SPRITZ LLC

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your company?

I handle sales and business development for a mortgage bank. We’re a newly created tech-focused mortgage bank. We do a lot more online platforms and systems that make the process a little bit easier and non-traditional.

Are you the founder?

Co-founder. Yes. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were trying to address when you approached Spritz?

We needed a strong presence, something that was a little bit more dynamic and different than what our competitors have. They did a very thorough analysis of other companies and competitors. It was quite helpful.

So, they were helping with your website design as well as digital and marketing strategy?

Yes.

Did you have any specific goals in terms of the project? Were they going to be part of the implementation once you decided on the strategy?

There is some long-term planning that will eventually come into play, but we’re not quite there yet.

This was the first phase. We’re planning on an extended phase down the road with some more SEO [search engine optimization] work and actually using the site that they’ve created to generate more business as opposed to just having a professional presence. 

SOLUTION

How did you select them as your solution partner?

I know the owner and they’re in the same building we’re in. I’m able to see them and network among a bunch of the employees and such, and was able to connect with them.

How long did the work take?

A couple of weeks. It was done very professionally and on time.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in monetary terms? Ranges would be fine.

It was about an $8,000 project. They had most of their personnel here locally, and then there were personnel abroad, in India, working on the project. All in all, they might have had anywhere between 10 and 15 people working on it. It definitely got the attention. We never felt like we were one of many clients. It was very, very focused. The owner checked in with me several times throughout the project, if not daily. They were just very responsive and attentive.

When was this project completed?

It was just completed a few weeks ago [in April of 2014].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Have you seen any results so far?

The praise of the site and the presence that it’s created, it was successful in terms of what we’re trying to target, what we’re trying to achieve. People have complimented it extensively and said that it was a very, very good site. In terms of the initial needs and why we did it, these guys hit it out of the park for us.

Can you edit the website yourself?

Yes. Our IT [information technology] person has been trained to be able to do that in terms of uploading blog posts.

Do you find that the website is easy to use?

So far, so good.

How would you describe Spritz’s performance throughout?

It was excellent all the way through. It was first class, the entire thing. I have no complaints about it whatsoever. They’ve done really well. The follow up and follow through was good.

Is there anything you’d consider unique or special about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors you’ve used?

Just given the bang for buck that you get because they’re a smaller to midsized-shop, the personal connection and the more boutique-style service were definitely appreciated. We didn’t feel like we’re just another number. They’re very attentive in making everybody feel like all hands are on deck for them. They go above and beyond in that area.

In retrospect, are there areas that you think they could improve on as a service provider?

No. Not at all.

BACKGROUND

Could you describe your company?

We’re an excursion company. I bought one of our race boats in 2010, brought it back to San Francisco, and I set it up as America’s top experience and America’s top charter business in San Francisco. I did an 11-year deal to operate out of Pier 39, which is one of the largest public attractions in California. We actually built our own water-based facilities to operate out of. We started out with one boat a couple of years ago. We currently have two full-time employees and a peripheral of 10 part timers that we call on for different charters and different jobs. My wife and I are the sole owners of the company. We’re still small and sustainable.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenge you were attempting to address when you approached SPRITZ?

We’ve got involved with them very early. It worked out quite well. SPRITZ was in a very similar situation I was in. We were both launching our company at the same time. She [Beth Schnitzer, co-founder] was very energetic about what we were doing. We’re actually their oldest account now. I don’t have a strong business background. I’m running on my own intuition and personal judgment. She was very excited about what we were doing and had some great ideas on how to launch the business.

We used them for our launch. They were able to connect us with a number of journalists in the area. They were able to set up effectively our opening account over one or two days. They ran that event. We’ve stuck with them. They’ve grown with us, and we’ve grown with them.

So, the challenge was that I was just starting my business. I needed someone with marketing expertise and some ideas that could help me get going.

What were your company’s business goals for the project?

It was really just to start it, and get the public outreach to kick off our initial marketing campaign effectively. The goal was really to get the business off the ground.

SOLUTION

Can you describe the scope of the work they provided in a little more detail?

They still design all our collateral. They’ve come up with some really fresh designs as we’ve grown. They continue keep us connected with media sources in the Bay Area and outside of that. They’ve been very big with our cause marketing and contributing our offerings to charity auctions throughout the Bay Area. The people in the organization seem to be always out and about in the city and connected with different events and finding new ways to connect us with our demographic and potential customers.

How did you discover and select SPRITZ as your solution partner for this?

It was kind of by accident. I didn’t have time to interview a dozen agencies. Quite honestly, I didn’t know what I was looking for. I had no frame of reference. Effectively, what I was sold on was their enthusiasm for our business and their ideas. Because they were young and we were young, financially, it really was a sweet deal for us. They saw it as a way for them to get going. We saw it as a way for us to keep going. So it was quite mutual, and it was probably a unique situation in that respect. We’ve remained quite loyal to them because of that.

Could you provide a general cost range for the project?

Our marketing budget is extremely small. It’s only about $40,000 a year. They were very flexible with us. They saw what our strategy was. They helped us identify what worked and streamline what our marketing dollars are focused on.

Is the work ongoing?

