Raak Creative

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the general manager and a majority shareholder of McKean McGregor. I was the former CEO. We are basically realtors, but we also run the livestock operation side of the business.

What challenge were you trying to address with RAAK?

Trying to tap into the residential property market as a company operating purely in the livestock space was going to be challenging. The primary goal was to get our look and brand right. We wanted something that was classy, long-lasting, and a strong point of difference in our market.

What was the scope of their involvement?

It all started with Peter, the original founder. I walked in and showed them what we had with the local real estate paper, our look and brand, and also the vision of where we wanted to go. RAAK shared a lot of thoughts and ideas around it all, but went into deeper detail beyond just building a brand.

Peter dedicated himself to gaining a true understanding of our business. He grasped where I was coming from, how important it was for us to stand out, and how to display our vision with a classic look. We went back and forth a couple of times, but what they built and came up with is a product that we can’t place value on.

They made sure everything was tidy and consistent across the whole branch for everything we do. When we needed a collateral, they worked on that and also helped design the look while tying everything together. They are doing things right, and the passion they share for our business is almost equal to ours. Their dedication really reflects in their end products.

They used to get all of our brochures, signboards, and weekly ads done, but there was a lot of inventory going in and out. They used to make sure everything was accurate and lined up with our ads, then send them off to the paper when they were ready. We have since streamlined those systems thanks to them, and no longer need to go through that process.

They’ve recently engaged with the graphic designers at the paper, so this process is now a complimentary service that saves us money. RAAK was very passionate in making sure the look was just right. It has worked out really well and was very generous on their behalf.

What is the team dynamic?

We worked a lot with Peter, who is the visionary and shares his ideas with the team. Their team is very broad and includes a client services manager as well as graphic designers. We now also work very closely with Brent [Art Director, RAAK], who runs the business development.

We deal with one person when we walk in the door, but everything is communicated down the chain. We end up dealing with the entire team, which makes for a really good client experience.

How did you come to work with RAAK?

We were looking at a few companies within Bendigo and also reached out further into Melbourne. When we had met with the other companies, they either didn’t grasp our ideas or didn’t want to listen and try to understand. RAAK listened to us and understood our vision, then brought it to life. It was very lucky for us that we discovered RAAK in those early days.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent between $60,000–70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with RAAK in June 2014. The engagement is ongoing and continues to grow stronger over time.

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

When we tapped into the residential market, we probably had 0.1% of the market share. We have increased to 18% market share within 2.5 years. On an overall market share, we are 4% as we are not doing any property developments. A lot of that is attributed to our team and the direction in which our company is going, but a big percentage is also attributed to our brand. It certainly speaks volumes, because people tell us they love the way our ads, signboards, and brochures look.

We’ve received feedback that the website is amazing, and we have had people from Sydney and Melbourne call and get investment properties in Bendigo. They have told us they picked us out because our website stands apart from others. Measuring how much business we are getting from the brand is a bit difficult, but I believe it to be the primary indicator.

How did RAAK perform from a project management standpoint?

We feel their turnaround time should be a bit quicker. However, other times, they are really fast and responsive. There is a bit of inconsistency there, but that could be from us perhaps not understanding the graphic design business and how long some things take. We sometimes have unrealistic expectations and think they can turn things out in a few hours. We need to be respectful that they do have other clients, timelines, and projects.

Normally, it’s not too much of an issue. The people that talk to RAAK from our business don’t specifically request a timeline or an estimate of how long something will take. Once a timeline is requested, however, RAAK normally delivers accordingly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their creative minds allow them to not only understand what the client wants, but also helps provide the client with other options. They invest in the business and share their ideas of what they think might work well. We initially had a different idea in the beginning, but they came up with something that was stronger and made more sense.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They don’t have too many weaknesses other than turnaround times. They were a young business when we first encountered this issue, and they’ve since become better at managing that.

Do you have any advice for potential clients of RAAK?

I suggest looking at things other than just price when considering a firm. At the end of the day, the biggest thing I learned was that branding is invaluable due to the benefits it provides for a business. My advice is to find someone that is connectable and understands the business. Don’t just go with the cheapest price.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the marketing manager of a hardware supplier. We supply kitchen, furniture, shop-fitting, and cabinetmaking solutions. We are part of a large group of companies that sources, manufactures, and markets innovative products in Australia and New Zealand.  

What challenge were you trying to address with RAAK?

