Ripe Media

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the executive director of The Gabriella Foundation. We provide high-quality dance training for low-income youth, ages 4–19, in inner-city Los Angeles.

What challenge were you trying to address with Ripe Media?

Our organization lacked a marketing presence, a website and branded collateral. The board of directors determined that one focus of the strategic plan would be to strengthen the marketing presence.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our initial agreement with Ripe Media included social media strategy, brand refinement and the website.

From there, they designed our first annual report, which came out in November 2016, and we still use it. They designed our website from scratch on WordPress which just launched in July, and are now designing collateral for us on an as-needed basis. They produced the collateral for our gala, which was a major fundraising event for us. They created banners, as well as mastheads for our social media. They have written a digital marketing strategy for us, and we are now in the process of working with them on our fall fundraising campaigns and a general brochure.

Ripe Media also wrote a digital marketing strategy that we are currently implementing, and they work with our staff person who manages our social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. They currently provide monthly guidance on strategy and content to our in-house team. They will be helping us with messaging for our development plan.

How did you come to work with Ripe Media?

We sent an RFP to a variety of marketing firms, and Ripe Media responded. We chose Ripe based on a variety of reasons: their response answered what we asked for, their rates were very reasonable, and when we met them in person, we felt synergy as a team. They understood who we are as an organization and what we needed to do.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent around $40,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2016, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

Our social media presence has catapulted. We are focusing on it more according to our strategy put into place by Ripe, and we receive regular guidance from them.

Our website just launched about one month ago so we are still seeing the impact of that, but overall the response we have received is that people are enamored with it. It has a lovely look and feel, it brings people into the dance studio, and it helps them to experience our work without them being here.

The end of year report that they put together helped us to exceed our individual giving goal for the year, and people comment on its vibrancy and excellent quality and how it brings them closer to the work we are doing.

How did Ripe Media perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very good. I work with one project manager. They use GatherContent and a program tracker that have been very helpful. They give us a very useful calendar of the various steps and deadlines along the way, and they make adjustments if needed. Deadlines have been met, the quality has been very good, and the communication has been excellent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, they really understand who we are, what we do, and what impact we are capable of having in the community. I appreciate their interest and ability to wrap their arms around who we are and propose solutions accordingly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we haven’t had any challenges.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Parent Footprint is an online interactive parent community. The primary service we offer is an interactive care training program. We have several different platforms, blogs, and podcasts which are free to the public. Our product is a parent training program which is virtual and interactive.

I’m one of the co-founders.

What challenge were you trying to address with Ripe Media?

The objective was to create a website with an embedded interactive training program. The program uses a combination of videos and text. We wanted it to be accessible from all media platforms, from smartphone to iPad to desktop. The product needed to be used and have the same experience across all of the technologies. My co-founder has a technology background, but we were looking for providers to build our program and our site.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ripe Media designed the logo and entire website. They did copy editing and developed the graphics for the site. They created the template and programmed it using state-of-the-art plug-in technologies to create all the features of the program.

The Ripe Media team also consulted on our brand identity, and the logo was a key feature in our collaborative process of coming up with our brand. We had ideas when we started, and we had a lot of text, but they developed all the wireframes.

In the beginning, we interfaced primarily with their principals. Over time, we interfaced more with our project manager.

How did you come to work with Ripe Media?

We reached out to someone in LA who had done my author website. When she saw the scope of what we wanted, she referred us to Ripe Media. We did interview 2 other companies as well.

We chose Ripe Media because we liked Chris and Heather and how they presented themselves over the phone. They like to work on projects that they care about and find meaning in. They shared some recent projects that had similar features. Chris impressed us with his knowledge of technology.

How much have you invested with Ripe Media?

We’ve spent between $50,000 and $200,000 so far with Ripe Media.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in November 2015, and the project was completed in October 2016. We continue working with them for maintenance of the site.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

People love the look and feel of the site. We get extremely positive feedback about the user experience in terms of content and functionality from customers who have taken the training. We haven’t had any issues with the code so far.

How did Ripe Media perform from a project management standpoint?

We had an excellent project manager. We communicated through regular emails and conference calling as needed. They have a software that they use to load our website content. There were occasional issues with deadlines, but it was usually because the scope of work had changed. We had a collaborative relationship and they gave feedback when they thought something we asked for wasn’t going to be in our best interest. They were committed to the integrity of the project.

What did you find most impressive about Ripe Media?

I appreciated their openness and honesty.

Are there any areas Ripe Media could improve?

