Strike 2

Please describe your company and your position there.

KMG is a full-service marketing and communications consulting firm, and I am one of the co-founders.

For what projects/services did your company hire Strike 2?

We hired Strike 2 to revise our brand visual identity, and then update our website and sales collateral to bring that brand identity to life.

What were your goals for this project?

To elevate our brand identity and streamline its use across marketing materials, driving increased brand awareness and engagement.

How did you select Strike 2?

We were introduced through a mutual colleague, and we hit it off right away. I had previously met Jason and knew he'd be a great partner for the project.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we got going, Strike 2 facilitated a series of discovery calls with the KMG team. After the learning was summarized, we honed our "brief" and went through a couple rounds of creative development. Strike 2 seamlessly incorporated our feedback at every stage, and in the end we had a new package of brand materials, a new website and a new deck template that we are proud to use!

What was the team composition?

We partnered directly with Matt and Jason at every step of the way. As we got closer to implementation, we brought in our broader marketing team as well.

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

We just launched our new visual identity, and we have already seen a lift in traffic to our website. Anecdotally, we have gotten feedback that the brand is beautiful, feels more elevated, and we even got an "ooh la la."

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was simple and easy - when we needed to get on the phone, we did! Their team did a great job in building a realistic timeline and keeping us accountable for hitting our key dates.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They did such a fantastic job of sussing out our unique voice and points of difference, taking our feedback, and bringing it to life - all sticking with a strong creative concept that didn't get lost in the shuffle.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Everything was fantastic!

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was the VP of Marketing at a start-up coffee/tea company based in the Bay Area. I managed all aspects of marketing for our 3 DTC brands.

For what projects/services did your company hire Strike 2?

We were looking to drive traffic, awareness, and conversion of the 3 DTC brands, which recently launched this year. Strike 2 came on board to help us with our paid social and search strategy. They set up our accounts on Google Ads and FB Manager and managed the paid strategy for all 3 brands.

What were your goals for this project?

Initially, the goal was to drive traffic and sessions on our Ecomm sites as well as Amazon. After several months, our goal was to drive conversion, which they did through retargeting.

How did you select Strike 2?

We were introduced to Strike 2 through our PR agency, which we selected via a referral.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

After we signed the contract, we had a call with the agency to go over our brands in great detail, including positioning, personality, target audiences, etc. We also provided a market segmentation doc to help them develop copy and some creative for the ads.

They set up accounts for us on Google Ad Campaigns and FB Manager. We provided what our overall objectives were and then they went to work in creating ads and copy for various cohorts, based on our segmentation study.

As the project progressed, they continued to refine the strategy as we continued to learn what was working and what wasn't. They turned off ads that were not meeting benchmarks, revised those that had some room for improvement, and invested more $ in ads that were working.

They also developed a three-pronged approach for Social; traffic --> conversion --> retargeting. On a bi-weekly basis, they shared results with us and also recommendations on how we can better spend our working dollars.

What was the team composition?

We worked closely with Jason, who was our lead and developed the overall content strategy/creative direction. Ethan led the ad placement and the actual buy.

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

We significantly drove traffic to our websites initially and then started increasing conversion as we applied what we learned and continued to make improvements. ROAS started low in the beginning but began to climb as the project progressed.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Strike-2 is one of the best social agencies I have ever worked with. They were always available and very responsive. They are an agency who truly acts as an extension of your team. I appreciated their thoughtful approach of always including effective recommendations on a frequent basis.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Thought leadership, proactiveness, swift responsiveness, and their willingness to collaborate. I would work with them again in a heartbeat.

Are there any areas for improvement?

More on our end - I wish we had more working dollars for them to truly accelerate the brands.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of Threadline, a narrative design-based marketing agency.

What challenge were you trying to address with Strike 2?

We wanted to rebrand and recreate our visual identity. We needed updating our logo, color schemes, and fonts. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started off with some exploration of us and our clients to understand what our brand was about. Then, they went through rounds of iteration, and it was very collaborative. They presented an iteration and gracefully took our feedback and iterated it to the next round. It went through about four rounds of creative development before it reached the final product. They made the logo in a number of different file formats and even produced templates so we could visualize what it would like on letterheads and business cards.

