EXPERT INTERVIEWS AND WORKSHOPS
As part of the research component, I conducted interviews with various industry experts. These experts span a wide array of expertise. This section provides a brief introduction to each expert, and the feedback and outcomes are summarised.
SIENA HICKEY
Siena is a marketing and customer strategist with an M.B.A from Dartmouth. She worked as a Senior Strategist at Frog, which was responsible for Apple’s brand strategy.
The informal interview with Siena Hickey focused on the strategic approach for CAS’s systems, processes, and client onboarding.
Fig. 1. Hickey, 2022. Siena Hickey Portrait.
A summarised interview account
The interview with Siena centred around strategy for Creating a Storm’s systems, processes, client onboarding and retention. Siena advised that as a single entity, CAS has to maximize efficiency to increase profitability and streamline workflow and client onboarding.
Siena proposed CAS investigate and adopt a digital time management approach and select a software package for use in day-to-day operations.
The following Time Management Software Solutions were suggested:
Calendly
Calendly enables clients, freelancers and contractors to book your time effortlessly across multiple time zones, reducing CAS administration in setting up meetings.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media management platform that supports social network integration across multiple platforms, saving scheduling time for posting. Hootsuite will save CAS time when it comes to Instagram and LinkedIn posts. Hootsuite is not a viable option for CAS due to the cost of $49 p/m (Hootsuite, 2022).
Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a social media management and intelligence tool for brands and agencies of all sizes to manage conversations and surface the actionable insights that drive real business impact. CAS business comes through referrals and not social media, which does not warrant the cost of $99 p/m (Sproutsocial, 2022).
As a single entity, Siena advised that CAS has to maximize efficiency to increase profitability and streamline workflow and client onboarding. Siena proposed CAS investigate software packages for operational day-to-day use.
SIENA HICKEY OUTCOME
Based on Siena’s insight of CAS's limited available time, digitization becomes necessary for efficient time usage.
CAS spends a substantial amount of time quoting and fielding extensive meetings and calls that don’t result in work. Siena proposed removing CAS's direct contact information from the CAS website and replacing it with an automated smart inquiry form that serves as a vetting process for potential clients (Hickey, 2022). The form will give CAS information about the client, company, budget, timeline, and scope of work to decide whether to pursue the potential client. This process allows CAS to focus their time and efforts on clients with a solid potential to sign with CAS and interest.
BRYAN MACDONALD
Bryan MacDonald is the CEO of The Digital Board, with twenty years of experience advising boards on technological implementation.
CAS discussed the process of establishing a thriving business with Bryan.
Fig. 2. Monsterlab, 2022. Bryan MacDonald Portrait.
A summarised interview account
The interview with Bryan centred around the process of establishing a thriving business through a business strategy and roadmap.
Business Strategy
A business strategy begins with establishing a business philosophy, which serves as a roadmap for a company, helping executives and contractors understand the goals and values they are continually working towards to ensure effective outcomes. CAS can establish this by answering the following questions.
- What is it that I do?
- Why do I do it?
- Why do others use me?
- How do I get it done?
- Why do I do it the way I do it?
CAS process ensures successful brand designs and uniformity across all executions long-term.
Business Roadmap
A business roadmap outlines the direction a company will take to achieve their business plan and successfully meet long-term strategic goals. CAS can establish this by answering the following questions.
- How do I get business?
- How do I complete the business I do?
- How do I keep the company after completion?
- Accounting
- Legal
The most crucial advice Bryan could impart was that the starting point for any business is establishing a business philosophy and business process roadmap.
BRYAN MACDONALD OUTCOME
Based on the conversations with Bryan, CAS will benefit from a critical review of the business’s strategy and roadmap. The current trajectory is not implied to be wrong, but it is critical to conduct periodical reviews to ensure that strategies remain aligned with changing market conditions.
Bryan also advocates outsourcing and creating an ecosystem of contractors that support CAS enabling efficient use of time and resources (MacDonald, 2022).
CANDICE DE BEER
Candice De Beer is a digital content strategist with ten years of experience helping businesses and individuals to build their authority and pipeline. Candice has been published in Forbes Magazine and Business.com.
Fig. 3. de Beer, 2022. Candice de Beer Portrait.
