Hersick + Webster Creative Partners

I am the executive director at Martinsburg-Berkeley Visitors Bureau.

We were looking to rebrand our association to give it a more updated look. It had been several years since we created the initial branding and it was out of date.

Hersick+Webster provided branding services for us. They helped us analyze our existing brand and expand upon it. They created a branding book, which contains different fonts, color schemes, and seasonal changes that can be made to our branding.

My main points of contact were James (Principle & Director of Strategy and Design Impact) and Laurel (Principal & Creative Director).

We interviewed several firms but decided on Hersick+Webster because the scope of work they provided was comprehensive.

The initial investment was $10,000, but we liked it so much we boosted it to the $15,000 package.

Our engagement ran from October 2019–January 2021.

We saw a 6% increase in website traffic, and it’s continuing to grow. Our website is easier to use and much more interactive. We’ve received great feedback from the general public, including city and county leadership, on our new branding, especially the pops of color.

We mainly communicated via phone and email. They would email us at least once every two weeks to let us know the status of the project. Eventually, our emails became more spaced out as we got a better handle on the project.

Hersick+Webster listened to what we wanted to be done. We asked for their feedback since they have experience. Their ability to combine our vision with their expertise resulted in a successful project. They are willing to cooperate and listen to what the client wants.

No, we’re very satisfied.

Know what you want, but even if you don’t, they’ll be happy to guide you. They really gt to know the community at hand through research, which allows them to create such unique results.

I’m the founder of Be Well Counseling. It’s a mental health counseling agency that provides services to clients who are struggling with any variety of mental health situations.

I was looking for marketing and branding help as I grew. They originally did my website when I first changed my name. As I’m adding other therapists to my business, I needed to rebrand. This effort included redoing our WordPress website and changing the branding from being solely focused on me to adding what my therapists are able to offer to the community as well.

Hersick+Webster created my original logo and for this rebrand, they only removed the “Betterment” part so our logo now reflects Be Well Counseling. They created my rack and business cards. When I switched to telehealth because of the pandemic, their team helped me a bit with social media marketing. However, the majority of their work is branding.

Laurel (Principal & Creative Director) is our primary contact and James (Principal & Director of Strategy & Design Impact) is also involved.

I met James at a conference. Laurel and James are both very invested in our community. They have a good pulse on what our community needs and how to connect with people.

We’ve invested around $10,000.

Our ongoing engagement started in March 2015.

I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from my clients that they enjoy going to the website and seeing what we’re about. I’ve also received feedback about our name, and that wasn’t an easy project. I wanted the name to fit me and it’s clear that Hersick+Webster really listened to everything I said.

They’re excellent and always on top of project management. Their team responds quickly and is timely. If I have any questions, they get back to me immediately. They’re great with meeting deadlines and helping me keep deadlines too. We typically communicate through email.

It has to be their authenticity. Hersick+Webster wants their clients to feel that they can be who they are. Part of the branding process was illustrating and sharing what I feel. They got to know me and how I want to be portrayed. Their team was great at the discovery process. Hersick+Webster is detail-oriented and client-centered. They really care and genuinely wanted me to be successful.

No, I wouldn’t say there’s anything.

Be willing to open up and trust them. Show up as much as you can as yourself. Get ready to pull up your sleeves and dig in.

I’m the campaign manager for a governor’s race in West Virginia.

We contracted Hersick+Webster to build the website for our campaign.

We had an initial consultation call with them where we walked them through the functionalities we were seeking. They built us an initial template, and after a few rounds of review, they launched the WordPress website.

I worked with two people, and my main point of contact was Laurel (Principal & Creative Director, Hersick+Webster).

We had a set of criteria for our ideal vendor, who would ideally be a smaller business that included people from a range of identities. We looked primarily at women- and minority-owned businesses. After shortlisting 3­–4 candidates that we found online or through recommendations, we saw Hersick+Webster’s proposal and decided to go with it.

We’ve spent somewhere between $5000–$10,000.

We began working together in September of 2018, and we have them on an ongoing contract.

