SimplePlan Media

Please describe your company and your position there.

Education provider for medical students. Company director

For what projects/services did your company hire SimplePlan Media, and what were your goals?

SimplePlan Media was engaged to create a user platform and learning experience based on our goals. The end product had to be clear, user-friendly, with the quick ability to authorise and remove users and have a multi-layer access requirement.

The platform also involved an exam, with numerous question formats requiring different UI, a formula for the scoring, and a simple back-end for our company to review user involvement,

How did you select SimplePlan Media and what were the deciding factors?

We have used them on a previous project and know how exceptional their level of service is.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We set out a plan to commence with, set a timeline, project goals, and payment milestones. They kept us informed of progress, allowed soft-testing, and understood our needs exactly.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

3.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

User ability to log in without errors or bugs, ability to complete a test online and access online learning content. All stages were achieved with soft-testing and we were delighted.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

Frequent email feedback, skype updates, and soft-testing availability.

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

They understand the client's needs swiftly and set out a clear and affordable plan to meet the outcome. They respond very quickly and can adapt to new requirements.

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

No.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Cofounder of Soko, an upcoming women's intimate apparel brand launching in Southeast Asia.

For what projects/services did your company hire SimplePlan Media?

Create a visual brand identity and full website design & development

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted our brand to stand out from the traditional incumbents in the industry - to be approachable but still provide plenty of impact and energy. This needed to be felt throughout the visual brand identity and the website.

How did you select SimplePlan Media?

We discovered them through clutch. We had a call with them and were sold on their professionalism and creativity. We loved some of their previous portfolio work and knew they would be capable of the delivering the design aesthetic we were looking for.

Describe the project in detail.

After we shared the story of who we are and what we hoped to do, the team spent some time getting to know us both as individuals and as a brand. After listening to all of our ideas for the brand, they began to guide us through a discovery process that helped us determine what we really wanted for the brand.

We went through multiple steps in order to create the visual identity design - where the team provided us with plenty of different directions (the design mood boards were incredibly helpful!) to help us arrive at the end result. We then spent time wireframing, designing/creating wirescapes, and finally building the entire e-commerce website.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of 4-5 individuals, including multiple members of the creative and client teams. Nothing was lost in communication and we were extremely happy with how everyone worked together.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The entire process really exceeded our expectations. We came in having a ton of ideas but struggling to determine the exact final direction. SimplePlan provided amazing guidance to help us get there.

They were incredibly flexible with all of the deliverables we needed and with our timeline. More importantly, they absolutely delivered. We have had great feedback on our branding and website so far from our target audience. More importantly, there is a lot of excitement built up for our launch - surpassing our expectations.

Designing such a unique identity has really helped us stand out from our competitors. SimplePlan made this experience easy for us - from start to finish. We have already recommended them to others.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They kept us continually updated on what they've accomplished and what the next steps are. The team is highly responsive to every question and phone call. They were extremely flexible with any issues that arose from our side and were quick to address all of our pivots.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We found that their commitment to understanding our team and our market really exceeded our expectations and this helped them deliver some great results. They truly do care about the success of our brand and business.

And while I hate to use such a cliche phrase as "they went above and beyond, SimplePlan truly did. They provided guidance and delivered a few extra deliverables that were not within the scope of the projects. They did it purely because they were invested in our success.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, they did a great job for us.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are on a mission to help qualified and driven candidates across the globe to land their dream job. I am the founder, director, and chief career consultant.

For what projects/services did your company hire SimplePlan Media?

Branding, Web Design, and Web Dev. These include logo, brand bible, UX, UI, and dev.

What were your goals for this project?

To establish a brand, design a website, develop a website. We are an early start-up and were starting from scratch in all these areas.

How did you select this vendor?

They reached out to me through LinkedIn, where I advertised the project. They were excellent throughout the selection process, so we decided to hire them.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They started by gathering requirements. Then, they worked on the UX and the branding (logo). In the next milestone, they tackled UI and finalised branding. Lastly, they developed the website.

