While we at Olberding Brand Family pride ourselves on developing effective partnerships with every client, some clients need a more hands-on, consultative approach from our team, often based on their size and/or the scope of their projects. So, we provide teams that are embedded within their business — or integrated partners as we call them.
While we at Olberding Brand Family pride ourselves on developing effective partnerships with every client, some clients need a more hands-on, consultative approach from our team, often based on their size and/or the scope of their projects. So, we provide teams that are embedded within their business — or integrated partners as we call them.
These integrated teams create a truly holistic partnership. They typically work onsite (or in very close collaboration) with the client’s marketing team, packaging team, design team, and development team to ensure that projects are completed on time, fully aligned with brand equities and client expectations, with access to all the services and solutions needed, and in the most cost-effective ways possible.
By being involved from the outset, these teams are aware of and sensitive to every aspect of the project: timelines, objectives, scope, printing requirements, budget, and more. The integrated team is far enough upstream to ask the right questions and anticipate challenges to streamline the process, save time, minimize headaches, shoulder more work on behalf of the client’s team, and accelerate speed to market. They also enable the client to instantly leverage our deep experience with production artwork, the prepress process, and color separations, and allow them to lean on us to facilitate more productive interactions with the printer.
A recent example demonstrates how the integrated team approach benefitted the client and the project. Our client, a Fortune 500 beauty brand, was working on a new product launch and had a rough version of flat art but wanted to create a 3D packaging sample to present to their leadership team. Because the integrated team was on the kickoff call, we were able to add value to the client’s brand with our Atlanta team which specializes in comps and mock-ups.
Integrated teams often share office space with the client, which facilitates “over the cubicle” conversations, ideation, and spur-of-the-moment problem-solving. In one case, limited by COVID restrictions, we created a “virtual” integrated team fully immersed in the client’s day-to-day process and progress by leveraging Microsoft Teams collaboration technology.
Since it is not unusual for CPG brands to rotate marketing people across brands to provide cross-pollination of insights and ideas, an integrated team also offers the additional benefit of serving as brand ambassadors, facilitating a smooth transition and ensuring the transfer of essential brand knowledge.
While having access to an integrated team can add value, and save time, money, and headaches, it may not be practical for every company or every situation.