Art & Science

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing at PartnerStack, a company that offers partner management software to B2B SaaS companies.

What challenge were you trying to address with Art & Science?

We needed help with PPC and digital marketing. We’re a very quickly growing company, and a lot of our growth has come from PPC campaigns on social media like LinkedIn and Facebook. Before starting this engagement, we were at a point where we needed to decide if we wanted to continue hiring full-time people who would help us scale up or if we needed to hire an agency instead.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Art & Science handles all of our digital advertising. First, they took over our Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and Facebook ads accounts, and later, they expanded to our Twitter account.

Besides creating the campaigns and managing our accounts, Art & Science has also helped us develop some creatives like landing pages to direct our traffic to and content for the ads.

What is the team composition?

One of Art & Science’s co-founders was very involved in the pitch and strategy planning initially, and since, they’ve been very involved in the day-to-day progress. Additionally, five other people have worked on our account, including a dedicated account manager, a copywriter, a campaign manager, and a data analyst.

How did you come to work with Art & Science?

I was already familiar with Art & Science from being in Toronto. Additionally, a company I used to work with ended up working with them and spoke really highly of them, so we added them to our list of potential partners.

We evaluated around 10–15 agencies, and we ended up awarding the business to Art & Science. Among the companies we evaluated, they were the most engaged through the process. They took the time to understand our business, and they did a thorough audit of our social media accounts to provide us with a detailed roadmap of what they could do for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend around $9,000 CAD (approximately $7,000 USD) per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

We constantly look at our return on ad spend (ROAS). Before working with Art & Science, our ROAS was in a 2-to-1 ratio, but it is now 3-to-1. Overall, we’re very satisfied with their work; they’re a really good partner for us.

How did Art & Science perform from a project management standpoint?

Art & Science is excellent at project management and regular communication. Whenever they foresee instances where we could potentially miss a deadline or exceed our budget, they give us a more-than-enough notice to decide how to approach it.

We communicate almost daily via Slack, and they’ve adopted Notion, our internal project management system. They had never used that tool before, but they adapted quickly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Art & Science brings a lot of creativity and out-of-the-box ideas to a discipline that is usually fairly conservative. Other PPC agencies are technical experts, which means that they know what to do from a technical perspective, but they don’t necessarily bring creative ideas to the table. However, Art & Science has the technical expertise but also the creative mindset that a lot of agencies lack.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re a B2B company, but Art & Science is mostly focused on B2C service. Thus, it would be great if they became B2B experts so that they could understand our sales funnel and the metrics we measure better. They’ve done a great job learning about the B2B space, but they didn’t come with that knowledge to the table.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be an engaged partner, looping them into your conversation and being really transparent about your business as much as you can because they will bring the creative slant to the table. If you use them just for PPC, that will be all they will do, and you won’t leverage their creative talent.

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I am a manager of programs for a national non-profit.

What challenge were you trying to address with Art & Science?

We were creating a new website for one of our contest programs, so they designed the website, the UI, and a new judges portal. We were originally using an old website that another agency had to maintain because they didn’t teach us how to use the backend.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Art & Science created an entirely new look for the contest and website. Our previous brand steered us away from the traditional Habitat for Humanity branding and provider a younger look, as the contest is geared toward kids. They built the website using Nova and some third-party plugins.

What is the team composition?

We originally met with the chief creative officer and VP of client success and then started meeting with the project manager. There were also meetings with the web developer and their team of 3–4 people who worked on the front- and backend.

How did you come to work with Art & Science?

They were recommended by our main sponsor of the contest.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $65,000 CAD (approximately $51,000 USD)

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked together from September 2021–March 2022.

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

Leaving our previous agency saves us $12,000 per year in ongoing contest admin and website maintenance cost. We can now do things more easily and faster. There aren’t several-day-long delays anymore. Corporate sponsorship and content entries have increased significantly as well.

All feedback has been very positive, focusing on how easy the site is to use. The contest is also running smoother. Results will be out in May rather than June thanks to the new judges portal they developed.