A summarised interview account
Candice's advice for becoming an expert authority in packaging design includes:
- Align CAS with a team of experts with over ten years of experience
- Pursue Paid for Public Speaking
- Blog articles
- A Linked and Instagram Plan to generate leads and drive business through one article a month and three posts a week
- Broadcast to existing customers
- Activate dormant customers by writing an email asking how their company is doing. Remember that businesses lose clients through apathy
- Post client testimonials on the CAS website
- Include downloadable value additions to the CAS website for clients, including information on affiliates, packaging legislation, brief templates and examples.
- Create an infographic that lays out the entire creative process from research, concept, artwork build, design, finished art, presentations, and print production for clients.
- Create world-class branding
- Create a world-class website and portfolio
Candice's advice for building a successful studio includes putting systems in place for:
- Onboarding Clients
- Create a discovery questionnaire linked to the CAS website to determine whether you would cost the project or take on a potential client. The questionnaire should include the company size, turnover, needs, timelines and if they are commercial or bespoke. If the company is commercial, the project should be profitable. If the company is bespoke, the budget should be smaller, but there is potential for a portfolio of award-winning work. Perhaps two bespoke clients are taken on every year to serve the CAS portfolio and feed the creative soul.
- Consider charging for the first CAS/ Client meeting. The fee will be deducted from the overall billings should a working relationship ensue. If only 1/3 of meetings result in work, at least CAS will get paid for their time.
- CAS should also target international clients with bigger budgets.
- Nurture and develop referrals
- Advertise to clients that in place of extensive marketing spend, CAS keeps costs to a minimum and asks that in return for great work could clients refer 1-3 people to CAS once they are satisfied with the project outcome.
- Joint Venture Partnerships
- Create affiliate links on the CAS website that generate income through an affiliate fee. Negotiate contracts with suppliers and affiliates to create passive income and use referral fees.
- Increasing passive income
- A business goal should maximize returns for minimal time and effort invested. CAS can achieve this through paid for speaking events, affiliate fees, podcasts, video courses and a consulting offering.
Candice's advice for building a successful brand and business includes ascertaining who the ideal CAS client is. CAS should survey current clients, asking the following questions:
- How did you hear about Creative a Storm?
- What do you love about us?
- How does working with us differ from your past experiences?
- What would you improve on?
- I want to know the words you would use to describe us?
- What has Creating a Storm achieved for your company?
- I want to know how to improve my service and offer (De Beer, 2022)?
Client Acquisition and Retention
- Identifying and understanding a target market will help CAS communicate with their clients in their own words and across media, they consume effectively.
- One of the first steps CAS should undertake is to conduct a client survey of existing clients to help CAS understand key success drivers and investigate if engagement efficiency can be improved, if client selection can be improved or automated and if additional exposure and, as such, robustness to the sales pipeline can be developed.
- Becoming an authority in packaging design is essential for CAS because it unlocks a new professional accomplishment and achievement level. It increases the strategic visibility to attract clients to CAS services and followers to CAS online content.
- CAS will investigate avenues to achieve this, including public speaking events, writing blog articles, posting on Instagram and LinkedIn, creating a collaborative CAS team of experts, having downloadable website value additions on legislation and brief templates, creating world-class branding and a world-class website and portfolio.
- CAS client onboarding strategy would benefit from a discovery questionary posted on the CAS website to vet potential clients and brands.
- CAS will consider targeting international clients to create a global presence and grow its reputation and revenue.
- CAS values the strategy of asking clients to refer them for a reduced rate but feels that will dimmish their value. To date, clients refer CAS voluntarily, proven that nearly all CAS work comes through word-of-mouth referrals.
Systems, Business Functions and Process
- CAS will discard the suggestion to charge for the first client meeting and instead rely more heavily on vetting potential clients through the website questionnaire. Charging potential clients for a first meeting is a risk that may alienate potential clients.
- Creating Joint Venture Partnerships through affiliate links on the CAS website will capitalise on the relationships CAS has built in the industry over the years, generate income and offer clients a value proposition.
- Future ventures CAS could consider to increase revenue, and reputation and grow their presence as an authority in packaging design can include paid speaking events, podcasts, video courses and consulting.
An ‘expert authority’ discussion with Candice evolved into strategies to improve CAS's social and digital footprint, and how to automate and optimize structures.
