The House London Ltd.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Programme Manager for the Enterprise Development Programme

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The House?

Organisations on EDP are supported to get enterprises ideas off the ground, to help them grow financial resilience and impact. This is done via a mixture of grant and learning opportunities. The House were hired to deliver their Story Cube sessions as part of the programme's learning calendar. These sessions were focused on providing support around selling, marketing and branding.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Through previous positive experience of the Story Cube methodology via a previous role.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The Social Sprint comprises of 4 two-hour online workshops across across a two-week period, working the key aspects of the Story Cube. Michael and Robbie have also been on hand to follow up with 1:1 coaching sessions as and when needed.

What was the team composition?

Michael and Robbie

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The participating organisations have been provided with very practical tools and examples to use to help develop or refine their organisation's story. In turn, we feel this will put them in a strong position to sell their new trading ventures with confidence.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Michael has been extremely efficient and quick to reply to queries and get processes set up. This has really helped create a smooth process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

A combination of (i) a really tangible model for organisations organisations to pinpoint their value and story, that lends itself to group learning, and (ii) and a very open and effective communication style which has led to positive changes being discussed and implemented during the engagement.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

The House was open to feedback throughout the engagement to date, and have implemented changes as suggested, which is great. The only further observation I would potentially add is whether alternative ways could be used to 'test' the transfer of knowledge during the sessions.

At the moment the structure in the sessions (and afterwards) is reliant on organisations being confident to ask a question. Perhaps there may be opportunity to do things like an anonymous poll to test some of the key points of the session, and then any incorrect answers are used as an opportunity to delve into some further explanation to help ensure a deeper transfer of knowledge.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Rohallion, a web development agency, specialising in Drupal, that helps purpose-driven organisations disseminate knowledge to their communities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The House?

Our website had changed little since it was created when Rohallion was founded over 5 years ago. It no longer reflected who we had become nor what we did.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We looked for an agency who could work with us to develop our story and present it through design and content that reflected us and what we did. The House fitted the bill perfectly as they had developed a process to do this called Story Cube.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

This was a two-stage project. Firstly, a discovery which was a very detailed process looking at the company, our values, our services, inspirations, brand and many other areas. This was then used to develop content and the design.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked directly with Michael at The House who liaised with the rest of his team on our behalf.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The House provided the discovery and design phase of the project and we are delivery the build internally. As such the project is not yet live so no results yet.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Michael was a pleasure to work with and ensured we knew where the project was at every stage. He took on board all our feedback but was happy to challenge it where appropriate.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The time that was focused on the discovery stage was longer that we had previously experienced but this was used to great advantage by The House in being able to understand our story, who we were and what we did.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

The project ran smoothly and was delivered on time and to expectations so there were no areas for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm an executive at a UK-based nonprofit organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The House?

We were looking at renaming and rebranding our organization. We've been going since 2002, so this year is our 20th anniversary, and we felt that it was the right time to refresh our brand and create something more impactful to take on the next stage of our journey as an organization.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The House did a creative brief, research, development, and looked at our target audiences. They have a framework called story cube, which enables us to look at the different elements of our brand and other offerings to frame it as a whole. They also did a brand and marketing diagnostic by speaking to our internal committee, which I worked alongside regularly. The House also did surveys and focus groups with mostly warm audiences by sending the material out and setting up focus groups.

We started by providing them with our existing brand guidelines, tone of voice, assets, and how we work as an organization. We have a strategy document outlining our plans for 2025 and beyond, which we also shared. In addition, we had regular phone calls with them to understand our philosophy and values as a charity.

Consequently, their team did various rounds of brand positioning, strategy development, design direction and concepts, brand identity development, and illustrations. This phase included suggesting new names, taglines, a color palette, and more.

Currently, they provide brand positioning and identity guidelines, deliver on-brand assets for digital and print, and advise on a marketing strategy.

What is the team composition?

