R&G Strategic

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the director of finance for, silver and gold mining and exploration company with head office in Canada and operations in Mexico

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire R&G Strategic?

We brought them in to help us create our first investor facing sustainability / ESG update

SOLUTION

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

We had heard about them through a mutual contact, and after initial meeting moved forward.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

After kick off meeting, we provided them with our internal unpolished sustainability report, which they then converted to a proper format and brought in appropriate consultants to ensure the technical content was done correctly. After a few versions were generated, with meetings and comments given for each version, we arrived at the finished product which was uploaded to our website.

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

We dealt with Sarah, as well as Allison from Upswing solutions who were brought in to help with the content. There were also some other staff who helped.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The report satisfied certain investors, as well analysts stated we were ahead of the curve by putting this report out at our Company's stage. Also, it generated an internal discussion about increasing our resources in properly tracking data related to ESG.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project flowed smoothly, with open lines of communication. The usage of Google Docs / PDFs enabled easy commenting on the multiple versions of the report.

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

Polish of finished report was done well and it didn't require a lot of hand-holding to go from our unpolished report to the final design, which is a weakness of our team.

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

None come to mind

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the operations manager at Clean Clatch Inc. We develop sustainable and biodegradable fishing equipment for the purpose of recreational fishing. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with R&G Strategic?

We wanted R&G to develop our brand and that entailed creating a new logo and sustainable packaging design too. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

A big portion of the project was brand research and strategy targeted towards our prospective customers. There were not a lot of brands similar to our company, so we didn’t have an idea of where to go and what to do with our brands. As a result, the R&G team talked to our potential customers and business owners that might sell our product to see what their values were when it came to a brand.

Then, they developed our brand and packaging based on that research. Our potential customers were fishermen and we wanted to convey to them that we were a performance and sustainable brand. For the packaging, R&G also helped us identify a supplier with compostable packaging since we didn’t want to use plastic packaging. 

Furthermore, the team also developed a Shopify landing page for us, and it had an SEO portion to it. The site’s purpose was not to sell products, and it was only a page that featured the products that we have. It would stay that way until we start selling on the Shopify site. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with four people from their team, including April (Designer), Liz (Creative Director), and Riley (Co-Founder & Director).

How did you come to work with R&G Strategic?

We were originally just looking for a company that could create our packaging design. Then, after meeting a few different companies, R&G came up in the search engine. We were both locals at Halifax, and after meeting with Riley, I loved that she was personable and seemed to have a lot of knowledge on brands like ours — especially on the sustainability aspect of our brand. 

We connected with them well and they also gave us a beautiful proposal. The team explained their services and offers efficiently, so we decided to expand the services they'd perform for us. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $25,000.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September 2020–February 2021, but we'd assign more deliverables and that might come in the next few months. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

R&G did a really great job of positioning our brand as a performance and sustainable brand. Moreover, they effectively helped us find a supplier that made our product biodegradable. However, we haven’t started using the brand fully, and we haven’t sold anything yet so it’s hard to gauge metrics. Despite that, we were completely ecstatic about our new brand and we love it. 

We liked that they gave us 3–4 versions of every deliverable they created, and that allowed us the freedom to have more choices. Furthermore, the packaging they designed was eye-catching and beautiful. Above all, R&G made our website look nice, and it had a nice modern take on angling while staying true to what fishermen or anglers were looking for.  

How did R&G Strategic perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicated through Slack and Google for our conference calls. We also had a shared Google Drive. The R&G team was super thorough and flexible whenever we had adjustments to our timeline. They always sent us updated versions of our schedules and provided access to all the materials we needed. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication and their thoroughness in all aspects of the project impressed us. It was also amazing that they talked to our customers even before our project started and that was really a “wow factor” for us. The team put in their best effort at the beginning to ensure that they developed a brand specifically for our customers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, I don’t really have any constructive criticism about the team. Overall, we were thrilled with their work. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you know what R&G needs from you in order to stay on track with their project. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO and co-founder of ROCarbon Labs. We help verify energy savings and carbon offsets in buildings to help drive a higher payback to clean technology projects. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with R&G Strategic?

