Starfish

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of marketing for CommScope, a consumer products group. We’re a manufacturer of electronic communication equipment. I oversee the marketing for all the retail segment, which is marketed under another brand name. We make a line of surfboard and cable modems and surfboard max mesh Wi-Fi systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Starfish?

We needed help with marketing and advertising. The work was aimed explicitly at messaging and positioning a new product for our mesh Wi-Fi system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially had a briefing meeting with Starfish; they talked to one of our marketing people. We gave them the background on how we would position the product to customers, some of the key message points we wanted to highlight, the audience we were targeting, and the distribution channels. They went back and made changes. Then, we reviewed it with our product team.

They created content for us and put together a whole messaging and positioning strategy targeted at high-tech early adopters. Starfish developed all the creative elements for the advertising campaign.

What is the team composition?

David (Founder & CEO) was very involved. Additionally, there were two creative people on the project.

How did you come to work with Starfish?

I worked with Starfish at a previous company. They did similar work, and I’ve known David for years. We’ve worked together on several projects.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost was between $15,000–$20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–April 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They understood the product and audience very well. They built our messaging strategy across different media, which was very effective. The sales for the product have been good, although they’ve been slower than what we’d like. However, I don’t think it had to do with the messaging; there were a lot of other factors involved.

Overall, we were 100% satisfied with their work, and they exceeded our expectations.

How did Starfish perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was excellent. We didn’t use any project management tool; we communicated via phone, Zoom calls, and emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their key strength was their ability to understand our technical products and translate them into consumer language that is meaningful to consumers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We worked with them on a subsequent project, and they were a bit slower to respond on that one. They could improve on their time management.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Whether in-person or via video conference call, be thorough on your brief and fully engage them when you meet with them. When we got our first review back, we didn’t have to go through multiple rounds of edits.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the former sales director of a beverage manufacturing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Starfish?

We needed someone to help us market and advertise our new product in the US.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Starfish provided us with general branding and marketing services. Their deliverables included establishing the positioning of our brand, developing policy statements, creating a brand manifesto, and creating tag lines, as well as other creative initiatives associated with the core elements of the positioning statement.

Apart from that, they organized the customer journey strategy from a deliverable standpoint that we were able to leverage for OOH and local trade magazines. 

Lastly, they provided us with day-to-day services as an outsourced sales and marketing agency, as an extension of our brand. They gave us a full 360 program, which culminated in a launch party event where we were able to garner many of the key influencers within the industry and secure a number of key distributors in several markets, as well as some key retail distribution opportunities.

What is the team composition?

We communicated regularly with the CEO and about three other people from their creative team.

How did you come to work with Starfish?

We found them through my network of industry contacts. We hired them because we thought they would be a good fit, as they provided the talents of a large agency at the scale, budget, and attention of a smaller one.

How much have you invested with them?

We probably spent about $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I worked with them from January 2013–January 2015, as I left the organization in 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They helped us win the hottest new brand award at one of the industry’s largest trade shows thanks to the exhibition display they put together. That alone reinforced the value of their work, and it gave our brand credibility to have discussions with potential customers.

We were able to present our brand in a professional and strategic manner, which helped us gain distribution points with respect to our in-store tasting campaigns — because of that, we increased our conversion rates to higher levels than we expected.

How did Starfish perform from a project management standpoint?

They managed the project and implemented tools internally, so I wasn’t aware of how they did it. They had a more entrepreneurial style of working, and we mainly communicated through email and phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to scale their business for large and small clients is really impressive. They have the talents of a large-scale company, but they also provide a greater degree of attention and flexibility in working with startups or companies that are trying to enter the marketplace.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They accomplished all their deliverables, responded consistently, and were honest about some of our feedback, so there’s nothing they could’ve done better.

It was a good relationship and I was very happy with what they did.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I advise you to do your due diligence and speak to different agencies so you can understand what you really want out of the partnership.

Don’t limit your search, but also don’t discount Starfish just because they don’t have the global reach that some other larger agencies do — they will provide you with the same, if not, better service.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the US Marketing VP. Firstsource is a business process management company, providing solutions to more than 100 global businesses in the Banking and Financial Services, Healthcare, Communications, Media and Technology, and diversified industries.

A publicly traded company on the Indian Stock Exchange, NSE: FSL, Firstsource employs over 28,000 people across the US, UK, India and Philippines.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We had not developed a messaging platform for our healthcare business units. We were bringing together our Provider and Health Plans/Health Services business units under one umbrella, so we needed a messaging platform that covered this new expanded area.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I worked with some of their team members when I was at a previous company, so I knew the quality of the work and the people.

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

The Starfish team interviewed key members of our HC business. across several levels. They then interviewed clients in both the provider and payer businesses. They also did extensive competitive research.