How did Art & Science perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked with three different project managers overall. There were a few issues with each switch but no big issues, and always ended up working out fine. We typically communicated over email and Google Meet, as well as using Trello.

We typically communicate over Trello, email, and Google Meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The timing of the project was most important to me. I was hesitant to start on the project in 2021, but they were certain they could do it in our tight timeline. No agency I’ve worked with has been able to stay on a timeline like they have. They also stuck exactly to the quote and didn’t have any surprise extra charges.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Smoother transitions for the client when changing project managers.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re a project manager, you may have to ask for frequent updates, or perhaps make sure to be clear up front how often you’d like updates.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is the Canadian Cancer Society, Canada’s largest health charity focused on cancer prevention. We develop health promotions and healthy living programs to support Canadians from coast to coast. I’m the manager of cancer prevention strategic initiatives, and I lead the National Smoking Cessation Project, a nationwide social marketing campaign to help Canadians quit smoking.

What challenge were you trying to address with Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

We hired Art & Science to work with us on our smoking cessation campaign and other projects. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Art & Science creates tools and resources to help us in our campaign to encourage adults aged 35–64 across Canada to quit using tobacco. The goal is to help them develop healthy lifestyle changes to ultimately improve their health. They’re also working on other projects with our organization. 

To elaborate, the team has designed our website based on the brand of our campaigns. They used Figma to do this. We’ve also undergone a comprehensive discovery process to help them learn more about our organization and partners. More importantly, they’ve learned about our target audience by conducting surveys with focus groups. This has helped them land on our creative direction. 

Moreover, Art & Science has provided a range of other services from content development to social media and SEO. The team has also helped us with our out-of-home marketing efforts with convenience stores; they develop all content and assets for this. 

On top of that, their resources have handled the creation of four short films in multiple formats in both English and French. Art & Science has collaborated with 5–6 vendors involved in the creation of these films. The team has also overseen the management of the project and the creative direction of each film. 

What is the team composition?

I have two primary points of contact, namely Dave (EVP of Client Success) and Liza (Digital Project Manager). We’ve worked with Liza on digital marketing, asset creation, and content development. Meanwhile, Dave handles our higher-level work with other vendors. 

How did you come to work with Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

We worked with Art & Science on another project a year before. As a result, we already had rapport and experience with them prior to embarking on this campaign. With that in mind, we sent out an RFP to Art & Science and other agencies for this specific project. We conducted a robust interview process, and we decided that Art & Science was the best possible vendor for our goals. They came forward with the best proposal in terms of meeting the needs of our project and audience. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $500,000 CAD (approximately $400,000 USD), which includes everything from agency fees to media ad spend. Over the course of the project, we’ll be spending around $1.5 million CAD (approximately $1.1 million USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working on this project in August 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. The partnership will be in place until March 2023; we’ll be sustaining the campaign until that time.

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

The smoking cessation project has only recently launched, so we don’t have any metrics yet. However, we’re following the same metric model that most other digital marketing initiatives have. We track impressions, reach, and CTRs. 

Beyond those things, we’re also focused on conversion within the campaign. Our team checks how Art & Science’s efforts drive people to the website and encourage them to sign up. These are the metrics we’ll be tracking over the next year or so.

How did Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Our communication with Art & Science has been wonderful. The team is extremely responsive and transparent. These qualities are critical because the project is a huge undertaking and a sensitive topic. We communicate on various platforms and use Zoom, Google Meet, phone calls, and text messages. Overall, the communication across the team has been collaborative and supportive of our needs. 

Moreover, they work within our budget. We’ve had to increase our budget in some instances, but we’ve been prepared for that. Since the communication is transparent, we’re aware of such increases and able to evaluate the risks and benefits of the budget adjustments. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Apart from their communication and transparency, their creativity and creative execution have also been impressive. Art & Science has brought in two other individuals that have their own third-party creative development teams. They’ve been extremely creative in understanding our vision, and they’re adaptable. Their sensitivity to our work is also remarkable. Finally, they can address all of our feedback, and that has helped us create an outstanding project. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

While we’ve kept on target, the schedule doesn’t always look concrete; it isn’t always clear where we’re headed. To be fair, this has improved over the course of the relationship. 

