivot. A lot of them used Pivot for their projects. That has happened dozens of times.

How did Pivot Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve performed well. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t be working with them. They understand that we have to stick to our budgets and timelines.  

What did you find most impressive about Pivot Design?

Sometimes, creative types can be sensitive if you share your feedback with them. Pivot has no problem with that. They take our ideas and incorporate them. They don’t take our criticism personally, and that kind of collaboration results in a better product.

Are there any areas Pivot Design could improve?

I don’t have anything specific. If you want a good product, it’s not inexpensive. There are firms that could do the work for less, but you get what you pay for.