zö agency

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP and county manager at a real estate company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with zo agency?

We realized it was high time to focus on refining and finalizing our brand identity, and we needed zo agency’s help with building those branding solutions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially met with zo agency to relay our branding goals and the project scope. After organizing the requirements, their team devised our brand guidelines based on our preferences and feedback. They then launched the design process, starting with our company logo and business cards and incorporating our new branding elements into each deliverable.

Upon accomplishing our promotional materials, they modified our website according to our new logo, font styles, color schemes, and templates. Apart from their branding services, we also engaged zo agency to develop a property fee calculator, which they integrated into our site.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact was Sonja (Director & CEO).

How did you come to work with zo agency?

I met their team through a networking event, and someone I knew from the event also recommended zo agency to me. I figured that they’re a knowledgeable team with ample industry knowledge and experience, so I chose their team.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–&70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our branding project ran from December 2017–June 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It would be difficult to state accurate metrics, but I could confirm that we saw our company grow through zo agency’s branding efforts. We gained 10 more employees and enjoyed a higher site engagement because of our modern brand overhaul, and our improved digital presence allowed us to level with our industry competitors. Overall, they did a great job with leveraging our business and making our brand more professional.

How did zo agency perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated via email, phone calls, and occasional in-person meetings. zo agency was a transparent and accommodating partner; they kept us in the loop at all times and professionally welcomed our insights.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They listened to our needs with utmost understanding and sensibility — something we didn’t encounter with other agencies.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We encountered some scoping issues with the development of our fee calculator. Their team underestimated the technical requirements and skill set we needed to build the product.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be inquisitive and honest — zo agency is a patient and professional team, and they’ll welcome your questions and concerns with an open mind.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I started a new company creating American made dress wear designed for military and first responders

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Zo helped our company create a brand identity and also helped us develop a new website

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We wanted to work with a regional partner that had a national perspective. We reviewed multiple reviews and projects and decided to go with Zo Agency.

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

They were extremely thorough. They took time to get to know me and my vision for the company. Multiple stakeholders worked with me to learn what I was looking for in my company. They then developed an absolutely amazing brand messaging guide. From there, they developed our website. We couldnt be happier.

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

I had one primary point of contact, but worked with several people throughout my time with Zo Agency. I spoke directly to the people who helped with each step of the process (brand strategists, web developers, etc)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I could not be happier with how things have turned out. I felt like they listened to me and developed projects that fit our style and vision.

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

Most of our communication occurred via e-mail, but we also had several phone calls. The projects were on time and communication was always prompt. I never had to wait for to hear back.

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

I have been impressed with their communication and ability to put my vision onto "paper"

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

I thought prices were well communicated, timelines were kept and I was happy with the outcome.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the content marketing manager at Pallet Shelter, and we manufacture prefabricated homeless shelters. We’re a for-profit, social purpose company, and we sell our shelters to state and local government entities. 

Our clients use our products to create transitional housing villages for folks experiencing homelessness. We also partner with a provider that offers crucial social services like case management, housing navigation, and access to meals, showers, bathrooms, and laundry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with zo agency?

We needed help in SEO to ensure we’re getting traffic to our site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we gave zo agency the keys and data they need to do a site audit. They then came back to us with several reports and a plan of action. They provided a list of 21 things that we needed to do, and for every item, there was a sheet explaining the process. 

zo agency then revamped our website and implemented site mapping. They’ve also helped us transition from Squarespace to WordPress. In addition, they’re managing our Google My Business, and they come up with posts for our account.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Sonja (CEO), Rachel (Project Director), and Alberto (Executive Assistant). 

How did you come to work with zo agency?

Sonja heard about us through the news so she approached us. We chose to work with zo agency because they share the same passion that we have for our work. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2021, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the last month, our Google My Business post has received 500 views. Additionally, our website now has better navigation. We’ve cut down on the number of pages, removed extraneous articles, and simplified the whole platform. 

zo agency’s work has allowed us to utilize relevant keywords — we’ve improved our meta descriptions and meta titles. Also, their report is digestible, actionable, and easy to follow.

We’ve stayed with zo agency because we see value in their work. We’re getting positive reinforcement through clicks and traffic. Our rankings are moving up, and our SEO performance has improved. 