I'm mainly in contact with Michael (CEO) and Robbie (Co-Founder).

How did you come to work with The House?

We did our due diligence and went through a vetting process where we looked at various agencies and shortlisted three companies. We interviewed them all, but The House was very impressive, and we felt that we would get along with them, which was very important to us. They were friendly, had a strong portfolio, and offered good value for money.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. We're approaching the final sign-off, pre-launch, and then launch.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven't launched yet, but we're very confident that their work will positively impact our organization in the long run. Also, the internal feedback from our key stakeholders has been very positive as well. Overall, our organization as a whole is very excited to launch our new name and brand.

How did The House perform from a project management standpoint?

They were outstanding and persistent with project management — it's one of their strengths. They follow up a lot, and anyone who works with them should expect a lot of emails and prompting, which is a positive thing if you're keen on having your project move along and not fall by the wayside. They're also meticulous and enthusiastic, which is what our organization needs. In terms of communication and tools, we use email, Zoom calls, and Google Docs to keep track of progress.

Additionally, they've surveyed through Google Forms and also used Story Cube, which is their framework designed to break down key elements of a compelling brand story to make the task of telling a straightforward story much easier. They break it down into identifying the problem we're trying to solve, our motivations, differentiators, connections, and obstacles. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Two things make them stand out. One is that rebranding can often be too expensive for small charities, but they provide great value for money. Also, they were one of the only agencies willing to moderate their costs due to our organization's size and their excitement to work on our project.

The second is The House's personal approach; they're a very friendly team, and their video calls are always light and conversational — they struck that balance between getting stuff done while also trying to keep it fun.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes they need to step back, when necessary, and let the organization run through internal processes. Other than that, I don't want to be too critical of them because they've done a lot of fantastic work for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear with what you want to achieve and your ambitions and limitations from the very start. Also, make yourself available for emails and calls if you're busy because they make a difference and help move the project along quicker. In addition, assign yourself a direct point of contact and, if necessary, an internal committee to push the project forward.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

West Hill is a boutique business and technology law firm that services new and growing businesses that create or leverage technology as a core part of their business model. I am the Marketing Director at West Hill.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The House?

Our website was becoming outdated and the Word Press Template it was created on was being phased out, we were looking to modernize the overall look and feel. We decided to first engage with the House on the Story Cube course to get the West Hill messaging aligned and all the employees telling the West Hill story simply and consistently.

Then we kicked off the website redesign design to evolve the West Hill look and feel but still stand out in the sea of sameness that permeates the websites of business law firms.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We put out an RFP and received an overwhelming response of more than 20 firms. Based on the proposals submitted, we looked at the experience, examples of past work provided as well as the proposed approach and timeline and budget were thoughtful, realistic and creative. We then invited a short list of firms to an hour presentation to our team over video.

We were looking for fit with out team, the ability to understand that West Hill is not a typical law firm and were ultimately intrigued by the Story Cube process.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We started with the Story Cube course for all of the West Hill employees.The organized process quickly boiled down the stories out there and got all of the attorneys telling a similar story. It also made our team think more about telling the story to appeal to the business issues facing our current and prospective clients. And the approach we should take to simply communicating our points of difference. and brand story.

Then we dove into the Discovery phase and Creative Brief. Which was organized and detailed. The Design phase came next and we worked through some differences in the initial review to get to a concept that we loved. Finally, we moved onto the development of the site and templates.

We had a long lag in getting all of the content finalized since we were adding Client testimonials and Success Stories that took some time to pull together. And then on short notice at the end of the year, Michael and his team pulled it all together to get us what we needed to launch the site.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We mainly worked with Michael, Robbies was involved in the Story Cube sessions that we started with . And George was also brought in for the development piece.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Their process and use of Google docs to streamline the phases and feedback was easy and very organized throughout the project. The launch of the site was successful and we received positive feedback from Clients and other professionals in our network.