We're launching a new product in the summer of this year, and R&G has been doing a big strategic rebranding campaign for us. They’re also setting up our website with funnels and landing pages. They also make sure that the look of our product is in line with our brand. Once everything's in place, we’ll be ready to launch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The rebranding effort is driven by our need to change our name. We found out that another entity had a very similar logo and name to us, so we decided to change everything. Given that, R&G's deliverables are a brand new logo and the name of the product. The name is strategically created based on the new term we’re trying to coin, which is “return on carbon”. They’ve also created wireframes and UI/UX designs for our product, which is a web-based platform.

Moreover, R&G has completely redesigned our entire website. They’ve helped us figure out who our key strategic partners are and put together landing pages for them. They’ve worked on our SEO efforts to drive the right people through those pages so that we can start converting sales online. The team has also started building funnels linked to our social media accounts. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with four people from their team. Two of them are Liz (Creative Director) and Sarah (Co-Founder & Director of Strategy & Sustainability), and the other two are graphic designers. 

How did you come to work with R&G Strategic?

R&G and I are in a small community in Halifax, Nova Scotia, so we were running into each other at events before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. They'd positioned themselves as the sustainability branding agency, and that caught my attention. 

I did my due diligence and looked into their credentials and background, and I was blown away by what the co-founders brought to the table. I'd always hoped that I could do a project with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested over $25,000 for this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2020, and the project’s ongoing. We plan to complete it by April 2021, and we’re close to finishing up now. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve had amazing feedback. One of our very first partners was IKEA, and they’ve personally reached out to us to say how much they liked the new look of our website. It's rare for such a big client to say that, so that was good. 

Even when the website was launched and we hadn’t implemented any funnels yet, we started getting a big influx of people reaching out for demos and partnerships as well as help on their projects. For us, that speaks for itself. R&G's work has driven business for us. 

R&G is mindblowing, and they’ve been amazing to work with. They’ve given us names and ideas that fit the perspectives of who we’re trying to target and what we’re trying to do. As a result, we’re able to make decisions quickly. The UI/UX designs and everything else they’ve provided made everything sparkle. 

How did R&G Strategic perform from a project management standpoint?

R&G’s project management style has been one of the things that truly blew us away. We’d been working with a marketing firm before them, and we didn’t always hear from them about the status of things. However, with R&G, we use the InVision Freehand app a lot. That’s where they lay out the wireframes and designs and sticky-note everything.

We have catch-up meetings once a week to go over everything and see where the team is at, making sure that everything is good. They sticky-note things as we work together, noting what to change. They always have everything meticulously laid out and done faster than we expect. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Aside from the beautiful designs and the results they provided, their project management skills truly stood out compared to other companies. Their ability to lay things out so simply is impressive, and everything serves as a quick decision-making tool for me.

When working with graphic designers, everybody’s trying to bounce ideas off of each other about logos and designs. It feels like we need to go back, figure things out, and do some work ourselves. We haven’t experienced any of that with R&G. 

Everything is laid out, matching exactly what we want. We never have to question things. They simply ask us what we like best, and then we move forward super quickly. The whole process is truly amazing. On top of that, they move fast, and the product we’ve received at the end is better than I could’ve dreamed up. That’s what we hope for when working with good graphic designers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

R&G can try to enable other employees to be a bit more involved in the conversations. The other employees have been working more behind the scenes. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If your company focuses on sustainability and clean technology, don’t go to a vendor that still needs to reinvent the wheel and learn the whole industry. Go to R&G, because they’re experts and they know exactly what you need to do.

When working with them, don’t question yourself and your gut feeling. Go with it, because the R&G team strategically lays out everything in a way that you can’t go wrong with your decision. It’ll speed everything up and make the process go smoothly. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a company that builds and designs inventory systems for seafood and agricultural businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with R&G Strategic?

We needed help with branding and web redesign.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They redesigned our Squarespace site branding and logo. First, they talked to one of my customers and developed a plan around how we would design our messaging and marketing copy. Then, they designed mailouts, too.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a project manager, an administrative billing person, a project manager and copy specialist, and an artistic designer.

How did you come to work with R&G Strategic?

