Vertical Web Solutions

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-owner and cofounder BioAktive, a company developing and trading in raw materials for applications in skin care and other industry segments

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Vertical Web Solutions, and what were your goals?

Entering the China market have been a struggle for us, despite having people on the ground and a team dealing with supply chain. It was extremely difficult for us to grow our domestic Chinese sales. We need a partner to help us work through these challenges and create a pipeline of opportunities within China.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We identified a series of companies that could do digital marketing and branding and vertical was among those. Well they were not a large and famous agency like some of the others we spoke to, they were recommended by friends and associates. We ended up choosing them for a variety of factors.

First was our ability to communicate with them in English and for a Chinese team to be able to speak in Chinese. They have both foreigners and local Chinese on the management team. Communication is extremely clear and they were not trying to sell us on a bunch of things that we did not need. They kept it simple into the point and were extremely pragmatic with their approach.

When we combined that with the price they offered for what we were getting, and the fact that we knew people in common so there was accountability, the decision to try them out was a no brainer.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

We began with phase of research into the market, into our customers, into our competitors to figure out what channels were the most ideally suited for us. As a business to business company we did not need to go mass market. We need to be more targeted the next step was to localizer website and do search engine marketing with Baidu combined with a WeChat official account.

We started out going a little bit wide and testing a variety of strategies until we use their analytics tools and narrow in on the specific things that seemed to work. They helped us to generate content, create campaigns, design and manager ads and they were quite reasonable and kept our budget in mind throughout the process.

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

We worked with the two cofounders, Brian and forrest on strategy and planning. Depending on the project we would also work with their account manager of course as well as illustrators and designers. The nice thing is that we could just call whoever we wanted and someone would always make himself available. It wasn’t a service provider, it was a personal relationship. They were really great about wanting us to achieve our goals and stuff like an extension of our team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

For search engine optimization and such as in marketing with a big pick up in traffic, but the real value here wasn’t necessarily the quick read on ads it was the general brand awareness and the fact that our WeChat grew as a result of it which allows for regular engagement with our audience here in China. It was a great boost.

In terms of wechat, we grew the account from nothing to over 1500 followers within a few months, which for us, in a business the business space, was really good. We continue to work with them on our basic WeChat content and planning and they deal with the account management for wechat. It’s been a fantastic long-term relationship

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were fantastic. It was a good partnership right from the start. We began with a kick off meeting and then communicated over email and phone almost daily for the first two weeks. We then had weekly check-in‘s and then my team and their team were in constant contact over the first few months of the project.

Given the amount of trust and the way they work, the relationship transition from purely professional to personal. All of the people have been there for years and don’t seem to be going anywhere so the stability of people both within our organization and their organization lens itself to great communication and workflow

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

There was no BS. We got the quality of work and results you would expect in a big company but did it for a fraction of the cost. They’re also super creative and came up with great ideas, in particular around wechat and campaigns. They also were very aware of our budget. They weren’t just about making the money, they wanted us to be successful and have us as a long-term client

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

I wish that their office was closer to downtown Shanghai. They have a team out in pudong which is a little far from our office. I think that’s also how they keep their cost down. This is also not a suit and tie organization. These are people in jeans and T-shirts and tattoos. If you’re looking for a vendor to pay you lip service this is definitely not going to be them. They’re very direct and are the kind of people that might tell you you’re doing it wrong even though you don’t wanna hear it. Be prepared

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the luxury retail director for one of the biggest ecommerce platforms in China

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Vertical Web Solutions, and what were your goals?

Assist specific brands with their WeChat entry strategy in China.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We needed to select and verify multiple vendors and after careful consideration I choose Vertical

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Custom development of a WeChat Miniprogram, ecommerce functionality with custom logistics integrations

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

4 people, the managing partner was directly involved along with a project manager, graphic designer and developer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

After the they launched, there was an in brand awareness and a 10% increase in online sales via this channel

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

Excellent listeners, they understand your needs and then execute.

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

Their knowledge of the Chinese market and technologies is impressive.

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

Wish they had a bigger team so we could offer them more work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a US publicly traded entity that develops ecommerce and cloud based solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Vertical Web Solutions, and what were your goals?

Vertical Web Solutions was hired to act as our project manager. Directly acting the liason between our corporate office and the developer teams

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We interviewed and reviewed multiple proposals. The expertise in the coding language and relationships with the devlopers led us to hiring Vertical Web

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Vertical Web oversees each step of the coding and development process for multiple projects. They manage the agreement with the developers and oversee the process from start to completion.

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

We work directly with the team leader, managing partner, Brian Thomas.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Each project they manage on our behalf involves complex dialogue with developers. We have had success with Vertical Web Solutions managing development on multiple projects.

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

They work directly with the developers. It takes complex understanding of systems operations and technical coding language.

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

I am impressed with their understanding of complex coding languages and the application to end user results.

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

Adding multi-language in house coding services would make the service more complete

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Wargaming Group Limited is a Belarusian video game company headquartered in Nicosia, Cyprus. The group operates across more than 20 offices globally and development studios, the largest of which is located in Minsk, where the company originated from. I am the office manager

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Vertical Web Solutions?

We hired them to manage our WeChat Official Account and provide the custom graphic design

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We made a list fo 6 companies that we contacted to make a proposal. We told them what our company does and explained what we wanted to do. They gave us the best proposal. It was a good price, but also very clever strategy and good value.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

They took over our WeChat account management and all of the operation work for WeChat. We would send them our content like a whitepaper, and they would use the content to write and design new promotional materials for our company, our games and our recruiting.

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

We had the co founder, BT, and then there was Anna who was our account manager and also 2 people from creative and content

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We got increased read rates, and much more applications for our developer recruiting.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were good communicators and were very fast when we wanted them to do something.

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

Good value for money. Focused on our metrics and making improvement to performance.

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

I wish they did more services, because we like working with them a lot