The design is unique and engaging and tells a more complete story from the business issues we help our clients solve instead of how we might talk to another lawyer about what we do.The backend CMS is much easier to update and quickly implement changes on the fly which was not easy at all with our old site.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Totally effective. The team was completely on top of their game and they were always steps ahead of us. The workflow was organized and comments were easy to add. He was very responsive and effective in checking in to try and move things along. We were delayed in gathering the content but he kept checking in and trying to push it along.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The Story Cube Course was unique and engaging for all of our employees and got everyone thinking of how to more effectively tell our story to appeal to the types of clients we like to work with. The questions asked cut straight to the heart of the matter and were thought provoking.

While the first round of design was far off from what were were envisioning, after feedback the next rounds improved and we ended up with a design that we loved and met our objectives. We appreciated that Michael was extremely patient with us and helped move things along when we were delayed.

Many others have a hard time understanding what a business law firm does, they think of criminal and divorce attorneys first, but Michael brought examples of other law firms that are in our same world, which showed that he understood our space and always brought examples and connections to us to help our business and messaging.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

We were the only thing that delayed our timeframes outlined at the outset. I don't think there is something they could have done differently, except we did have to review the invoice for each phase and correct the descriptions but that is a part of what we do and we are probably more critical than other types of businesses would be.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and CEO of a growth marketing agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The House, and what were your goals?

We participated in their Story Cube workshops with added consultancy to help us to redefine our brand and product positioning.

SOLUTION

How did you select The House?

Through a shared network and having seen their work before.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

The workshops were split into 4x sessions via Zoom. The session would focus on; a discussion around each part of the Story Cube and its importance, a real-life example, and then we'd have time to play around with some ideas. We would then feed back on our work and other members of the cohort. As a Gold package customer, I was lucky enough to have Michael and Robbie work 1-1 with me on our brand and product positioning.

They listened to what I wanted to achieve, whilst also challenging and pushing me. The end result was a set of very well-crafted positioning statements that really captured who we are, what we do, and the culture and ethos that drives us. After 11 years in business, the external perspective was truly invaluable.

How many people from The House team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Two people - both co-founders, Michael and Robbie.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

As a deliverable with largely intangible measurables, I judge success by the adoption from our team and how it's pushed us to make better decisions. Our team have really bought into our greener and more nurture-based positioning.

To give you an actual example, we are planning a summer party for next year where we'll all grow our own produce before bringing it with us to create a team banquet. That involves the nurture and growth skills required in a natural environment, which is exactly reflective of the nurture and growth that we apply to our clients' marketing. The core products have given us a specific focus and has made it so much easier to pitch the right option to the right customer type.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Excellent communication throughout, and a calm pace whilst also pushing enough to challenge your thinking through critical feedback with added suggestions to help improve.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Michael and Robbie are personable and highly skilled and, more importantly, they genuinely care about the outcome of the businesses that they help. That is clear to see from the start, and it's worth your time and investment to benefit from that energy. They provided the exact outcome I expected.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

None at all based on my experience. I would highly recommend Story Cube to any business looking to improve their brand story.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Communications Director of a performance insight partner to higher education institutions and an adviser to prospective and current international students.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The House, and what were your goals?

Our company is evolving and the old brand no longer represented us. We were looking for a brand agency to facilitate the conceptualization of the evolved brand and empower our internal teams to finalize and implement the new brand direction and guidelines.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We wanted an agency that understood the industry and The House was recommended by edtech companies and accelerators we collaborate with.

Describe the scope of their work in detail, including any steps and the final deliverables.