On a few occasions, it would have been helpful to better communicate changes to a timeline, but that wasn't a big issue.

Please describe your organization.

We are a small communications firm in Los Angeles. We work with clients in various fields including finance, education, automotive, and government.

What is your position?

I'm a group director.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Ripe Media?

We worked with Ripe Media specifically for one of our government clients. They wanted to build a complex website to promote health, primarily weight loss. The site offered three different verticals built into a curriculum.

It had two major components: one would be public facing – general information, a series of resources that can be accessed through the site – as well as the registered side, where information would be collected across several criteria in a registration questionnaire. This information would allow the participant to enter the program at the right level for them. That side of the program includes getting weekly curriculum across three verticals as well as a health tracker, and any number of progress reports. There are numerous trackers built into the site.

It was a very in-depth page. It had to be HIPAA [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act]-compliant and integrate into the client's security parameters, which were very complex. It was an intricate process with many players involved.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Ripe Media worked with us on a couple of different levels, and one was the design. Our creative person worked with their local designer. They designed the look and feel of the site and built it out based on the approved look.

They also worked on the front-end and back-end development, CMS [content management system], and created an in-depth registration process. There are also survey and badge systems that they've built top to bottom – both client-facing and behind-the-scenes functionality.

How did you come to work with Ripe Media?

My company had worked with them on a different project. We had used a different development company afterward and, after some bad experiences, we wanted to find a new partner.

We interviewed a few companies, and Ripe Media were able to fill all our requirements, specifically for this project. They had worked with HIPAA compliance before and knew how to handle all the intricacies of the client's server-level security requirements. We could not find another vendor that could do that for us.

What is the status of this engagement?

The contract started on April 14, 2015. It was very accelerated, which was not optimal. Nevertheless, Ripe Media was able to hit the deadlines on it, which was remarkable, considering the scope and depth of the website. The page launched on October 31, 2015. As an agency, they're our go-to choice for all projects.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We've done extensive testing on the site, including usability tests. All the feedback was positive, across parts like registration, ease of navigation, general design, and intuitiveness. The third-party, non-interested testers and the multiple departments within the county that have reviewed it, were very positive. Everyone that has touched it has commented on how good it looks and how easy it is to navigate through it.

How did Ripe Media perform from a project management standpoint?

The thing that stood out to me the most was how in tune their whole team is to each other. They know where they're situated and work very well toward the result. The client threw several curveballs at the project, which they were able to respond to quickly. They delivered on every promise, and where they couldn't, they were open about the ways to achieve the client's requirements. Their project management was phenomenal top to bottom.

The client requires a lot of specific reporting, and Ripe Media has delivered on everything. Given the depth and magnitude of the site, this was the most seamless launch I've taken part in.

Is there anything Ripe Media could have improved or done differently?

There isn't. They've done what was asked of them in a very tight timeframe.

Please describe your organization.

I work at a private higher education institution that awards master’s degrees. We have been around for over 35 years.

What is your position?

I am a faculty member for our programs, as well as the Director of Online Education. In the latter role, I design interactive offerings that translate the in-class programs and workshops to the online medium.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Ripe Media?

Aside from myself, there was no one on staff who had previous experience in designing and developing online educational products. Additionally, the type of e-learning that we were creating was highly experiential. It required innovative design choices that went far beyond cognitive learning.

We wanted to effectively translate an in-person workshop into self-running online courseware, while maintaining the impeccable excellence that is the hallmark of our university brand.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

This was a huge project. Ripe Media partnered with me and with the creators of the in-class program to provide the technical and UX designs from my higher level instructional designs. They also created an extensive and complicated back-end that allowed the courseware and the subscriber site to “talk” to one another, thereby allowing the end user to track their growth, and update their responses over time.

How did you come to work with Ripe Media?

I had worked with Heather [Richman, Creative Director] and Chris [Simental, Technology Strategist] when I was at a previous company. I knew them to be talented and honest business people.

Can you give us a sense of the size of the project?

The costs are confidential.  I can say that we worked together for about two and a half years. I’m estimating about two years of this time were full time, with a medium-sized team of people.

What is the status of this engagement?

We completed the majority of development at the beginning of 2015.

Could you share any feedback from this engagement?

Ripe Media won an award for the courseware. The feedback from end users has been glowing. It is a beautiful, rich and highly effective offering.

How did Ripe Media perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed pretty well. This was a challenging project because we have a multiple review cycle with no definitive “lock the product” times. So project management was challenging, but they performed quite satisfactorily.