Once they had a solid understanding of the brand, they resented their findings and identified the gaps between how we currently communicate and what our desired state was. They then created a completed messaging approach: narratives, brand values, value proposition, messaging hierarchy and creative samples.

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

There were multiple people on the team:

• Founder and CEO
• client engagement officer
• creative director
• writer
• project manager
• account supervisor

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just finished the project and are rolling it out to our teams now. The internal reception has been very strong from our BU leaders - they were activity involved in providing input and they are thrilled with the outcome. More to come as we roll it out.

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

They had a person devoted to scheduling calls and follow up on action items. We had bi-weekly calls to talk about status and creative direction. We primarily used email and video calls to communicate. Part of each call was a tight agenda and reminder of where we were on the timeline.

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

The final product is wonderful. Their ability to synthesize what they hear from team members and turn that into conversational and impactful language was top notch. Our language was always technically accurate, but had no emotion. Starfish created messaging that blended the technical and emotional benefits in a high impact way.

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

The project could have moved a bit faster, but the schedule was communicated.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief marketing officer of a law firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Starfish?

A lot of our marketing content and communications were created with an out of date style guide, so we wanted a more consistent look and feel to our marketing communications.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their graphics team reviewed our portfolio and made suggestions, which we then implemented. Afterward, they designed our communication style and messaging. We gave them an older version of our style guide at the outset, as well as our goals, objectives, and visions moving forward.

What is the team composition?

We worked with less than 10 people.

How did you come to work with Starfish?

I worked with Starfish at my previous job and met David (Chairman). We issued an RFP when we selected a vendor for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $77,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September 2021–February 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their service was very high. The final product was very well done. We were very pleased.

How did Starfish perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed very well in project management. They were accessible and responsive. Communication happened over Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Telephone calls and email also supported the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had a deep understanding of our mission. David and their project leader asked a lot of questions, showing a true understanding of our business and our goals.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they could have done better on this particular project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clarify your vision and goals and what you’re trying to accomplish.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the VP of Worldwide Marketing at an innovative medical technology company focused on improving women's health globally.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our business created a brand new product. The largest women's health survey in the World covering 93% of the world population. We needed to brand the new product, establish globally relevant and unique brand equity attributes and generate awareness for the product.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Four companies competed based on a standard creative brief. A panel of five senior leaders unanimously selected Starfish based on strategic alignment, broad capabilities and creative excellence. Once Starfish clearly demonstrated superiority we negotiated a formal Statement of Work and annual Marketing Plan.

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

Starfish met with and interviewed senior leaders, key internal and external stakeholders as well as external partners.

Based on the interviews they modified their recommended plans, gained alignment with global women's health index leaders, finalized a Statement of Work covering all elements of brand creation including but not limited to brand design, benefit visualization, messaging, target audience, Personality, tone and brand character.

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

Between 6 - 10 depending on the needs and stage of the project. Very flexible to meet the new product needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Yes. Our CEO and Charmian is publicly quoted multiple times in global venues saying the following, "For all the products we've made over our company's lifetime (35 years) ... The data we get from the Global Women's Health Index may turn out to have the biggest impact on human health of anything we've ever done."

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

We used weekly 1-hour team meetings to insure the entire team of internal and external partners were aligned.

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

Speed. They were filled with smart creative people with a strong bias for action and passion to win.

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

As with all new product launches there are always opportunities for improvement. Starfish is a strong collaborative parntner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of global brand marketing for Principal Financial Group, a financial services company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Starfish?

We were in need of a brand strategy relaunch. The last time that we relaunched our brand was in 2015, and we needed to make sure our brand was still representative of what was happening on the outside, but also reflected how we have advanced and moved forward as an organization.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Starfish to help us navigate through the whole process of relaunching our brand positioning, which entailed both internal and external research, stakeholder interviews, competitive analysis, and preview and insight analyses. The work we did with them was critical for us to then set the stage for other critical initiatives strategies (e.g. CX, Though Leadership, Creative Strategy).

Aside from that, they also assisted us in making sure that we had a clear brand promise and brand personality by helping us sharpen our brand position as well as the pillars supporting that promise.

Starfish also took the job of translating our strategy into our brand book, brand guidelines, visual identity, tone, and voice. The work that they delivered was paramount to the creation of our other branding materials.

What is the team composition?

We worked with David (Founder & CEO) and Rachel (Account Executive).

How did you come to work with Starfish?

They had previously worked with the CMO in other projects, so they were already assigned to this task when I joined the organization in 2020.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere around $500,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on this project from November 2019-December 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We track our advertising through another data analytics company, and we have definitely seen some improvements in our awareness, favourability, consideration, metrics, and also brand attributes as a result of our new brand strategy and positioning.