What was the team composition?

The client-facing team was as below: Delivery director - company owner Creative director Business consultant Analyst

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We are delighted with the brand and the website SimplePlan has developed for us. The end products are fully aligned to our mission, vision, and values, and optimised for our target group.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Simple but effective project management. Exactly what was needed considering the project scope, which was relatively small, as we are an early start-up.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They had an excellent attitude and are also skilled enough to deliver strong quality.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not really. Comms and project management could be slightly improved sometimes, but this is a very minor issues that I would not consider given the excellent work they delivered.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Shiftery is the next generation of integrated sourcing and supply chain management services. We help our clients to see more of their supply chain and mitigate emissions, shifting to traceability & sustainability. I am the co-founder & CEO of Shiftery.

For what projects/services did your company hire SimplePlan Media?

Website design & development, which started with the color and design development and ranged to the actual programming of the wordpress theme.

What were your goals for this project?

Our business is mostly online and hence a solid first impression of the website is cruicial. We have been asking for a sleek, modern and approachable website. At the same time we need to be able to change content on the website regularly as we are still in the early stages of business development. Hence, a customized theme based on worpress ist the best option for us.

How did you select this vendor?

We contacted a wide range of developers, from cheap to expensive, small and big. A long-term relationship is what we have been looking for, to have a trusted partner. We decided on simpleplanmedia because they offer a wide variety of services including graphic design. Further, they gave us a very approachable and commited impression. Finally their structured approach and track record convinced us.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Website design & development, which started with the color and design development and ranged to the actual programming of the wordpress theme. All illustrations on our website are unique or at least customized. Further, it includes animations.

What was the team composition?

The team involved sales and key account management/project management in direct contact with us mostly. During the creative design phase, we have been in contact with the design department as well. In the backend both, the design and the coding team were involved in the project.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The impact on our business can not be validated yet as the website is live for less than a month. We got compliments form our current clients and hope for great reactions and traffic in the future to support our visibility and business growth.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project setup was structured, using Skype, google docs and email communication. Very direct/approachable and responsive communication. There have been no issues with the language barrier.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I mostly value the good communication. They're very attentive to our needs and comments. Making smaller changes even though the project was finished already.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The project duration was longer than assumed in the beginning. This is also due us being a start-up and not having been 100% clear on what we need in the beginning ourselves. Additionally, the corona pandemic made life more difficult for everyone of us.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of a home care scheduling software startup. We provide front and back office solutions for home care agencies to efficiently operate their business.

For what projects/services did your company hire SimplePlan Media?

Our company website was a general landing page. We needed SimplePlan to put a more robust design together that matched our product and company culture.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a website that was robust but easy to navigate through.

How did you select this vendor?

We selected this vendor through a past customer. We like their website and asked who helped them with it and they mentioned simple plan.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we decided to move forward with this simpleplan, we had multiple discovery calls to ensure we were on the same page. We also recieved weekly updates as to how things were going, and they were always open to jump on a call if things got confusing.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a team of 4 throughout the entire project.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We have seen an increase in sign ups on our website, and we believe that this is due to how well everything has been laid out in regards to our product compared to our older landing page.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our communication was generally through gmail and zoom and we had no issues with this.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was most impressed by their willingness to adjust the plan when it was needed.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Wyzed is an online learning tool that businesses use to easily create, deliver and manage learning and training across their organization. I am the founder and director of the company.

For what projects/services did your company hire SimplePlan Media?

We hired Simple Plan Media to design and develop a new website based on pre existing brand guidelines.

What were your goals for this project?

To design, develop, and launch a modern new website that showcased the Wyzed platform as well as allowed potential customers to sign up and use the tool for free.

How did you select this vendor?

