TWIST Creative is a Cleveland-based brand and design agency, with a focus on B2B and B2C designs, that has been in business for 20 years. Their team of Fearless Thinkers works with a variety of clients on projects ranging from brand development and positioning to campaign development, social media management, digital marketing, TV production, media planning and buying and public relations.
The Challenge
Before Hive, TWIST was storing files on their server, so they were easily accessible to teammates, or passing information along via physical copies of notes, documents, and briefs. The team also used Excel spreadsheets for tracking data across the organization. These methods proved challenging for the team, as they weren’t able to update documents easily without resending them to relevant parties. They also had no way of tracking conversations or notes taken over time, which stifled communication.
Overall, the TWIST team was using a variety of disparate tools and techniques, but nothing that was user friendly and that everyone on the team – from management, to account services to creative – could easily access, update and understand. The lack of centralized communication was hampering their progress as an agency.
The Solution
The TWIST team spent several months searching for a project management tool, but quickly fell in love with Hive. Some of the features they were looking for in a tool included easy-to-use communication, file storage, and proofing functionality, all of which Hive had. They also loved the Hive team — it was clear that the Hive team had an open line of communication to customers and would take their recommendations to heart. Once their team implemented Hive, they immediately started using it as their system of record for all campaigns, tracking progress from concept to completion.
When a project or campaign planning session kicks off, the team will start a group chat about a client or project so that they’re all sharing similar information and staying up to date on the latest project updates. Every project corresponds to a client or campaign, and is set up so that the management team, creative directors and proofing team can ensure that client work is accurate and on-brand. Throughout the campaign, tasks and sub-actions will be added based on deliverables for the client.
Proofing and approvals in Hive is also a major part of the TWIST workflow, as it helps streamline leadership’s ability to sign off on client work quickly – even ahead of schedule – and make sure they hit every deadline. Because approvals in Hive can have multiple stages and assignees, all of TWIST’s leadership team has the ability to provide real-time feedback on all client materials.
When on team or client meetings, the TWIST team actively uses Hive Chat and Hive Notes, which helps them take and store notes in one coherent place for greater efficiency. Additionally, TWIST uses several Hive Apps, including Analytics, which allows leadership to track how the team is pacing and supervise project completion, as well as tasks completed by individual. Hive Forms are also utilized, which helps TWIST easily intake client information with a few clicks and store that intel in one central location (Hive!).
Overall, Hive has made the TWIST Creative team more efficient and flexible. What would have needed to be a meeting previously is now a quick chat. It’s also brought their team closer together.
With the move to remote work earlier this year, Hive has been a complete game changer – a year ago work from home would have been much more difficult for the TWIST team. The minute they had to change to remote work, they continued moving forward. They’ve been communicating daily and client work hasn’t stopped once — instead of worrying about the logistics of a new workflow, Hive has allowed the TWIST team to focus on what really matters which is important during a crisis like this.
