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Please introduce your company and describe your role within the organization.
Deal Design is a top-ranked and award-winning brand design agency with 25 years of experience specializing in Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) branding, package design, sales collateral, websites, and digital marketing to support start-up and emerging brands that are trying to bring products to market in Amazon, grocery, mass, club, convenience, drug, and specialty store channels.
As co-principals, Nancy and I (David) work directly with our clients and lead a team of 12 highly-experienced creative professionals to build brands that stand out from their competitors–becoming leaders in their categories.
What inspired the founding of your company, and what is the story behind its inception?
We met in design school and married shortly thereafter. We spent the next 4 years working for advertising agencies, marketing groups, and for CPG companies directly. When the tech bubble burst in 1999, and the economy went into recession, we decided to open our own agency and serve startup and emerging brands–delivering the same high quality work as big national brands receive, for a fraction of the price.
What are the core values and principles that drive your company's culture, and how do you ensure alignment with these values across your team?
- Creativity: Design unique solutions and identities for our client and their products. Anyone can copy someone else. Our value is in designing a new creative approach that gets our client noticed and valued for their unique offering.
- Innovation: It takes courage to develop something new, that does not copy someone else. People often misplace confidence in the comfortable feeling looking like a successful competitor, and that being a look-alike will bring business. It’s a recipe for disaster. It takes courage to boldly step out in a new and innovative direction within your category, and that’s what leaders do. They boldly go their own way. Leaders lead. Followers follow.
- Pragmatism: We are in business to help our clients sell their products. This is the number one mission objective. No matter how beautiful or creative something is, if it doesn’t sell, then we failed at our mission. Our creative work needs to be pragmatic and ensure we achieve our client’s number one goal of sales rather than offer beautiful art for art’s sake. We are in the business of selling for our clients, not making art.
- Individualized Team Service: The principals work directly with every client and supervise our creative team–bringing their 50+ years of combined experience to every project. By leveraging our expensive experience across hundreds of brands, we ensure the best possible outcome for every brand.
Can you highlight some of the key achievements or milestones your company has accomplished since its inception?
Every year. Deal Design develops creative solutions for 30+ brands, many of them being invented from scratch. Over our 25 years in business, we have won 10 prestigious awards from national and global organizations. Our clients have grown from startups to Fortune 500 brands, appeared on ABC’s Shark Tank, secured IPOs, and won global accolades.
Could you explain your company's business model? Do you primarily operate with an in-house team or utilize third-party vendors/outsourcing?
All our work is done by our in-house creative team with office locations in San Diego-California, Miami-Florida, and Port St. Lucie-Florida. We work on a per-project basis and offer discounted annual contracts for ongoing work.
How does your company differentiate itself from competitors in the industry?
At Deal Design, you work directly with our Principals, not a lower-level project manager. Our experience across every segment of retail (food, beverage, healthcare, cleaning, automotive, general merchandise, etc.) means we know how to sell anything–drawing experience from what has worked in other categories and similar products from our extensive experience.
How would you describe the dynamics within your team, and how do you foster collaboration and teamwork to achieve common goals?
Our team is 100% in-house, which delivers the utmost efficiency of speed and quality. Teams that work closely together produce higher quality work products. Our client’s sales are the ultimate validation of our work. When our clients are successful, we know we are successful.
What measures do you take to support the professional development and growth of your employees? Do you offer training programs or opportunities for skill enhancement?
All our employees are formally trained, many of whom have Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees (BFA) from prestigious institutions. We stay relevant by embracing, testing, and adopting new technologies and practices that keep our clients at the forefront of their categories. We make design decisions based on marketing research studies, including in-store shelve studies. We also stay on the latest software and techniques by attending the Adobe Max creativity conference annually.
Could you share a notable success story or case study that exemplifies the impact your company has had on a client's business?
We were engaged to develop the branding, packaging, and sales collateral for a new line of cleaning products by Miracle Brands USA called Miracle Wipes®. After developing the logo design, customized packaging, and sales presentations for the product line, the brand secured distribution in leading retailers nationwide including Sherwin-Williams, Home Depot, Lowes, Ace Hardware, WalMart, and many other chains. With over 10,000 retail location selling their products, the brand sold to a larger holding company within 5 years. It was a huge success. You can see our work in retail locations today.
What industries do you primarily cater to, and do you have a significant percentage of repeat clients? If so, what is the ratio of repeat clients?
We specialize in CPG companies in every product category. 70% of our business are in Food, beverage, consumer electronics, and skin care, and general merchandise. 30% are service-based businesses.
What initiatives does your company undertake to foster innovation and stay at the forefront of industry trends? Do you invest in research and development projects?
We are part of Adobe Systems (maker of Adobe Creative Suite Software) advisory group and are often contacted by industry investors to be part of advisory panels regarding technology trends for the creative industry. David Deal serves as an industry expert in the area of packaging design and trademarking. We test and evaluate new products that come to market to ensure we can deliver the best for our clients. We also Attend conferences online and in person also keeping our team on top of trends and time saving shortcuts.
Please share some of the most sought-after services that clients approach your company for.
We are most often contacted to develop new brand identities, brand style guides, packaging design, and product catalogs (print and online) for CPG products going to market.
How do you build and maintain strong relationships with your clients, and what mechanisms do you have in place for gathering and acting upon client feedback?
We usually experience a healthy and long-lasting relationship with our clients because we deliver the best results–a work product that delivers sales. By using consumer surveys and involving our clients throughout the process, we are sure to give consumers a product that want to buy.
How has your company adapted to changes and challenges in the business landscape, and what strategies have you employed to ensure resilience and sustainability?
We find that keeping it simple is the best business strategy. Focusing on delivery the best outcome for every project, regardless of the size and budget, is the best business strategy. When people receive good service, they tend to come back for more.
What payment structure do you typically follow when billing clients? Is it Pay per Feature, Fixed Cost, or Pay per Milestone (phases, months, versions, etc.)?
We usually work on a fixed fee for service model. Progress payments are made at key milestones. Beyond the scope of a project, if additional work is needed, we bill hourly or engage with another fixed fee estimate if the scope is known.
Do you accept projects that meet your basic budget requirements? If yes, what is the minimum budget requirement? If no, what is the minimum budget you have worked with in the past?
We have a minimum $2000 engagement for a new project.
Can you provide an overview of the price range (minimum and maximum) of the projects your company worked on in 2023?
Our projects have ranged from $2000 to $145,000 in the past year.
What technological capabilities does your company possess, and are there any ongoing or planned investments in technology infrastructure or tools to enhance your services?
We have to stay current on the latest technologies since our services are built and maintained by software and computer hardware systems. We have to move at the speed of business.
Where do you envision your company in the next 10 years? What are your long-term goals and aspirations for growth and development?
We expect to continue the trend toward more digital-driven solutions and advertising. However, packaged goods will continue to be a big part of our business. No matter what digital format you use to find products for purchase, or how you buy them, a physical product is your end goal and those still need branding, labeling, and package design to act as the salespeople that are no longer present in retail.