We posted a job on Upwork and Simple Plan were the best applicant.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Simple Plan provides design and web development services. They are quick to respond and very easy to work with. We sent them our rough plans and brand guidelines and then worked through multiple iterations to achieve the end design. Once happy with the end design, Simple Plan developed the whole website quickly and effectively.

What was the team composition?

The team was made of a project lead, a designer, and developer.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Our brand is modern, and customers and leads often mention how good the site looks and how well it presents our services and platform.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

It was arranged via Skype chat with Simple Plan and it was very effective, agile and effective. We could chat easily and changes were made quickly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We found how quick they were to respond and how quickly they made design and development iterations very impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is very little they could improve. Perhaps using slack as a chat option? But only because we already use that tool internally and it would be slightly easier for us than Skype.

Please provide us with a brief description of your company.

I am the owner of Delight Unisex Salon. Delight Unisex Salon started in 1952 as “Delight Barber Shop” in New Delhi, India. We have been in business for over 55 years and have gone through many changes since to adapt to changing times. Today, we are a “Unisex Salon” and cater to over 100 happy customers every week.

What was the business challenge that you were trying to address? What was the goal of the partnership?

Over the years, it has become apparent to us that we’d need to overhaul our brand and give ourselves a modern look, one that would cater to not only the older generation but the youth as well. We also wanted to extend our footprint beyond a set three-mile radius so that more people could learn about us. 

Partnering with SimplePlan Media for this project seemed like an obvious choice as the agency was pretty much operated by the kind of customers we were trying to reach (i.e., the youth).

What was the scope of the project, and can you describe the specific services that were provided?

Initially, we started with rediscovering and redesigning our brand, which comprised of a new logo, flex prints, new business cards, brochures, menu cards, tone-of-voice, and so on. They also consulted us on the interior design of our salon. Soon, we extended that partnership to include digital marketing services, as well. 

These days, we’re in talks for getting a website developed of our own, and SimplePlan Media is more than willing to help us out with that.

What was the team composition?

I’m not sure of their manpower, but they take care of everything brand-wise.

How did you come to work with SimplePlan Media?

We started our work with SimplePlan Media because they were pretty local, and we had been in talks with them the longest. We did reach out to a few other agencies for our work, but they did not take us very seriously. SimplePlan Media, however, was very eager and passionate about the work and did not waste our time.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent approximately $5,000–$10,000 on this project as of now.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work started in June 2018, and it’s still ongoing.

What were the results of the project? Are there any success stories or metrics you can share?

We have seen an increase in customer footfall and appointment schedules. We are sure that this has been possible because of the work done by SimplePlan Media. Their marketing team suggested that we start a survey to learn more details and understand the impact of their work, which we are very thankful for. We’ve found that new customers discovered our salon through SimplePlan Media’s marketing. 

Furthermore, everyone who comes in and looks at our business card and branding almost always gives positive feedback. Sometimes they also ask us who did them, and, of course, we are happy to recommend SimplePlan Media.

How did SimplePlan Media perform from a project management standpoint?

They have never missed a deadline or meeting with us. Sometimes they have even worked overnight to ensure delivery, which is commendable.

When working with this company is there anything that sets them apart compared to other partners you may have worked with?

Their work quality is their unique selling proposition (USP). I was totally blown away with the amazing response we’ve received on our overall brand.

Do you have any constructive criticism? Is there any area that they could improve?

Sometimes their responses can be difficult to understand, mainly due to technical jargon. However, that’s understandable. It’d be great if they could make their process a little more comprehensible, but I understand that as local business owners we always ask about money.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the executive director of a nonprofit organization in India. We work to support underprivileged children to reach their full potential—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

For what projects/services did your company hire SimplePlan Media?

Building a nonprofit organization is all about how well your potential audience can connect with your cause. For us, we wanted our audience to understand our company and how we do things better than our competitors. SimplePlan Media helped to make our overall brand look much more professional to attract potential partners and donors.

What were your goals for this project?

Making our cause easy to understand for everyone was our major goal.