The House has developed their own method, called The Story Cube. A group including the executive leadership team and other colleagues in key positions, participated in a series of facilitated discussions which reviewed the raison d'être of our company, our values, missions, vision, objectives and personality. They conducted also an internal survey as well as an external one to test ideas.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

The MD and his business partner worked with us directly and they had a creative team of designers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The intent of the project was to empower the internal team to own the brand and such objective has been met. The House designed our new logo and facilitated the identification of our new values. They provided the groundwork for aspects of the brand that was subsequently finalized by our own creative and communications teams.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

The House were excellent at communicating with us at every step of the process and they delivered the expected work in a timely fashion.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The House was good at bringing together our group of strong personalities and in some instances with opposite and polarized views. They showed a great understanding of our industry.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

The project had a limited scope therefore The House couldn't express their expertise to the fullest.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the director of my company that specialises in private chef services, corporate catering, popups and product development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The House?

When we launched in 2013, we also had a range of condiments for the retail market along with our catering. We needed branding for our company, the products, a website and a brand identity. We used The House for all of our design needs and requirements.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We were recommended the company through someone who had worked with them before and the deciding factors were the keen interest they took in our project and also the creativity they showed us after we gave them a list of ideas and defining factors for the brand.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We didn't know what we wanted as a brand image and identity so we just gave the team a list of words and interests we wanted to incorporate into our image. They then came back with 5-6 different avenues for the branding based on our list. We went with one that we both (my wife and I) fell in love with and that reflected our ideology and style perfectly.

After this, the team then produced product labels for our retail products and designed the website, stationary and advertising posters etc. They gave us a detailed timeline for the work and stuck to it like clockwork. Once the initial project was completed, there was ongoing work with website maintenance and further product label design

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

In total we worked with 4 people - website designer (2), graphic designers (2)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We had great success with our branding and design with all our clients and customers commenting on the design and how well it fit our ethos. The project was to deliver a brand image and product labels and website that we can use comfortably and that shows sophistication, elegance and style and this was achieved .

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Ridiculously easy and fast. Any comments were taken on board and implemented and the team went over and above requirements to continually deliver several options for our design at every step of the way as they got to know us better. Couldn't fault any step or process.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They were a very skilled team of people who are passionate about what they do. They took what we had in our head and transformed it into a stunning visual and descriptive brand.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No, we were happy with everything and the time it took.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and owner at an eCommerce company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The House, and what were your goals?

We needed a trusted project management solution to help our busy team deliver a complex mobile application to handle c100,000 users. With no PM experience ourselves we needed a safe pair of hands to handle the whole process, from designing the brief to delivering the end project

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We selected The House based on their varied experience in delivering large scale projects, alongside their background in design. It was a good fit.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had a series of discovery meetings, then we worked to create a functional spec. We took longer on the functional spec than we anticipated but it ended up saving us a lot of time in the later stages. We then moved to wireframing, design and then development. We are now in the final testing stage of the project. We used a hybrid non native app.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Michael was our main point on contact. Gemma supported us with scheduling. Michael also used two trusted freelance designers to help us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The project was delivered on time, much to the surprise of our investors and has all of the required functionality

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Michael handled all of the PM stuff, managing Trello, chasing up deliverables, even sometimes on weekends. Even though the project was part time, Michael treated the project like a full time PM. Would highly recommend

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The speed and accuracy with how they work. A small team, that is highly focused that focuses on the task in hand. What you ask for is what you get. Not all of the flab that you get with other agencies and layers of staff.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Normally we find fault, but with this project we have been overwhelmed by the support given. The only minor hiccups with the project came from external development agencies.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was a programs manager and my task was managing a few of the organization’s programs, some of which were social programs and others were commercial programs.  

I worked for a coworking entrepreneurial space company made for social entrepreneurs. Our firm also supported the development of a fish enterprise sector, and we helped people start social enterprises and enable them to grow in scale. That work was also funded through various commercial support programs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The House?

We partnered with The House which was focused on supporting third-party companies that we had partnerships with. The team’s main goal was to provide consulting services so that they could enter and scale the UK market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The House provided marketing and branding consultancy through workshops to the cohort of third-party companies that we support and who came on board with our quarterly program. Apart from that, they also delivered specific consultancy services to those organizations. The workshops were broken down into mentoring and consulting sessions to deliver what they needed to be able to start in the UK market.

