Rigaud Global Company (RGC)

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is Maryland’s only volunteer nonprofit citizens organization bringing together consumers, families, professionals, advocates, and concerned citizens for unified action in all aspects of behavioral health. Within MHAMD, there are several programs, including Mental Health First Aid Maryland.

Just as CPR trains people to help someone in a physical crisis, Mental Health First Aid® teaches people how to recognize and respond to a person experiencing a mental health or substance use concern or crisis and to connect them to appropriate care. I am a program coordinator within Mental Health First Aid Maryland, and I manage a variety of grant programs and special projects. I was in charge of managing our communications engagements, including our engagement with Rigaud Global Company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with the vendor?

We were looking for a thought partner who could help us strategically expand the number of people trained in both community and instructor MHFA, yMHFA, and tMHFA courses across the state of Maryland, through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens, and long-term view.

Each priority audience is different and required a unique approach to its marketing strategy, messaging, and tactics. In particular, we were looking for a partner to assist with the creation of flexible marketing assets that we could use for multiple initiatives in the future.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

RGC provided some strategic planning assistance, and then created a wide array of digital marketing assets in collaboration with the MHFA Maryland Team. These assets included social media posts, radio spots, press releases, pin and t-shirt designs, etc.

What is the team composition?

Our team consisted of two program coordinators, two communications staff for MHAMD, and three senior staff members. RGC’s team that interfaced with us consisted of two team members, Dawn and Raphael.

How did you come to work with the vendor?

We created a scope of work that was sent out to a wide variety of communications and marketing firms. RGC submitted a proposal and was selected to create assets for us.

How much have you invested with them?

$17,000

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement is complete.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The digital assets made will be used for a variety of campaigns. We have increased our engagement and honed our marketing strategy as a result of our work with RGC.

How did the vendor perform from a project management standpoint?

They did an excellent job of staying on task and working flexibly with a very short timeline. They did a wonderful job on project management overall. Everything was done efficiently and within the branding parameters of our organization. RGC worked collaboratively with us every step of the way and set timelines that were respectful of our other commitments while also pushing the project forward.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They adapted very quickly to our organization’s needs. They showed real interest in the subject matter and learned as much as they could about MHFA Maryland. We ended up needing more support than expected, particularly in strategic planning, and RGC stepped up to guide us.

Their willingness to work around our needs and to provide us with options at every juncture was pivotal to the success of the engagement. It helps that they are also incredibly kind and friendly!

Are there any areas they could improve?

For our needs, they met the mark in every way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the prevention coordinator for the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board, one of Virginia's 40 behavioral health and developmental service agencies. We serve Fredericksburg City and Caroline, King George, Stafford, and Spotsylvania counties. 

In my role, I oversee youth substance abuse prevention and suicide prevention initiatives as part of our work to prevent addiction and encourage mental wellness.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rigaud Global Company?

We wanted to strengthen our brand with a series of social media and advertising campaigns targeting prescription drug abuse. We specifically wanted a company that could create visual materials around mental wellness and mental health first-aid training. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I went to Rigaud Global Company with some ideas I had and they immediately came back to me with a formal proposal. We provided them with our brand playbook, and then they created visual content, including infographics, that focused on mental wellness and the safe storage, disposal, and use of prescription drugs. 

Rigaud Global Company then curated social media campaigns on Facebook and Instagram and helped us with print advertising in a local parent magazine. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with Dawn (President) and Raphael (CEO & Co-Founder).

How did you come to work with Rigaud Global Company?

I had the opportunity to work with them before through a regional initiative. When the opportunity arose to work with them on something specific to my organization, I reached out. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested over $10,000 with Rigaud Global Company so far on our local project. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in August 2021 and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our most recent campaign just ended, so I don't have any specific metrics. However, I can say that we saw a significant increase in our social media followers and post reach on Instagram and Facebook. 

They delivered more than what was in the initial proposal and helped us create constant visuals and messaging — Rigaud Global Company provided us with 50 social media posts we could use throughout the year. We're strengthening our brand. 

Our executive director said that she sees our posts frequently on social media and really likes them — it says a lot about Rigaud Global Company's work that despite being busy with other projects, she still praised the quality of the work.  

How did Rigaud Global Company perform from a project management standpoint?

Rigaud Global Company is fantastic to work with. We generally communicate over Zoom, phone calls, email, and mail — they're responsive and open to feedback. 

Rigaud Global Company meets timelines and follows up with us to keep the project moving forward. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're a dynamic team to work with. We work with very heavy topics, and Rigaud Global Company shows their passion for those topics in their interactions with us and their final products. 

They genuinely have good hearts and want to improve community wellness. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have no complaints. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Rigaud Global Company is an expert team — hire them!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of communications and community engagement for a community service board. We offer mental health, substance use, and behavioral health services to our community in central Virginia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rigaud Global Company?

We were hoping to share a message with our Lock & Talk partners as a way to promote suicide awareness and prevention, bringing greater attention to this issue.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We created a Facebook campaign, for which Rigaud Global Company (RGC) helped us develop and disseminate our social media posts. When they were creating the content, we just reviewed it and made comments if anything needed to change.

They also helped us discover which channels we wanted to use and target our posts toward the right audiences. After launching the campaign, RGC monitored and reported on our posting so that we could have a good idea of who, within our community, had received our message.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Dawn (President). She was great, and she worked very closely with me to create the content for the campaign. I’m not sure who she worked with in the backend, but I imagine that more people were involved.

How did you come to work with Rigaud Global Company?

