Zerotrillion

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior VP of ad operations at a media and technology company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Zerotrillion?

We needed help to develop our brand guidelines and create assets for a product.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked with Zerotrillion on a couple of different capacities. Initially, we were developing an advertising technology product and wanted to create a name, logo, and brand guidelines. We didn’t know where to start, so we engaged Zerotrillion’s team and walked them through the product. We gave them a baseline understanding of the benefit it would provide to advertisers; then, their team came back with various approaches across names, logos, and asset guidelines. We worked with them to develop what we’ve been using for over two years.

Our product was unique to the market because it intersected brand research and digital advertising, so it was a unique positioning exercise. Zerotrillion did everything from scratch based on the guidelines we gave them. They came back with creative options; they digested the concepts and helped us communicate the product.

Since then, we’ve utilized their strategic and creative services for our digital advertising clients.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with Alex (CEO), Adam (Global Creative Director), and a senior designer. Adam has spearheaded the creative process, and the designer has handled the actual design of the brand assets.

How did you come to work with Zerotrillion?

I’ve known Alex for several years. They’d worked with a sister company on various insight-related projects. When they launched Zerotrillion as a design and creative agency, it was a natural transition for us. Media and creative work are intertwined, so it was a perfect marriage.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly between $250,000–$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in  October 2019, and our relationship is ongoing.

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

The design work was exceptional — it was unique, and they were able to communicate a complex problem in a simple way. Their work has been incredibly well-received from marketing and adoption perspectives. Since launching our new brand assets and guidelines, we’ve increased our revenue by over 400%. Moreover, using their creative services, we’ve been able to run campaigns that have contributed to over 20% brand awareness and ads that have contributed to over 50 million views.

How did Zerotrillion perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is exceptionally good. They’re very transparent. We communicate through email and Slack; they’ve opened a shared channel for communication and file sharing. Our account manager is responsible for ensuring the timeline is being hit. We also have regular touch points with shared clients or our internal team to review the creative process. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re incredibly well-rounded and agile. Most creative agencies are very limited in their capacity to think outside the box due to the existing structure or bureaucracy. However, Zerotrillion’s team members have diverse backgrounds; they take each project as an opportunity to do something that has never been done before. Their fresh approach and commitment to being flexible and creative make them stand out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’ve had an incredibly positive experience with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust the process. They’re a bright and creative group. If you give them the reins, they’ll come back to you with something that exceeds any expectation you could’ve imagined.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former brand director at The Flowr Corporation, a legally licensed producer of cannabis. I worked on our recreational brand.

What challenge were you trying to address with Zerotrillion?

When I joined the company, we had no existing brand — just a logo and a color. We lacked a brand with an identified consumer target or visual identity. I hired Zerotrillion to identify the consumer target.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Zerotrillion was our partner for branding, marketing, communications, social media strategy, PR, and media buying. One of the key technologies they used was the Adobe Creative Suite. First, we collaborated to do some in-fiend research and looked at the available data for the recreational cannabis market. They helped us develop a consumer persona. From there, they built out the brand’s big idea and a visual identity directly connected to our brand manifesto. This big idea became the tagline, which became the basis for everything the company was. 

After that, the team did a full visual identity exploration. They made 30–50 treatments for logos, colors, and fonts. Ultimately, we landed with a logo that’s still in the market for the company today. For this project, I wanted an icon in addition to our logo. Because cannabis marketing is so highly regulated in Canada, sometimes we only have a tiny space for our logo, so it was important to have an icon that could stand on its own. That icon also needed to mean something.

The logo they designed has an asymmetric F that can also be used as an icon. The F can be read differently depending on who sees it; some people see an F, and others see a staircase. This lines up with our consumer persona, who we call the balanced achiever, so the stairs represent growth. They can also represent our brand as a premium product, so consumers use the stairs to reach the top shelf. Additionally, our company had roots in the market before legalization, so the stairs also represent coming out of the underground and into the light of the legal market. 

Then, Zerotrillion took the visual identity, updated all of our packaging, and redesigned our website with the new identity. Additionally, the team helped us build out marketing communication. In 2020, they launched a campaign for our core SKU. They based the idea on the insight that in the legal cannabis market, the same product could give buyers a completely different experience due to varying THC levels. Our company focused on consistency, so Zerotrillion built a whole campaign around this idea. 