As a recommendation, Art & Science should use more project management tools to provide greater organization around deadlines. That way, we’ll also know who is responsible for what. For context, they currently manage the project via emails, which are often lost.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We’ve had a solid relationship with Art & Science from the beginning of our relationship to now. As a result, I highly recommend working with them if you want to work with a good marketing agency. They have an innovative and fresh approach to projects, and their team is extremely passionate about their work and clients. Meanwhile, keep your communication lines open. Don’t be afraid to ask questions; this has enabled us to develop our campaign to what it is right now.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of social policies and government relations for a national full-service public affairs advocacy and lobbying consulting firm. We have offices in Canada, and our group has international clients. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

I was working with a couple of clients who wanted to sponsor the development of videos about best practices related to fighting HIV. The video would also cover what local communities and cities around the world were doing to combat HIV. Art & Science worked as our collaborators for bringing everything together and developing the videos.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Art & Science developed five videos that were about 1–2 minutes long. These videos showcased how fast-track cities around the world committed to a certain set of practices and innovations to eliminate HIV. Given that, this was a global project. Our goal was to showcase these videos at a global conference. 

Beyond video production, Art & Science also did research and spoke with stakeholders to collect interviews and information. Once everything was collected, they put the information into a format that worked with our branding. Moreover, the team put nice animation, graphics, and transitions to the videos, which was something we needed to bring the videos to life and fit the overall theme of the conference. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with about 3–4 people from Art & Science. 

How did you come to work with Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

Other people in my office had worked with Art & Science before, and they came highly recommended to me. It felt that they understood what we were trying to do. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $60,000 CAD (approximately $47,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from July–October 2021. 

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

Personally, my metric was to see how satisfied my clients and their partners were with the deliverables. By the end, those clients and partners were highly satisfied with Art & Science. The videos were also shown at the global conference we targeted, and they made rounds on social media. Overall, as long as my clients were happy, I was happy. 

How did Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They managed the project effectively. This wasn’t an easy project because we were working with so many stakeholders in five different time zones and languages. However, because Art & Science was as organized as they were in this project, we were able to accomplish it. 

To communicate, we used emails. It was simple; I simply sent emails for any update. Every so often, we hopped on a Zoom call. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Art & Science’s diplomacy and flexibility were the most impressive part of working with them. Even though we had some frustrations with our international partners — frustrations that we couldn’t control — the team stayed focused on the deliverables and goals. Simply put, they did well in adapting to our comments, feedback, and changes. They were great at bringing everyone’s voice into the fold to create something that made us all happy. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have clarified and defined roles better at the outset to let us know who exactly was responsible for what aspects of work. Sometimes, there were a lot of emails, and I had to make sure I was responding to the right person. I also had to ensure several people had all the information they needed. That being said, everybody was truly enjoyable to work with; they were kind and helpful.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work with Art & Sciences. Time is your friend; having more time means you get more creativity and flexibility. Ultimately, you’ll get a better product. If you’re considering a project of this nature, reach out to them now and start having conversations even when you don’t want to sign anything yet and get the ball rolling.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are the world’s largest e-commerce investor. By providing fair and fast capital, a trusted network of founders and the insights needed to scale your business, our mission is to remove the barriers between brilliant ideas, and brilliant businesses. I am the Senior Director of Marketing and I lead all acquisition, brand awareness, and retention marketing initiatives.

For what projects/services did your company hire Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

Our challenge was primarily on the performance marketing side. B2B lead generation is always a challenge and as we started to scale it became imperative to have a partner who could test methodologies and really create efficiencies in all of our channels.

What were your goals for this project?

Overall goal was to clean up our accounts, create efficiencies to scale globally and reduce our CPC/CAC for our digital streams.

