Setsail Marketing

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Principal Management Analyst of City of Santa Cruz Public Works Department

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The City of Santa Cruz was incorporated as a town in 1866 and received its first charter as a city in 1876. In 1948, the city adopted a new City Charter. This charter established a council/manager form of government, with the Mayor and six Councilmembers setting policy for the city, and city manager serving as chief administrator of those policies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Setsail Marketing to accomplish?

• Rebranding of City logo and color palette
• Public Works Department site illustrations

SOLUTION

How did you find Setsail Marketing?

• Referral
• Agency selected this agency for another project.

Why did you select Setsail Marketing over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Setsail Marketing were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Develop illustrations based off of key agency sites/locations in the style of the Citywide artwork branding. These images were built for the flexibility to use on various materials and media (shirts, stickers, presentations, mailers, remote meeting backgrounds, etc). Setsail did an excellent job reviewing site photos and researching our facilities on their own to create five stunning illustrations. Work was completed quickly (a few weeks) and check-in meetings were scheduled to answer questions and see artwork progress. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We received five beautiful site-specific illustrations in our agency's branding style within just a few weeks. The artwork was completed in time for us to purchase items for our staff for National Public Works Week May 2025.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Illustrations were delivered promptly and the product was better than I could have imagined! The project manager was considerate to our feedback and made adjustments to match the requests. The team was also proactive in researching our locations for useful images to start on the project early. Routine check-in meetings were helpful to see the illustration progress and make small edits or approve the efforts to keep the work going. Communication in meetings and emails was always very positive and clear. 

What was your primary form of communication with Setsail Marketing?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I felt like Setsail very much cared about this project in such a genuine way. The team had visited our town previously so they understood the culture and knew how most of the area looked. They were able to take that inspiration and created remarkable illustrations for Public Works department locations. It was extremely impressive the amount of research and consideration they took with all the sites, but notably for the sites they hadn't visited in person! All five images captured the uniqueness and charm of each site. Communication was very positive from start to finish for this project. I also appreciated that the team ran with concepts early in the project and helped translate simple ideas we (the customer) had into the most perfect artwork. The entire project felt very effortless. The final illustrations were better than I could have ever expected, and I would definitely work with Setsail again; I highly recommed this company and team!

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

No improvement is needed at all! I had the best experience with this team and the final product received!!!