They were recommended by a word-of-mouth recommendation. I liked the previous work that was listed on their site, too.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2020, and we wrapped up in December 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our site is getting really great feedback from mentors and people in our industry. Our site messaging is coming across clear, too.

How did R&G Strategic perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was well done. We had weekly meetings and worked pretty closely together. It was very clear and there was an email after every meeting recapping what the expectations were going forward from each party. We used Slack to keep in touch and InVision to manage the design process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The communication was where they really shined.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve on the artistic side of things. It was very general and standard.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you don’t love the first draft, push for a second. Don’t settle and don’t be afraid to push for what you want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

ALUS Canada is a national charity that supports farmers and ranchers to restore nature on the working landscape. My role is to foster relationships with corporate sponsors that have ESG interests that can be met with nature-based solutions through our New Acre Project. New Acre Project is a mechanism that allows corporations to sponsor acres of nature that is produced by farmers and ranchers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with R&G Strategic?

R&G developed a new website for New Acre Project featuring a dashboard that allows users to explore the benefits of ALUS' acre inventory.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our website project commenced in May 2020. R&G walked us through a discovery process to understand our needs and mapped out a UI/UX experience that would appeal to corporate decision-makers. 

The new website would replace a uni-dimensional page describing the benefits of New Acre Project. The site contains many layers of information that appeal to specific interests among corporate sponsors and an interactive dashboard that enables users to explore the various environmental and social outcomes that we’re achieving.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Liz (Creative Director) and Sarah (Co-Founder). Andrew (Designer) was also involved in the design elements. There may have been other people working behind the scenes, but those three were the ones I had direct contact with over the course of the project. 

How did you come to work with R&G Strategic?

My CEO met Liz and Sarah at a sustainability event. He was impressed with their leadership and quick grasp of our organizational ambitions.  They bring a wonderful creative energy to everything they do and so, when he introduced me to them, I was also interested in finding ways to collaborate.

How much have you invested with them?

Three projects to date have cost roughly $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We collaborated from May–November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website is still quite new, so we don't have meaningful metrics to provide yet. However, in terms of qualitative feedback, both through our own efforts and R&G's test cases, we've had very positive feedback.  

The site has already proven to generate new sponsorship leads and is performing much more strongly in terms of SEO because it provides a much more comprehensive platform for telling our story.

How did R&G Strategic perform from a project management standpoint?

They did very well. They adapted frequently to meet our needs and timelines.  

We met twice weekly and weekly as the project rolled out. We used a variety of tech platforms to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their knowledge of the space impressed us. They were able to translate some grandiose ideas and technical details into really succinct and clear language and visual elements without a lot of handholding, which I would say was quite unique. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have no areas they could improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Their knowledge of the sustainability landscape is impressive. Because the R&G team is actively participating in so many sustainability initiatives, they understand what others in that space want in communications materials. This also makes them highly conversant on a wide variety of issues.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of SienaBlü. We are a supplier to the beauty industry with various promotional products, packaging, and hair salon supplies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with R&G Strategic?

We were working with a Fortune 500 company who had certain requirements in terms of the way they evaluate us. They were using EcoVadis to audit our company as a whole, and not having a strong background in SGS (Société Générale de Surveillance) and sustainability meant I needed a team to help me get to the level I needed to be at to service a Fortune 500 company. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Basically, we started from scratch. I showed them my vision in terms of our environmental and sustainability goals, office management, and internal structure. From there, they’ve built us everything from a team guidebook to a sustainable platform to move forward with.

They essentially have created the infrastructure and base level to move forward. We just wrapped up phase one and now we’re moving into implementation. 

What is the team composition?

Sarah (Creative Director) is my only point of contact. 

How did you come to work with R&G Strategic?

I found them on Google. I was in a bit of a time crunch and they responded right away through their chatbot, which was key. Based on my years of experience, I’ve learned to follow my gut. They were professional and responsive. I had a very good first impression from my conversation with Sarah, so we decided to move forward within 24 hours. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $10,000 CAD (approximately $7,600 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since June 2020 and we plan to have an ongoing engagement. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I feel very good about the work they’ve produced, so far. They’ve helped us achieve EcoVadis Bronze, which put me into the 63% percentile of all companies that are evaluated by the platform, which is pretty good for the first try. They’ve also given us a way forward; we now have a map to implement ways to be sustainable, not just say we’re sustainable. 