How did you select Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

The selection process was based on more than just their skills on the performance marketing side but also what they could bring to the table in terms of broader media buying and brand/creative support.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

A&S manages all of our B2B inbound marketing channels at Clearbanc. They create our channel mix, allocate budget accordingly and focus on google and facebook primarily. They also provide monthly reports to showcase our efficiencies.

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

One of the biggest impacts we have seen so far has been the efficiencies they have created within google. Prior to using A&S our lead quality or MQL percentage hovered around 20% and within 3 months we brought that up to 40%. This is a huge win for us, as it means we are bringing in highly qualified leads and more of them.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We meet weekly to review results for the month to date and every end-of-month meeting we go through budgets for the next month and prepared a plan together based on our company objectives and priorities. We rely on slack for daily communication with the team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are super detail-oriented and they really rally around our company's monthly targets. This is huge because it means they are truly an extension of our business unit as opposed to agencies who just go ahead and make decisions outside of our objectives. They also come forward with many ideas and truly want to understand how our business works, why we make certain decisions internally and even started to bring forward thoughts on brand momentum, as we are going through a redesign.

Are there any areas for improvement?

On the SEO side, we did review how they could help us but the follow up and plan has been slow to come to fruition. This is not our main objective with them but its a value add for us that we could consolidate within one team and I just didn't see a ton of follow through here to win more of our business. They are also quite expensive and when we did have additional work come through in month they almost immediately requested an adjustment to monthly retainer. We worked through it but sometimes these conversations can be a bit more thoughtful in future.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of e-commerce for a luxury beauty company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

We’d gone through some challenges, specifically with paid advertising from Google. Google had always been productive for us when it came to branded searches. Outside of that, though, we weren’t able to make the other Google products work for us. On Google Shopping, for instance, we found that we couldn’t compete with larger retailers that had more equity and better Google rankings than us. It was a constant struggle for us. We worked with various agencies over the years to try to alleviate these issues. However, we had a hard time finding a partner that could understand the unique aspects of our business and customers.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us demystify the challenges surrounding our Google Shopping woes. As a part of this process, they worked to improve our traditional branded and non-branded Google search statistics. By looking at all our keywords across branded and non-branded searches, they’re ensuring that our company has visibility in all necessary areas. 

Google was one of our primary focuses initially, but their broad range of services has caused the scope of our engagement to evolved. They still manage our Google and Bing search tactics. However, they now also manage programmatic display ads, remarketing ads, and Amazon search marketing. They also manage streaming advertising for us, on services like Hulu. We’ve ventured into Pinterest, and we’re looking at dabbling in TikTok and other new platforms. They also provide on-site performance analysis and A/B testing.

What is the team composition?

We’re engaging directly with 6–7 members of their team on various parts of the project scope.

How did you come to work with Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

We were referred to them by an external e-commerce consultant, who’s a valuable part of our team. He had worked with them closely in the past. We had a couple of phone calls and met a lot of the experts on their team. They came back to us with a proposal, and, after 2–3 conversations, we felt really confident in their capabilities and what they were projecting that they could do for us. We decided to bite the bullet and give them a shot.

How much have you invested with them?

We’re spending an average of $18,000 per month with them. That covers a wide range of services, and the cost has evolved since the beginning, along with the scope.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since September 2020. We have an annual contract with them, which we’ll probably renew in September 2021.

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

We’re really satisfied with the performance we’ve seen in the areas they’re managing for us, as well as with the partnership itself. With their strategy in place, we’re reaching a much broader audience than we were previously. They’re getting more traffic to our site, which ultimately leads to more sales.

The productivity of our media spend, which we measure through return on our ad spend, has improved dramatically since engaging with them. If we’re going to spend a certain amount on advertisements, we want to get a certian amount in sales. Especially on the Google side, we were generally seeing twice the amount we spent on ads in revenue. On Google Shopping, we were seeing even less return. Now, we’re seeing a 400% return on Google Shopping. Branded and nonbranded search returns can be anywhere from 400–500%. If we have a promo running, those figures will increase pretty drastically, sometimes reaching 800–900%. Their team has essentially made our investment much more productive.