In 2021, they launched a campaign based on the insight that even though cannabis had been legal in Canada for a couple of years, people were still hiding due to a lingering stigma. Zerotrillion’s campaign focused on ours being a premium and consistent cannabis product, so customers didn’t need to hide their cannabis use with our brand. 

What is the team composition?

When we first started, we worked with three people from Zerotrillion: Alex (CEO), Adam (Partner & Global Creative Director), and Aubrey (Managing Director & Global Chief Strategy Officer). Then, I also worked with David (Director of Design) and Elysia (Business Director), plus a couple of other creatives that popped in and out. When they took over our PR, Teal (PR & Communications Lead) supported us. 

How did you come to work with Zerotrillion?

One of my best friends has a sister-in-lay whose brother and his wife are both partners at Zerotrillion, and I met them before I joined the company. One day, I ran into one of them at the gym, we were chatting about marketing, and they told me they were launching Zerotrillion. Later, they launched on social media, so I followed them and reached out. Alex responded to me right away and asked to chat. We grabbed a coffee, and I was interested in how he built brands and talked about them. He had worked at an agency we had used at a previous company. 

When I joined my company, I launched an RFP. We reached out to everyone we knew or had worked with, and I contacted Alex, asking if they would be interested in pitching and participating. Zerotrillion was super eager and knocked the pitch out of the water – it wasn’t even close. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $1.25 million–$1.5 million CAD (approximately $971,000–$1.2 million USD), including our media buys and production. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2019–October 2021.

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

From a sales perspective, we saw increases across the board since Zerotrillion’s 2020 campaign. We also saw great wins in terms of product sell-through when that campaign went live; our product became one of the top sellers at the Ontario Cannabis Store. The campaign saw some of the lowest cost per impression (CPM)  and highest click-through rates that I’ve seen in the industry. 

For the 2020 campaign, we won one bronze Clio and were shortlisted for the Clio Cannabis Award. We were the only Canadian cannabis brand to be recognized that year. That project also won a gold Effie, and its design won a Red Dot Design award. Then, our 2021 campaign was the single most awarded cannabis brand campaign for the 2021 Clios; we won eight, including the Grand Clio. These results speak for themselves. Overall, the awards were a very proud moment for us. 

In terms of the website redesign, people’s response was very positive. Before working with Zerotrillion, the site was sitting in the middle in terms of users willing to refer us and liking the design, which is the most dangerous place for a brand to be. The industry reception to the redesign was really powerful. When our campaigns ran, we saw a 5% lift in users’ willingness to purchase and recommend our brand.  

Additionally, Zerotrillion’s logo work was unlike anything I’d ever seen in the industry. They were very thoughtful; every stroke, font, and line was thought out through the lens of our brand manifesto. We also appreciated that the logo had so many different meanings. 

How did Zerotrillion perform from a project management standpoint?

They met deadlines and stayed on budget. The team also has incredible negotiation skills. We didn’t have a massive budget, and Zerotrillion presented big ideas. Still, they negotiated favorable rates to make the campaigns a reality. 

In terms of overall account management, I’ve never had a stronger relationship with an account team. They didn’t feel like an agency; they were an extension of my own brand team, which showed in the caliber of their work. They consistently went above and beyond to make things happen and support our team. 

We primarily communicated through Slack, Zoom, WhatsApp and text messaging. Part of their team was in Toronto, and the other in Amsterdam, so there was a bit of a time difference, and we used WhatsApp to communicate with the offshore teammates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Zerotrillion’s creativity was unparalleled. They really thought outside the box and pushed the brand team to go further, which I appreciated. Their ability to deliver was also incredible.

Relationships are important, and positive agency relationships can only support a client. Zerotrillion was very particular about who they had on the team and ensured they paired up the right account people with the right client. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The one area they could improve is coming up with ideas that don’t push the boundaries as much. Their proposals are incredible and big, but sometimes we needed a more straightforward idea, nothing award-winning — just what was required in the medium.

They could also expand their trade marketing experience. To be fair, we didn’t initially hire them for that, but they could improve in that area if they want to take on those types of projects. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to have a very clear brief and to trust Zerotrillion. They might suggest things for your brand that make you feel uncomfortable. However, this comes from wanting to make your brand work so much harder and pushing the boundaries. If you have a budget that can support it, I recommend them.