Southern California Design Energy
Located on the ocean in Capistrano Beach CA is SDA Creative. Launched in 1995, SDA quickly built their client list of action sport entrepreneurs and companies. Their talent was not lost outside the world of action sports and the word spread. They were able to build up a roster of corporate clients and create an important niche by bridging the creative gap between a suit and tie world and the youth-oriented energy found on the beach and slopes of Southern California.
headquarters
Recommended Providers
Focus
Portfolio
Action Sports, Travel, CBD Companies, 3D Printing, Non Profit, Film Industry
SDA Creative's Reel
SDA Creative has some serious film chops. We're story tellers at heart. Turn up the volumn and enjoy.
https://sdacreative.com/demo-reel/
Think what we could do for your company...
Waterways Travel Magazine Ad
Waterways Travel are the premiere travel experts for surfers looking to find the perfect wave no matter where in the world that may be. SDA Creative designs their image with the same energy they put into every destination they manage.
Mikasa Sports USA
Mikasa Sports, founded in 1916, is a globally known powerhouse in the sports world. Mikasa is the official volleyball ball of the Olympic games, and sponsors top athletes around the world. SDA Creative designs all of Mikasa's products, websites, social media, packaging design complete.
Stonehill Produce Website
Stonehill Produce is a leading supplier of avocados in California. SDA designed and now manages their web presence. Who doesn't love avocados!
Hobie Kayaks
Hobie Cat produces the best kayaks in the world, and has for a very long time. Another thing that Hobie has had for a very long time is SDA Creative! We've been putting the creative face on their very cool brand for over 15 years. Makes you want to go fishing doesn't it....
Documentary Movie Poster
This is a movie poster for a new documentary film on caves, not just any caves, these caves are nearly impossible to get into and people die trying.
The amount of colateral you need to launch a sucessful movie is amazing. We can design start to finish. I think my grandfather used to call it "soup to nuts". Not sure what that means, but I'm good with it.
Book Design
Yep, we do book design cover to cover. Designing a book uses a different part of the creative brain, and we have that part. No book to small or large. Lets do it.
Packaging Design
We do packaging design. We do a lot of packaging design. We do really great packaging design. CBD is a brand new industry and we're loving the wide open creative directions, here's a cool example. We create entirely new brands start to finish. We help name the brand, create the logos, draw the templates, design and print, whatever you may need help with.
Tradeshow Branding
Surf Expo is the largest tradeshow of it's kind in the world. SDA was tapped to re-brand the entire tradeshow creative and push the surfing energy of many of their exhibitors... Boom!
Logos for skiing
We do amazing logo creative. Here's a few that are all for the skiing industry (yep, we ski and snowboard). Check out a few others-
https://sdacreative.com/portfolio-category/logos/
K2 Skis / Extreme Ski Team Ad
K2 Skis has the best extreme ski team in the world. They hired SDA to create an ad that people would never forget, an Ad with attitude. We decided to shadow the original Calvin Klein Ads... using the K2 ski athletes, several of them were Olympic gold medalists.
We shot this Ad for Skiing Magazine in the basement of a hotel in Aspen, the morning after a major ski industry party. Trust me, these guys know how to party.
Final creative.... priceless
Professional Volleyball Creative
Mikasa Sports USA is the official volleyball of the Olympic Games. Sara Hughes, Mikasa's sponsored athlete, is on a journey to secure a spot on the USA Olympic team in 2021.
The word "Endeavor" is Sara's mantra to fulfill her dream of being an Olympic athlete.
This was the back-cover Ad in a major volleyball publication. Wut! A volleyball Ad without a volleyball action shot, how can this be! Note the "o" in the word "endeavor" is gold.... whatever could we be suggesting...
Reviews
the project
Web Design, Content Marketing & SEO for HR Firm
“I appreciate their committed support of our team.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
We’re a staffing, recruiting, and headhunting company that focuses on engineering, accounting, and finance. I’m the founder and CEO of the company.
What challenge were you trying to address with SDA CREATIVE INC.?
We hired them to do a facelift on our site.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We used them to build a new website for us as well as content creations and SEO optimization. They also assist with our social media and blog on a month-to-month basis. Their work included new landing pages, promo videos, and site structure for SEO.
What is the team composition?
We worked with 4–5 teammates. At this point, we continue to work with two of them.
How did you come to work with SDA CREATIVE INC.?
