Recently I had reason to look for some old client documentation in the archives, while searching I came across our very first client presentation from January 2013.
I, of course, took the opportunity to take a trip down memory lane and look back over the presentation. When I say ‘presentation’ it was in fact a proposal to tender for a website design and development project.
I have always referred to our tenders or proposals as presentations because that’s how I view them. For me it’s a presentation of our team, our company and the work we produce.
On my stroll down memory lane it occurred to me how much our ‘pitch’ has changed and evolved over the past 11-years and thought it might make for an interesting journal entry.
Our Brand Identity
One rather large change has been our brand identity and logo marque. The original logo was actually designed by myself. I wanted it to stand out given our unique name and be somewhat playful as the ‘new kids on the block’ hence the big bold font and fun marque.
Our brand was later updated in 2016 to something a little more streamlined and professional looking. I guess, as we started to mature as an agency (I know, I know ‘mature’ after 3 years I hear you say) we needed to update our identity to reflect this.
However, I recall at the time insisting we still retained a marquee in the form of a dog outline as a nod back to the original. I still think of our original logo and the wonky dog with fondness, although perhaps that’s my vain streak showing 🙂
Another change from our 2013 Vs 2024 presentation was the colour scheme.
Our initial pitch was full of bright vibrant colours: blues, oranges, reds and greens in large quantities. Again, this was an attempt to stand out from our competitors (a lot of whom at the time submitted long MS Word documents as their client proposal).
While we still utilise a strong palette it is more from an accent colour perspective now and perhaps a little more calculated and subdued.
Discarded
Another noticeable difference I observed was the written content we have discarded. Our older presentations gave a little overview and some helpful statistics on ‘why mobile is important’, ‘what is responsive design’ and ‘Wordpress the platform’.
While we still briefly touch upon WordPress, we no longer discuss the importance of mobile and responsive design for the simple fact that our customer base are now very well informed and aware of these requirements as standard practice.
Additions
We have also added new content which mostly concerns our approach to a project, the project journey and project management.
One aspect of our agency that I have become really proud of over the past 11-years is how we have streamlined our processes and project management approach. Perhaps coming from a background in operations management steers my direction on this – but a well oiled machine denotes reliability, dependability, and consistency.
I have also found having a clear pathway that you can show a client with no ambiguity lends credence and offers peace of mind. We clearly outline the steps in a project, the timeline associated with each stage and what will be expected of each party.
Believe it or not, there is a lot involved in design and development and having a clear documented roadmap makes that journey a little easier to navigate.
Less is More
One thing that has not changed is our ‘less is more’ perspective. As mentioned, a number of years ago our competitors would submit long MS Word/PDF documents (in some cases 30 pages long) droning on about god knows what (as I never took time to read them). I know this because ‘I was the customer’.
Before getting involved with a creative agency – I was responsible for sourcing IT services for a number of companies.
There was nothing worse that scanning through page after page of technical jargon trying to understand the solution being offered. Or over bloated content jamming in buzz-words of the moment – something we turned into a game at Big Dog called ‘website-bullshit-bingo’.
What I really wanted to know was (a) brief introduction to the vendor (b) did they understand the brief via their solution pitched (c) the cost.
When we started drafting our presentation we kept it short-and-sweet. It consisted of approx 8-14 slides (depending on the scope of the project) outlining the basics in layman’s terms.
Conclusion
So, in conclusion it was lovely to see where our pitching style has progressed and evolved as an agency. At the same time it was great to see what we have retained … A no-nonsense approach, outlining our company offering in a friendly and approachable style.
BTW – The presentation we did back in January 2013 – they are still a client 😃