Most of the sessions were related to rebranding where the external stakeholders needed to reword their materials for a new audience. The House also helped our external partners in finding ways to pivot their marketing and branding to UK consumers. Moreover, they provided guidance on how those third-party companies performed, their current organizational structure, and more. 

The whole project itself was broad because the direction of the team’s services was heavily dependent on the external stakeholders’ direction. Each of our clients had different products and services to tackle. For example, aside from rebranding, some third-party clients needed to redesign their websites. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with Michael (Founder & CEO), and he was my main point of contact. 

How did you come to work with The House?

They were already a partner of our company when I joined. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent £50,000–£80,000 (approximately $68,000–$109,000).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March 2019–September 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We continued working with The House throughout the program because we consistently got high feedback ratings from the third-party companies they were supporting. Generally, we were impressed by the work they produced. I found working with them to be easy, and they seamlessly adapted to our changing needs. 

We liked that they always focused on the needs of our third-party clients. They put a lot of value on achieving measurable results for our stakeholders. 

How did The House perform from a project management standpoint?

We kept in constant communication with The House, and they’d often visit the office space of our partners. Michael usually went to our hub to discuss project-related matters. Occasionally, we kept in touch through phone calls and emails. 

They were very responsive, quick, and helpful. The House did everything to ensure that our partners achieved their ambition of entering the UK market. Above all, they were incredibly friendly, professional, and efficient too. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Michael was committed to the project, and he was well-supported by his team in delivering our requirements. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, I don’t have any suggestions on areas they could improve. The third-party clients that I set up for them were always very satisfied with the team’s work. I’d certainly recommend their services to my network for those looking for marketing and branding support.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be honest about your ambitions and what motivates you, so that they can give you practical advice that’ll work for you and your organization. Most importantly, a partnership is always a two-way street.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a company called Hardwario. We are hardware developers focusing on IoT devices and low-powered devices. We also focus on Industry 4.0 and STEM education.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The House?

We were looking for help with our marketing strategy.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, The House created our marketing strategy. This involved a series of workshops and some deliverables such as pitches and propositions. After that, we asked them to prepare some materials more deeply, specifically a proposition for schools for STEM education which was the main material. We have another partner for this currently, but at that time, they also prepared several things for us including the branding.

Additionally, The House prepared us for a special education show. Their team prepared a creative brief which was very helpful for us with their experience. They also helped us with a STEAM, which is science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics, project plan which they prepared for one special school in the UK.

What is the team composition?

Michael (CEO and Founder) was our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with The House?

We are based in the Czech Republic and we were part of one special accelerator program in the UK. The House was among the mentors, and we met there. I was very satisfied with what they did for us during this program, I chose them and signed a contract with them which was outside of the accelerator program.

How much have you invested in them?

It was around £13,000 GBP (approximately $18,000 USD)

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2018, and the last project was completed in January 2021. We still work with them from time to time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

To measure the outcome of the cooperation is almost impossible, but we are growing steadily, and we have doubled our turnover every year. The House was definitely part of that success.

How did The House perform from a project management standpoint?

In most cases, we use standard tools like Google Drive and Google Docs to collaborate with The House. We share our documents through those tools.

We also use a very simple table on Google Sheets to track what we are doing and the status of the work. During our cooperation, we have routine calls every week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are goal-oriented and experts in marketing. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are a UK company, so it is a bit expensive for us, but that’s not something they need to improve, we just have to improve our revenues and profits.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I have already connected them to several companies.  Be ready to speak about their capacity. They want you to follow the goals that they put on the tracker table, so you have to be ready and focus on the job.

If you are changing your marketing, you still have to do things yourself. You have to have some free capacity for your cooperation with them. We were trying to solve our problem to somehow shape our marketing strategy and that was our goal, and they did what we wanted.