How did Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re super organized. I don’t know if I’ve worked with another agency that’s as organized as them. They're a very good partner. They listen to our needs and concerns, and I don’t think there was ever a time when we didn’t hear back from them within a day or two.

In addition, we appreciate the knowledge and expertise that they have in-house and how proactive they are in bringing ideas and opportunities to us. There’s no shortage of ideas from them on how to improve our online presence. Their team is much more hands-on and is always looking to make improvements to the channels they’re managing. In the past, we were struggling to get that from other agencies. They would simply do the bare minimum to get by.

We have weekly calls with them where they’ll present their points of view on our strategy and next steps. We communicate ad-hoc things through email, we have weekly conference calls, and we have a monthly regroup. We’re in constant communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They actually care about our success, unlike previous agencies we've worked with. It’s almost as if they're an extension of our internal team. They’re really dedicated partners who are clearly invested in our growth. Because of that, I feel that they go above and beyond. They’re constantly trying to bring more to the table, and they’ll do anything they can to help our business grow.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of one. The people on their team that we’ve been working with on a daily basis are all rock stars.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

You should be clear about the unique characteristics of your business as well as the specificities of the challenge you're facing. Their team spent a lot of time looking at our Google Analytics profile before engaging with us. They also did some research about how we manage the backend of some of our accounts before they came to us with a proposal. The research they put in was really helpful, and the information we provided enabled them to best support us.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a co-ed K-8 independent school in Toronto’s West End. Currently, we’re opening a senior school that will serve students in grades 9-12. Because of that, we’ll become a K-12 school in September 2022. I’m the director of advancements, overseeing fundraising, marketing, and communications. I function as a parent liaison, alumni relations representative, and strategic management support for the board.

What challenge were you trying to address with Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

Because our school is becoming a K-12 school, we needed a brand extension and to revamp our entire marketing portfolio to encompass a K-12 voice. We needed their work to touch everything from admissions, enrollment, fundraising, website, alumni relations, and more.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were hired to review our entire school marketing portfolio and present a manifesto for a K-12 brand extension. Along with the new marketing manifesto, they made a presentation to our board, worked on signage for our new site, delivered our last annual report, and are now handling several website initiatives in the background. 

In the next year, we’ll be developing an entirely new frontend to our website that reflects Art & Science Digital Experience Design’s vision. Much of their visual and digital branding work will be featured on the new site. However, they’re working on a few pages on our current site to help us promote a program within the new senior school. Because of that, we’ve seen some early examples of that website work they can provide. However, we’ll have to wait on implementing their designs until we have a new and improved website.

In addition to building our marketing K-12 vision, they’ve been working on several tactical documents to support the head of the senior school to build up a learning partner and recruit effectively. They’re providing an overall strategic vision as well as a number of tactical activities for us.      

What is the team composition?

I work with Dave (EVP of Client Success). He’s my main point of contact with their team and my go-to for anything to do with marketing and communication. I also work closely with Elli (Account Coordinator). We work with Rachelle (Junior Designer) and Kirk (Chief Creative Officer) as well.

How did you come to work with Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

They were recommended to us by parents and board members at our school. They worked in the marketing world and had used Art & Science Digital Experience Design’s services in the past, confident their services would align with our needs. We’d worked with another marketing company in the past that we weren’t happy with, so we wanted to pivot to an effective organization that could meet our needs.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $75,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since fall 2019.  

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

From a metrics perspective, they delivered the products as planned and made sure our leadership was satisfied with the deliverables. They listen to and respond to our needs well, understanding the important nuances of our multi-faceted organization. We’ve benefited from their help with tactical and strategic items as well as assistance understanding relationship management when it comes to marketing in the education space. 

They’ve been great at guiding our academic organization through a process that allows us to get a strong marketing message out while making the academic leaders feel like they’re being heard and valued.   

To put together their deliverables, they did a lot of interviewing with the community to better understand how to serve us. People they interviewed got back to us with praise for their team. Parents, board members, staff, and faculty alike believe that their team understood us well. That was very important to us. 

