POPcomms

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the lead channel marketing manager for Wienerberger UK, the global leader in Britain construction product solutions headed by our office in Vienna.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with POPcomms?

As a global organization, we’re always looking for solutions to have strong sales teams, internal teams, and customer communications with regards to marketing assets and best practices. 

We bought a platform called Showpad, which was a sales enablement technology. Having used it before, I needed a partner that could enhance our app so that our sales team could have a better selling experience and let people discover our products if they were new to the business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I wanted a tool to enhance our platform and allow people to do more things. They may not be aware of or familiar with our other products. I wanted POPcomms to deliver an app that would allow them to discover our products in a more natural way. 

We started by running a focus group with our sales teams. POPcomms discussed what the group might need or want from the app. We went through an intense process of determining those. Then, POPcomms started working to deliver that. 

There was some back and forth between us as we worked through different designs and structures. POPcomms specialized in interactive tools, so they understood how we could visualize products and marketing assets on the app. They also led the discussion about how it felt to interact with the app using mobile devices and desktops. Overall, they helped us build a 3D picture of our product landscape. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of about 5–6 people. There were a couple of strategic project leaders, 2–3 designers, and tech people. It was a relatively small team.

How did you come to work with POPcomms?

We met POPcomms at a conference that Showpad was running. They had experience working with the Showpad platform, so they were familiar with what we needed. They also had a background in building virtual and interactive experiences and worked with other companies in our industry or similar industries.

They brought a nice balance between technology, usability, and user-friendliness that was necessary when building this kind of application, so we hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around £25,000 (approximately $35,300 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2019–June 2020. We wrapped the bulk of the project in March 2020, but there were still a few things to wrap up over the next 2–3 months after that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we only released the app to our internal sales team towards the end of 2020. In terms of people using and accessing the data on the platform, the usage by our internal team has gone up by 200% compared to the last three months. Customer views of the assets that we’ve shared with them have also gone up by about 350%, so the results have been very positive. 

How did POPcomms perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was one of the greatest things about working with them. Things were starting to get more difficult because of lockdowns, and we were working remotely. However, they had great project management systems that kept me updated. This was a really strong point for them. The process was collaborative.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their attention to detail and strategic view of not just my needs but also the involvement of our sales team stand out to me. POPcomms ran the thoughts and learnings they got from the focus groups with our internal team, and those things played out on the final delivery. They became involved and understood our business, internal customers, and external customers. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They listen to the people that bring them on board, and they also want to understand the business from a few different angles. They want to understand the customers and the uses of the things that they build. I may have one idea of what the product could be, but the users and customers may have a slightly different take on it. 

They adapt the solution to make sure they hit everyone’s criteria. They have a good strategic viewpoint and bring a lot to the table in terms of understanding what works for customers and people in general. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a marketing manager for the UK subsidiary of a medical device company that specializes in medical devices and appliances for continence care and ostomy care.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with POPcomms?

With coronavirus, our access to customers was zero, and our entire sales force used to go into hospitals and speak to specialist nurses and doctors. We lost this physical access in the pandemic, so we had to create digital tools usable over Team or Zoom calls.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had all the content ready to go, and POPcomms implemented it in an interactive application. They guided us on what works best on screens rather than print and offered digital design advice. The app uses HTML 5.

Our global headquarters formed a partnership with Showpad, a sales and marketing technology platform, and POPcomms helped us understand their product and develop our key campaign messages and tools. We didn’t really know anything about Showpad. This was the biggest challenge we had to overcome, and they helped us do that quite effectively. POPcomms took us on a journey very quickly and efficiently.

What is the team composition?

The lead was Damjan (Managing Director), and then we worked with Stuart (Head of Customer Experience), and Javier (Creative Director) as well. We worked with about four people in total acting as app developers, coders, and designers. They held our hand throughout the entire process.

How did you come to work with POPcomms?

We knew that we needed to develop our own app. Usually, we depend heavily on our global affiliates, but what they were creating wasn’t going to meet the needs of our market, so we looked for another agency. POPcomms was the only agency we found that was Showpad certified. They stood out through the interview process because of their expert knowledge of the platform.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around £15,000– £20,000 (approximately $21,000–$27,800 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September–October 2020. They took us from nothing to a finished product in just over one month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our entire sales force has been completely blown away by the application. The app is very intuitive and easy to use. I was on a call with one of our sales teams, and they said their customers say it’s the most professional solution they’ve seen throughout the pandemic. The simple feature navigation really brings everything to life. It’s really above our expectations.

How did POPcomms perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a very close dialogue every week. Any issues they foresaw got picked up quickly. They were extremely reliable in communication. It was pretty much perfect regarding project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their speed and agility stood out; they developed our app extremely quickly. Since then, we’ve been in pretty constant dialogue, changing and amending things up until the launch.

They were also extremely flexible. We had a smaller deadline to create a video for our teams to introduce them to the application, and POPcomms created a bespoke demo that showed some of the app’s functionality and navigation. They did this in two days — they went above and beyond to hit our deadlines.

POPcomms were very personable and operated without a massive hierarchy; we had access to the developers and the whole team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was a little bit missing in their attention to detail, like with spelling and punctuation. We noticed, but these things happen with agencies that are creating content.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have clear deadlines; be open and honest about what you’re trying to achieve. They were fantastic at communicating, so as long as they know the objective and have a clear understanding of your motives, then you’ll be fine.

They had to ability to really guide us, instead of the other way around. This was a partnership, rather than a traditional agency-client relationship.