We’ve seen other candidates pick up our campaign design to replicate or rework it to fit theirs. We’re excited to see this branding echo—which is happening organically—spread among the groups that we work closely with. We think it’s a testament to how visually memorable their work is.

They’ve truly been a breeze to work with. Laurel’s incredibly responsive, and we’re grateful for that since campaigns move really quickly. Whenever we need new materials or help with the site, she’s on it. Even during odd hours, Laurel reacts to issues quickly and thoroughly. The team has been phenomenal at navigating our varying levels of literacy in design and web development.

It’s been amazingly simple working with them because they don’t oversell or make unnecessary suggestions. They’re very clear about what they can and can’t do, as well as about how much things will cost. I never feel like I’m in the dark about what our options are.

I really don’t think so, no.

The more you can have written down and pre-formed before you work with them, the better off you’ll be. Coming in with a plan for what you want can be helpful.

I’m the executive director at the Society for Advanced Body Imaging.

We changed our name and logo so we were interested in having someone help us with the messaging. We wanted to show the world we’re not the same company that we were 25 years ago.

James (Principal, Director of Strategy & Design Impact) and Laurel (Creative Director) put together a presentation after doing research and looked at a variety of names. They researched the meaning of the names that we came up with and looked at the impact one word may have had over another. After they presented to the board, they came back with a lot of questions, ideas, and suggestions.

We worked with James and Laurel who actually teamed up with another company that had a professional writer.

When I was looking for a company, I talked to a wide variety of small and large companies. Somebody told me about a person who wrote articles for medical magazines and I was intrigued because a large part of our rebranding was messaging. I reached out to that person, but they didn’t feel comfortable with graphics. They knew Hersick+Webster from someplace else, so they partnered up and came to me. They put together a proposal and projects they did for other companies, which were excellent.

I spent about $15,000 with them.

We worked together from July 2019–March 2020.

The new brand has been really well-received. I was particularly worried about the people that founded this society, but they love the new logo, new name, and everything about it. I haven’t received any negative feedback. People have reengaged with the society which is great. My president got a standing ovation at the end of their report and that has never happened.

They were wonderful. They were so responsive; I sent an email and got one right back. Being a smaller organization, it’s easy for us to sometimes get things lost in the crack, but they never let us do that. Weekly, they checked in and everyone really managed everything incredibly well.

They did so much for such a low price compared to other places in my experience and the work delivered was of high quality.

No, I can’t think of anything.

Give them the freedom to do what they do best.

I’m the founder and director of Social Studio, a local neighborhood atelier that holds art classes and workshops.

My business is very new, and my background is in teaching; I had no sense of professional marketing. I decided to defer to branding experts to delineate and reflect my vision.

James (Creative Director, Hersick + Webster) and Laurel (Art Director, Hersick + Webster) engaged me in extensive conversations to help discover my professional identity.

I just worked with James and Laurel.

They were recommended to me by my good friend and advisor. She works in the marketing department of the University of Maryland, so even though I hesitated to seek professional assistance, I trusted her recommendation. I was also attracted to Hersick + Webster because they have a history of working with companies for social good.

I’ve spent somewhere under $10,000. I expect that the collateral materials, like Mailchimp templates, flyers, and notes will cost me an additional amount.

We began working together in August of 2019, and the work is ongoing. My business opened in September, but the roll-out of the branding elements has been gradual.

They’ve done exceptional, thorough, and thoughtful work. Thanks to them, I was able to truly discover who I want to be, as a business. They’re outstanding at what they do—and the goal of community-building, which is an integral component of my business, came naturally to them.

They were great because they were very transparent about delineating the timeline and explaining how the process works. We held weekly meetings through video call. They were reachable through text and email.

They were phenomenal to work with; they transcended the traditional client relationship to really partner with me. They never tried to sell me anything, they really collaborated with me to push me towards actualizing my professional identity.

Other than wanting them to live closer to me, I don’t have any complaints. They handled a long-distance engagement exceptionally well; they visited me for in-person meetings and made me feel very close to them.

Trust their process, and don’t hold back with your ideas. They’re the ones who can help you execute and visualize your dreams in a way that no one could do on their own.