Roundedcube

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your company?

I work for Sara Lee Foodservice, which is a division of Hillshire Brands. We sell protein and bakery products through various food services channels, and we operate in a number of different categories. Everything from frozen bakery and meat to fresh meat. We sell to a number of segments, everything from restaurants to schools to hotels.

What is your position?

I am the director of marketing for the bakery team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenge(s) you were attempting to address when you began the relationship with Roundedcube?

We worked with Roundedcube on an initiative to launch one of our brands that represents our gourmet line of desserts, which is our Bistro brand. We worked with them to launch a website specifically for the Bistro brand. The challenge or the opportunity was around creating a separate microsite for Bistro. Right now, prior to launching this website, we actually had all of our Bistro products living on our Sara Lee Foodservice website. We decided to create a little more brand focus by launching a microsite specifically for the Bistro branded products. Our goal for the website was certainly to sell more Bistro products, but then also to raise brand awareness.

What platform did Roundedcube build your new website on?

It was the Roundedcube’s [chosen] content management system, Sitecore.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the rationale for selecting Sitecore as your preferred solution instead of its competitor products?

I was not involved in that. That was the solution that Roundedcube brought to us.

Could you describe the process by which you discovered and then selected Roundedcube as your solution partner?

Absolutely. We have a longstanding relationship with Roundedcube. They have helped us develop not only the Sara Lee Foodservices website, they also were involved in the website that’s specifically targeting kindergarten through 12th grade schools. So, we had a relationship with Roundedcube, and specifically with Erin Hinnen [project coordinator at Roundedcube]. When this opportunity came up, we worked with them to layout our vision and bring it to fruition.

Could you describe in more detail the scope of work that was required for your site build?

It was a ground-up build, so we actually had, for a lack of a better term, a framework that we had worked with our advertising agency to build. We worked with Roundedcube to bring that framework to life. We had probably five to ten screenshots of what we wanted it to look like and how we wanted the information to flow. However, none of the content had been loaded, none of the logic had been built. It was really a ground-up approach with them. And we keep them onboard for case-by-case support and maintenance work. 

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

I think the site from start to finish was probably somewhere in the $75,000 to $125,000 range.

When was the new site launched?

May of 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they’ve provided?

Generally speaking, the site has been outstanding. We’ve received great feedback from our sales team and brokers who have to use the site for content information. I think we’ve developed an industry-best website with the content alone. The information flow is fantastic. We're extremely pleased with it. Now, as far as results, a lot of factors go into it, but our Bistro brand has seen exponential growth. Since July, which is the beginning of our fiscal year, we’ve had about 26 percent growth, which is absolutely outstanding. Certainly, one of the pieces of that was the sales tools, which included in the Bistro website.

When working with Roundedcube, is there anything you would consider unique or special about them compared to other vendors you’ve worked with in the past?

This was a unique project for me, and I haven’t worked extensively with other vendors, so I really can’t compare them to others, per se. But, I will say I was very pleased with the initiative, and their time and dedication to it.

In retrospect, are there areas that you think they could improve upon, or are there things you'd do differently as the client before approaching this type of project?

Right now, one of the things that we’re looking at is search engine optimization, and there are things that they’ve identified to help with the search engine optimization that we probably could have addressed earlier. Now, we were under a tight timeline, or I’ve given them a tight timeline to develop and deliver the website, so it may not have worked. There’s always an opportunity to have that in the back of your mind and say if we would have done this a little bit differently, it would have helped with the overall optimization of the site. As a result, we are going back and making some revisions to the site to help get into search engines. From my perspective, I’m not sure if it’s a natural process or progression, or if that’s something they could have addressed upfront. Not a huge deal, but it’s just something we could all certainly improve on.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your company?

I work for the Newspaper Association of America, and we’re a trade association for newspaper companies that own daily newspapers in the United States. We have a lobbying arm that works with public policy on Capitol Hill trying to pass legislation that will be beneficial to our member newspapers. Additionally, we have a business development arm that helps newspapers develop sustainable business models.

What is your position?

I’m the manager of Web and social media.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were attempting to address when you initiated the relationship with Roundedcube?

We’ve been collaborating with Roundedcube for, I believe, six and a half years. My understanding is that they were brought in to complete the redevelopment and launch of a new website, which had been partially designed and developed with separate vendor. Roundedcube was brought in to salvage and complete the project.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of the project? For example, did it involve custom design, backend development, training, and support?

In the time that I’ve worked with them, they’ve really kind of done everything: Web design, Web development, digital strategy, and some social media. We have a maintenance agreement with them where we have them on retainer to fix bugs and make functional enhancements. We also don’t have any developers in-house, so they serve as our source for future Web development initiatives. They’ve also updated our Sitecore CMS [content management system], which has required considerable backend development and integration work.  

How did you select Roundedcube as your solution partner?

I can’t speak to that since I wasn’t here when the decision making process was underway.

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

I don’t know the numbers for the first couple of major projects that we worked on with them. Since I’ve taken on my current role, and have had more of a management role in our relationship with Roundedcube, I believe it came in at about $125,000 in total.

When was the project completed?

The last major project was finished last fall when they redesigned our homepage. We also have them on a monthly retainer for support and maintenance, though.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics or metrics that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work Roundedcube has delivered?

We had a very successful relaunch of the site in 2011. We received a lot of very positive user feedback for having a much more organized and easier to navigate website. In the last couple of months, we’ve had some growth in our Web traffic, which is not specifically because of the work that Roundedcube has done, but it has been supported by the work that Roundedcube has done.

When working with Roundedcube, is there anything you would consider unique or special about them compared to other vendors with which you’ve worked?

One thing that I really appreciate about Roundedcube is their responsiveness. They’re very quick to respond. They respond after hours, and they respond on weekends. We’ve had a couple of instances recently where our site has gone down on the weekend. Under normal circumstances, it might be worrisome but, because they’re so accessible and reliable, I know that they’ll be devising a solution within only a few short hours. They’re going to respond immediately and let us know as they troubleshoot our issues. We don’t have that with all of our vendors.

On top of that, another thing I appreciate about them is that they definitely go above and beyond, and that I will often get an email out of the blue from someone at Roundedcube who came across something that they thought might be useful for NAA. They don’t wait for us to come and ask for a project. They are constantly making insightful suggestions about how to enhance and improve our online presence.  

In retrospect, are there areas that you think Roundedcube could improve upon, or are there things you’d do differently as the client before approaching this type of project?

The only thing that I think they struggled with a little bit was when we’re working on smaller projects, particularly with the maintenance of the website, things can sometimes get a little lost in the shuffle, such as the projects that are less important. Because we spend so much time focusing on our larger strategic goals, there are times when small, but still very important, tasks are either deferred or forgotten. Keeping better track of those smaller things would be my only recommendation for improvement.