Zehnder Communications

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the marketing director at Origin Bank. We're located in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

What challenge were you trying to address with Zehnder Communications?

Initially, we searched for a full-service agency that could serve as our agency of record for all branding needs.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The market share held by our bank varies depending on each state, so we worked with Zehnder Communications to develop our brand awareness in all of our markets. We changed our name from Community Trust Bank to Origin Bank in 2015 and have worked on that brand awareness specifically ever since then.

During this engagement, Zehnder Communications is involved with our digital and social media components, as well as our traditional media efforts. Our internal team determines our target audience, but Zehnder Communications is actively involved in forming the best strategy to reach that audience. They determine the media channel and message, and we rely on them to secure our media placements online and with traditional media outlets such as magazines and other print products, billboards, and some radio sponsorships. Further, they designed our current website, and we work with them to update it when necessary.

How did you come to work with Zehnder Communications?

We found Zehnder Communications through an RFP process. Once we learned that we held similar values pertaining to culture and personnel, as well as the expertise we were looking for, we selected them to be our main agency.

How much have you invested with them?

Over the course of the engagement, we’ve spent more than $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in January 2014 and remains ongoing.

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

We do an extensive job to track all of our analytics and progress from our relationship campaigns, and we’ve been very pleased with our results.

How did Zehnder Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

This campaign is complicated because of the number of moving parts, but I’ve been pleased with how they run their projects.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They feel more like a partner than a vendor. I can tell that they want what’s best for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was been some turnover in their media department recently, but they do a good job of onboarding new people so that we never feel like we have to start over.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Invest the time to talk through your objectives. The more they understand those, the better they are in their ability to execute.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the global marketing leader for SC Global Tubular Solutions, a worldwide steel distribution company. I’m responsible for developing our marketing strategies and materials.

What challenge were you trying to address with Zehnder Communications?

I was looking for a partner to help improve our brand positioning strategies and create corresponding marketing collateral.

What was the scope of their involvement?

In basic terms, Zehnder Communications helps us analyze value propositions, develop execution plans, and then build relevant core messaging strategies. So far, they’ve assisted with developing websites, creating marketing collateral, planning trade shows, assembling presentations, assessing proposals, and much more. We generally task them with creating something new for either our parent organization or our multiple branches and subsidiaries. They dive into each project, forming a solid understanding of our goals. Then, they deliver a product that resonates with our company values, both internally and externally.

Over the years, they’ve helped us work through several mergers and acquisitions. The team helped us rename the subsidiary companies and develop new logos and branding systems that speak to both the key strengths of the legacy company and its improved value under our management. These were some of our biggest projects with Zehnder Communications.

Currently, they’re helping us develop an internal service strategy that will span several different branches of our parent organization. The team is assembling a cohesive brand message and additional collateral to implement across the digital platform. When completed, we plan to market the product externally.

What is the team composition?

We have a primary point of contact who is involved in every aspect of our work. When we need certain skills, those specialists are pulled into our conversations. For example, when we’re doing web development, I speak directly with the interactive development team. If we’re working on a marketing campaign, we communicate with creative directors and copywriters. This simplifies our collaborations because all team members still hear each project’s objectives straight from me.

How did you come to work with Zehnder Communications?

I’d worked for Zehnder Communications previously, but we still looked at several vendors.

How much have you invested with them?

In total, we’ve spent between $1,000,000–$1,500,000 since the beginning of our partnership.

What is the status of this engagement?

We starting working together in 2009, and it’s an ongoing relationship.

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

I’ve received fantastic feedback on their work, specifically on its level of professionalism and sophistication. Our industry can be a bit boring—it’s hard to make steel pipes compelling—but, Zehnder helps us challenge those perceptions and figure out ways to spark interest and excitement within our market space. With that in mind, I continue to partner with them because I’m comfortable with the quality of their work.

How did Zehnder Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re fantastic. Working with a single point of contact is extremely efficient, but we’ve still established a strong relationship with the rest of their team. There isn’t a lot of turnover on their end.

They set schedules, meet deadlines, and stick to estimates. The team is very transparent about what’s required to meet each of our expectations, but they remain flexible in terms of working within our available budget.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very service oriented. In addition to producing high-quality work, they make me feel like I’m their most important customer. Whenever I need something, they get it done. The team has helped me through some sticky situations, pulling things together at the last minute. At this point, I know I can count on them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Because I’ve been working with them for a long time, I’ve been able to watch them expand along with the needs of the market. They’ve been very good about staying ahead of trends, and they’re not afraid to invest in the right resources. In my opinion, there aren’t any areas to improve because they’re constantly working to better themselves.

When we do provide critical feedback, they’re very receptive. For example, we spoke about incorporating a more analytic and strategic approach to certain projects. So, Zehnder Communications recently acquired a strategy company and absorbed their system into the normal workflow.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a marketing director at a distiller, producer, and importer of beverage alcohol. I’m responsible for our liqueurs and brandy.

What challenge were you trying to address with Zehnder Communications?

I wanted to drive awareness to some of the brands in my portfolio. I have other agencies who do more point-of-sale (POS), but not the social media side. We wanted to make sure that the strategy is consistent across all platforms.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They focus on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. They’ve also done some public relations for me. For publications, we work with various bloggers depending on the brand, strategy, and message. They’ve done some experiential planning and execution with other members of our marketing team as well.

They’re great partners in collaborating between where my focus markets and consumers are to make sure that ties into their efforts and communications. I was rebuilding a strategy and communication platform and they helped me with that.

They work well with any programming or design that I already have in place. I give them free rein to create new copy and creative for the platforms they’re working on, with my approval, before anything goes live.

They’re tasked with providing me a report card that outlines how well they’re doing so we can adjust the plan as necessary. We participated in a blogger trade show. They were very hands on and set up the entire program. They were on-site for the entire event. They’ve also created a couple of websites for me that tie in nicely with the overall brand messaging, positioning, and look and feel.

What is the team composition?

I always have an account executive who is my primary contact. They generally have a junior account executive that is part of all communication, whether written or face-to-face. I meet with them twice a year with 8–12 people, depending on what we’re working on. That includes the media buy, the social media, and the PR teams.

How did you come to work with Zehnder Communications?

A colleague of mine had worked with them on a brand pretty extensively and had really enjoyed the experience and the results. I gave them a task for a small brand and I was very pleased with the work. There was a good mix of good personal and professional connection, as well as great work.

How much have you invested with them?

$2.5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2013 and the work is ongoing.

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

When it comes to social media and metrics, I’m not a big believer in using numbers because it’s very easy to get likes if you’re willing to spend the money. To me, it’s about the robustness of the engagement with the target consumer. I’d rather have a few that love me than a lot that barely know me. The results that I’ve seen on a quarterly basis across the five years on the various brands are the reason I’m still working with them.

How did Zehnder Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve performed beautifully. Other than for around 18 months, I’ve had the same project manager the entire time. There’s a lot of continuity and consistency within the group. Their follow-up, attention to detail, and communication are stellar. They keep me and my projects in line and moving in a timely fashion. They have very good project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They listen to me. I’m a firm believer in letting agencies do what they do because you hire them for what they’re good at. If I need to see change, they’ll listen to me, and immediately make those changes. I don’t try to get into the design, but if I have comments or feedback, they hear me and consider if it will improve the outcome. If not, they tell me how they think it’ll be better and why. They’re great communicators.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I challenged them at my last meeting to think outside the box and be a little more creative. They might occasionally get stuck in a tactic and keep doing it. If you give them a little nudge, it gets their creative juices flowing again.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be honest with them. Don’t try to be the expert in the room; let them be the expert at what they do. Be collaborative.