Six-Point Creative

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner of a culinary agency specializing in literary and talent representation.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Six-Point Creative?

We hired Six-Point Creative to train our in-house team. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

As part of our continuing education goals, we brought on Six-Point Creative to teach our four-person team about digital marketing and strategy as we got ready to launch a new product. They led a three-part, multi-day training workshop where we identified our brand intangibles and solidified them for marketing purposes. With Six-Point Creative’s help, we defined our brand guidelines. They also looked over our marketing material and press releases. Six-Point Creative’s team made sure our in-house team was all on the same page about our brand. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with Meghan (Founder & CEO).

How did you come to work with Six-Point Creative?

Meghan and I were a part of the same professional organization, and I’d admired her work for a number of years.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $6,800 with Six-Point Creative, although the entire project was funded through a grant we got for workforce development training. 

What is the status of this engagement?

This project with Six-Point Creative occurred in February 2022. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We came out of the workshop with concrete business goals and how to bring in a specific number of customers for a new product launch. Six-Point Creative helped us identify the strategy we need to use to move forward and achieve our goals. 

How did Six-Point Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Six-Point Creative was very organized and professional. They were always on time and ran workshop sessions over Zoom. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Six-Point Creative is incredibly unique — they only work with second-stage family businesses and are incredibly well-versed in communicating the unique challenges of those businesses. Six-Point Creative is exceptional, and I’d definitely work with them again. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing for Six-Point Creative to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise customers to put Six-Point Creative’s recommendations into practice in real-time so they can make adjustments along the way. Six-Point Creative is incredibly nimble and responsive to what customers are going through at any given moment. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the President in charge of business development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Six-Point Creative, and what were your goals?

Our business goals were to create a brand strategy by evaluating all our products, services, markets and resources. We expected a full understanding of our unique small business with deliverables to include which market to focus on and a road map for the next six months.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended by the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. I too am an alum of 10KSB. The Executive Director suggested working with Meghan, Owner of Six Point to help Weather or Not improve revenue and profitability.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

Six Point Creative’s approach to helping Weather or Not “Build Our Strategy” was a comprehensive, very personalized approach. It’s a supportive, intensive program that helped my small business realize which of our many directions makes the most profitable sense for us to follow. Meghan promised to dig in with us and wow, did she deliver! They promised 3, 2.5hr workshops and delivered 4 3 hr workshops, a complete plan and a video on how to execute the plan.

From the eye opening, “what got you here as an entrepreneur is not what will ¬¬¬¬catapult your growth,” to building our brand strategy road map and explaining how best to execute it, Six Point Creative put us on the path to a focused pivot. Meghan even included some “do NOTs” in our road map. Do you think she heard our temptation to default to our old, less profitable ways? Yep, no cookie cutter plans here!

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

1 - The Owner

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are halfway through our March assignments and will have them completed by Monday the 7th. This is to lay the groundwork of how to identify our company with a much less broad focus. Meghan is continuing to answer questions as we step through this.

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

They started with an electronic survey of our company. It was sent to 2 of our staff not just me. Next, there were 3 Zoom meetings that went longer than expected. They included Meghan, organizing our answers as we were giving them and adjusting her power point slides to fit our unique answers. Not satisfied that we were far enough along, they gave us another 3 hour workshop then took the time to review everything, prepare a 6 month task by task blueprint and a 125 minute video on how to execute the plan.

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

They listened and were able to articulate our company so much better than we were! They took every aspect of how our small business could and could not implement a strategy so that their deliverable will be truly useful to our future revenue and profitability. They introduced us to and trained us on new technologies including how to get transcripts from our recordings and that was very inexpensive!

