From Overwhelmed to Outstanding: Glasgow Creative Agency’s Web-to-Print Transformation with XMPieRESOURCES

From Overwhelmed to Outstanding: Glasgow Creative Agency’s Web-to-Print Transformation with XMPie

CASE STUDY

From Overwhelmed to Outstanding: Glasgow Creative Agency’s Web-to-Print Transformation with XMPie

A year ago, Yellow Slate Design’s staff were overwhelmed by manual tasks and stress, unsure how to escape the daily grind. Today, the installation of XMPie’s StoreFlow eCommerce solution has transformed their workflow, automating repetitive tasks and freeing staff to focus on creativity. This change boosted efficiency and strengthened client relationships, shifting conversations from print orders to guiding clients towards greater success. With its team now tripled in size and generating double its revenue, Yellow Slate Design is thriving, innovating, and taking the agency to new heights.

At A Glance

The Challenge

How to optimize print order workflows and accelerate production timelines to meet the unique needs of B2B retail clients while empowering creative staff to focus on innovation instead of repetition.

The Solution

XMPie PersonalEffect StoreFlow Pro eCommerce Web-to-Print Solution.

The Results

  • Revenue: Doubled in a single year.

  • Efficiency: Reduced job turnaround time.

  • Business Growth: Faster client acquisition and onboarding.

  • Team Expansion: Staff tripled and able to focus on strategic tasks.

  • Work-Life Balance: Improved for all staff.

Background

Founded by Xander Campbell in 2016, Yellow Slate Design is a creative design agency based in Glasgow, specialising in comprehensive branding solutions. It offers an end-to-end branding service that includes everything from logo design and initial research to marketing campaigns, print services, and social media strategy.

Challenge

“Our customers are looking to us for creative solutions, but because we were bogged down by a manual-intensive workflow, I was Mr Copy-Paste instead of Mr Creative. From Monday to Friday, my job was just copying and pasting—until we got XMPie.”

Xander Campbell, Managing and Creative Director @ Yellow Slate Design. Tweet

Yellow Slate Design, specialising in B2B retail and hospitality franchise clients, faced significant operational efficiency challenges, particularly when servicing GDK (German Doner Kebab), a rapidly expanding brand with 140 restaurants across the UK, US, and EU.

Yellow Slate Design was tasked with working with the marketing and design team, customising, and producing a wide array of print marketing collateral for GDK. The goal was clear: ensure GDK’s brand was effectively communicated across all touchpoints, supporting their rapid expansion. However, the initial process was anything but smooth. Creating customized leaflets, designs, and menus for GDK’s numerous stores was intricate and labour-intensive. Franchisees would input text via an online form, which Yellow Slate Design would then manually transfer onto the leaflet template before sending it to print. Despite being faster than previous email submissions, this process was still manual and prone to errors, especially when details were entered incorrectly or incompletely.

The turning point was a challenging project which highlighted the system’s inefficiencies. With a six-week turnaround, the project involved a flurry of emails and constant back-and-forth for approvals. The overwhelming volume of emails made it impossible to track progress, leading to delays and dissatisfaction among franchisees. This project underscored the urgent need for a more streamlined and automated approach that could support GDK’s rapid expansion and the efficient onboarding of new branches.

In its pursuit of a more efficient solution, Yellow Slate Design found a valuable partner in Xeretec, an XMPie reseller. The introduction to the XMPie Platform was transformative, offering advanced capabilities that would revolutionise its operations, paving the way for unprecedented growth.

The Solution

“XMPie has given us our time back, and that’s priceless. Now, we can focus on the creative process we love and even welcome new clients. Gone are the days of endless emails and manual corrections. We’ve got a smooth, automated system helping us grow.”

Xander Campbell, Managing and Creative Director @ Yellow Slate Design. Tweet

Yellow Slate Design invested in StoreFlow, XMPie’s eCommerce Web-to-Print solution, to eliminate the overwhelming manual repetition in its print selling processes. As part of the XMPie Platform, StoreFlow automates many steps in the workflow, allowing customers to order print over the Internet. The solution features an intuitive online interface, similar to other eCommerce platforms, where users can select, customize, and order print, digital or physical products.

Each client now has access to an extensive collection of branded marketing collateral templates. They can customize them according to their branch requirements and send files directly to the digital printing press. Crucially, the solution shifts responsibility for the ordering process to the client and its franchisees, freeing up valuable time for Yellow Slate Design staff to focus on more critical tasks. The benefits include:

  • Lights-out automation: Significantly reduces the need for manual intervention, accelerating processes, minimising errors, and saving valuable time. This streamlined approach ensures greater efficiency and reliability in operations.
  • Brand Protection: Ensures brand integrity with asset protection and corporate-controlled text options. All marketing materials adhere to the brand guidelines, maintaining a uniform look and feel across all franchise locations. Clients have the flexibility to customize certain elements, but key brand elements remain locked down to prevent any deviations from the established brand identity.
  • Enhanced Buyer Experience: Provides a better experience for print buyers by simplifying the ordering process. The intuitive online interface makes it easy for clients and franchisees to select, customize, and order print products. This user-friendly approach reduces the complexity and time required to place orders, leading to higher user satisfaction.
  • Enhanced Customer Engagement: Personalisation and customisation capabilities allow branches to create unique, tailored products that reflect their local requirements, such as exclusive discounts, tailored product recommendations, and localized content that deepens the connection between the brand and its customers.
  • Efficient Branch Onboarding: Streamlines the branch onboarding process with a consistent workflow, reducing duplication of effort. New franchisees can quickly get up to speed with the system, as the same workflow applies to all. This uniformity ensures that every franchisee follows the same steps, making the process more efficient and less prone to errors.
  • Improved Customer Relationships: Enhances the quality of interactions between Yellow Slate and each client’s internal design, marketing and sales teams. With the automation of minor tasks, staff can focus on more meaningful conversations about design and strategy. This shift allows for deeper engagement and collaboration, fostering stronger relationships and better outcomes for both parties.

The introduction of StoreFlow transformed Yellow Slate Design’s workflow by automating processes, reducing errors, and dramatically accelerating production. This change ensured timely and accurate deliveries, much to the delight of franchisees who appreciated the newfound efficiency and brand consistency. As a result, client’s such as GDK have seen rapid expansion continued seamlessly without disruption.

Results

It’s no exaggeration to say that XMPie has revolutionized our business. We were at breaking point, but now we’re thriving. We’re attracting more clients, expanding our team, and our revenue has doubled compared to last year."

Xander Campbell, Managing and Creative Director @ Yellow Slate Design. Tweet

Yellow Slate Design’s success story with their clients, in particular GDK is a testament to the power of automation. By adopting suitable technology to address a workflow challenge, it achieved significant benchmarks for this project, including:

  • Revenue: Doubled in a single year.
  • Efficiency: Reduced job turnaround time by an average of 6 weeks. New branch onboarding speed increased by 90%.

Additionally, these advancements contributed to Yellow Slate Design’s rapid business growth, leading to further success:

Fast Client Onboarding: The streamlined process for new client acquisition allows for quick and efficient onboarding. Yellow Slate Design can impress potential clients with its rapid responsiveness and advanced capabilities by replicating existing stores, swiftly gathering client branding elements, creating customized templates, and uploading them as products on the W2P store. This efficiency not only enhances client satisfaction but also reduces the time from initial contact to project initiation, fostering stronger client relationships and accelerating business growth.

Workforce Growth: The team expanded significantly, tripling staff numbers from 2 to 6. By automating manual, repetitive tasks, employees were freed to focus on more strategic and high-value activities. This shift has opened up opportunities for engaging in innovative design, crafting exciting marketing campaigns, and reaching out to new clients with fresh ideas. The improved work-life balance has also reduced stress and enhanced job satisfaction, fostering a more collaborative and innovative team environment.

International Expansion: By transitioning its services online, clients worldwide can access them without geographical limitations. Some clients such as GDK has branches in the EU and the US, ordering print materials from Glasgow and still receiving efficient service, competitive pricing and timely delivery. This strategic move positions Yellow Slate Design as a player in the global design market, where location is no longer a barrier to quality service.

Data-Driven Insights: StoreFlow has transformed Yellow Slate Design’s decision-making process. With comprehensive insights into orders and client behaviour, it can accurately track trends and identify high-demand products. This data-driven approach justifies strategic investments, such as wide-format printers, and ensures that solid evidence backs every business decision. StoreFlow has become not just an advanced print ordering tool but also a strategic asset for driving sustained business growth.

Critical Success Factors

  1. Built for Speed and Ease: Once trained and confident with StoreFlow, duplicating projects becomes incredibly fast. Even without scaling to additional XMPie platform features, StoreFlow keeps Yellow Slate in a constant state of readiness, enabling it to adapt and expand as needed. This efficiency ensures that the agency can quickly respond to client demands and maintain high productivity.

  2. Integrated Adobe End-To-End: For a creative agency deeply rooted in Adobe design tools, switching to another software would be a daunting task, requiring extensive research and training. Adobe’s tools are not just familiar and reliable; they are essential for maintaining brand consistency and quality control. With XMPie’s seamless Adobe integration, the agency can uphold its high standards and efficient workflows without disruption.

  3. Scalable for Future Growth: XMPie offers scalability and features to support future growth. As the agency evolves, XMPie will be ready to meet Yellow Slate Design’s expanding needs, ensuring it can fully leverage its potential when the time comes. This foresight allows the agency to confidently plan for the future with a robust tool that grows with them.

Lessons Learned

  1. Every expert was once a beginner: Although the whole digital transformation process was initially daunting, Yellow Slate Design succeeded by approaching the process with confidence and curiosity and achieved new efficiencies and capabilities that were previously unimaginable.

  2. Training was Hard, but the Day-to-Day Became Easy: Initial training on the new platform was challenging and time-consuming. However, once the learning curve was overcome, the daily operations became significantly more manageable and efficient.

  3. Now Positioned as a Forward-Thinking Agency: Using XMPie demonstrates to customers that Yellow Slate Design is committed to staying ahead of industry trends, harnessing robust and futureproof technology, and providing exceptional service to meet customers’ evolving needs.

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