How did Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve met all their deadlines and are very responsive. We’ve worked with a number of other third-party vendors with them as well, and they’ve been great at collaborating with those external teams. 

For instance, we had to get our signage ready for the school pretty last-minute with their team on graphic design and another vendor handling printing and instillations. We loved that they took responsibility for the relationship with the other vendor, allowing the school to step back. They recognized that we have a limited staff and fill in the gaps when they see them. That proactive behavior allows us to get time back. We can trust their team to complete projects like this on our behalf without oversight.  

Dave is client-focused and understands our organization. He’s a great person to bounce ideas off. Timelines can be very short for us, so it’s great to have a trusted partner that can help us get things done.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

When they first presented their first idea of the direction they wanted to go, it was clear they did their homework with our organization, competitors, the marketplace, and more. They put a presentation together that showed us that they understood us and could bring a lot to the table through a partnership. Since then, they’ve kept it up all the way through the project.

They listen well and actively respond to what we ask of them. Some marketing companies take information and decide to act based on the way the marketplace wants it. They focus on both the market and our individual needs. There’s a true partnership between our organizations. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have much criticism for their team. They’ve even helped me out when staff members at the school don’t understand what we’re trying to accomplish in marketing. More than other vendors I’ve worked with, they’ve helped me navigate through internal marketing issues with staff members. They stand out in how they respond to clients. If I had to say something, it would be great for them to expand their service offerings.  

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing and communications for Knowledge First Financial. Our organization is an asset management and advisory firm that specializes in registered education savings plans (RESPs).

What challenge were you trying to address with Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

The main challenge was getting more efficacy out of our SEO/PPC digital presence in the market. 

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Art & Science is working with us to reassess how we’re approaching SEO and PPC. Their goal is to find ways for us to leverage our digital spend effectively. 

They started with an analysis of our current system to identify any low-hanging fruit that we could address quickly. The result was a 30-60-90 day plan that prioritized actions for our SEO optimization, PPC buying to stem competitor conquests, and keyword research to take ownership of certain areas. 

Next, they helped us strategize on how to keep on top of our online reputation management (ORM) across our nationwide branches. That involved looking at the reviews that each location received and attributing the positive ones appropriately.

They’re now focusing on executing the plan to raise our SEO in tandem with our ORM.

What is the team composition? 

Our core team consists of four people with an extended team of eight. Adam (Partner) heads the overall digital media, Aurora (Senior SEO Strategist) is our SEO specialist, and then there’s a PPC media buyer. We also have an account manager and a social media specialist.

How did you come to work with Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

I came across Art & Science while serving on the board of directors for an organization. I had some really good feedback and great initial interactions, so I thought that they would be a good fit for our Knowledge First Financial.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, it’s in the ballpark of $150,000–$180,000 CAD (approximately $114,000–$137,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

One of the things that I love about working with Art & Science is that they’re specific about measurements. The team really makes sure that they’re tracking and reporting back on results, both from a year-over-year basis as well as comparisons to the period before. 

For example, looking at our organic traffic from May–August, we’ve seen a 40% increase in the number of users and a 34% increase in the number of new users compared to last year. It’s been a month-over-month increase. 

In terms of PPC, we’ve seen an incredible fivefold increase to our paid traffic as well as a 60% reduction to cost-efficiencies. That’s because they’ve mitigated some of the conquests that our competitors were doing. A focus on longer tail search terms and an evergreen strategy have helped us maintain our strong position, too. 

We’ve also had a better sightline of our incoming reviews thanks to some ORM tracking tools that they’ve implemented. This has been great in helping us understand where we need to do more work, not to mention it boosts our responsiveness.  

How did Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve been really impressed with the service overall. We have biweekly meetings where they report our results, though they’re prompt in reaching out to us if there’s an issue or a change recommendation. 