I didn’t find RGC directly; it was someone else in our agency, so I don’t know how we came to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September–October 2021. We would love to work with them again in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have the exact numbers, but RGC showed us an improvement in engagement rates over the period that our campaign ran. This result helped us understand our population better and prepare for disseminating our content more effectively through social media in the future.

How did Rigaud Global Company perform from a project management standpoint?

RGC’s project management was fantastic. They were very timely and easy to contact, and their responses were always quick. Overall, they were wonderful. We communicated via email, and they provided us with a report at the end.

What did you find most impressive about them?

RGC’s timeliness was impressive. They pulled the campaign together very quickly, and when there was activity on our social media page, they were very quick to let us know so that we could follow up. We really appreciated that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I honestly don’t have any constructive comments for them — they were really great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you want to be treated well and have your work prioritized, RGC is a great choice. You should give them a chance.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the regional suicide prevention coordinator for a public health community health organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rigaud Global Company?

We have a suicide prevention initiative that reaches all over the state of Virginia, and we wanted to grow our social media platforms to spread our message of mental health and suicide prevention across the state. We also wanted to increase traffic to our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rigaud provided us with social media marketing by utilizing Facebook, Instagram, and AudioGO, a radio platform. We gave them access to our platforms and they managed and posted the content for us — they also backlinked our website to the platforms that we used. Additionally, I consulted with them on what we wanted the content to reflect on the website, and worked with our website company to develop it. 

For the campaign, they created media graphics, press releases, radio ads, and video ads for our social platforms. The video they produced was a 30-second animation with a voiceover talking about our campaign and drawing people to the website — the radio ad was also 30 seconds long.

What is the team composition?

I worked primarily with Dawn (President & Co-Founder) and her husband Raphael (CEO & Co-Founder).

How did you come to work with Rigaud Global Company?

Initially, we put the project out for bidding, and Rigaud responded with a bid that we ended up going with — we’ve stuck with them since because they did such great work. I’m not sure how we originally got in contact with them or how they found our bid, but we used them for the past year, and they did multiple projects for us.

How much have you invested with them?

The project total was about $14,400, but we’ve only spent half of it for the first campaign. We have another one that’s slated to come in September.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on this project from August 2020–May 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Rigaud sent us really fantastic documents at the end of each campaign that told us what our reach was, which was really helpful. Since we partnered with them, we increased our Facebook followers by 76%, and our social media engagement by 449% — we also increased our web traffic by 246% so overall it was a very successful partnership. Our goal was only to increase by 5–10%, but they clearly went above and beyond.

How did Rigaud Global Company perform from a project management standpoint?

I honestly don’t have enough words to describe how well they worked with our team, and how thankful we are for them — they were always responsive to any type of feedback. They were also willing to fit us into their schedule, believed in our mission, and were really focused on helping us get this out there. Rigaud was dedicated, professional, and really great to work with. We typically communicated through Zoom, email, and phone. For whenever they uploaded new content, they would post something on the right platform where we could go in to review them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Mental health and suicide prevention is a tough subject to research, but the work that they put out was second to none — it was so put-together and well-thought-out. They understood how important it was to put the right kind of information, and they always came back with the right evidence-based information. Rigaud was just so professional, respectful, and was really driven to ask questions and make us think about things we never really thought of before.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really can’t say anything that they could’ve done differently, to be honest. They literally delivered in every sense of the word, whether it was just communicating with us or bringing new ideas to the table. They took our suggestions with such grace and were always willing to compromise.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to come to the table with your ideas, goals, but to be open-minded and allow them to really use their experience and knowledge. Rigaud is very educated and very good at what they do, and they have some really great ideas that can help push whatever campaign or project you may have.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a community services board that focuses on mental health. I work within prevention services, which handles substance use prevention, mental health promotion, and suicide prevention. Through that work, we were charged to work on a grant initiative related to suicide prevention. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rigaud Global Company?

Through our work on the suicide prevention grant initiative, we created a program that we needed graphic design services for.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For this particular project, we needed to enhance the imagery surrounding our message. As our regional program grew to be a statewide one, we wanted a wide array of professional, fresh graphics that we could use in many different communities.

What is the team composition?

Dawn (President & Co-Founder) and Raphael (CEO & Co-Founder) have been our main contacts.

How did you come to work with Rigaud Global Company?

They submitted a bid through the procurement system our agency uses. We hadn’t heard of them before, but they scored well when we evaluated all the bids. We also reviewed some of their previous work and felt they would be a good fit for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $15,500 on the initial project and have spent about $25,000 since then.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since August 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their work is fantastic. We really wanted the graphics to take the diverse population of our state into consideration. Additionally, we saw suicide prevention as a sensitive subject that needed to be treated with care. They worked hard to meet these requirements, both by listening to us and conducting their own research.

How did Rigaud Global Company perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management perspective, they’ve exceeded our expectations. They laid out a four-stage process from the beginning of our first project that helped keep everything moving efficiently. Furthermore, they’ve been very available during all our projects together and have been willing to make edits as needed and turn tasks around quickly. We communicate using the project management tool Wrike as well as through email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been able to help us through projects in a collaborative, non-intimidating manner. They explain industry-specific concepts well and don’t rely too much on jargon. At the same time, they’ve been willing to learn more about our environment.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any feedback that would help them improve their services.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate what your goals are, but be open to their feedback. If you’re clear and concise with your project requirements, they’ll use their expertise in the graphic design field to deliver a solution that meets your needs.