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

None come to mind. If your business could use an objective review from a brand strategy expert who’ll leave you with a task by task, month by month brand strategy, call Meghan. Not only am I confident that she’ll “get you” and all your company’s uniqueness,

I’m absolutely certain that the value you receive during the process will exceed your expectations. Six Point Creative loves to use the high multiple of proven value when showing their client’s success ie, client’s profitability was 10x, 20x the money they spent with us and so on. Weather or Not now has a personalized clear road map to become one of those testimonials. Stay tuned!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of THRESHOLD. We design, manufacturer, and market visitor management systems, both software-based and printed visitor badges. Our primary customers are schools, corporations, and hospitals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Six-Point Creative?

The name of our company no longer matched the services we offered. We were looking to change our name and rebrand.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Six-Point Creative provided branding and naming services for us. They started by analyzing our existing name and branding. After that, they came up with names and design options for us, which the internal team chose from.

What is the team composition?

We work with four principal individuals, including Meghan (CEO).

How did you come to work with Six-Point Creative?

Initially, we received a referral from another company and had Six-Point Creative do some work on a small project of ours. We enjoyed working with them and thought they were very competent, so we decided to work with them again. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement ran from July 2018–December 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re very pleased with the results. People reacted well to our name change and our new brand. Everything went really smoothly.

How did Six-Point Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Six-Point Creative is great at creating and sticking to timelines. They were very impressive in communicating with us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The end result blew us away. Their creativity and follow-through were exceptional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were a little surprised by how much our name change affected our organic traffic, but that wasn’t their fault. It took almost a year to get it back to our prior volume, which we eventually surpassed. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I encourage people to work with Six-Point Creative, they’re exceptional. Have high expectations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're a sign language interpreter and speech-to-text transcription company, and I'm the CEO

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Six-Point Creative?

We brought in Six-Point Creative because we wanted to pivot into a new market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, we outsourced a marketing plan to them. We had a couple of meetings and the deliverable at the end was the actual plan. It wasn’t just one campaign. It was a full-on pivot to a new industry with multiple campaigns. 

Then, the project turned into a rebranding effort — an even bigger project than a marketing plan. We had a new website, which is the reason we’re keeping them on retainer for however long we need to rebrand. They also created a logo for us. In terms of the marketing plan, they did a ton of market research. They gave heavy input on the redesign strategy, such as planning what messaging we put out. 

We didn’t do any of the design or graphics through them because we do that internally. They only worked on the messaging, layout, and similar things to that.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of three people. We had Meghan (CEO) as our main point person, but all three of them were on every single call.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $8,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from October 2020–January 2021. They’ve already delivered the marketing plan, although we’ve kept them on retainer for the website.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The owner and I were extremely impressed with how quickly they understood our industry. I’m sure most people think our industry is pretty niche, and we believe the same. However, Six-Point Creative picked it up faster than anybody I’ve seen who’s not in the industry and with zero experience.

They did their research and understood it in record time. It was the best I’ve ever seen. It was definitely their competitive advantage.

We also had a lot of collaboration with Six-Point Creative within my team based on the suggestions they made about certain advancements. We had a good amount of people involved in the project, and everyone felt good about it. Everyone on my team verbally expressed the fact that they were excited for the campaign and for the new website and rebranding. 

How did Six-Point Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been fantastic. When I first contacted them for the marketing plan, I put them on a tight deadline. I wanted a marketing plan in hand by the end of December 2020. They said we’d have a couple of incremental meetings that were two weeks apart. They did their research and then sent the final deliverable. They delivered on all of that. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their customer service was fantastic. They were extremely personable and down to earth, so we didn’t feel like we were talking to a different person who didn’t really care about the project. We could tell they had the passion. Meghan went above and beyond for us, which we appreciated. The customer service level was off the charts. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. We hired them for a marketing plan, and they did it — they did it really well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

On your end, be as prepared as possible. They’re very good at what they do, but they can’t answer questions that you don’t have. Prepare for every meeting, understand the process, and be in it with them so you get the most out of their services. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the marketing coordinator at a small artisanal cheesemaking company in southwest Georgia. We make size different styles of cheese and focus on regenerative agriculture and human and animal husbandry. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we refocused our efforts on retail. I handle all of our marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Six-Point Creative?