How did R&G Strategic perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicate by phone, email, and Google Meets. We have regular phone calls and online meetings. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They make us feel confident that they know what they’re doing and deliver to our expectations. You can hire someone and hope for the best, which I did in this case, and thankful the results have surpassed my expectations. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Within the context of this industry, I can’t compare them to anyone else. On the business side, I’ve been very satisfied in our relationship so I can’t think of anything. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work collaboratively with them — you’re in good hands. Have confidence in the experts. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a social enterprise. We help other organizations create social, cultural, and environmental value, and improve quality of life.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with R&G Strategic?

We have three brands within our organization. We hired R&G Strategic to help us uniquely position each of those brands. They’re also helping provide clarity around the purpose of each brand so customers understand what they do.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked with us to distinguish who our target audience is for each brand. They’re helping us stay straight on what we’re doing, especially as we transition to a more remote environment. They also did some website design for us. We just launched a newly renovated WordPress website.

What is the team composition?

I worked with two people: Liz (Creative Director) and Sarah (Director of Strategy). 

How did you come to work with R&G Strategic?

We have a shared workspace. In addition, some of the work they do involved the notion of a circular economy, which is the same kind of economy that interests us, so we got to know them through that. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2020, and our work is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback from my staff has been positive. 

How did R&G Strategic perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been stellar. They always meet deadlines. Their communication is strong. I think they’ve occasionally been disappointed in our in-house team for not meeting deadlines. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very direct and forthright. I appreciate that they save me a lot of time by being unequivocal about what they think. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

I think it’s too early to say. We’re quite satisfied with what we’ve gotten so far. They’re professional and timely. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Be ready to invest time and work into the project on your side. I didn’t anticipate that I was going to have to invest as much time as I have.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a program manager at a nonprofit organization. We work to advance our local bioeconomy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with R&G Strategic?

Our website was a number of years old, and it needed a good refresh.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

R&G Strategic built us a brand new website. We used some of the content from the old one, but the site itself was completely rebuilt. They used a WordPress template, customizing it for our needs and creating a visual, interactive tool to help users understand our mission. The team provided creative input throughout the project, letting us know which layouts were the best for the direction we wanted to go in.

What is the team composition?

I worked with three people from the team: Sarah R. (Co-Founder & Directory of Strategy), Sarah H. (Creative Director), and Andrew (Designer).

How did you come to work with R&G Strategic?

We received a number of proposals from other firms. We chose R&G Strategic based on a combination of cost and positive references from our contacts.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project took place from February–June 2020. We just had our wrap-up session earlier this week, where they guided us through a tutorial on how to maintain and update the site on our own.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t done a formal launch yet, so we don’t have any feedback from the general public. However, our board members and other partners are really impressed with R&G Strategic’s work. The new site is a significant upgrade from the old one.

How did R&G Strategic perform from a project management standpoint?

They handled the project very well. There were some points when they needed content from us, but for the most part, they managed everything themselves. To stay in touch, we used a combination of emails and web conferences.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We always felt like we were in good hands. The team was always willing to give input, and we felt they had our best interests in mind. We felt like we were being guided in a direction would result in a better website.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were times when I wasn’t always exactly clear on where we were in the process. That being said, they were always very responsive if I called and asked, but we would’ve appreciated a roadmap to refer to.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re experts in building websites, not in the content of your business. To have the most success, make sure you’re clear about the message you’re trying to get across, because it will help R&G Strategic deliver it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of Market Step. We focus on regulatory and government affairs in various sectors, but we primarily focus on the energy space. Specifically, it’s the sustainable energy realm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with R&G Strategic?

I’ve been operating for four years in a loose, ad-hoc way. There isn’t any real structure or brand and I came to a crossroads of getting serious or finding another path. I decided to get serious about developing my company and brand so I could reach the next phase of growth. I connected to R&G based on another initiative I worked on and I thought they did great work so I reached out to see if they could help me get sorted out.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They needed to help me create a look and feel that would translate into a website. From there, all the bits and pieces were up to them as well: letterheads, cards, all the identity pieces.