The data comes from Google Analytics, which we can access through a cloud-based dashboard. It’s great that we can access our data at any time to gain insights. The rest of our communication is mostly through phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Beyond the results, I’m most impressed with their willingness to work with our business as true partners in every sense of the word. They’re receptive to our ideas and questions, which makes it feel like they’re a part of our team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not at this stage.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be transparent about what your business challenges are because they have a great brain trust on their team that can strategically figure our problems. The more information you get to them, the more they have to work with when coming up with effective solutions.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the communications and digital media lead for The Robert McLaughlin Gallery. We’re the largest public art gallery in the Durham region of Ontario, Canada. We exhibit modern and contemporary art, and our permanent collection is primarily known for housing the largest collection of Painters Eleven works. They were the Canadian abstract expressionist side of the Group of Seven. Given how famous the Group of Seven is, Painters Eleven would be the equivalent, but for abstract expressionism.

We have a historical collection of photographs as well called The Thomas Bouckley Collection. We exhibit current artists annually. We have a robust schedule for works from our permanent collection and contemporary exhibitions. We’re also a community hub for arts and culture in the region.

We host a lot of community events, and, during non-pandemic times, we offer on-site art classes and workshops for children and adults. We run school programming for educators and children, and we also do programming related to our exhibitions. Most importantly, admission to our galleries is always free, and we’ve recently launched a new membership program.

Relating to COVID, the gallery was closed to the public from mid-March to late-July 2020. We created a virtual alternative during that time, trying to maintain a connection to our audience online through visual engagement. We’re still carrying that forward as a priority, but we’ve reopened to the public.

What challenge were you trying to address with Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

We’d applied for and received a $50,000 CAD (approximately $37,900 USD) grant from the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Strategy Fund, which was specifically designed to help art institutions go through digital transformations. There were a few funding streams, and the one we applied for was for building a digital strategy for the gallery.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Art & Science was hired to build a comprehensive digital strategy for the gallery. The process involved an initial research phase, during which they got to know our staff, what the gallery was about, and the community we serve. They did interviews with our staff and key stakeholders, after which we had a back and forth process with multiple check-ins and meetings with our team so that they could understand what our needs were. We worked throughout the summer to refine the strategy.

What is the team composition?

There were 6–7 people involved at different stages of the project. I met most of them during calls. Art & Science had a dedicated team for the project, with each member specializing in a different area. We had someone focused on UI/UX research and design, and someone else focused on SEO and the website. Spence (President) and Dave (Executive Vice President, Client Success) worked on the overall strategy, and there were some consultants for the art museum strategy part.

How did you come to work with Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

We’d already started on the path of digital transformation when I came onboard, pre-COVID. I looked at a few agencies, and we had a few of them pitch to us. Art & Science seemed to be the best one for this job.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $45,000 CAD (approximately $34,000 USD) in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in January 2020, and most of the work ended up happening during COVID, after we closed in March. Everything was wrapped up in August 2020.

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

Art & Science put together a digital strategy that was far more comprehensive and detailed than we’d expected. It was a great experience working with them. Some consultants will deliver barebones strategy documents, but what Art & Science did spoke to our needs as a gallery. They also had a good understanding of our limited resources and capacity, and they worked around some of those things.

The quality of the work was excellent, and they were very supportive throughout the process. Art & Science really took the time to understand our needs as an institution, and that’s something we really valued. Not everyone in an art or cultural institution will have the background to understand the digital space, so working with consultants can be daunting. Art & Science was amazing in being able to understand the needs of an art gallery. They’ve worked with multiple art organizations in the past, so they understood our needs very well and listened to the feedback we provided. There were multiple opportunities for us to give feedback to them and for them to adapt the strategy according to that feedback. That was an excellent process, and it was a good experience working with them overall.

We were really happy with the final outcome. It was detailed, not just an overview document. The higher-level strategy was there, but it also contained detailed suggestions on what we could actually implement. It was a nice balance between an overall strategy and a practical one. We’ve been implementing some of those suggestions and strategies for the last two months, and it’s going really well.

How did Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

We had some delays on our end, but Art & Science was great in accommodating that and working through some of the challenges we faced during COVID. Everything was well-organized, and Art & Science was client-focused. They adapted to our schedule, and everything was well-managed and done in a timely manner.