We were looking to rebrand for our expansion to national distribution. Even though people were interested in what we had to say, we knew they weren’t picking up the products, so something had to change.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Six-Point Creative rebranded our company for us. After numerous calls with them, they came down to our offices and spent a couple of days with us to better understand our company. From there, they offered marketing services, a brand video, a brand book, and three different strategies to choose from. 

Their team was responsible for market research, finding out who we should target and how we should be targeting them. They also created all of our messaging and helped us write descriptions for each cheese. Six-Point Creative also creates mockup labels. Right as we were about to launch, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which pushed the launch back a bit. 

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with Amanda (Producer) and Meghan (CEO).

How did you come to work with Six-Point Creative?

Our owner was part of a small business conference where Meghan was a featured speaker. She spoke on second-stage growth, which is exactly where we were. We chose them because, although we’re both based on the East Coast, they’re in Boston and we’re in Georgia. They could offer us a look into what customers in the Northeast or other areas are looking for.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested about $75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement ran from January 2019–August 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While we were in the process of rebranding, we sent labels to buyers of retail stores. We always got great feedback. We also got input on colors on our social media channels to make our customers feel more included in the process. We got far more placements in stores with our new packaging.

Their team really took the time to understand what was important to us. Six-Point Creative brought a fresh set of eyes to the table. They were able to meet us halfway and were very patient and professional.

How did Six-Point Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

We mostly communicated with Six-Point Creative via phone or email. I spoke directly with their team about five times a day. We also hold weekly meetings. Sometimes, we call them just to catch up. They were extremely cooperative. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They set a very clear strategy and helped us implement it. Six-Point Creative gave us the tools we needed, but they also showed us how to best use those tools. They were very encouraging and efficient in helping us get across the finish line.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything has been great. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go into the project with clear expectations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Sweet Grass Dairy is an artisan cheese manufacturing company located in Thomasville, Georgia. Jeremy and Jessica Little are co-owners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Six-Point Creative?

We needed to get ready for market expansion due to the opening of our new production facility. In working with 6 Point, we realized we needed to rebrand, create a strategy for growth and offer better retail labeling options for consumers.

What were your goals for this project?

1. Research and findings report on current packaging and design.
2. New brand concept presentations
3. New packaging design
4. Updated brand book and style guide
5. Creation of a brand video
6. Brochure and sales sheet updates
7. Slide deck presentation for buyers 
8. Strategy recommendations

SOLUTION

How did you select Six-Point Creative?

Through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Three days onsite at Sweet Grass Dairy, including:

• A full-day creative problem-solving/branding workshop for up to fifteen participants covering » Branding basics » Brand touchpoint mapping » Skill-building interactive session (using applied improv techniques)
• Interviews/research » 6-8 interviews with key internal staff » Customer intercept interviews at retail » Retail customer observation study
• Filming for the Sweet Grass Dairy brand video Additional intake and brand research:
• Review of all current marketing collateral and brand assets » Brochures, flyers, etc. » Social-media presence » Packaging » Website » Sales presentations and/or leave behinds » Any templated communications (e.g., presentations, emails, letters, etc.)
• Review of current marketing strategy with marketing and sales team » Current tactics and success measures » Analytics for website and social media
• Research » Competitive evaluation (retail and food service) » Review of existing third-party research studies Findings report:
• Overview of research findings and interview insights
• Overview of competitive analysis and brand asset review
• Customer “persona boards” (retail end-user customer and food service chef customer)
• Packaging “mood boards”
• Strategic recommendations based on findings that will inform brand guide development Brand concept presentation:
• 2-3 retail packaging options (mock-up designs that show how the products would be treated as a brand family)
• Corresponding campaigns for digital marketing campaigns targeted to retail consumers and chefs/food service » Digital ad campaign sample mock-ups
• Review of strategic implications of each brand concept (example: a brand packaging concept may need digital infrastructure or supportive content to be effective)
• Discuss potential evolutions of the Sweet Grass Dairy brand story (especially audience-specific variations to retail buyers, chefs/food service, influencers, end users) Packaging finalization:
• Up to two rounds of revision of packaging concepts and application to all six existing products and four new product labels
• Collaboration with packaging vendors and Sweet Grass Dairy regarding packaging production costs and material specifications
• Development of mechanicals for final printing (up to 10 label mechanicals)
• Label mock-ups produced for quality assurance
• Delivery of electronic files Brand book documentation:
• Delivery of an updated brand book that includes new packaging specifications and any other updated brand assets (including visual assets and messaging/positioning language)
• Recommended updates to the Sweet Grass Dairy Way culture book Retail-specific sales piece:
• Development of a brochure or sales deck targeted to retail buyers
• Up to two rounds of revisions included
• Delivered as a print-ready PDF or presentation-ready slide deck Strategy documentation:
• Delivery of a 2019/2020 marketing “road map” with budget » Sweet Grass Dairy will need to provide marketing expenditure information from 2018 and 2019, as well as expected budget ballpark for 2020 » Includes strategic recommendations for PR/earned media, paid media, influencer engagement, and quarterly priorities for brand strategy » Budget recommendations will take into account fixed costs and sales support needs
• Recommendations for digital infrastructure (website, social media, SEO)
• Recommendations for key performance indicators that Sweet Grass Dairy should track and include in a marketing dashboard » For most metrics, Six-Point Creative can help Sweet Grass Dairy leverage existing data » There is a possibility that some data tracking may require additional infrastructure; if needed, this would be included in long-term recommendations and assigned an appropriate priority level Brand story video:
• Delivery of long-form (up to two minutes) and short-form (up to 30 seconds) brand videos for web » Includes b-roll beauty shots of grass in April (if onsite creative direction of crew is needed, travel would be extra, but that is not anticipated)
• Additional rounds of revision or additional cuts of the footage can be quoted if necessary Timelines:
• Kick-off intake sessions at Sweet Grass Dairy week of 1/21/19 » Brand workshop and facility tour on 1/22/19 » Interviews and filming on 1/23/19 » Retail observation and customer interviews on 1/24/19
• Findings report delivered approximately mid-March 2019
• Brand concept presentation delivered approximately end of April 2019
• Brand concept selection by Sweet Grass Dairy and revisions to packaging concepts by end of May 2019
• Packaging mechanical finalization by end of June 2019*
• Final delivery of all items (packaging mechanicals, video, strategy, updated brand guide) by July 30, 2019

What was the team composition?

5 different people from 6 point and 4 different people from Sweet Grass Dairy were involved in the project

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have beautiful new packaging that has already helped up gain market share. The rebrand was launched in August of 2020 and was invaluable for new retail placements. We have used the slide deck and brand video numerous times for trainings and presentations.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We used a google sheets spreadsheet to help with project management.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I really enjoyed working with Meghan Lynch and her big picture ideas.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The most challenging thing was that the lead designer from 6 Point left the company about halfway through our project. We lost a lot of time and momentum when he left. Amanda had to come back to Thomasville to get the project back on track.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner and president of a family-run fast-casual restaurant chain.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Six-Point Creative?

We wanted help defining our brand identity and overall marketing strategy.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed a new logo for us. They also helped us build on the logo and develop unified brand messaging. The team created branding and advertising materials. They came up with our social media strategy, and think about our overall business growth plan. They introduced us to our POS system as well. They acted as business consultants in a lot of ways. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with Meghan (CEO) and David (CCO). We also worked with two other people that have since left the company. 

How did you come to work with Six-Point Creative?

We’re located in the same city. Their office is only a few blocks away from us, and they were already customers of ours. We chose them because we liked their approach. 

How much have you invested in them? 

Overall, we spent about $100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from 2014–2018. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since working with them, we’ve gone from three locations to seven. Our sales have grown because of their strategic help. The new logo was well-received, and we’ve gotten positive feedback on their work. 

