Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the IT project manager of Brown Family Wine Group, a private, family-owned wine company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Emote Digital?
We’re a very traditional business and we’re a little slow on the digital curve. We needed to get serious about the direct-to-consumer digital economy and we needed to coordinate our efforts for direct-to-consumer offline and digital. There was a lot of inconsistency between what we were doing in digital and in our offline space.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They developed WordPress WooCommerce websites. We needed them to work within our requirements regarding product management, site management, and the functionality of templates, navigation, and mobility. UX was a big factor with regard to the simplicity of design and navigation. We wanted a fast, effective, simple customer experience.
What is the team composition?
My point of contact is Brendon (Digital Project Director, Emote Digital). He coordinates with the development team and the designers to bring the build together. Indirectly, we dealt with some of the broader team, as well as Boyd (Director, Emote Digital), one of the partners, and Matt (Digital Marketing Director, Emote Digital) who helped us with MailChimp integration as well as helping us set up templates and automation.
How did you come to work with Emote Digital?
They were recommended to us.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent $100,000-$150,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in March 2018 and the work is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We’re satisfied that the sites individually promote their own brand and have their own brand personality. I don’t think the sites appear to be cookie cutter websites out of the same factory.
How did Emote Digital perform from a project management standpoint?
They follow an agile methodology and break work into sprints. Brendon and I would discuss priorities and work out a schedule with regard to sprints. I held a weekly phone call with him to review progress and upcoming deliverables. They’d have workshops when we needed to do a deep dive into requirements or design on a particular site or sprint. They use Trello and other tools to track their work. They invited us onto their Trello board so we could see their progress.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They focus on customer requirements and honor them. If Brendon felt we were putting a requirement on the table that didn’t make sense or could be done a lot better, he’d consult with us on it. He’s brave enough to challenge me on that. We’re really pleased with them.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They follow a formal methodology, but the reporting around that wasn’t always given to me. However, I could get access to it very quickly.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Understand your core objectives, your project requirements, and what the problem is you’re trying to solve. Be really clear on your expectations around delivery and timelines. Make sure they have the capacity to meet your needs.