Since we were expanding our business, our requirements were two-fold. First, we needed to create online and offline collateral for day-to-day marketing and campaigns. We also needed to develop a standard online shop for fully assembled modular kitchens. Since these would be offered primarily online, we needed a kitchen builder on the site.

What was the scope of their involvement?

RAAK provided web development services, from website wireframing and design to implementation. They also assisted us with brand development promotion.

How did you come to work with RAAK?

We briefed four agencies on the project. Based on their response to our brief, we then interviewed the agencies face-to-face.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent approximately $100,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?  

The project started in Feb 2017. It is still a work in progress.

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

RAAK is willing to do additional research to ensure that they are providing us with the best options. The project has not been completed, so we don’t have any results yet.

How did RAAK perform from a project management standpoint?

They are highly communicative and organized. We’ve had good meetings, and they take detailed notes and minutes. They’ve even suggested ways to improve our project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are willing to do what it takes to create an excellent product. They are also very friendly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Since the project scope continues to grow, we may need further discussion to identify potential areas for change and the costs involved. I think that they also need to improve their offline work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m managing director of Southern Phone. We are a full-service telecommunications company and are the largest in the regional Australia.

What challenge were you trying to address with RAAK?

I needed RAAK for a total rebrand of the business like our style guide, brand positioning, and assistance with execution.

What was the scope of their involvement?

In a past role, I brought RAAK in from the concept stage for a new innovation we were working on. They had a seat at the table early. Then we worked together on brand positioning, statements, and brand assets. Then they worked on concept and positioning for us and showed us how these concepts could play out in terms of market placement. When we selected a brand position, they built the website around that and worked very hard on the execution side, including all print and digital development.

It was quite complex. We were trying to engage with three distinct markets. We’re trying to engage with consumers who had to adopt a new effective way to use the payments. We were trying to engage with small business as merchants. We were also trying to engage with communities as well.

The metrics we had were centered around take up, brand awareness and placement for those three different segments.  At the end of the day, we were a subsidiary of a bank. A lot of it was about bank activity and bank placement in terms of branding and positioning.

What is the team dynamic?

In the heat of it, we were working daily together. Later on, we backed off to weekly. We’re always working with their general manager very closely. Then it fell back to the teams once we were ready to execute it in the market. I work closely with Peter [Managing Director, RAAK] and Brent [Art Director, RAAK], as well as a couple of other guys.

How did you come to work with RAAK?

About 2 ½ years ago, I used RAAK when I was CEO of another telecommunications company, that was a subsidiary of a bank to launch an innovative mobile payment solution. They did the full end to end branding and the positioning for us. That was everything from concept right through to execution.

I had seen some of the work that Peter had done before starting RAAK and was always impressed with his work and the way in which he approached projects. When we decided we were ready, we went to three different businesses and the pitch that RAAK did for us exceeded everyone else. It was a no-brainer.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with RAAK in 2014 and now that I am with Southern Phone we have engaged them to assist with some new branding concepts we are exploring. I didn’t go to market. I went directly to RAAK.

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

Adaptability and flexibility are some things that I rank highly with RAAK. They’re not a large corporate agency. So you can have them directly involved in all aspects of a project.  They can then actively adapt around what we’re learning from our customers and do it quickly as well. We were very happy with their responsiveness.

Since I’m not at that business anymore, I can’t really share with you firm numbers. I can tell you that with the success that we did have, branding was a big part of that.

How did RAAK perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re pretty strong. They worked within our project team. In terms of fitting in with our team, we couldn’t have asked for much more. We’re very happy with that part. In terms of their execution against time frames and interactions working out to execution, they are also strong.

They’re not a huge company, and so you can actually go as heavy or as light as you want in terms of engagement. We didn’t miss any dates even though we had to play with concepts as they were evolving because we were playing in a start-up environment.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are very good on digital and very good on engagement. I couldn’t ask for much more. They seem to have a knack for taking a very complex proposition and really simplifying it down so it can be communicated in a very straightforward way to those segments.

With the brand work I’m doing now, I gave them a brief of what I was hoping to achieve and they came back with some really strong concepts. We picked one out and we honed in on it, had a couple of runs with it and we found where we’re going to go.

I’ve done brand work with large, established corporate agencies in Melbourne before and spent 10 times more money and took 10 times longer to do it as well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It may be easy to assume that because they’re small, they can’t scale, but I found their size to be an advantage.