Was there anything unique or special about them compared to other companies that you may have worked with?

Their honesty and devotion to the project and to the end product was superb. They were willing to come up with solutions both for the product and also for the production process that accommodated our very high standards.

Is there anything Ripe Media could have improved or done differently?

We developed in Flash because it gave us the most artistic control. However, I wish we could have seen further down the road. That way we might have been able to begin design for HTML5 sooner, though I don’t know if that would have been possible.

Please describe your organization.

We work with organizations to help them implement and sustain quality and process improvement initiatives. So at the core, we’re working with organizations to improve the quality care that they provide and improve access to care for the patients they serve.

What is your position?

I’m a program manager at the organization.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Ripe Media?

We were going through a rebranding effort. We went through a name change and our focus was broadening. We’re reaching new audiences and because of that, we wanted to go through a strategic name change and rebranding effort. We approached Ripe Media to help us consider the way our communications were going to change with this rebranding effort. That included website development and logo development, as well as creating a strategic communication plan and newsletters detailing how we are going to reach out to our clients and stakeholders.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

For the website, they were going to create the back end of it from start to finish. They are creating the entire infrastructure. They were helping us design pages, and they even provided some content editing so they could make sure the content was streamlined and that the themes were being discussed in the same way. They helped create the website from the communications plan and the marketing plan.

Ripe Media also helped our leadership brand our identity. They came up with an overview packet that we could give to new staff, to funders and to key stakeholders, which talks about our mission and vision and about some of the qualities that make up our new brand and organization. They also helped us come up with a strategic communication plan. This plan detailed how we were going to launch the website, how we were going to reach out to our current stakeholders about new products and services and how we would continue to strategically reach out to our stakeholders on an ongoing basis through the creation of a monthly newsletter.

Finally, Ripe Media helped us create our new logo and the format. They helped us come up with elements to include in the newsletter as well.

How did you come to work with Ripe Media?

We sent out a Request for Proposal [RFP]. We received proposals from three organizations. We had a preexisting relationship with Ripe. They helped us create our first website. We approached them because we knew they could do web content and development really well.

This was a larger project because we were considering the branding elements and our strategic communications. We weren’t sure if that was in their skill set. We put out the proposal for a much broader team than when we had originally worked with Ripe Media. Regardless, we knew they were great with web content. We interviewed some of their past clients to talk about branding, marketing and logo development and got great feedback from them. So we were very comfortable moving forward with them.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The cost of this project was in the $10,000 to $50,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2015. The work is ongoing. It will conclude by the end of November 2015.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We haven’t launched yet, so I can’t speak about traffic. I can’t even really talk about it from the content management perspective because we haven’t been able to utilize it for our purposes. From a customer perspective, we’ve been very pleased with Ripe Media's quality and responsiveness. They’ve been great strategic thinkers. They’ve helped us figure out the best way to reach our audiences. They’re always very responsive, and they meet their deadlines. They’ve been great to work with.

What distinguishes Ripe Media from other providers?

Ripe Media has a great ability to meet the client where they are. They’re not forcing a structure that doesn’t fit with the culture or business model of their customers. They’re really willing to work and operate around what their clients need.

Is there anything Ripe Media could have improved or done differently?

I can’t think of anything.

Please describe your organization.

I work in the library at the University of Southern California. We've used Ripe Media at least twice. One time, several years back, and most recently, about a year ago. It was a very small site – the one that we built the past year. The experience was great, and I'm sure we'll use them again.

What is your position?

I'm a project manager in the library.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Ripe Media?

It was a manpower issue. We didn't have the resources so we had to outsource. We do have developers of our own now. On the first job, it was a front page redesign of the library website.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

It was basically user interface. It was a redesign, and we were looking for better functionality. I think they primarily worked in JavaScript and HTML.

How did you come to work with Ripe Media?

We had a colleague who worked here who knew them previously. She was their champion in the beginning, and we all grew to appreciate the work too. It wasn't terribly competitive like they beat somebody else out. It was more of a situation where we went with the known versus the unknown.

What is the status of this engagement?

It's been several years, so I don't recall the exact dates. I do remember they finished on time.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We don't have metrics going back that far. The general impression on our end was that Ripe Media did really top notch work. The user interface was improved, which is what we set out to accomplish.

What distinguishes Ripe Media from other providers?

They're very accessible. We appreciated Ripe Media's attention to detail. They're also very design-oriented. They made great suggestions that we hadn't considered.

Is there anything Ripe Media could have improved or done differently?

No. The experience was totally positive.