How did Six-Point Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was good. Initially, I felt like they took too long to get things done, but in retrospect, I think they delivered high-quality work because they took the time to internalize our ideas. Their delivery timelines were standard for the industry. 

What did you find most impressive about them? 

They were very thoughtful. They think deeply about what they do. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Initially, we didn’t have an in-house marketing team, so they were managing our social media accounts for us. However, because it wasn’t their own brand, they could manage it to the fullest extent. Once we got an in-house team, social media engagement got better. 

I don’t blame them though because they’re not branding themselves as social media experts. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come to the table with a clear idea of what you’re looking for. They’ll ask thoughtful questions about your organization, so be prepared to answer them. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital media manager on the communications team of a public health nonprofit. We’ve worked on hundreds of projects in the public health world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Six-Point Creative?

We brought on Six-Point to help us to let the public know about a law that was going to restrict the sale of menthol cigarettes. We built an entire campaign to explain why the law was going to be in effect and give context to the racial targeting of tobacco companies. Menthol use over the years has led to more menthol smokers and more deaths in the black community from smoking addiction.

This was a statewide initiative for the state of Massachusetts and we had actually done some work on helping get that law across the finish line. Six-Point came on to help us build our brand identity, and do ad placements for us digitally. We also had to shift the scope because of the pandemic.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, we started with a brand tool kit and identity for the campaign deliverable, which we paired with video storytelling.

Our communications department has the capacity to contribute to the project management, but not all of the creative and design pieces. Therefore, we had a big collaboration to determine the campaign name to solve this problem, and how it plays out in Massachusetts. It’s actually great that they’re from the region because they have a lot of insights from other nonprofit work in the area.

They then delivered an entire tool kit that was the brand identity and in the process, we decided to come up with pop art images of community members. We took the members who were most impacted by their relationship with menthol cigarettes, and Six-Point created a beautiful mosaic type of art for them — which we used throughout the campaign. They also edited and produced the video of the people who were affected by menthol cigarettes, telling their stories.

Additionally, we did a very large digital media buy with them, which cost us around $35,000. We did carousel ads, static ads, and video placements on Facebook and Instagram. They also did some SEO work for us on Google and placement ads on Youtube.

What is the team composition?

I probably work with around five different people. I’m not really sure how many people are involved in this project.

How did you come to work with Six-Point Creative?

Our organization was looking to work with Massachusetts-based designers because we have a lot of different design needs. We were also looking to engage with people of color because we have different policies and communication efforts that are reaching communities of color. That’s when we asked our network, and they recommended Six-Point Creative. Someone had passed along that they were also a women-owned business, and I think they have already worked with someone that was connected to the organization. 

How much have you invested with them?

I believe it’s between $75,000–$100,000 right now.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our ongoing partnership in March 2020. I work on so many projects and I rely on them as a vendor for a variety of needs. Right now, we’re in the middle of a project and I’ve got like three others that might be coming up with them as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With the deliverables they were working on, they’ve just been fantastic helping with the toolkit, hero images, and the different content that we needed for the website.

Our website views are actually continuing at a really high rate right now because of the work that we did together. The state of Massachusetts was so impressed that they adopted our campaign instead of creating their own. They’re actually continuing on that and pushing that out right now.

How did Six-Point Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m not aware of the tools they use, but they’ve just been incredibly good at downloading the information that they need to make everything happen in a way that works for me. We typically communicate through emails and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with their ability to understand the nuances of the climate of the work that we do. When we’ve had to give feedback, the level of how they integrate and understand what we’re doing, and then shifting directions is just incredible. They’re very collaborative, very open to feedback, and they work quickly without needing a lot of direction. It’s really helpful for the way that our organization works.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. They’ve been very receptive and very communicative to feedback.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Six-Point is really good at doing their work. If I were another agency, I would say come with as much as you can in terms of what you’re looking for — because they’re going to execute on that easily. One thing that might draw out the process and take more time and money, would be not having a super clear idea of where your project is going.