They mocked up the website for us using the new colors and the new visual identity, along with some copy they felt matched the identity as well. They also did a mockup of the social media platforms to see how they look with the banner images and the avatars against those images. Finally, they created a brand guideline that was a master guide of what the colors are and what they are in print vs. digital.

How did you come to work with Strike 2?

I found Strike 2 at an American marketing association in Chicago. I was hosting a roundtable on emotional branding and the psychology of branding and Matt (Founder) was there and we had a great discussion. We shared professional and personal philosophies.

How much have you invested with them?    

We've invested $9,000 – $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in December 2019 and wrapped up in April 2020.

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

We've had an overwhelmingly positive response. It feels to me, and it's been validated by others, that we landed in the right spot.

How did Strike 2 perform from a project management standpoint?

 They were super responsive, kept the timeline going, and kept the project moving. I was really pleased throughout the whole engagement. We video chatted for communication in scheduled meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What struck me the most is how well they understood what I was telling them I wanted the brand to stand for as well as the way they synthesized the interviews with my clients. It felt spot on.

As an organization that does market research, watching someone do market research on us, we had high standards. They did a really great job and I was very happy about that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Ronin Equity Partners is a private equity firm focused on the Consumer, Industrial, and TMT sectors. I am a partner and co-founder.

For what projects/services did your company hire Strike 2?

Our original website had been produced in a hurry and did not meet our expectations as a company. It did not exude professionalism or put our best foot forward. We ultimately brought Strike 2 in to create the website we needed, as well as business cards that fit our new design vision.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals for the project were to create a clean, professional website that would give potential limited partners, investment banks, and advisory clients a sense of who we are and why we're different.

How did you select this vendor?

Matt Kaminsky, one of the vendors of Strike 2, is a friend of mine from Vanderbilt.

Describe the project in detail.

Once engaging Strike 2, we had a series of meetings to set the vision for the website and define the creative vision. After these initial meetings, the Strike 2 team provided a first pass at our website and gathered feedback to deliver the final product.

What was the team composition?

The day to day was mainly run by Matt Kaminsky, with a team behind him of art directors, web developers, and graphic designers.

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

Our website is absolutely incredible. The Strike 2 team delivered a phenomenal product in a timely fashion, and required minimal guidance from Ronin on how to proceed. They had design ideas that we never contemplated and brought our company to life on the website. I can't say enough good things about their execution.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. The Strike 2 team was responsive, always available for feedback, and quick to turn any comments around.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The Strike 2 team's independence was incredibly impressive. Once setting a vision for the website and providing our pitch materials, company background, and team information, Strike 2 ran with the vision and executed swiftly. They really understood what we were about at Ronin and why we were different than our competitors. And above all, their vision for our website was exactly what we needed.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I have limited feedback on areas of improvement for Strike 2. They took an industry where they were at first glance less familiar with the competitive dynamics and value proposition (private equity) and got up to speed incredibly quickly. I believe few other creative firms could be this nimble in understanding a new industry.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Senior Associate for a boutique executive search firm.

For what projects/services did your company hire Strike 2?

We initially engaged them to develop a template that we can use for our Position Summaries that we send to potential candidates that we source for an executive search.

What were your goals for this project?

Represent our firm and our client (the client hiring the executive we're recruiting for) in a professional, modern way that communicates the information effectively and stands out from what other search firms produce

How did you select this vendor?

One of the founders and I went to college together, and we were introduced by a mututal friend/colleague.

Describe the project in detail.

We sent Strike2 what was previously produced by our designer and provided them our goals for the project. They produced a new version of the document we provided them based on our goals. We iterated a few times, and we got the final product which we now use as a template moving forward. We also established guidelines/timelines for how these projects should work going forward since we do about 20-30 of these per year.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with Matt Kaminsky, and he leverages his team to produce our output.