CANDICE DE BEER OUTCOME
The interviews with Candice spanned many topics, and are distilled to the following:
CAS’s digital footprint should be improved and aligned with current best practices. Specifically periodical LinkedIn articles and blog posts.
CAS should conduct periodical and automated client surveys aimed to help CAS understand if and when market conditions or client expectations change.
CAS should invest in automated digital tools to assist clients during the initial contact phases of their customer journey. These should include smart forms, readily available pricing information, and case studies success stories (De Beer, 2022).
FREDERIK THERON
Frederik Theron is a Chartered Engineer and Project Management Officer with a B.Eng. and M.B.A. from Stellenbosch University.
As an engineer and PMO, Frederik sets and maintains standards for project management throughout an organization, creating procedures and best practices that help operations run smoothly and on time. He is uniquely qualified to assist CAS with business systems, functioning, processes, and client onboarding.
Fig. 4. van Lill, 2022. Frederik Theron Portrait.
A summarised interview account
Suggested inclusions for an automated client form include:
- Company name
- Years in business
- Budget
R25 000 – R100 000
R100 000 – R250 000
R250 000 upwards
- This conveys to a client the broad scope of CAS capabilities, appealing to a start-up or larger company while excluding clients with tiny budgets.
- Timeframe
- No. of line items/SKUs
- Brief project description
CAS should not charge for initial meetings and instead of building those costs into the scope of work. The first 10% of a project should be costed towards planning. The initial client meeting is free, the next meeting is charged at 50% of the CAS hourly rate and the 3rd meeting is billed at CAS hourly rate.
CAS needs to set up a template with full cost estimates for all work and projects so that any given quote takes no longer than 5 minutes to cost.
Budget estimates based on the standard projects CAS creates should be created to give clients estimated costs in conversation and mitigate the need for sending clients a rate card or spending excessive time quoting projects that do not fall within a client's budget.
Similarly, CAS should have a template with estimated timelines for standard projects that can be conveyed to clients quickly, saving CAS time if the proposed timeline does not meet a client's deadline.
Quarterly Review Process
CAS should conduct a quarterly review of projects to determine which sectors are profitable and adjust the business model accordingly.
- % Time on Administration vs. $
- % Time on Conceptualisation vs. $
- % Time on Execution vs. $ (Theron, 2022).
CAS's goal is to utilize time efficiently by minimizing the time spent onboarding clients through an automated online vetting system that will allow CAS to pursue strong potential clients with an initial face-to-face meeting and set up cost estimation and timelines templates.
CAS should conduct quarterly reviews to streamline work processes to maximize profits and utilize time efficiently.
The interview with Frederik outlined strategies or approaches to optimize CAS's limited time and capacity. It also helped to ascertain how to reduce the time spent vetting, onboarding, or advising clients on the project processes or communicating the client’s responsibilities.
FREDERIK THERON OUTCOME
Client research reveals that although CAS attracts clients via word-of-mouth recommendations, face-to-face meetings at the initial onboarding phase have a 90% success rate. CAS needs to maximize initial face-to-face meetings after potential clients have been vetted through an automated system.
Frederik suggested that CAS develop three standard project types. These will consider cost complexity barriers, and price and timeline guidelines that prospective clients could use to start their internal evaluation and budgeting process.
Frederik further advised that high-level time recording would allow CAS to conduct quarterly reviews of major time sinks(Theron, 2022). This would serve to optimize the amount of time spent on creative work and limit the time spent on administration.
HALDON BURNS
Haldon Burns is a professional brand engineer and naming specialist who has worked as the head of the brand strategy for Bang and Olufsen and Spotify. His speciality is creating distinctive and memorable brands.
A summarised interview account
CAS conducted an interview and workshops with Haldon Burns to establish the process of creating a brand and strategic brand positioning, its importance and the tactical and marketing decisions that influence name generation.
Brand positioning is a vital first step in creating a brand. The positioning provides a focus for every short-term and long-term strategic decision and is used as an internal tool to align all marketing and communication efforts with the brand and value proposition (Burns 2022c).
