Case Studies
illy Café – Needed a Digital Agency Turnaround
illy café has great brand recognition, but because of the growing competition was having trouble staying connected with its consumers. It needed to find a way to better target them and build a relationship with them in the digital and social space.
Situation/Background
With business in a generally flat state, the illy café team was in need of a fresh look by a new agency to help it figure out how to best manage the brand’s online sales. illy café had basically “outgrown” their current agency. The levels of service had fallen off over the years and the level of strategic thinking had also fallen off quite significantly. And the one additional thing that helped drive illy to look for a new firm was the fact that the current agency hadn’t pushed illy café into new and innovative (and more effective) digital marketing platforms.
Search Requirements
illy café was looking for a new agency in the New York/Connecticut area. They wanted the agency to be immersed in e-commerce, paid search, digital marketing/advertising, re-targeting, affiliate marketing, social media, and SEO. In addition the agency needed to understand the business of managing prospect funnels, driving consumers to websites, and driving trial.
Agency Selection
Finding just any old digital agency wasn’t going to do. The agency needed to be steeped in the digital and social space. Key was doing the due diligence necessary to make sure that agencies that said they had this experience…really did have it. After reviewing hundreds of agency websites, and sending out pre-qualifying questions, and interviewing agencies, RSW/AgencySearch narrowed its list down to 7 recipients of an RSW/AgencySearch produced RFI. Each RFI was carefully reviewed to make certain that the criteria needed was indeed part of the agency’s DNA. Three finalist agencies presented and Barefoot, out of Cincinnati won.
