Propane

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at Zerigo Health

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Zerigo Health is a digital health platform that can help patients manage chronic skin conditions like psoriasis or eczema with smart UVB light therapy, wherever and whenever the patient wants.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Propane to accomplish?

• Redesign website

SOLUTION

How did you find Propane?

Referral

Why did you select Propane over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

What was the size of Propane’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

Propane delivered a complete brand refresh from the creative look and feel to the strategic positioning of the solution across the digital health landscape:

• Product/ brand photography used across website and social platforms
• Redesigned/ revamped website design, UI/UX
• Led workshops with key executive leaders to develop and clearly design tactical, innovative brand values, objectives and positioning
• Designed mobile app

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Website launched to internal company acclaim, raised brand awareness and credibility in the competitive digital health landscape, and improved brand reputation within the healthcare community leading to increased sales meetings and conversions.

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

Propane held weekly meetings to inform and update Zerigo on project progress. The timeline was not met to the original agreed-upon date due to internal team transitions within Propane. Propane was head-on and transparent in communication the issue at hand and committed to allocating the appropriate resources to make up for the lost traction of work. Propane was highly responsive, collaborative, professional, and easy to work with.

What was your primary form of communication with Propane?

• Email
• Messaging App

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

Neil, the CXO and co-founder, is extraordinarily creative, full of ideas, fun to work with, on the cutting edge of the latest developments in technology, and brings a breath of fresh air to the creative and development process. It was a pleasure working with him and his team is incredibly capable and supportive. If we had more budget, we would have done more projects with them!

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

Sometimes the sense of urgency wasn't there - I would have to ask for status or certain deliverables several times. They always did get back to me, but I would have liked more immediate responses and timeframes.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Project Manager of (a/an) Education

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Sells and supports math learning center franchises

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Propane to accomplish?

• Create a National HQ website
• Create websites for our 1,000 US-based franchise locations

SOLUTION

How did you find Propane?

Referral

Why did you select Propane over others?

• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned
• Other

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

The scope of work included:

• mood board
• architectural design
• wireframes
• mobile first design
• SEO optimization
• HQ webpages
• Franchisee webpages
• video filming and editing
• training documentation and assistance

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Delivering batches of website pages for HQ or franchises pages

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

They used a combination of Confluence, email, and Slack to communicate and manage the project. They were very responsive to the team’s needs and feedback.

What was your primary form of communication with Propane?

Virtual Meeting

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

Building a website is a new experience for many clients. Propane managed the evolving needs and expectations with quick face-to-face communication. Their UX/UI team did any amazing job capturing the requirements and vision from our team. The quality of their work was very high.

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

Our team could have use strong guidance around feedback and deliverable expectations. It was a first time project for our team so more direction around website design projects would have minimized some bumps along the way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of Modern Intelligence, a company that builds AI for the defense industry. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Propane?

As a startup, we raised large funding in 2021 but hadn’t announced the company, our mission, our team, and our first products to the world. We wanted a great website explaining all those things as we announced the company, coinciding with a news article about us. Given that, we hired Propane to build our website. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Propane built the website from scratch. Meanwhile, our brand identity, colors, and logos were created before the site. They used these assets as they developed the website, innovating on them while respecting our brand consistency. 

We didn’t give them any ideas or templates because we wanted to see how innovative they were. However, I articulated some of the basic pages that we wanted, such as the home page, product page, about page, and recruitment page. Beyond that, they created everything from scratch. One of the technologies they used was Webflow. 

They went through several iterations and showed us multiple mood boards and themes they created by themselves. We then chose the layouts and templates they provided for the website. Moreover, we articulated the spirit of the company, the feelings, and the ideas we wanted to evoke in our product and team. However, we didn’t request any specific font styles or similar things. 

What is the team composition?

Neil (Digital Strategy & Executive Director) worked with us and checked in on our requirements, while Lilu (Co-Founder & Resource Director) served as the program manager. A designer worked with us, too. 

How did you come to work with Propane?

I asked around for recommendations, and their name came up. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent roughly $25,000–$35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from January–March 2022. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After launching the website, I had dinner with our lead investor from the seed round. That investor sat on the board of various several-billion-dollar companies, and one of the first things he said about our company was that he loved the website. It was beautiful and iconic. I’d received the same feedback from several people in Washington, DC, too — this was truly valuable for us because our target audience was in there. 

Overall, while it was difficult to put quantitative metrics to the engagement, the project radically accelerated how quickly our partners and audience got to know and trust us. This mattered a lot since we were collaborating with huge companies and trying to reassure our audience that we were a real company doing everything right. 

How did Propane perform from a project management standpoint?

