In 2023, the leadership at Dallas marketing agency High Bandwidth asked themselves how they could bring more value to clients. This led to a rebranding effort under the new name, Agency 50. The big idea: We’re 50% business gurus and 50% creative ninjas. This year, a partnership with TechGenies will give clients easy access to a proven, global software development team.
How the partnership works
Agency 50 has a 30-year track record of elevating digital experiences through strategic marketing and branding, including UI/UX design. TechGenies is a team of respected developers with 10 offices around the world and deep expertise in launching products. Together, they deliver a seamless experience to companies who need to bring a product to market but also understand how critical user experience and brand storytelling are to its success.
Why clients need both companies
According to Ahmad Al-Amine, CEO and Co-Founder of TechGenies, “If a digital product isn’t user-friendly, it just won’t succeed. We’ve seen clients make this mistake over and over.” Raul Varela, Founder and Managing Partner of Agency 50, shares the other side of the story. “When a client needs a reliable software development partner, TechGenies has already done the heavy lifting. Their business model is based on constantly vetting talented professionals from all over the world.” On top of that, a global TechGenies team means projects can move forward around the clock.
So, why not just hire an agency and a software developer, and then bring them together yourself? Some companies certainly take this approach. However, they often learn that managing two partners instead of one, especially with a long-term initiative, can add complexity and invite misalignment.
Has the partnership seen any success?
One digital product that recently benefited from this collaboration was Sniffle, an AI-powered app that elevates virtual care for both patients and providers. With two, equally important user groups in mind, TechGenies was brought in to develop two apps concurrently. This ultimately included AI-powered tools for instant patient assessments, a streamlined experience for virtual visits, reduced pricing for prescriptions and ancillary benefits, and more.
On the customer experience side, Agency 50 had two challenges. First, they were tasked with updating Sniffle’s visual identity, based on customer feedback indicating that the app looked like it was created for young children. Secondly, the UI/UX development for the app was complex. Including elements of patient health, provider onboarding, benefits, prescriptions, AI, and more, it involved over 600 unique screens. Today, Sniffle is a growing success story. Launched in a limited test market in late 2023, the app currently has over 1,000 satisfied users and this number is growing fast.
How this partnership stacks up
Al-Amine says that he’s noticed a trend toward big technology consulting firms acquiring marketing agencies in order to provide a similar service to the one Agency 50 and TechGenies are offering. What makes Al-Amine optimistic about this partnership? “We tend to be more accessible, more nimble, and more cost-effective. In fact, Agency 50 and TechGenies work in the same building. So, taking your product from software development to marketing strategy literally comes down to walking down the hall.”