It’s always ongoing. When we launch our new boat in the next month or two, we’ll go back and revisit what worked when we launched our first boat a couple of years ago. We’ve been working with them for three years. As we’ve grown, they’ve grown. It was just the two of them at the beginning, they were doing everything. In the last year, they’ve been able to hire someone who’s effectively our account manager and it’s worked out really well because she actually comes from a sailing background, so she gets what we’re doing. They’ve been quite smart on who they’ve assigned to us because they know that this person was coming with an understanding of what we do and with an excitement and energy for what we’re doing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The look and feel of our collateral design has definitely been a big improvement. I was doing it on my own in the beginning. They took it over. The look and feel in our brochures and our signage and e-fliers is a lot more professional. They’ve also managed to put us in contact with some incredibly influential journalists that have written pieces in some big publications, which have turned into great revenue and great publicity for us.

How well has SPRITZ performed overall?

Every dollar counts in my little business. I wouldn’t be with them if I thought I was throwing money away. They’re always very receptive to our feedback and very flexible with our wants and our needs.

Is there anything you would consider unique or special about them compared to other companies you’ve worked with in the past?

I haven’t worked with any companies in the past, so I don’t have a frame of reference. The big thing for me is the personal connection. I just constantly feel that they’ll pick up the phone and talk to me. They’ll schedule a meeting whenever I want a meeting. They’re receptive to all of our ideas. They’re quick to change things if we want something changed. They go above and beyond. A classic example is Kaley, our account manager. For whatever reason, she’d logged onto our website, and she found an error. That’s not a part of her job description, but she just happened to be there, got on to us and alerted us of it. It’s that well-rounded service that I like from them that I really appreciate.

Are there any areas that you think they can improve upon?

The only thing that tends to be recurring for me with them is just details on my collateral. It’s mainly because I’m such a finicky person. They’ll come out with something, and I’ll instantly notice an error that should have been caught in the first draft. It shouldn’t be something that I’m catching. But, it’s really just a phone call and all of that is tidied up. That’s really the only thing.

For example, for an e-flier that we’ve got going out next week, they started one of the sentences with the number 9 instead of the word nine. Small stuff that’s changed within an instant, but that still bugs me.

BACKGROUND

Please give a brief description of your organization and what you do there.

I am the co-founder of Kristi Yamaguchi’s Always Dream Foundation. It was established in 1996 and is currently focused on bringing technology to Title I classrooms in California, Arizona, and Hawaii.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were trying to address when you approached Spritz?

We were not doing a great job leveraging social media to combine Kristi’s brand as an individual and as an athlete with her charitable foundation. One of the first tasks was to do a fairly extensive social media campaign while Kristi was in Sochi during the Winter Olympics. She had a pretty visible role with the United States Olympic Committee as well as the NBC’s “The Today Show.” So, we did a social media campaign that really tied Kristi and her Always Dream Foundation in a way where she was talking to the athletes about pursuing their dreams, and the challenges and successes.

Did you have any specific goals that you wanted to achieve when you started?

I think it was fairly general because it’s the first integrated campaign. There weren’t any concrete metrics going into it, but I think they gave us a baseline for the future.

SOLUTION

Can you explain more about what Spritz did to improve your social media strategy?

A lot of it was building out a 12-day promotional campaign, in terms of talking points for Kristi, how to intertwine the messaging best, and doing a lot of research during the Olympics. So, if a Bay Area Athlete medaled during the Olympics Kristi would then shoot out a note, “Congratulations, Jim Abbott, for reaching your dreams and winning the silver medal for the downhill alpine skiing,” and really tying in the Always Dream motto of pursuing your dreams.

Also, if Kristi was posting for the USOC, making sure that everything was reposted on the Always Dream site with a strong message as well. In many ways, they [Spritz] became the voice because it was a lot of time during that 12-day window that was required.

We also had several online promotions during the Winter Games. There were two different enter-to-win Sochi winner Olympics memorabilia promotions. We also did a “Day in the life of Sochi.” So, Kristi went around in a six-hour timeframe, and it was a lot of buzz around behind the scenes of the Winter Games. There were things along that nature that took place.

Can you give a sense of the size of the project in a cost range or a personnel work hour figure?

In general terms, I can. It happened very quickly. I’d say it was probably upward of 20 hours in terms of planning. In terms of actual execution during the 12 days, it was another 30 to 40 hours roughly.

Why did you choose to work with Spritz in the first place?

I have a relationship with the two founders, and knew that they are a boutique agency, so they’re nimble and can move quickly. This campaign had very little planning time. They also had a pretty strong team that knew social media. So, for those reasons alone, we chose to go with them because I didn’t have time to go out and get RFPs [request for proposals] and go through that whole process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Were you happy with the results of the work and the amount of improvement that you saw?

Yes, for a first time endeavor, absolutely. All in all, it was a huge success in that we were able to, for the first time, integrate Kristi’s social media platforms – Twitter and Facebook – with the Always Dream platform. We saw a big uptick in terms of our followers and just getting the awareness out as a brand for both Kristi and the Always Dream Foundation.

How would you describe Spritz’s performance?

A-plus in terms of just the time we had to put it all together, and also their willingness to work with us as a nonprofit entity. We may not have the big budgets. It was really testing a model for future usage. I think they’re very mindful of that. I would say an A plus.

When working with Spritz, was there anything unique or special about them compared to other companies that you may have worked with in the past?

I think they just really get the mission of Kristi’s foundation. They’re local. Kristi’s local. They know her and really support what she does. I think they went above and beyond what a typical agency may do for a project of this sort. Obviously, the time difference between Sochi and California was a bit of a challenge. One of their account managers was very engaged with the Olympics and was sometimes doing real-time posting.

Looking back on the project, is there any area that you think that they could improve upon or that you would do differently?

Maybe framing some of those metrics, even though it’s a first-year endeavor, to help us have those benchmarks. The reality is we were not too sophisticated around those types of metrics. So, maybe more of an education would be helpful.