We put a lot of pressure on Propane to deliver the website in around six weeks. Overall, the team hit important deadlines, and the site was delivered on time. There were 1–2 weeks of slippage, but that was because the deadlines were already tight since the beginning. 

Moreover, Propane’s resources were responsive. Most requirements were communicated by email, and they kept records on their end. They showed these records to us via Notion. The team also shared an entire Notion page with us. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ambitious work was impressive. We wanted it to look professional, and it was a lot to ask for a tech company’s website to be beautiful. However, they delivered a beautiful website, and when we asked them to be ambitious, they didn’t just phone in their work. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The ambitiousness of the website was a double-edged sword since it could be slow on some computers, browsers, and networks. This wasn’t normally the case when we were on a nice network, but it was a serious problem for government spaces with slow networks. This was hard to solve because of how beautiful it was and how much was happening on the website. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Neil and the entire Propane team are ambitious. They have great taste and want to make beautiful things. To take advantage of that, give them clear timelines and communicate with them to teach them about your business, identity, and audience. They’ll put the time in to learn — give them space to manage their creativity.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of a Wine and Spirits packaging company. We provide packaging products like natural corks and capsules to the wine and spirits industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Propane?

We had a clear understanding on what our lead and prospects were in the industry but needed a clearer understanding on how to cater our marking on an opportunity by opportunity basis.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Propane came as a strong referral from an executive group I belong to. They had a strong reputation based on what I was told. After discussing the project with Neil I felt like we had a good partner to work with.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They spent a good amount of time understanding our business, our people and the project in which we wanted to partner on. They took their time to gain a deep working knowledge so they could make recommendations suited to our needs.

What was the team composition?

I worked with Neil and his team at Propane, he brought in different specialists from his team to ensure we had the right knowledge workers in the room.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We gained a clear roadmap on how to approach this project and they even offered solutions both in and out of their field of expertise.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective, the communication and follow up went really well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

It was great to have a fresh set of ideas an opinions. I really appreciate how they take their time to really understand us and our industry before making recommendations. They were also very receptive to our feedback.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

One of the follow up projects we worked on could have used a bit more sense of urgency to complete.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the VP of Strategy and Operations at a seed-stage healthcare startup that provides expert medical advice to consumers, insurers, and businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

As a young company, we hired propane to review, revise, and launch a new brand across digital mediums. Our goals were to present a market image consistent with the high-caliber services we were delivering to clients.

SOLUTION

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

We searched nationally for digital marketing vendors and held a series of calls, reviewed proposals, and created a list of 3 preferred vendors. Of those 3 we asked for a more detailed branding presentation to which we evaluated competency, responsiveness, ability to finish a project quickly, and understanding of our specific space.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

Broken up into stepsL planning:
1) mission/vision/ needs/prioritization review with comprehensive team.
2) Strategic planning (define audiences and competetive landscape).
3) Recommendations, KPIs ,roadmap
4) Data infrastructure, flows, tools, visualization Building (invisio, zoho, google analytics, google tag manager, facebook, instagram, kinsta, etc)
5) Wireframes, use-cases, landing pages, website flows
6) Paid media recommendations
7) Integration of SEO, content and PR strategeis
8) QA, data tracking, trafficking Go-live
9) launch 10) vet/validate 11) scale/optimize

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

we worked with 6 or 7 individuals across the course of the engagement. CEO / co-founder Operations Director Director of Strategy Director of User Experience Director of Technology and more

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

When comparing pre-launch to post-launch: Website traffic increased by over 300% with significantly decreased bounce rates, qualified leads increased over 60%.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had bi-weekly check-ins with the leadership teams which helped keep the project on track. When issues arose regarding scope and processes, they were resolved quickly and amicably.

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

They take everything in-house and bring their own experts to you. They did not require significant involvement from our team. They worked independently and delivered a superior product.

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

Improvements could be made on sign-off and business requirement approval processes.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run partnerships and strategy at Sentropy Technologies. We’re a machine learning startup and we provide our services in the trust and safety space. We work with online platforms to help remove toxic and harmful user-generated content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Propane?

We worked with Propane to produce two recruitment videos.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

There were two video-based projects that we worked with Propane, and the project that I was in charge of was creating a video to showcase our company’s employees and culture — it was going to be used primarily for recruiting purposes. They created the video by hosting a number of interviews with employees. 

They made a couple of cuts for us, but we ended up with the main ones. There was a five-minute cut, which they then cut down to about two minutes, so we have different versions we could use for different circumstances.

What is the team composition?

They were doing two projects at the same time, but I believe there were 2—3 people we communicated with regularly on the culture video. One of the people we worked with was the project manager, and I met with her twice a week for updates on the project. The other people we worked with were more on the creative and production side, so I don’t really know their specific roles.

