What they say

  • Andrew Carr

    CFO at Merlin Entertainments

    “I couldn’t fault them. They are a rare beast, combining artistic skill with an understanding of business strategy and the ability to think outside the box. Most presentations are predictable - words, numbers, bullets. This method shows you the whole picture, and allows the company to come alive. It’s a conversation which follows a thread, and it can go in different directions. You don’t feel that you’ve got to scroll through 30 slides to get to the bottom. It is a powerful and unique skill”

  • John Smith

    CEO, BBC Worldwide

    “Genius! Why would you ever use PowerPoint again! It not only makes me feel good about the organization, it makes it all so clear.”

  • Jerry Clark

    Vice President, Capgemini

    “‘See what you mean’ is a creative agency that helps bring ideas to life and deliver messages to others. As one of the components of our successful BAA proposal, the video they produced for us helped us in three ways: it showed that we were creative, it demonstrated that to the client that they were valued and it allowed us to tell our story in a differentiated way. Richard and his team listened to the brief, and they listen to your comments. They bring different ideas to you which they then hone and refine with you. And they met the timescales, even though we put them under huge pressures. They are a good a worthy partner who I would definitely want on my side.”

  • Mike Lithgow

    Managing Vice President, Gartner

    “The Rich Picture provided an excellent briefing tool that enabled complex processes to be explained in a readily understandable manner. What was usually a 40 minute presentation with 20 slides could now be undertaken in 10 minutes with a single view. It captured the imagination of the stakeholders and provided them with an enduring visualisation that will outlast the slide deck on the ‘C-drive’. And, made available to the whole enterprise, created a powerful and effective means of communication to a far wider audience than is possible with traditional documents and presentational material.”

  • Ben Wells

    Head of Marketing, Chelsea FC

    “We use it all the time. Everyone is tired of PowerPoint and being talked at. We use it to create talking points which leads to a two-way dialogue and a much easier route to discerning what potential sponsors actually want, rather than us trying to sell what we have to sell. Everyone appreciates this approach & they often comment on how different the tool is.”

  • Julie Dean

    Head of Nutrition and Product Communications, Britvic

    “They were brilliant. Really helpful, obliging, creative: good all round. They understood the brief quickly, they got what we wanted, and they delivered it. Great to work with. Their presentation helped us to achieve what we needed to communicate, and met what we were hoping for. If the opportunity arose, I would certainly go back to them.”

  • Nicola Lynch

    Director of Business Development, Wragge & Co

    “We originally commissioned our rich picture to share Wragge & Co’s vision and strategy with the whole firm. People love it and are very engaged with it. It always prompts a lot of questions, and that makes it a discussion, a conversation, not a presentation. We intend using the picture as part of recruitment, induction and business development sessions. It will help to reinforce our brand messages, and means that the picture doesn’t just sit in a cupboard, forgotten. It elicited positive responses, with 76% feeling they have an important part to play in Wragge & Co’s future. In relation to the rich picture, 98% liked the rich picture and found it a helpful and distinctive communications tool.”

  • Steve Whitby

    Head of Export, Cassidian

    “It’s almost magic. It’s not just the result, it’s the way that they do it. I jotted down my thoughts on a chart and thought ‘how the hell is he going to understand these ramblings?’ and the next thing is that he comes back with a storyboard which was far better than I could have explained it. They work with you, but in a sort of parallel world, fully understanding what you want and are trying to do, but having a clear perception of the audience you’re trying to present to. They have a flair for turning it into something they can understand. They convert messages into easy-speak, or easy-learn, and they use a lot of different techniques to do this, not just one.”

  • Nicola Lidgett

    Head of Marketing, Azzurri Communications

    “We have a complex portfolio and wanted one snapshot of what we do. The result has been adopted throughout the organisation for use in sales training, prospect and customer presentations, and at any point when we have to explain what the company does and why. ‘See what you mean’ takes an extremely complex concept or idea and turns it into a pictorial representation which says everything in one place and which is easy to absorb. They are incredibly responsive, easy to work with and a luxury to have on board. I would recommend them to anyone.”

  • Michael Westra

    Global Sales manager, Atradius

    “The first time I met Richard I had to explain the concept of our work in order to obtain a completely new way of presenting to prospects and other parties that are as of yet not fully familiar with our product. I remember talking for roughly three hours and Richard making some notes and making some drawings on a note pad. Several weeks later I was able to see the first draft and I was mightily impressed as it reflected exactly what I intended. Not only did the result exceed my expectations, but Richard was also able to give a better sales pitch than many of our sales guys. The second assignment was more complicated in nature, but there again the result was surprisingly spot on. All in all, I will be sure to use the services of Richard in the future if necessary and recommend him to anyone who has an idea, but is not quite sure how to visualise this.”

  • Phil Cole

    Director Design Management, Alcatel-Lucent

    “Cathy shared the final presentation file last year, and it is absolutely “spectacular.” Your team has surpassed my expectations once again. Tres bien!! Very much appreciated.”

  • Client confidential

    “I find it quite difficult to explain. It’s like trying to describe a television to a radio listener. You only get it when you see it. The real deal is not the picture. I would have got value out of working with Richard from the quality of his questions - “simple but deadly” - and getting down to the basics. It’s the process, the challenge, the thinking, the distilling of an idea which forces a degree of clarity and ultimately brings competitive edge. We need clarity in order to be clear to others. It forces us into it. SWYM is symbolic, creative, innovative, different. And therefore, by association, we are too.”

  • Client confidential

    “We launched it last week! I took the decision to hold it back because it became clear autumn last year that the company was about to appoint a new CFO, and I took the view that rather than present a “second hand” picture that this would be our first use. There was no need to update the picture for changes in the business between when it was drawn up and last week, although the messaging changed a little in a few places.

    We held a day long workshop with the new CFO in London. She is new to the company having arrived from a global competitor. She had spent a few weeks getting to know the company so came to the workshop with some knowledge but a lot of confusion. She was blown away by the rich picture and its ability to tell so compelling a story.

    We have now also now taken the outgoing CFO through it, a 30 year company veteran, whose response was equally impressive. We will roll it out further to the CEO and Chairman in the next two weeks.

    As the CFO relationship is key to us - I am happy that she feels this was done for her and that she saw the first viewing. We had the picture printed on a huge poster on one wall, so quite a wow factor when she entered the room even before we got onto the content and messaging.

    So thanks for your help with this and please pass on to the team involved.”