Crowd

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

First Street Napa is a restaurant, retail store, hotel, and lifestyle development in downtown Napa. We’re building 45 shops and restaurants, a 183-room hotel, along with office space. We have a partner based in Texas, and their leasing team, property development team, management team, they’re all helping work on the project. We also have a local team of 5 people, plus the hotel staff. My name is Nicole Mori, and I am the director of marketing and communications for the project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Crowd?

We had a B2B challenge of making our property seem relevant to potential retailers and restaurants, and convince them to sign leases. Secondly, once we would reach the point of rolling out to the consumer, the challenge was determining what the campaign would look like, and making sure we are a distinct, must-visit destination in Napa Valley. I do have a partner in Texas working on the marketing side of the project, but I’m mostly by myself locally, so I needed the support of a bigger team, which is what Crowd has been to me.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Crowd was signed on to do many different things, some of which started already, and some planned for the future. In terms of the B2B scope, we have made office leasing brochures, one-sheets, website content, e-blasts, and are working on developing our online presence on Yelp, Facebook, and so on, namely figuring out what it should be once we’ve opened. Crowd will handle all the creative for this, once we’ve launched.

They’ve created signage for us, coming-soon graphics, promotional items, and will be handling the entire gambit of what the marketing will be for our project. Crowd will probably redevelop our website, and create a more user-friendly responsive version through which we can geofence the property and ping people, giving them relevant sales and promotional messages when they’re on-site.

Crowd has been great in terms of helping with content development and branding. They came up with the tagline we’ll be using in our consumer campaign, which I love, but can’t reveal yet. Everything will be tied to this specific tagline, and they’ve done a great job of fleshing it out and helping us determine what makes sense to tie into it.

They’ve made recommendations along the way, including the creation of profiles for the people in our area, who might stand out in the B2B situation. For example, chef Charlie Palmer has signed on to the project, with his eponymous stake. We are also collaborating with a local well-known grape grower, as well as with the owners of a local wine bar, whose testimonials about the area will be featured in our brochure. We have also talked about making a video in the same vein.

How did you come to work with Crowd?

We reached out to 10 different agencies, and met with 3 after they submitted their proposals. Crowd stood out in terms of creativity and through their unique way of looking at our circumstance. I liked the fact that they had a bit of experience in this specific industry, and more in the travel and tourism space. We didn’t want to simply look like a shopping center, and we really are a destination, and more of a lifestyle center. Crowd presented some ideas around which we collaborated, honing in on what we were looking to do.

The first consideration for me was their ability to stand out creatively. I loved what Crowd had done with the creative for Saint Helena, California. Another factor was their accessibility. I knew that Crowd had helped some people in the local market with a project, and they travel to the area frequently. Being the single person working on this project, I needed to have reliability in an agency, and not have to wait a full day to get a response or a deliverable. I reached out to Crowd’s references in order to make sure of this.

How much have you invested with Crowd?

The cost of their work has been between $50,000 and $60,000. We work on an hourly basis, with a set number of hours per month. This is great, since I have an issue with traditional retainers.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Crowd one year ago. We plan to continue the collaboration until the launch of the project, and possibly on an ongoing basis. We will be working with Crowd until at least 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

It would be hard to provide metrics, given where we are right now. We’ve signed leases, but I couldn’t say with certainty if it was because of the materials made by Crowd. I definitely think that we’ve gotten very positive feedback in terms of leasing brochures and materials. People in the industry are generally wowed by them, and are always commenting on how professional and unique they look. We’ve been told that ours is one of the nicest brochures people have seen, which makes us happy. In terms of quality of work, Crowd has delivered what we were asking, and, if we requested something specific, like a header for the B2B and B2C e-blasts, they hit the nail on the head, and were flexible in terms of design. Some designers can be sensitive about recommended changes from a client, but Crowd is not like that at all.

Crowd hasn’t done much with our website yet, but we plan to develop a completely new page using their services.

How did Crowd perform from a project management standpoint?

My main point of contact in the U.S. filters most of the work through his designers and whomever else he needs in order to get the job done, but I also have communication with the resources themselves. We meet in person anytime someone from Crowd’s team is in town, every couple of months. They haven’t specifically come out for our project yet, because there hasn’t been a need for it, but, when we do have the need, it will happen. Other than this, we communicate through email and phone. They also use Skype, but I don’t have such an extensive need for it.

What did you find most impressive about Crowd?

Their level of sophistication in terms of design profile is strong, and it’s definitely a distinctive factor about Crowd, compared to other designers and agencies I’ve worked with in the past. They have a good sense for sorting through the clutter and figuring out what’s right for my project. This is helpful, especially since I don’t have all the time to do it. They are timely, professional, friendly, and generally great to work with.

Are there any areas Crowd could improve?

They’re a couple of hours ahead of our time zone. We’re on the West Coast, and Crowd is based in Detroit. Still, they’ve brought more West Coast designers in since we started working together. This was the only issue I had with Crowd.

They’ve definitely stepped up their U.S. presence. Since Crowd does have designers and other resources in agency offices in the U.K. and elsewhere, I can send out urgent requests at 8 p.m. and have the agents there take care of them. I’m not sure if this is standard practice, but it’s a nice option to have in case we’re in a pinch. Not everyone has this ability.