VBrand Visuals

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director of the Bulgarian Platform for International Development (BPID), which is a nonprofit organization focused on working in the field of cooperation for development. We’re the only legitimate national platform that’s also a member of Concord Europe, is an umbrella organization which gathers older platforms and international organizations in the European Union. 

At a national level, there’s a platform like ours from each member state that gathers different stakeholders. This ranges from non-governmental organizations to universities that work in the field of developing topics like human rights, gender equality, health issues, and so on.

In every platform, we have the red crosses from different member states as well as other big stakeholders that work for the development of third-world countries. Right now, in Bulgaria, 16 national organizations are members of ours, coming from all fields including education, gender equality, relief, and development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with VBrand Visuals?

We were looking for a long-term partnership with a company that could give us full support in regards to communication strategy, web development for our projects and corporate website, and social media marketing and content creation. We hired VBrand Visuals to assist us with these tasks.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Most of the aforementioned platforms were established years ago, but ours is relatively new, established in 2009. From then to 2019, most of our communication channels were outdated. I was working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and their PR team in matters of development cooperation. When I became the director of BPID, my team and I realized that we needed a new way to target our audience.

Our organization has a strong focus on advocacy. We advocate for law changes in the sphere of development cooperation and we work very closely with different ministries such as the Ministry of Education and Science. We needed to communicate with other stakeholders that are interested in working with developing countries, so VBrand Visuals helped us rebrand, change our corporate website, and present a fresher look.

Additionally, we’re working on different projects financed by the European Commission. These are programs that focus on awareness training in regards to development cooperation issues, which can be very hard to communicate in eastern European societies, like ours, that come from a communist background. It’s very hard to convey why the Bulgarian government should fund different projects in other countries. So, we have communication to youth projects as well as advocacy communication.

We chose WordPress as a platform for our website because of its popularity and all the different plugins that can be adapted to our needs. VBrand Visuals also customized some themes for us. 

For social media, we are focusing on Facebook but we’re in the process of further developing our LinkedIn and opening an Instagram profile to target the younger population.

What is the team composition?

We work with both the manager and the brand manager. We have a very easy communication system and could speak directly with their leadership if needed.

How did you come to work with VBrand Visuals?

One of our partners recommended them and said that they were very happy with VBrand Visuals’ work. We got in touch and booked several meetings to discuss our needs before making an offer.

How much have you invested with them?

I think we’ve spent around $25,000 for the period of our contract. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We set up a contract in August 2019 which will end in February 2022. We have yet to see whether we will prolong it or not after that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have different types of metrics but the internal communication between our member organizations about the quality of the products we've developed is among the most important. So far, the feedback has been magnificent. The KPIs we established at the beginning for our social media platforms have been accomplished.

How did VBrand Visuals perform from a project management standpoint?

We see this as a big project with many smaller, sub-projects inside. Thus far, the process for developing our visual content has been very simple and convenient. 

Every task starts with a simple questionnaire and a discovery meeting. This personal communication is important because it’s harder to do what we do via email only. VBrand Visuals would deliver 2–3 concepts for the product and we would gather all the feedback from our member organizations or our board. After that, the implementation is done along with the delivery of the materials.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s very easy to communicate with VBrand Visuals. They take the time to understand our needs and do the best to meet them. They’re also very creative when it comes to graphic design.

Their team is familiar with our daily operations and is flexible when scheduling meetings for calls. This ease is why I’m considering prolonging their contract. As executive director, I have many other obligations and very little time, so it’s very impressive that they’re so easy to reach. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t know of anything that they should improve right now. From what I gather during our meetings, they work on improving every day. They stay on top of trends and new technologies and processes. 

Their team is growing, their processes are smooth, and they’re on the right track.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Share your needs and give them space. Trust that they’ll provide the solutions you need. You won't be disappointed.