How did you come to work with Propane?

We researched on Google and sent out RFPs (Request for Proposal) to a bunch of agencies including Propane — and they impressed us right away. They just put in a lot more dedication and time than any of the other vendors did, as they tried to learn more about our business right from the start. They asked to set up a product demo so they could really understand what we did and how we operated.

Additionally, they came through very strongly with the RFP they put together — it was very thoughtful. Their team put together a presentation for some of their ideas, and they were really thought-out ideas. We could tell they really understood our business, and that’s saying a lot because our business is really complicated. They definitely went the extra mile to present their ideas, which was phenomenal.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $45,000 on the two videos.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2020–April 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was really happy with how the videos turned out. Propane really took the time to understand us and our culture, and that all came through in the final project, which they did phenomenally.

How did Propane perform from a project management standpoint?

They never missed a deadline and overcommunicated everything. They always knew exactly where we were in the process, and I felt that they all brought us in at all the right points to get feedback. They used Confluence to manage the project, and we set up two calls every week to review the project and give feedback. A lot of the calls were video calls and all the notes were sent by email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed by how quickly they could get up to speed on what we did, and they really took the time to understand our business from multiple angles. Because of that, the projects they produced really felt like us and it didn’t feel like we hired a third-party vendor to do it. They just really ingrained themselves with who we are as a company.

We’re a startup so it wasn’t like we were spending millions of dollars with them, but I was really impressed with how much time they dedicated to us. The last thing I will say is that they were really fun and great to work with — everyone from their team had such a positive attitude about everything.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, no. Propane did everything really well, and the other thing we liked about them was, they worked with us on how a little bit cost-conscious we were.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would tell them to just work with Propane, and make sure they take the time to review what they put together. Set the time to talk through any of their questions so they can really understand your business up front.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a publisher at an arts calendar.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Propane?

I inherited a website nearly 20 years ago. It needed to be revamped, refocused, and rebranded.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team at Propane helped us set goals, prioritize audiences, performed background research, and clarified our needs.

We created the website over Zoom. Before we all went on lockdown, we began the process.

What is the team composition?

On various occasions, we’ve worked with ten people, including an account manager.

How did you come to work with Propane?

I searched on Google. One of the factors was that they already worked with a large arts organization in San Francisco. We sent an RFP to 11 different firms, and Propane was the most responsive to the technical requirements we had in the RFP.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March–October 2020. We just launched the site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Propane turned our vision into reality. To create something without being in the room with us, I think they did a pretty fantastic job.

Their service was extremely responsive. The secret to all projects like this is having a good account manager. Our account manager was phenomenal, always making themselves available.

How did Propane perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything has been through email or Zoom. During the design process, we had a weekly Zoom meeting. When it came to deadlines, it was excellent. If anything wasn’t going to meet the deadline we agreed upon, their team was clear and upfront early on. There were no surprises.

For project management, their team used Basecamp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with their creativity. The team was able to take our words and make them into something stunningly visual. It was very exciting for me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our database is extraordinarily complicated. I think we could’ve put in a bit more input in advance, but again, they’ve been helpful in any changes we’ve requested.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Customers are in very good hands.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I used to be the chief revenue and advancement officer of San Francisco Symphony, the largest performing arts nonprofit in California. I oversaw all revenue: all parts of the business that pertain to fundraising, marketing, and external parts of the business (public relations, front-of-house, volunteer engagement).

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Propane?

They were initially brought in to redevelop our outdated website to improve the UX/UI.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

During the UX/UI update, we arrived at the conclusion that there wasn’t much alignment within our organization about how we wanted the website to be. This led to an exercise in the development of a brand framework. We held conversations about our mission and vision to shape our branding, and they reconfigured our content strategy to supplement our renewed framework.

What is the team composition?

We were working with Neil (Co-Founder), Kim-Minh (Director of Strategy), and Alec (Director of User Experience). There were a couple of others who were working on the creative and technical side of things.

How did you come to work with Propane?

Propane was brought on prior to my onboarding the company. I believe that the prior CMO at the Symphony brought them on.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a significant 6-figure range.

What is the status of this engagement?

They began in February 2017, we wrapped up the work in August of 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Propane’s work was strong, thoughtful, and immensely valuable. They delivered a much more streamlined process of buying tickets and making donations. They also made excellent strides with our SEO, the hard results of which are obscured by the effect of COVID-19. After the new site went live (and the site was developed by another company), we saw an uptick in site traffic. We got great feedback about the usability of the new website.

While we relied on another agency to deliver our visual identity, Propane’s work on our brand framework and content strategy definitively informed what we ended up with. Their work also helped us formalize the strategic objectives for our organization, which enjoyed a redefined messaging focus that it previously lacked.