The anatomy of a brand positioning needs to include:
- Brand Name
- Target Audience
- Differentiating Factor
- Market Category
- Primary Selection Criteria
- Creditable Rational
- Competitive/ Alternative Brand
To better inform the positioning, Haldon created a worksheet questionnaire for CAS.
FOUNDATION – Where are we now?
What is CAS's mission?
What are CAS's three most important goals?
Why was CAS created?
What is CAS's vision?
How will CAS achieve this vision?
What is CAS's unique value proposition?
DIFFERENTIATION
How is CAS different/ what is CAS's competitive advantage?
Why would your clients choose CAS?
What does CAS do better than everyone else?
Who is the CAS competition
Is there a competitor CAS admires?
Why do you believe clients should do business with CAS rather than with a competitor?
What problems do CAS competitors have that CAS solves?
CLIENTS
Who are CAS clients
Describe CAS's ideal client?
Prioritise CAS stakeholders in order of importance
How do you want to be perceived by your clients?
VISION – Where does CAS need to go?
How will CAS sell their services?
What are the trends and changes affecting the design industry?
Where will CAS be in five years?
How would CAS measure success?
What values and beliefs drive CAS?
If CAS could communicate a single message about the company, what would it be?
The brand positioning is also comprised of the Brand Personality, Tone of Voice, Values and Narrative. Haldon broke these down into easily workshopped outcomes.
- Brand Personality
The “personality” are the characteristics of the brand, the distinct character it has compared to competitors that define how the brand communicates.
- Tone of Voice
The ‘tone of voice’ is the representation of the characteristics of the brand in the communication practice.
The personality and tone of voice were selected from defined profiles that are funny vs. serious, formal vs. casual, respectful vs. irreverent, and enthusiastic vs. a matter of fact.
- Narrative
- Values
HALDON BURNS OUTCOME
Haldon provided vital feedback on the process of brand creation, and the underlying nuances that need to be considered in this process.
The step-by-step brand creation process involves:
Establish the brand positioning and positioning statement
- WHO is the brand targeting?
- WHAT do the target audiences need?
- HOW will the brand deliver?
- PROOF that the brand can deliver.
- Brand name and tagline creation
Once the brand positioning is established, the positioning statement is written to benefit clients. However, this benefit is brought about by adherence to the statement from the brand itself (Burns, 2022b).
The brand name and tagline should be based on research and insights. The result will be memorable, distinctive, and communicate the unique value proposition in a way that ties back into the name (Burns, 2022a).
Tangential research has also shown that establishing a strong brand, positioning and identity is the only avenue for growth and reputational validation. This relates specifically for companies that sell branding as a service. The brand CAS needs to serve as an advertisement for its capabilities.
CAS is successful, despite not having a defined or targeted approach, opting instead for organically shifting with the markets and trends over time. Hence there is a disconnect between Storm, the passionate, enthusiastic individual, and the classic, professional appearance of the current brand.
References
Burns, H. (2022a). Brand Creation Process. 6 Feb. Burns, H. (2022b). Brand Name and Tagline Workshop. 12 Apr. Burns, H. (2022c). Brand Positioning Workshop. 16 Apr.
de Beer, C. (2022). How to Become an Expert Authority. 30 Jan.
Hickey, S. (2022). How Can CAS Streamline Their Systems, Processes, Client Onboarding and Retention. 7 Mar.
MacDonald, B. (2022). How to Establish a Thriving Solopreneurship. 6 Feb. Theron, F. (2022). Systems, Process, Client Onboarding and Retention. 2 Mar.
List of Figures
Figure 1. Hickey, S. (2022). Siena Hickey Portrait. [Online Image] LinkedIn. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sienahickey/ [Accessed 20 Jul. 2022].
Figure 2. Monstarlab (2022). Bryan MacDonald Portrait. [Online Image] Monstarlab. Available at: https://monstar-lab.com/ae/board-of-directors/bryan-macdonald/ [Accessed 20 Jul. 2022].
Figure 3. de Beer, C. (2022). Candice de Beer Portrait. [Online Image] LinkedIn. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/candice-sian-de-beer/?originalSubdomain=za [Accessed 20 Jul. 2022].
Figure 4. van Lill, M. (2022). Frix Theron Portrait. [Photographers Archive] Mattphoto. Available at: https://mattphoto.co.za [Accessed 20 Jul. 2022].