I was referred to them and immediately liked their culture. They seemed super responsive, engaged, and easy to work with. It was a no-brainer for me.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent about $35,000 in total.
What is the status of this engagement?
We’ve been working with them since 2016.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We haven’t set up measurable goals that we’ve been able to track and measure annually. I’ve seen some increased traffic with respect to leads, but we could be tracking these metrics better and further improving in this area.
I enjoy working with their accommodating, responsive team. They help me to creatively troubleshoot ideas. It’s been a valuable relationship.
How did SDA CREATIVE INC. perform from a project management standpoint?
They do a great job of communicating and following through in promised deadlines and timelines. I can count on things getting done according to schedule. That’s been great.
What did you find most impressive about them?
I appreciate their committed support of our team. They’ve been a great team to work with.
Are there any areas they could improve?
We could improve by setting up annual meetings to review our progress. That may help us strengthen our partnership.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
They’re a creative, responsive team that looks at their clients are partners. I’ve referred them to several friends because they have a great product.
the project
Web Design & Social Media Marketing for Printing Company
“Their authenticity and integrity are second to none.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m in sales and marketing at James Litho. We’re a printing company.
What challenge were you trying to address with SDA CREATIVE INC.?
We hired them to create and revamp our website in efforts to make it more interactive with customers.
What was the scope of their involvement?
SDA CREATIVE INC. handled the complete redesign of our website. Some big highlights of the new platform were a video and updated file-uploading function. Our company offers new services, and they helped us market them on the website. Since the launch of the platform, their team now provides maintenance and even conducted a recent design update.
We initially started the project with a meeting. Once the SDA CREATIVE INC. team understood our vision, they came back with a budget and storyboard. After we signed off on everything, they started creating the website’s content.
The 12-minute corporate video was completely planned, scripted, and shot by them. There was drone footage of our plant and a lot of product shots. This included the types of printing services we offer as well as how our machines and printing presses work. SDA CREATIVE INC. also handles our social media accounts.
What is the team composition?
I work with Mark S. (President and Co-Founder) and Mark H. (Creative Director and Designer). There’s also a woman who creates the content for our social media.
How did you come to work with SDA CREATIVE INC.?
Before my role here, I owned a digital printing company and SDA CREATIVE INC. was one of our customers. They used our services so I became familiar with their work through that. When I came to my current company and there was a web design need, they were the people I thought of. I’ve known Mark S. for 30 years.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve invested around $22,000; however, that doesn’t include our monthly social media retainer charges.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our ongoing partnership began in April 2012.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Our website’s traffic has increased significantly by 30%. SDA CREATIVE INC.’s work has also augmented our lead generation. Previously, our website was generating zero leads and since its revamp, we receive 3–5 inquiries a week. Some of those turn into jobs and some don’t, but regardless, it’s activity that wasn’t there before.
How did SDA CREATIVE INC. perform from a project management standpoint?
We communicate through email, telephone, and SMS.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their authenticity and integrity are second to none. I’ve worked with them for more than 23 years so that speaks a lot to my satisfaction with them. What’s more, their creative ideas are practical. Often times, I’ve run into companies who have creative ideas but can’t execute them in the real world or feasibly get those ideas to work. What SDA CREATIVE INC. does for us actually works.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, there are no areas for improvement.
the project
Digital Marketing & Advertising for Sports Equipment Company
"They understand our products and know what we’re about, and they do a great job for us."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the VP of a sporting equipment and athletic goods company.
What challenge were you trying to address with SDA Creative Inc.?
We needed advertising done for magazines, sports stores, etc.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They’ve worked with us for many years. They create new ideas and new concepts to best reach the market based on our products. In Olympic years, campaigns are geared toward an Olympic theme.
They do videography, photography, handle all social media marketing, including posting three to five times each week. Based on our directives, they control our social media, offering free products or promotions at times to increase the views and likes of our customers. They do a lot of the advertisement negotiations, website development and management, catalog printing, and direct marketing to email services.
They also do a lot of our product design, sports balls and equipment, and package design, Photoshop support, and participate in local events by setting up interaction, activities, and contests.
What is the team composition?
Mark (Co-Founder & President) is the point of contact for us.
How did you come to work with SDA Creative Inc.?
Mark and our owner have known each other and worked together for several years.
How much have you invested with them?
Our total investment was around $2,500,000. This is a ballpark figure based on the average yearly spend over the course of the engagement.
What is the status of this engagement?
