TGD Creative Strategies & Solutions

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of communication at a scholarly association that supports people who teach and study religion.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TGD Creative Strategies & Solutions?

We had a new brand, logo, and color palette that we had developed with a different vendor. We also had an outdated and ineffective website, and we wanted to transition and move to a different platform, and roll out the new look and feel. We brought them on to do the new web design, and help us with that roll out. We also hired them to do some marketing materials to accompany our new brand.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, there was a multi-week discovery phase where they talked to staff members. We provided a lot of materials and background to help them assess our needs. Then, the team presented wireframes for our organization.

After those were approved, we moved to the actual design. Then, they did the platform development in the CMS that we were using. Finally, we put content on and they made adjustments along the way.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Dan (VP, Web Project Manager, & Strategist) and Chrissy (Art Director).

How did you come to work with TGD Creative Strategies & Solutions?

The CMS that we were switching to is a proprietary system that’s attached to a database product that we’d already decided on. We wanted to find a web design vendor that had worked in that CMS since we weren’t familiar with it.

Based on my interviews with TGD, and the feedback that we got, we decided that they’d be the best option. They had the best designs, and the most comprehensive service, out of all the vendors we spoke with.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off the project in October 2019, and we launched in May 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Anecdotally, we’ve heard that the new site is much easier to navigate, and it looks better and more contemporary. We’ve also heard that people are finding content that they didn’t know was there before. From the staffing perspective, everything looked more elegant and professional.

How did TGD Creative Strategies & Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They did really well. Dan was great about communication, and the team as a whole was very responsive. We used Google Docs to collaborate on our needs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve really been able to work with us on everything. There have been other groups that I’ve worked with on different projects where they weren’t as generous with their time or advice. I always felt that TGD was a partner in the project and wasn’t looking to charge us left and right for every little change. They really worked with us to support our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think a project management tool, that clients and their team could use would’ve made the whole project even smoother.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

No, TGD was good at bringing the project together.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Beth Caruso: We are a non-profit professional association with over 6000 individual members. Our mission is to educate the rail industry through seminars, webinars, conferences, and publications. We are the CEO and the Director of IT Services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TGD Creative Strategies & Solutions?

BC: Our website was weak and hadn’t been changed in several years. We wanted to eliminate redundancies, make the site mobile-friendly, and generally modernize and streamline the look and feel.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Skip Gmeiner: We had a year of lead time, so we had time to iterate with them. They delivered exactly what we wanted and were very responsive.

BC: In all, they gave us six different options to choose from for the website and ten different logo design options. We decided on the ones we liked the best, and they helped us throughout the entire rebranding effort, down to color schemes and tailored site design. A lot of our decisions were predicated by member feedback.

What is the team composition?

SG: We have one primary point of contact that we still work with whenever we need to make changes. If we ever have an issue, he gets back to us within a couple of hours.

How did you come to work with TGD Creative Strategies & Solutions?

SG: A vendor we work with partnered with them in the past and recommended them. We had a meeting with TGD to get an idea of their process, and they gave us a breakdown of their plan to move forward.

How much have you invested with them?

SG: They came well within our budget, and we didn’t have any overages. One nice service they provided was free tech support up until two to three weeks after the site went live, which we appreciated.

What is the status of this engagement?

SG: We extended their normal timeline by quite a bit. The project started in October or November 2016 and they delivered the site and the templates to us by May 2017. The site went live October 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SG: We run yearly member surveys and asked our users to review the site before it went live. All the feedback we’ve received is very positive. Members comment that the site is much easier to navigate, data is more accessible, and the mobile version is just as responsive as the desktop version. We see constant traffic to the site, and the member accounts system and other areas that were problematic before are now better than ever. TGD put much more into the site much more than we expected, and we’ve only heard good things about the changes.

How did TGD Creative Strategies & Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

SG: Our partnership with them is tightknit. They gave us a very specific timeline and met all the milestones on time or early. When we needed last minute changes, they dealt with them immediately. In one instance, the logos weren’t appearing properly in Internet Explorer. We wrote to them and they had the problem resolved within an hour. Most of their projects are much quicker, but they accommodated our long building schedule.

What did you find most impressive about them?

SG: We’re most impressed by the wealth of options they provided. There were so many variations to choose from for the website and the logo refresh. They were never possessive of the imagery or structures they sent to us, and welcomed our edits or changes to their work. Working with them is a pleasure.

Are there any areas they could improve?

SG: We haven’t had any issues with their work, their fee structure, or their responsiveness. Everything they’ve done for us is great.