SBLI is a life insurance company based in Massachusetts. Since we were founded in 1907, we've served over a million families with affordable, dependable life insurance. We primarily sell term and whole life insurance as well as annuities. I'm the assistant vice president and communications manager and have worked here for 13 years.

We needed a like-minded creative partner who could help us show customers why life insurance was significant, answer their questions, and counter stereotypes. Since most financial services companies just say people need life insurance without explaining why, we needed to break through the clutter.

At the time, we were running a successful campaign with Tedy Bruschi for Patriots Hall of Fame linebacker, and he was our company spokesman. We needed a team to help us continue to tell that story.

Using the same channels we had in place, Forge Worldwide brainstormed an engaging new way to present our campaign artistically with a black-and-white feel. Forge helped secure the photography and television crews. The team enhanced the way it was presented artistically, and they brought a fresh perspective to it.

They shot radio and TV commercials as well as still photography. Our media buys were a collaborative effort. Other tasks we assigned them included marketing our company in general via direct mail and social media. They came up with advertising ideas to represent us well.

The team also pitched the tagline we used both for this and across all our marketing for several years: "No Nonsense Like You." We were known as the no-nonsense life insurance company, and they put a fresh twist on that reputation to make customers feel they were being treated in a direct, simple, and straightforward manner.

We had both an account representative and frequent access to the president and creative director. Harry (CEO, Forge Worldwide) and Rob (Principal Executive, Forge Worldwide) co-founded Forge Worldwide together. We regularly met in person with them frequently, along with daily contact with our account rep. The beauty of their company is their personalized representation and relationships they form. I got to know many Forge employees very well over the course of our relationship.

We conducted an extensive search for creative partners in our area. We met with Forge Worldwide several times during our evaluation process and hired them because their presentation was the most creative. They respected what our brand had stood for in the past but also helped us dust it off a bit. Having been in business since 1907, we were proud of our brand. We needed a fresh perspective that still represented our past and heritage. Forge Worldwide had the most fitting idea of any company we considered.

It was essential to me that we have a partner we could trust to accurately represent not only our company but also our spokesperson. After sitting down with Harry and Rob, it was clear that the campaign would be in good hands with their team.

We had Forge Worldwide on retainer. Any production we did with them like commercials was an additional cost.

We started working together in the summer of 2011. 

We use a lead attribution system internally to measure the effectiveness of our campaigns. Additionally, we received word-of-mouth feedback about our advertising like direct mail. It's not a perfect science, but Forge Worldwide definitely helped us instate continuity into our advertising efforts. We used the tagline they proposed company-wide.

Visually, it's easy to see the difference they made in applying consistency across all our communications. They strengthened and positioned our brand to show we never try to hustle or upsell our consumers. It reinforced our core values of treating people fairly and transparently.

Forge Worldwide's account reps were very thorough. We met with them on a weekly basis to discuss all the work in progress. Sometimes, we had to put together an advertisement on very short notice, and they always turned workaround for us on time. At the same time, they were always able to maintain a long-range view.

We planned the TV shoots extensively months in advance and relied on their experience in that field. Considering how ambitious they were, our shooting days went very smoothly. The team could both work on the fly and plan strategic approaches far ahead of time.

The main criteria I look for in advertising companies are being very transparent about cost and capabilities. I don’t appreciate it when a vendor claims to have TV or radio expertise and then turns out not to have that skill when I need it. I always knew that Forge Worldwide could deliver upon everything they said they would. They listened carefully and were capable and professional.

The main criteria I look for in advertising companies are being very transparent about cost and capabilities. I don’t appreciate it when a vendor claims to have TV or radio expertise and then turns out not to have that skill when I need it.  I always knew that Forge Worldwide could deliver upon everything they said they would. They listened carefully to me and were capable and professional.

I encourage future clients to put their trust in Forge Worldwide. Don't be afraid to ask them questions or ask for their time. They will always make themselves available to you. The team listens well and takes a personal and collaborative approach to managing client accounts. They always make sure they get it right and can pivot quickly if you're not fully satisfied.

I’m the SVP of communications for Johnson & Wales University. We’re based in Rhode Island, but we also have branch campuses in Colorado, Florida, and North Carolina. Our programs consist of 13,000 undergraduate, graduate, and online students.

