In-store design specialists from Authentica improved internal communication and streamlined work organization with Freelo

Published: 3. February 2021

Introduce Authentica s.r.o. What do you do? What is special about it?

Brno's company Authentica s.r.o. has been on the market for 18 years and our main domain is complete production of POP and POS systems, in store decorations, shop window design proposals, their subsequent implementation and many other services. Our clients include names such as Hugo Boss, C&A, Nestlé and Waterdrop.

Currently our team consists of 220 colleagues in Brno, Prague and Roßtal, Germany, and we have been represented in Switzerland for 15 years. Our advantage is the production facility directly in Brno, our own Fulfillment center and colleagues with extensive work experience in various fields. Throughout our presence on the market, we have a wide network of proven suppliers around the world, so we can offer our clients the highest standard.

How many people is currently in your team and how do you divide your work?

There are currently 15 people who are using Freelo to the maximum - but we plan to integrate other colleagues in the company in the near future. Working in Freelo allows us to move on both short and long term projects. We are currently working on 4 long-term projects and the remaining 6 short-term projects, with each colleague also having their own projects under them, such as Organising Your Time kanban-style bulletin board.

In what do you find inspiration and new ways for branding of your customers? What makes retail marketing specific and what are its risks?

Here at Authentica we are lucky to have creative and experienced designers. They are not afraid of tricky assignments or unsolvable problems. Together with designers and graphic designers, they can put together a functional concept that appeals. With our projects we regularly take part in the Czech Popai competition exhibitions and the German Superstar Awards, the imaginary ”Oscars of retail marketing. Every award we win is also an award for our work, because we know we do it well.

In retail marketing, it is mainly about attracting the customer attention in a few seconds. Imagine yourself walking down a busy street with lots of cars and people. Our client has a few chances, often only seconds, before a potential customer loses interest and his advertisement is unnoticed. The main risk is generally visual smog in retail marketing. Our work must stand out from the crowd somehow.

What challenges are you awaiting in marketing in near future?

Generelly we have many challenges in the field of marketing. First of all, we plan to move the management of all projects to a clearer and digital form than has been so far. We plan to create our new websites, improve the content of the site, unify communication channels throughout the company, or deploy PPC ads for the first time. We can say that our plans are big.

Have you taken any measures in view of the current situation? How did quarantine affect you?

As I already mentioned, Authentica s.r.o. works closely with clients whose business has been greatly influenced by covid. Due to the fact that before the pandemic we focused on production of decorations, design of exhibition and retail spaces, POP and POS systems. During lockdowns our services were not as popular as in previous years in the same period. Therefore, we have started to focus on clients from online environment and we plan to go deeper into this industry in the future.

Coronavirus also accelerated some of our long-term projects, which were waiting for the right moment. Last summer, we opened our own, brand new and modern Fulfillment Center, which currently ships 15,000 orders a day. The aim was primarily to keep our employees working in production and especially in a sheltered workshop. We value our employees and we did not want to reduce the numbers at any cost.

During the spring wave of coronavirus, our company moved to the online environment and we kept only the necessary number of people in our offices. During the spring 2020, we were involved in production and distribution of protective equipment. We started the production of protective shields for doctors, various institutions and public. We were able to help those who need it in a very short time. So far, we have produced over 500 000 protective shields. We donated 50 000 to hospitals, homes for elderly and needy pleople out there.

How do you see the development in field of retail?

In the area of ​​retail marketing, we have been monitoring the move to the online environment for a long time, and the wave of coronavirus has accelerated it even more. In the future, we think the trend of brick-and-mortar stores will shift more to experience. We will visit stone shops mainly for inspiration. In general, we can say that there will be an increase in various pop up shops, ie temporary stores, where we will not only look at new goods, but also be drawn into the brand's thinking. The concept of stories will also bring a big boom, which of course already exist in our country, but the Czech customer still has to get used to them. We can compare them to a small imaginary museum of modern art, which, however, presents the main idea of ​​the brand or its latest trends.

Have you started working remote? Was the transition to a home office difficult for you?

At Authentica, we have always tried to be accommodating to our colleagues, so telecommuting was not new to us. We have our own internal atta sys system where our employees can connect from anywhere, even from the beach. With the arrival of the first wave of spring, when no one knew yet if the full ”zombie apocalypse would come, or how big the impact of the pandemic would be, we all moved from offices to strictly home office. After about 4 weeks, colleagues started to return again, but the antiviral measures remained and are still in place, so working from home is definitely not a problem for us.

Recently you started work to the full in Freelo. What problems did you face before introducing Freelo the most?

Yes, that is just the beginning with Freelo. We already see the difference. Before Freelo, all our communication about projects was handled only by email, mobile phone and in-person consultations. The finished solutions were copied directly into our internal atta sys system. Thanks to that, minor biases sometimes occurred.

What are the benefits of using Freelo for you?

Thanks to Freelo, our Captain and Ship Generals have a clear overview of all assigned, ongoing and completed projects. We can agree on individual tasks immediately. We are not hampered by sending e-mails, uploading attachments or personal meetings, due to simple questions. We have an overview of the whole project, including attachments and timeline, so now no information is missed. Another advantage is easier and clearer cooperation with external experts, because we can lead projects with more people and we do not get stuck in e-mail communication.

What was the main reason that you decided to implement Freelo?

We needed better overview of the activities in the entire company. We provide our clients wide range of services. Almost every order consists of several sub-activities. Thanks to Freelo, we have all of them in one place. Internal communication, simple task prioritization and also posibility to solve several subtasks at the same time within one project are just great.

How did you proceed with the introduction of Freelo (or remote work)? Has anyone or anything inspired you?

Our current Freelo account captain came up with the idea ”to compare projects in the company" and he read everything carefully from the start, watched all the workshops to see how Freelo works and whether it would be beneficial for us. As a result, there was no need for a testing team as this activity was handled by the Captain and his first administrator. They first created a registration, set up notifications and then just tested how adding tasks, assigning a member to tasks, time tracking over specific tasks and also using the prescribed templates in Freelo worked - only then did we add more members to our crew.

Before we decided to introduce Freelo, it was preceded by a thorough market research. Although we at Authentica communicate with clients in English and German on a daily basis, we were looking for a simple tool for project management in Czech. After all, in time we will want to lead all projects online and we would like to make their management easier for everyone.

Tell us more about workflow in Authentica please. How do you divide your customers or projects? Do you use project templates? Please inspire other users.

Our work at Freelo is divided into certain projects that we are currently working on. We have only used two templates so far, for the business meeting and also ”Learn with Freeel", which will guide a new member through the basic features of Freeel so they can start using it to its full potential.

In terms of customers/clients, we also use Raynet, which has the ability to implement Freelo directly into the system, making it easier for the sales team to perform given tasks under a specific client.

What other tools and procedures do you have in place? What tools are used on daily basis in Authentica?

We are currently trying to combine corporate communication so that everything is clear for each employee. The most used tools besides the e-mail are Freelo, Raynet, and currently we are implementing Teams for fast internal communication.

We have made a huge change in a short time. Solving projects in Freelo is smooth and with an immediate positive response. Any searching, assigning tasks, or uploading files is intuitive, and the tutorial videos make it even easier. We look forward to involving all colleagues and selected clients, because even when solving projects is sometimes a hassle, projecting itself doesn't have to be complicated.