How did zo agency perform from a project management standpoint?

zo agency has been excellent at project management. In fact, I’m the one who’s behind our timeline, because I’m juggling the project with my regular tasks. Despite that, they’ve been understanding of my schedule, and they send reminders of what’s due. We usually communicate through email, and they’re very responsive. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

zo agency has been responsive to our needs, and they listen when we say something. They acknowledge and trust our input, and they don’t act like they’re absolute experts. They pivot as needed — they’re flexible and understanding. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. They’ve been great. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go partner with zo agency. They’re great people to work with, and they’re talented — they will listen to your needs. They’re experts and have a lot of knowledge in SEO — they will make a difference. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Marketing Director for Deschutes Brewery, a craft brewery located in Bend, OR

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were launching our first digital campaign with our new Fresh Family creative campaign. We hired them to help us translate our creative campaign to digital and help us grow awareness and purchase intent to help us with declining velocity.

SOLUTION

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

Zo was selected for their 1) location being local to Bend OR and 2) their project based fee structure

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

I started at Deschutes after the campaign had been kicked off, but the campaign was scoped for $75K in media buying/mo for September - December with an option to continue work on. The key deliverables were creative for the digital campaign, including stills and video, the digital media plan, dashboards & check-ins.

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

We primarily worked with Sonja (owner) , and Rachel helped support. I'm not sure how many internal resources she had working on our media buy.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Once the relationship was up and moving, with clear briefs being provided to Zo, things began humming along. The first month we did not meet our goals, but we ALMOST did in month 2, and are on track in month 3.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow has been fairly effective. I think have regular status check ins has been very helpful in keeping communication open.

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

Their ability to quickly pivot on a media buy and turn around results is impressive.

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

Would prefer to have more than one main point-of-contact that is involved in day-to-day meetings for support when our main contact is away from the office.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the program director for an educational program, where we teach students athletic training and sports medicine.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with zo agency?

We needed help in developing a clear messaging, branding, and marketing strategy. Our educational program is in a competitive field, so we needed someone to help us effectively communicate what makes our program unique.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

zo agency handled the branding and marketing initiatives for our program. They helped us develop and identify our program’s identity and value proposition. They focused on clarifying and simplifying our brand messaging — whether that was curating the images or verbiage that we use or just modernizing our marketing materials.

They also developed a website for us. They created an organic page, which is separate from our university’s site, and worked with our university’s web team and creative services team to seamlessly integrate it into the main site.

They’re now managing our social media channels and handling our SEO.

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with three people, but zo agency was able to scale up to 10 people when we worked on other tasks such as the website or SEO. We work with Sonia (Director), Rachel (Project Manager), and another person who is in charge of the branding aspects of the project.

How did you come to work with zo agency?

One of our faculty members just happened to meet Sonia at an airport. They realized some opportunities for collaboration as they were talking, so we set up an initial meeting to discuss what they can offer us. 

It quickly became apparent that zo agency was committed to getting to know us. They weren’t interested in fitting us into a cookie-cutter approach, which is something that we’ve had trouble with other agencies in the past. 

They focused our discussion on what made us unique and attractive to prospective students, and they leveraged that information to develop a proposal for us. They are clearly competent, knowledgeable, and trustworthy, and that was ultimately why we went with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We started working in January 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve spent somewhere between $10,000–$50,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

So far, we’ve received 20 organic requests for information about our program from our social media channels and website. We’re still waiting to see what the turnover would look like for us because there’s typically a delay between requesting information and actually applying to our program.

How did zo agency perform from a project management standpoint?

zo agency has been performing really well. They’re very fast at taking care of projects — their pace is much faster than our faculty’s pace. Whenever we need clarification or need them to tweak something, they always jump right on it as soon as they can.

We primarily communicate with them through email, but I have a standing meeting with Sonia once a week through video conferences.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the main challenges that we’ve faced working with other agencies was being forced into a cookie-cutter approach. We realized that we often obtain great results when we find ways to effectively express what makes our program unique, and that’s something that zo agency has done really well for us.

They really took the time to figure out our identity and voice as a program and found a very clear and succinct way of communicating those things to both our stakeholders and our prospective and current students through outreach and advertising.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think that there's anything they necessarily should improve on. zo agency's been really good at letting us focus on one thing at a time, which I really like.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to be honest in communicating what your expectations are and to trust their process. zo agency has a great process that’s already built into everything that they do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and CEO of Assisted Living Education, a healthcare education company based in California. We work with owners and administrators of assisted living facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with zo agency?

We hired zo agency to help us with a website development project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I gave zo agency our old web page, which my husband had created from some template on the internet. The team then worked on refreshing the site's layout. On top of that, I told them we needed features such as dropdowns and schedules.

With the site’s content, I provided them with my biography and other things I wanted to say on the platform, and the team only rearranged what I gave them. They then redesigned the platform and created all of my requests. After that, they designed flyers and banners for the conferences that I was speaking in.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two people, including Sonja (CEO). There were also other people working in the background.

How did you come to work with zo agency?