Our biggest challenge revolved around brand recognition. We spent decades developing a worldwide reputation as a culinary university; so despite expanded our programs to include multiple colleges of varying disciplines, most people didn’t know the full breadth of our services. Our ultimate goal is to increase admissions and support campus fundraising. But the targeted goal with this engagement was to change our reputation and improve brand awareness.

We engaged in a full rebranding campaign, so Forge Worldwide helped us with campaign strategy and development. They handled a lot of the creative work, but our in-house team slowly adopted that responsibility over time. Following that, they oversaw the campaign’s full implementation and execution. Another component of that initiative involved an ongoing analysis reputation and awareness.

Being both a traditional and digital campaign, Forge Worldwide helped us purchase media to support the rebranding effort. The traditional advertising push included two television commercials and a significant amount of air time. We also ran radio ads and purchased billboards across each campus’s home state. That being said, the majority of the project revolved around digital marketing.

Harry (CEO, Forge Worldwide) and Rob (Principal, Forge Worldwide) were involved from start to finish. However, Melissa (Director of Client Engagement, Forge Worldwide) was our primary contact throughout the process. We also interacted with an account manager and a graphic design team.

I had worked with them while I was with another University and appreciated their skill set. That was a branding project as well, so I recommended them once this challenge came up. We interviewed five different companies but ultimately selected Forge Worldwide.

We spent over $1 million.

We worked together from October 2014–December 2017

Before the rebranding project took place, we surveyed prospective students, the parents of prospective students, and alumni to establish a brand awareness benchmark. We found that 85% of the measured group knew us only as a cooking school. After the first two years of rebranding ourselves within each community, we saw our reputation shift positively in every category. Now that campaign has concluded, our metrics indicate that we’ve penetrated the market significantly. I wish we could’ve continued the relationship with Forge Worldwide, but we had to shift money to other operations.

We held biweekly telephone meetings with them to keep the project moving along. The frequency of those calls increased to weekly occurrences during peak development times. While the issues being discussed often varied, Melissa always joined us on the call. Rob and Harry would attend these meetings on occasion.

Our internal team over-managed them at first. They were hired to be creative and have artistic freedom, but we weren’t allowing that to happen. We eventually worked it out by having both parties listen and communicate. Harry checked in with us frequently to keep his finger on the pulse of the relationship. I found that to be invaluable to our success. Creative differences occurred, but they approached each situation professionally and developed reasonable solutions.

Forge Worldwide didn’t just follow the assignments and accept our critiques. We developed a good rapport with them as they further iterated each deliverable. They always responded to our desires when we wanted to move from one direction to another.

We appreciate their strategic mindset. They utilized a thorough discovery process to develop accurate insights regarding our brand identity. That process enabled them to create an effective campaign tagline that encapsulates our essence as a university.

I wish we could’ve addressed the micromanagement issue sooner than we did. I would’ve liked if they pushed us with new concepts and ideas from the start. I’ve already discussed this feedback with Harry and Melissa on numerous occasions.

I'm the former CMO of Friendly's, a restaurant chain.

We reached out to Forge for advertising services after we launched some changes to our menu, including an aggressive $5 value meal program to drive more business. 

Forge provided advertising services, including a campaign to drive our “fiver,” or $5 menu items. They got us spots in print magazines and also created commercials, providing a filming crew and production services in the process.

We worked with about 10 people, including an account manager.

They reached out to us and pitched a lot of great ideas that made sense for our business. They also presented themselves very well during the RFP process in which we considered between 5–10 other firms.

We spent somewhere between $500,000–$1 million.

We worked with them from around January 2015–March 2016.

Forge's advertising campaign significantly increased traffic to our restaurants, outpacing our competitors. Although the industry as a whole did not see much growth in absolute traffic, the fact that we were able to outperform our competitors is proof of their success. Customers responded very well to a few of the commercials they produced as well.

They were very organized, proactive, and on time throughout the engagement. It was also great having the two principals of the company so involved in the shoots and much of the strategy development.

Having senior leadership involved in our campaign added a lot of value. There are a lot of good people on their team who are authentic and had our best interests at heart.

We worked with them for over a year before moving in a different direction with another firm that was a little edgier. Although I continued conversations with Forge, I think there were some areas they may have played it too safe, but overall it was a still great experience.

Be as clear as possible regarding business objectives, goals, and a plan for measuring success.