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

We have had several candidates respond to us saying that they believe our position summaries are well done and stand out from other firms which is great! We also had a client (Chief Commercial Officer of a digital health company) share the position summary with his C-suite (CEO included) as an attachment to an email because he was so impressed. His email to the C-suite said: "Just an FYI. These are the position descriptions our retained search firm is using for the VP Sales roles.

So far, in their research phase, they have identified over 400 potential candidates for each region based on the upfront work we have done with them identifying firms they, and we see as targets. I'm pleased with the progress and look forward to candidate flow beginning in earnest later in January. As is always the case with top-shelf retained search firms, they will be talking about our company to more individuals in the marketplace over the next few weeks than the rest of our company combined.

They have prepared for the task exceptionally well through multiple calls with me and reviewing a broad range of documents. This is why picking the right search firm is critical. These people get us, and I'm proud to have them represent us."

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Workflow has been effective. We are able to communicate mostly through email but have been setting up calls where needed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their professionalism and turn around time impressed us. They as the right questions to make sure we get the product we want.

Are there any areas for improvement?

the only thing to date that we've noticed is attention to detail could be improved within the documents they're creating for us, and they have taken the feedback well and have improved in this area.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Marketing Director for a CBD and Cannabis research company based in Chicago.

For what projects/services did your company hire Strike 2?

Our company is 5 years old and has not had a defined brand strategy. After the development of the strategy, we hired Strike 2 to help with the new logo, color palette, fonts, and development of brand guidelines.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to develop brand elements that spoke to our new direction as a company - providing helpful, data-driven answers to companies trying to navigate these industries.

How did you select this vendor?

I was connected with Jason at Strike 2 through a separate organization. He has always seemed passionate about client servicing and his collaborative approach to branding and design. When we needed this work to be done, selecting his team was an easy decision.

Describe the project in detail.

Because we had the strategy defined, the initial discovery meetings were pretty brief. Jason was somewhat familiar with our company and that helped with more intimate questions and conversations around the core of our problem: inconsistent branding.

Jason communicated the project timeline and their creative process in a concise and fair manner that really spoke to their collaboration with clients. We had regular check-ins for feedback which definitely streamlined the process.

What was the team composition?

I primarily spoke with one person at Strike 2, Jason, and sent necessary product assets to one of their designers for ideation and mock-ups.

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

First, our team is extremely happy with how our new brand is looking. The new brand speaks much more to our friendly and nerdy DNA. The brand guidelines they delivered provided a solid foundation for consistency that can easily be distributed to the entire team. This project allowed us to further solidify how we talk about ourselves as a company and our differentiators.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was very streamlined. We knew the creative process and timeline and the communication channels we set up very open. Since our team is small, we were able to get feedback fairly quickly and Strike 2 was very flexible in how they gave us revisions. It worked perfectly for our timeline.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was really impressed with how much they were able to offer being a small team. They were incredibly flexible in the types of work they could do for us and were consistently available for a quick call to check-in.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They are a growing agency that is likely looking to staff up more. However, the members of their current team have a lot of big agency experience so the services they are able to provide for clients is surprising for the size of their team.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Director of Digital Strategy, GivingTuesday

For what projects/services did your company hire Strike 2?

We needed a short video to hype people up for GivingTuesday 2020

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a message that would resonate around the world and imagery that was sensitive to the moment we're in.

How did you select Strike 2?

Strike 2 was recommended by a friend!

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail.

We had a very short timeline and a ridiculously small budget and I'm grateful to Strike 2 for making it possible.

What was your vendors' project management or feedback process?

We don't like a lot of hoops and Strike 2 was amenable to my slimmed down project management style.

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

Our video was shared more than any video we've ever produced. Our global leaders were able to take the video and redub the voiceover in their respective languages.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We don't like a lot of hoops and Strike 2 was amenable to my slimmed down project management style.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They provided innovative solutions for social organizations that have small budgets and I'm eternally grateful they were able to work with my very very short timeline. I think we made this video in less than 3 weeks - it was astounding.

Are there any areas for improvement?

nope