Vigor's Process of Illumination™

Better planning means better results

Creative without direction is nothing more than art.

We begin any project by learning all we can about our clients. We like to put ourselves in their shoes so that we may better anticipate and measure the risks and rewards involved in what we will ultimately do for them. We start each project by asking:

- Where are we now?
- Where do we want to be, realistically?
- How do we get there?
- Are we there?

Once we're there, we measure again using the same criteria.

We look at each engagement as a partnership; a collaboration between a client and Vigor. As such, we work with clients to achieve as many cost efficiencies as possible. That's why we've developed our Process of Illumination™—a process that is designed to guide us, as a team, from conceptual planning and strategy to execution and delivery. We've streamlined the industry-accepted process to put greater a empashis on quality and effectiveness that can be adapted to just about any timeline.

We have also crafted this process around more direct involvement from our clients so that they learn what we're learning about their markets, customers and other aspects of their business they otherwise might have overlooked.

Our development process is four major segments:

Discovery
Any project’s success depends on the information foundation upon which the driving objectives, strategies and resulting actions are built. While we have initial, working knowledge of many of our clients, there's always much to learn. We begin the discovery process by coming to an intimate understanding of a business, its brand qualities and the audiences it serves or seeks to engage.

All advertising, marketing-communications and PR is audited to determine the extent of consistency and alignment that is to be integrated into things like a Web site or collateral printed materials, such as look and feel, messaging, tone and personality. This phase of the process also serves to confirm or debunk any assumptions made prior to a formal investigation.

We explore the audience to be courted in much depth. Selections are made, communications priorities are established. Communication and technology objectives are agreed upon and performance measures get set.

The discovery effort concludes with the creation of a Brand Development document that reflects the post-discovery situation, including any changes to business and technology specifications, production requirements and the project budget.

Development and Design
This is the prototyping stage that we use to develop visual manifestations of the deliverables. D & D is a high-energy phase with an emphasis more on creativity than precision directed towards exhausting all the creative avenues that may be available to meet the directives set forth from discovery. The process later moves to the testing and ultimately the formal production phase by which the final deliverables are crafted with precision and where most of the technical work is required.

With regard to Web, we develop information architecture (IA) strategies that are consistent with the objectives sets and the resulting communications, creative and technology decisions that will drive the creation and implementation of the project. We also begin drafting any editorial content or copy writing needed for executions.

We already have ideas about deliverables just from the insight gleaned from an initial meeting and having opportunity to explore creative formulated during analysis and strategy development. Based on the resulting discovery findings, comps and prototype materials are drafted and compiled for our clients to view and approve.

We then begin an iterative process of dumping creative out of our heads and into prototypes that can be shared and tested within the team. After more formal testing and weeding out the stinkers, we commit any surviving designs to a fate of carrying out our strategy. 

Production/Testing
During this time, the client-approved materials developed during D & D will be put into action and developed to precision.

Web materials, including images, layouts and copy writing will be produced, edited and finalized. Any outstanding development and internal testing will continue. We will also pursue a final testing session either internally or preferably with external audiences to again ensure that the direction we've taken is the right one.

Printed materials are produced, media placements procured and final executions readied for delivery. Release and delivery dates are reviewed and finalized at this point.

Delivery
As the title suggests, all deliverables are launched and we wait fervently to start collecting metrics on their performance. Electronic deliverables are put into the production environment and/or delivered to the client on storage media as necessary. Any campaign-related materials or initiatives will be executed including advertisement placements and media buys. When results come in, we start our investigation of where we are all over again.