How did you select this vendor?

We accumulated a list of recommended vendors from other startup founders. We started the screening process, which went on for a month or so, but we were not able to find the perfect fit. Eventually, we came to learn about SimplePlan Media from a personal connection, and, after talking to them, we made our decision. 

Our brand is not like other general brands; it needs proper care and attention to make our end users trust and believe in us. SimplePlan Media was the right choice because they believed in our vision. They gave us suggestions that only people who are heavily involved in the cause can give.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The scope of the project covered a lot of elements to increase our brand recall and to help our audience understand us easily. This involved coming up with a completely refreshed brand look and identity (e.g., designing print materials, annual reports, brochures, flexes, business cards, posters, banners, t-shirts).

They also designed a new website to better explain our company to our audience, revamping the copy’s tone and voice to ensure better bounce and conversion rates. The team then formed a social media strategy and provided additional consultation. The branding project took about three months, but we still communicate on an ongoing basis for any ad hoc print material design.

What was the team composition?

Manpower-wise, they’ve allocated conceptualizers, copywriters, designers, developers, marketing experts, and strategy experts.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Everyone keeps talking about how amazing our print material looks, and the sheer amount of signups we get from our website has been great.

In addition to having everything completed to our satisfaction, we’re truly amazed by the overall feedback for our assets. We have already won several awards for our website—including an international one—and our target audience and partners simply love the new branding.

As for metrics, the sheer amount of signups we’ve gotten from our site has been great. We’ve seen at least a 500% increase in overall site traffic along with a 125% hike in the site’s conversion rate. It’s also helped us win several social sector projects. Now, everyone who comes to our site wants to know more about us.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They have a competent management team. Their senior manager communicates with us daily or as needed. Our goal was clear, and he knew how to achieve what we wanted quickly.

It’s been an absolute joy working with SimplePlan Media. No one understood our brand as they did. On top of that, general agencies and big organizations can’t even come close to our design, which SimplePlan Media developed from scratch. They even showed us the hand-drawn illustrations of our site.

It’s clear that they’re a team of young professionals who know what they’re doing and are always in control of the process. Even when we thought we knew our potential audience, they would come back to us with more insights. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

If I had to give a critique, they could be a little more accommodating in terms of making changes and listening to our feedback. I do feel that it is necessary for agencies to push back, though, because most of the time, clients don’t know what they want. I understand their perspective, and they were right.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

SimplePlan Media promised that we’d win several awards for our website if we listened to them and that our audience and partners would call to praise our brand. And they delivered on all of this! We will continue to work with them for years to come.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Oceanic is a private property management firm that manages various assets across the United States. As the Marketing Manager at Oceanic I oversee the marketing aspects of our properties.

For what projects/services did your company hire SimplePlan Media?

The previous websites were outdated and were not SEO friendly. The team built tailor-made websites with modern visual feel to capture the essence of each hotel property keeping the core target audience in mind.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal was to increase direct bookings.

How did you select this vendor?

Recommendation.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The core scope of the project was to custom design and develop the complete website of Sands Inn & Suites and Ascot Suites.

What was the team composition?

They were a team of 7 design and development experts working on the project delicately.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

These websites are essentials parts of our marketing strategy to increase direct bookings.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The team was very responsive and great with deadlines. Also, they were strategic to really understand our needs and ensure the delivery would meet our expectations.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Communication and expertise.

Are there any areas for improvement?

N/A

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder and CEO

For what projects/services did your company hire SimplePlan Media?

Design website for Brentwood Growth

What were your goals for this project?

Complete website built, launched and hosted

How did you select this vendor?

Cost, deliverability, quality and speed

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Provided logo design, website wireframes and build site

What was the team composition?

Project manager, design and coding

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Everything was great. Understood instructions and followed through well. Completed project totally within budget and on time.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Followed schedule and communicated well

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Understood deliverables and executed even through COVID.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None