What is the team composition?

Sarah (Director of Strategy) was my main point of contact.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly $5,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January until June 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They took me from nowhere in terms of brand identity to somewhere, and that’s not something I would have been able to do myself. I found that the creativity with the identity and the time they took to understand my perspective and my goals were fabulous. They always came to me with various options of what they wanted to incorporate, and most of them were spot on. The whole project was pretty straightforward. They also moved in an expedited, efficient manner toward decisions.

How did R&G Strategic perform from a project management standpoint?

They came to our meetings very well prepared and followed-up well, not it a nagging, obtrusive way. We were consistently moving the project forward thanks to them. They were just very pleasant and professional to deal with. Even when things came up they were focused on moving forward.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to get to know me and tease out the key elements that were going to be important for my brand stood out. Taking time at the frontend to do that made the rest of the project easier ot get through. If you’re in this business and blending art and technology and you don’t have much knowledge, then it will be important to listen to them. They helped draw out what I wanted my story to be. I now have a modern, clean website that I can use for many years.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing really stands out. I think they did really well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

With any design group, you have to understand what the scope will be.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a research associate for the Applied Energy Research Laboratory at Nova Scotia Community College. I have a background in engineering and do project management for the lab.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with R&G Strategic?

We’re working on a project to set up a database of solar photovoltaic electricity production across the province. The goals of the project are to collect data for research, education, and potential economic opportunities.

On the research side of things and in terms of collecting the data, we have enough expertise within the lab to handle coordination and execution. However, we don’t have a lot of expertise in website building or marketing. Our team figured they’d do a better job than us at creating a public-facing educational website around solar.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

R&G Strategic built the entire website. At the beginning of the engagement, we brought all the stakeholders of the project together and coordinated a meeting. During this, we all sat and visualized what we wanted to see on the website. After coming up with some good ideas, R&G Strategic went through the process of building the website for us.

Throughout the engagement, we met on a weekly basis. Their team started with basic conceptual designs and got them approved by us. The project has progressed, and we currently have a basically finished product. Everything is done on their end, we just need to tweak some of the data that we’re feeding to the website before we launch it.

R&G Strategic also developed a data dashboard. We’re feeding them the data from our database to then post on the website.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is Liz (Creative Director). Although we did work with Riley (Director of Strategy) a little at the beginning.

How did you come to work with R&G Strategic?

We brought R&G Strategic on because they had done a similar project in the solar space for another organization in Halifax. They also worked with the principal investigator of our lab on another project. Their team came well-recommended.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $10,000 CAD (approximately $7,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in March 2020, although the work is mostly finished.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The final product will have successfully produced all the deliverables we set out to produce but in a much cleaner fashion. We haven’t launched it so we haven’t seen the impact yet. However, having a mockup of the website has allowed us to get additional data because we shared it with different installers that are sharing data with us.

To date, that’s about it on the metrics we've seen. Hopefully, in a year or two from now, we’ll be able to say the site has reached a certain number of people and helped boost the solar industry in Nova Scotia.

How did R&G Strategic perform from a project management standpoint?

R&G Strategic has done a really nice job with project management. They set us up on Slack, and we have weekly meetings. Their team met targets in terms of getting the website done on time. They were very organized and did a great job. We met in person twice before the pandemic hit. Since then, we mostly communicate through Slack and video conferences where they show their work and walk us through what they’ve done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very patient with us because we were still ironing out our vision and details at the same time as project execution. R&G Strategic worked with us to figure those things out and made some tweaks depending on what we decided to change as the design progressed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. They’ve done a great job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to figure out as much as you can before the engagement. However, R&G Strategic is great because they’ll help you walk through things if you don’t. They help you figure out what you need by bringing all the stakeholders together and doing a big brainstorming session at the beginning of the project.

It’d be useful to ask them if you need to do anything different for your website. If they’re doing site construction and you need interactive elements, talk to them about what their capacity is for that or if it’d be an additional cost.