How did Propane perform from a project management standpoint?

While I wasn’t as heavily engaged with them for project management, my staff members who worked with them directly reported that their service was excellent. Our conversations during in-person meetings were always amazingly informative. They’re a great company and I thoroughly enjoyed our working relationship. If I were still at the company, I’d try to find a way to continue working with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

As a group, they’re intellectually curious and very creative. They understand data well and helped us get out of the weeds, a typical challenge for major performing arts organizations. They helped us look at things differently and were responsive to feedback.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can only think of one challenge. I don’t think they always understood the core work of the business — meaning, the 20 or so weeks of classical concerts we do every year. As a company that was less familiar with our industry, they focused more on what could be done with the more popular parts of programming. That said, I think I’m being pedantic because I’ve spent my career working in the performing arts.

They were open to feedback, as well as to understanding why their ideas — while being great — wouldn’t fly with some of our different stakeholders.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Like with any partnership, have a clear brief from the start. Be flexible and communicate. Be prepared to put the time into it and to be open to listening to all of their ideas. They’re great partners.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our organization is a 50/50 Joint Venture between the Sutter Health Network and Aetna Insurance companies. My role is that of CX and Marketing lead.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Propane?

We were looking for a partner to help us reimagine the member experience on our secure member portal.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were

1. Improve the member experience by making core features and functionality hierarchical on the page so users can find the content easily.
2. We have a vast amount of data on our members but we aren't using this resource to improve their experience- leverage the data and personalize the member experience, capture user preferences and create stickiness.
3. Bring in the differentiated features our plan offers to members to the site and make them easy to use and understand.
4. Design some future state enhancements we could bring to the portal to improve UX, Bill pay, and connection to Sutter's E.H.R.
5. Pull the larger Aetna organization along to help us leap-frog our current position.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Propane was our partner in the redesign of the Sutter web offerings and helped us consolidate 53 distinct sites to one cohesive site with, one data set for providers, a single taxonomy and a modular design that accommodates some variation from legal entity to legal entity. This history and great experience with Neil and team made them our only choice for this prototype. Great work, good value!

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

This work included design, UI, UX, strategy, channel consideration, technical considerations and the creation of a cool interface from which to share the prototype journeys. My role was to drive the vision and detail out the current state.

What was the team composition?

Strategy, UI/UX, design, project management, agency leadership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are in the process of socializing this prototype with internal teams across the Aetna joint ventures and with senior leadership at Aetna. The response thus far has been incredibly positive.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

This went incredibly smoothly with PM's on both teams (Propanes and SH|A's) coordinating meetings, deliverables etc.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Vision of a future state, strategy, design, user experience. project management and agency leadership- they are the whole package. Mind you this was done during the COVID period and they did not miss a beat.

Are there any areas for improvement?

none

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Chief Marketing Officer of Banner Health, a $10 billion integrated health system serving the South West.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Propane?

Prior to Banner Health, I was at Kaiser Permanente. At both companies, I need to significantly transform our digital footprint and ecommerce business and I hired Propane for both. Propane was pivotal in getting Kaiser Permanente digitally prepared for the Affordable Care Act, and they performed so well that I brought them into Banner as well.

What were your goals for this project?

To drive traffic and to increase revenues for the company.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I wanted a hands-on agency that had both the strategic thinking as well as the ability to execute. I had over a dozen agencies in my roster at the time, but none of them offered the capabilities that Propane does.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

At Kaiser, they had to consolidate over 520 standalone websites into a single unified KP front door, and they had to be fully integrated into each of the State Insurance exchanges as well as the Federal Insurance exchange. Incredibly complex and tricky.

At Banner, we needed to consolidate 30 websites to a single one and create robust presence for each of our service and product lines. They have been able to craft solutions that help tie experiences from one property to another for customers , which is highly valuable as brands struggle with fragmented systems.

What was the team composition?

The team had a total of ten people, counting both Propane and staff on my side. They worked seamlessly as partners including both business owners and the client side IT staff as well. Highly collaborative team work on all of my engagements with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We've seen 86% increase to web traffic and 41% increase to engagement at Banner. Google My Business results increased over 30% as well. Internal leadership is very pleased.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was excellent: on time and on budget.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have been able to craft solutions that help tie experiences from one property to another for customers, which is highly valuable as brands struggle with fragmented systems. Propane can also dive deep into a multitude of business lines to expose the value propositions that make our brand unique and memorable to our audiences.

This is made possible by the consultative & strategic approach, and their empathetic channeling of the user experience through HCD. Their design systems approach brings brand consistency and scale and ultimately their language-agnostic coding and technical skills bring these digital experiences to life.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not that I can think of. I recommend them for small or large projects because they have been able to right-size scope on any project.