A friend who did some print work in Bend, Oregon recommended them to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent less than $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our collaboration ran from November 2013–November 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our external stakeholders told us that our website was very easy to navigate. We also knew that zo agency did a very good job because it was quite difficult to navigate the platforms of our competitors. Additionally, they were very creative; they came up with several ideas to make our platform look good, meeting all of our expectations.

How did zo agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They had a fantastic process, which allowed them to turn outputs earlier than expected. They were also easy to work with and whenever we had problems, they fixed them right away. We mainly communicated our needs through email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their creativity impressed us. As an example, zo agency developed a lot of useful marketing materials for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they had no areas to improve. They did such a great job in our engagement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be responsive and open to their suggestions. In addition, get back to them right away because they’re really exceptional.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a financial coaching company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with zo agency?

I needed naming and branding efforts for my new business, along with a website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

zo agency helped me come up with a name for my company, provided branding services, and developed a website from scratch on WordPress. The site they created had the purpose of welcoming and inviting potential clients with call-to-action buttons so people could engage with me and hire our services. In terms of branding, they created a logo and color schemes for us, among other efforts, based on what I told them I liked when they interviewed me. They handed me several options to choose from on several rounds to pick the ones I liked the most for my company.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with three members from their team, including our main point of contact, a project manager, and Sonja (Owner).

How did you come to work with zo agency?

I found them through an organic search. I chose them because I liked their style, and I love their website; it’s easy, flowing, and it seemed like they think outside the box.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $12,000 with them on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2019–January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I loved the name and branding they provided for my business; I’m proud of it, and it feels good — they completely understood me and my business. I also love my website and logo — the impact that it has had on getting me off the ground is enormous because it looks professional.

How did zo agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They were terrific; they’d always check the balances and were also good at communication with us — I felt like a team was working for me. They also brought another person on board to understand issues and solve anything wrong with our site.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

I loved that when I came back to them with something I didn’t like, they didn’t take it personally. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on — they were supportive throughout the process, even on a personal level. 

Any advice for potential customers?

Trust them with the feedback and advice that they give you. Also, if you have an idea, give it to them, and they’ll provide good insight on that as well. Also, don’t worry about giving them negative feedback on their work; if you tell them, they’ll move quickly on to something else, and that’s incredibly helpful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing and communications manager at Deschutes Public Library, a county-wide library system.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with zo agency?

We were looking to optimize our market reach and brand identity.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve kicked off our partnership with zo agency through a detailed scoping phase — we’ve conducted meetings to introduce our existing promotional materials to their team, discuss timelines, and identify our brand goals. Based on our discussions, they’ve devised a marketing plan to help us identify our target audience and widen our market reach. Their team has encouraged us to implement interactive activities to encourage more readers to frequent our library and sign up to get library cards. 

After that, zo agency has deployed a direct mail campaign to notify households about our library offerings. They’ve included merchandise giveaways and sign-up benefits in each postcard to further our customer acquisition. Additionally, their team designed and produced newspaper, radio, and television ads for our non-user audience.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is Sonja (Director & CEO), and we work with a larger team comprised of marketing and creative professionals.

How did you come to work with zo agency?

We sent an RFP to different marketing agencies and made a shortlist based on our qualifications. Our team decided to choose zo agency because of their fair pricing, friendly staff, and promising services.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $200,000 over the years of our partnership.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with zo agency commenced in February 2012.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For more than a decade now, zo agency’s undeniable craft and thorough understanding of our target audience have been rewarding us with a high acquisition rate and a more diverse market — more and more people outside our target reach show up at our library to show interest in signing up.

How did zo agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re a communicative and strong-willed team, and they make it a point to make the project flow seamlessly to help us manage our time and resources well. With zo agency’s timeline-oriented and accommodating approach, we can maximize our involvement and stay on track to meet our goals.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re effective team players who listen attentively to our needs and adapt well to our processes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything at this point — zo agency always puts our needs and vision first.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set clear expectations and identify your target audience to help them devise tailored solutions for your brand.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO / Artist of Greetings Tour Inc

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Creating community postcard murals across the country.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire zö agency to accomplish?

• Local Press Outreach & Identifying Press
• Pre-Mural Reach Out
• Post-Mural Reach Out / Reporting

SOLUTION

How did you find zö agency?

Online Search

Why did you select zö agency over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from zö agency were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

ZO Agency helped us identify key local press outlets to cover our mural project. They helped write and distribute the press releases (Both PRE-Mural and POST-mural completion.) They followed up with the leads and also provided reporting after it was completed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The amount of coverage & reach.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Yes, their team delivered on time!

What was your primary form of communication with zö agency?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Great local team to work with in the area we were painting the mural at.

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

Nope!