What did you find most impressive about them?

There were many great things about working with Art & Science, but the highlight is how passionate they were about the art, rather than just being focused on marketing, communication, or web design. They have a holistic understanding of working in the arts, and that was ideal for us as an art museum. The research Art & Science put into the strategy and the examples they came up with were impressive. 

They shared a lot of material from other art organizations that they found inspiring. The highlight was how dedicated to the project and passionate Art & Science was. In some ways, that was unexpected to see coming from a digital agency. They were just fun to work with as well.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients should engage in the feedback process and not be afraid to really work with them. Some of us were a bit hesitant in the beginning because we weren’t sure how Art & Science would be received when we started working with them as a new partner. It became obvious that they were responsive to feedback and even open to us critiquing them on occasion or asking them to go deeper on something. They really delivered on that end, and it was a great experience for us.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Farsedakis Beauty Brands. We have two beauty brands called Pretty Vulgar and Blinc. They're both color cosmetics.

What challenge were you trying to address with Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

Internally, we don’t have anyone who knows PPC. We were doing it internally and could only get so far. Realizing how complicated and in-depth this particular space has become, we decided to outsource this process.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired them specifically for PPC and paid search, but they’ve gone outside of that to help our digital strategy. For example, we had a video on our home page which we thought was essential to our brand because we have special technology in our mascara. Art & Science discovered that it created a really slow loading time which meant we were losing a lot of people. They even AB test content and write new content without us asking them to.

Every once in a while, I ask them to test different strategies knowing that we could lose money, but am hoping to find something that we could successfully scale.

What is the team composition?

Philip is our main contact (Digital Marketing Manager), and then I work with Adam (VP & Partner).

How did you come to work with Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc.?

We wanted a partner that could be better, faster and cheaper than us. We worked with several other vendors and learned something in each of those engagements. For example, we worked with a large company, thinking it would help us get attention, but it didn’t work out We learned that we didn’t have the same budget as their other clients, so we didn’t get the same attention and we didn’t have the best people on our account.

Learning from that, we were able to dial in on specific details in our interviews. I wanted to know who specifically was going to be on our account, what their background was, and how they worked. I really liked that Art & Sciences has a team approach. They battle internally and that helps prevent problems in the campaign.

How much have you invested with them?

Their fees are about $500,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around September 2019 and it’s ongoing.

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

They really excelled in my eyes. Other agencies that I worked with solely did PPC, but Art & Science understood that we were looking to grow our business. Every time they found something we could improve, even if it was outside of their scope, they would come to me.

Early on, they got me excited about the partnership by providing these really valuable insights. They clearly cared about building our business.

This is a crazy year, and so I don’t care that much about top of funnel activities. I only care about how much money they can generate for me. They’re doing a great job following that.

They’re great at executing the plan, finding obstacles, and overcoming them.

How did Art & Science Digital Experience Design Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They changed their reporting so it was more meaningful for me. I only care about my bottom line. Google Analytics can be a little vague, so Art & Sciences included everything from their fees to how the ads performed. Then they calculated a net positive or net negative.

Taking it a step further, their reporting is more than I could expect. Every month, they provide a phenomenal presentation to show me all of the tests they’ve done.

They’re great communicators. Their reports explain what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. On top of that, they’re great at sticking to budget and listening to what we needed.

When COVID-19 hit and I had to call and tell them to pause the project, they were very understanding and paused their fees. Before anything, they’re amazing people and they’re highly competent. I can’t speak highly enough about them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re honest and have told us what our issues are, what they can do, where they’re limited, and if they haven’t figured something out yet. I’ve been in this industry for a long time, and the last thing I want is a dishonest partner. Art & Science is aligned with our goals and are trying their best to help us find success. That makes them good partners because they’re very transparent about the pros and cons of the journey.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m happy with our partnership. I have zero complaints.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It would really depend on who the client is. I would tell a smaller business owner to do exactly what I’m doing. Don’t worry about how many links and clicks you have; focus on the revenue it generates for you.