In terms of the quality of Starfish’s work, I’d say that I see an improvement in the consistency across all the different messages that we're bringing to life, not only through advertising but also through corporate communications.

How did Starfish perform from a project management standpoint?

Starfish performed very well in terms of project management. I’ve never worked with such a committed partner like they were. The way they worked was very personal — even their CEO was always available whenever we needed them. 

I also appreciated how thorough they were — they made sure to cross all their t’s and dot all their i’s before handing the final products over to us. They really are the kind of partner that will go above and beyond to make sure that they deliver the best possible solution for their clients.

We typically communicated through phone calls, emails, and video conferences, and we used Excel to manage the timelines of our deliverables.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m really impressed with Starfish’s leadership skills, strategic mindset, and business expertise. The breadth of their experience in different verticals within and outside the industry really stood out. 

They helped us connect all the different dots and understand how customer consumer insights would help us better articulate and put together our different proposals. They asked the right questions and challenged every word we put into our brand pyramid to make sure that it reflected who we are today and what our aspirations for the future are.

They always made sure that we were not losing track of our goals and that we had considered every possibility that was out there. They brought a fresh, external perspective, yet they managed to keep us really focused on the outcome that we needed to deliver in the first place.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to give them as much information as possible and to bring them to your decision-making meetings. Treat them as a business partner and not just a vendor, and make sure they are involved every step of the way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the head of communications and marketing for a fitness company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Starfish?

We needed help to re-envision our brand, as well as with our strategic transformation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Starfish helped us with our strategic transformation, so their work involved qualitative and quantitative research. They also provided us with a roadmap for transforming our brand experience in the club and helped us with a brand campaign for the new year.

What is the team composition?

We worked with five people from Starfish on an ongoing basis. Their team included the president, the creative director, a program coordinator, and a copywriter.

How did you come to work with Starfish?

Starfish was recommended by a board director who had worked with them before.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in mid-2021, and we stopped collaborating when the Omicron wave of the pandemic hit around September 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The research that Starfish did for us was on point and very helpful.

How did Starfish perform from a project management standpoint?

Starfish’s project management was great. They were very communicative and timely, and their work was really well done. We communicated via email and Zoom meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Starfish did a great job. We were a complicated client because our business was in constant flux, but they were very patient and flexible, which we really appreciated.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be crystal clear on what you want them to accomplish.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an advisor to a government agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Starfish?

We were faced with public perception issues perpetuated by media stereotypes of our clientele and the reasons behind their situations. It affected our external communications, as well as the perception of our work by our internal staff. Starfish was initially brought in to help with our internal marketing (build our optimism for the work) by building a strategic plan involving an overarching document, video, and internal/external collateral. Now, they’re doing ongoing video work for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Primarily, they’ve created digital video for us for our social media and website, as well as other platforms like taxi televisions and kiosks.

After one of our main public-facing services was assigned to a different agency, we were left with a question as to what we were selling and what our call to action should be as an agency. The projects since then have run from general awareness and learning campaigns that drive people to our website to sharing opportunities for volunteer participation and partnering with other agencies.

There was also a public-facing project that informed local residents to call 311 or connect with our team through our app if they saw someone on the streets that was in need of our services.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with around 10–12 people in total. I mainly work with our project manager and their associate, but there have also been editors, subcontractors, who did the actual video work, and writers.

How did you come to work with Starfish?

I came on in the middle of our initial internal branding project. The person in charge of our communications team had done some work with Starfish previously or knew someone who’d worked with them before, I believe. When I had these other projects in mind, I thought of Starfish again. Part of the initial strategic plan was a video, so we knew what their video work was like.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent close to $1,000,000 so far with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We see a lot of response when we put pieces up on social media, as well as a lot of impressions. It drives an increase in our web traffic too. Internally, people love our videos and think they’re very moving. Starfish seems to get what we’re after from virtue of knowing well what we’re working on. They’re great at bringing that to life.

How did Starfish perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re somewhere between hands-off and hands-on. They’re good at sticking to deadlines but are also able to shift priorities when we have several ongoing priorities, as we sometimes do toward the end of the fiscal year.

I didn’t use any project management tools. They knew our deadlines and told us what we needed to do to hit them. We communicate mainly over email and phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a great team, and it’s always good to work with them. They’re professionals dedicated to their work, and they’ve worked for similar agencies to ours in the past.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We wouldn’t have them do things any other way because the production value is so high. Anything else would be counterproductive.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

In our environment, which has a lot of internal stakeholder opinions and requests, I try to defer to Starfish. They listen to us and accommodate our specific requests, but we try to let them do their thing since I trust their expertise.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the chief marketing officer for a law firm operating out of New Jersey.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Starfish?