We began working together in August 1983, and the engagement is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
It’s difficult to assign a metric with print advertising and media in terms of spend vs. return. The thing that amazes me is how big of a company our clients from other countries expect us to be when they visit. We have about 10 people working in our office, but they expect hundreds of employees.
I attribute that to the advertising and image created by Mark and his team on our behalf. They’re responsible for the good marketing and successful advertising our company does.
How did SDA Creative Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?
They’re very good. They have always prioritized us and met deadlines. We meet in person every few months to discuss what we do and don’t like, and to direct what we’d like to see going forward. There is daily communication via phone and email to keep in touch throughout ongoing projects.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They always go above and beyond, supporting our company and our brand. For example, if we have an event that is on the beach for five days, they will be there all day, every day, even though it’s not required.
Their team sends a crew to take pictures and videos, and even to create contests and activation games for the customers, without being asked to do so. They understand our products and know what we’re about, and they do a great job for us.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No.
the project
Web Development for Surf Travel Agency
“They can turn content around in a matter of a few hours and have done so countless times for us.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
The company is Waterways Travel. We are an international surf travel company, and I am the president and owner of the company.
What challenge were you trying to address with SDA CREATIVE INC.?
I’ve been working with SDA for over 20 years, so our needs have changed dramatically in that time, but originally, we reached out to do layout for magazine advertising.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We started out running very small black and white advertisements in Surfer Magazine. As our company grew, we expanded those to full-page color ads in multiple different magazines, and eventually, once the internet became the main avenue for those kinds of ads, they helped us to translate our operations to the web.
Now, they handle everything from our WordPress web development and SEO to all of our creative marketing and promotional efforts. Our most current work has centered around creating a completely new website, ranging from changing a lot of text-heavy content to images and adding videos where we can, as well as changing over to third parties for security and online credit card processing.
How did you come to work with SDA CREATIVE INC.?
They were recommended by somebody at a surf travel publication who knew that they could handle the type of advertising project we were looking to run.
How much have you invested with them?
Their most recent work has cost us about $2,500.
What is the status of this engagement?
We’ve worked with their team for close to 30 years, but the current web development project started in March 2020 and is currently ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
I’ve worked with various other outsourcing companies to provide those needs as we developed them, but because of my relationship with SDA and the ability to bounce ideas off of them, pretty much all of our business has migrated back under the umbrella of what they provide us.
The value of the relationship has been not only in the incredible quality of work that they provide but also in their ability to rise to meet just about anything we can come up with to throw at them.
How did SDA CREATIVE INC. perform from a project management standpoint?
The biggest reason we’ve continued to work with them and expand their role with our company is because of their communication and response times. One of the things I’ve found frustrating when branching out to most other companies is that there were lag times, not only in terms of getting jobs done but just in basic responses to messages, and they are always completely accessible and willing to work with us through whatever question or issue we have.
What did you find most impressive about them?
All the time, we will receive calls from various publications at the last minute, letting us know that they have certain ad spaces available but telling us that they would need the content within the day. SDA has never missed a single one of those deadlines. They can turn content around in a matter of a few hours and have done so countless times for us.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, because they are completely honest about their capabilities as a service provider. When we initially asked them to take on SEO, they told us no because they didn’t want to offer something that they didn’t feel they could do well. From there, however, they acquired the capability and are now delivering that for us as well.
the project
Branding, Web Dev, & Social Marketing for Film Project
"Even though I am a smaller client, they make me feel like their most important client. They always overdeliver."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
Big G Media is a small marketing and advertising consulting agency. I am the President.
For what projects/services did your company hire SDA CREATIVE INC.?
I was consulting on a film project that required branding, web and social media services.
What were your goals for this project?
Creating a brand and generating brand awareness.
How did you select this vendor?
I've had many excellent experiences with SDA in the past.
Describe the project in detail.
•develop logo and brand identity •create a website with the capability to update weekly and include video capability •create social media platform
What was the team composition?
I had direct contact with the senior designer and the web developer as well as the firm's owner.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
Successful across all platforms.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
The main reason I always work and continue to work with SDA is that even though I am a smaller client, they make me feel like their most important client. They always overdeliver.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
See above.
Are there any areas for improvement?
No.
While their client has not tracked measurable benchmarks related to the engagement closely, SDA CREATIVE INC. has impressed them with their responsiveness and ability to creatively troubleshoot issues. They have also earned the client’s trust with their strict adherence to deadlines.