Simply stated, we wanted to build our brand, raise the firm’s profile and position it more strongly in the market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The overarching goal of the project was establishing a visual identity, which essentially consisted of a new logo and accompanying design integrations across the entire firm. That plays out in digital and traditional media, so our website and digital properties as well as stationery and print media.

We did two major redesigns of the website, and they were in charge of the whole design process, from UI/UX planning to the actual execution in development. Beyond that, they provide us with marketing assets and then we use them to elevate the company profile.

What is the team composition?

I was consistently in contact with the owner and our primary project manager throughout the project, but I believe there were about five people working on the project in total.

How did you come to work with Starfish?

They were already engaged in work for the firm when I joined, so I think what I did was continue and grow the relationship.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first started working with them in September 2017, and I left the company about nine months ago, but the two firms are continuing to work together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As we implemented the redesigns of our website, we saw very clear improvements in our engagement metrics. I’m not familiar with the exact numbers, but we were definitely seeing healthy double-digit increases in traffic and click-through rates and things like that.

They are really good at coming up with not just creative ideas, but also effective design solutions, if you will. It can be very difficult to develop highly targeted brand messaging while also satisfying the wide range of requirements and personalities that you find in the legal services and consulting part of the business community, and yet they continue to exceed expectations on all fronts.

How did Starfish perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very accessible and very proactive about staying in contact. Their team stays on top of all deadlines and communicates very openly. Throughout the project, it was always very clear that we were being taken seriously and that we were important clients to them, which we really appreciated.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve got a wide range of abilities in their personnel, but they are also very accurately aware of what they can and can’t do. It’s clearly important to them to deliver on everything they promise, so they are very careful about turning down anything they feel they might not be able to complete with their standard of quality. Their integrity in that respect was really valuable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have a recollection of anything I wished they would improve in working with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open with them, not only about your requirements and what you want them to do, but also about what it’s going to be like working with you. At some points in our project, I had to tell them that it was going to get messy because of all the hoops we had to jump through, and preparing them for that made everything go much more smoothly than it would have otherwise.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of marketing and communications for a law firm of about 350 lawyers across the country. We specialize in Life sciences and technology investment funds, and I oversee all of our advertising, our website, and our social media and public relations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Starfish?

We’ve had lots of challenges that Starfish has addressed with us. One of the largest ones was a complete overhaul of our website's home page and a refresh of all of our internal pages, which they worked closely with us over a period of months to complete.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team started by coming up with design concepts for the home page and taking that all the way through our internal approval processes, which can take a lot of time at a law firm. From there, they designed our internal pages, helping to refresh our branding guidelines and producing content.

Starfish manages all of our advertising, including prominent videos on our site and about 70–80 print and digital ads over the course of the year. They handle everything from color palette, typography, and placement of graphic elements, to advocating for content and investment decisions with the partners at our firm.

What is the team composition?

We have a couple of primary contacts on their team, primarily David (CEO, Starfish), Dayna (Account Director, Starfish), and Elizabeth (Assistant Account Executive, Starfish).

How did you come to work with Starfish?

We started working with Starfish before I joined the firm, but I’m sure it was a competitive pitching process. Since then, it has been a really easy decision to stick with them because of the quality that they deliver.

How much have you invested with them?

I’m not sure how much we’ve spent in total on the account, but it is certainly upwards of $1,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in 2015, and we continue to rely on them for all of our advertising and website needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback from within the firm, which is one of our most important factors, has been extremely positive. Leadership loves the new home page and the way the whole web site works.  People feel that it is clean, efficient, attractive, and gets the right message across. They managed to strike the right balance so that design doesn’t get in the way of content.

In terms of metrics, our website gets many more eyeballs than it used to on our old site. Page views are up. Our headlines get more attention, and people stay longer on given pages. Their whole team has just been incredibly helpful and really efficient. They never sacrifice quality for the sake of expedience, which is really important to us.

How did Starfish perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re super organized and always start with a consultative approach, which I think is the right way to go. They ask lots of questions and get feedback, and they know who to go to for approval on different things in order to start work.

Then, they come back with concepts and ideas and walk us through the whole design review process. When it’s time to execute, they do that in a very organized, calendar-driven way, which is really helpful.

We have weekly project status calls, but the majority of our communication is via email. We use phone and schedule in-person meetings, but those are much harder to arrange, just logistically speaking.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re incredibly smart. Lots of places can do good design or provide good copywriting. With David and his team, it’s clear that they’ve been around the block. I came up in advertising as well, and it’s obvious to me that David has been in advertising for decades and really knows what he’s talking about.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Unless they wanted to give us things for free, I really don’t have any criticisms.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The most important thing as a client is to do some of your own thinking. Price matters, but you have to think about what your goals are. Be ready to come to the meeting prepared, because their team is great at making those kinds of decisions, but it has to be a two-way street.