Handling End-to-End Design for a
Platform that Connects Brands with
Influencers

Client

Captiv8

Industry

Media, Publishing & Entertainment

Features

Graphic Design

Marketing Asset Development

Digital Campaign Design

Marketing Collateral Design

Mobile App

Technology Stack

sketchCreated with Sketch.

Sketch

Photoshop

Illustrator

hubspotCreated with Sketch.

HubSpot

HTML

CSS

Captiv8 is an AI-powered platform that connects companies like Honda and Dr. Pepper with internet influencers, putting their brands in front of the hard-to-reach millennial demographic.

Among Captiv8’s founders was serial entrepreneur Krishna Subramanian, who has taken four successful startups to market. His successes include BlueLithum, which was acquired by Yahoo for $300 million dollars. Krishna has relied on Net Solutions as a creative services and technology partner since 2003, so when he founded Captiv8 in 2015, he didn’t think twice about partnering with them for his design and branding efforts. After all, Net Solutions had already helped Krishna design, build, and market:

  • Burp! (2003)-A popular internet recommendation/review portal for local businesses in India, acquired by Network 18 in 2009
  • BlueLithium (2004)-A web-based advertising network, acquired by Yahoo in 2007
  • Mobclix (2008)-A mobile ad exchange network, acquired by Velti in 2010

Net Solutions has worked closely with Captiv8 from the beginning to design and deliver a range of creative services. They’ve helped Captiv8 establish itself as the go-to network for content creators who want to monetize their channels, along with brands who want to harness the power of influencer marketing.

The Challenge: Creating a Unique Brand and Service that would Stand out in the Advertising Space

Captiv8 had a mission to build a service that advertisers had never seen—but desperately needed. Market research shows that millennials don’t click on banner ads and they are less likely to respond to traditional advertising, but they do respond to recommendations from online personalities they trust. In short, what advertises needed was a way to connect with online content creators (e.g., Youtubers, TikTokers) who could pitch their products to specific demographics.

One advantage of influencer marketing is that you can go very, very niche. “If you want to find someone who paraglides in the Midwest and has an afnity for veganism, we can help you find them,” says Cofounder Sunil Verma.

The Captiv8 team turned to Net Solutions to build that unique brand, from the logo to the marketing website that launched their efforts. As the platform caught on with target audiences, Net Solutions continued to work side-byside with Captiv8 to build a visually engaging, highly useable system.

Could Net Solution Design a Platform that Appealed to Both Advertisers and Influencers?

Brand managers and millennial content creators are two very diferent audiences, but if Captiv8 and Net Solutions were to succeed, they needed to appeal to both.

Advertisers required access to extensive data regarding each influencer’s audience, and the interface had to make it easy for them to review, explore, and search for this information. At the same time, influencers needed to immediately recognize the opportunities the platform provided.

In order to create a platform that both target audiences would readily adopt, Net Solutions’ creative team worked side-by-side with Captiv8’s team, asking the right questions and creating a meticulous project plan before beginning work.

The designers, web developers, and project managers are all extremely skilled at their individual roles. In addition, they understand why and what we are doing, so where needed, they provide recommendations on how the final output can be perfect.

Krishna Subramanian

Krishna Subramanian

Co-founder, Captiv8 Captiv8

The Evolution of Captiv8: A Journey of Continuous Improvement

After successfully launching the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Captiv8 relied on Net Solutions to help create a continually evolving user experience and product that strives to exceed the market’s expectations. Here of some of the ways Net Solutions helped Captiv8 grow over the years.

HubSpot Marketing Campaigns: As a Hubspot partner, Net Solutions was intimately familiar with Hubspot’s suite of marketing tools—from segmentation to email campaigns—that nurture leads and drive growth.

Designing Brand and Collateral: Captiv8 relied on Net Solutions to design key elements of the company’s brand and branding collateral. Net Solutions designed logos, color swatches, usage guides, and more for the company and its sub-brands.

Digital Marketing Asset Development: The User Interface (UI) team at Net Solutions designed various marketing assets like marketing websites, landing pages, one-page websites, Facebook page, Twitter profile, etc.

Digital Advertising Campaigns: Net Solutions designed email campaigns, Facebook ads, Instagram Story assets, Twitter ads, Facebook/WhatsApp invites, etc.

Marketing Collateral for Events and Sales Calls: Net Solutions designed sales collateral for event-specific presentations, sales decks, and promotional videos for use online and in event kiosks. They also developed t-shirts, one-sheets, flyers, whitepapers, e-books, newsletters, caricatures, illustrations, etc.

Mobile App: Net Solutions’ UI and UX teams worked with Captiv8’s team to identify the app’s workflows and features. Net Solutions designed and built a mobile app focused on critical user journeys.

We appreciate the willingness the Net Solutions team has to make a project perfect. They make an effort to understand our goals and objectives and then ensure our team is satisfied with the final output and their work, working tirelessly to achieve that level of service.

Krishna Subramanian

Krishna Subramanian

Co-founder, Captiv8 Captiv8

The End Result: An Innovative, End-to-End Infleuncer Marketing Solution

Captiv8 partnered with Net Solutions to create a truly novel platform—one that attracts successful influencers and empowers brands to manage all aspects of campaign workflow, content amplification, influencer payments, and tracking/reporting campaign metrics.

As Captiv8 continues to evolve and adapt to the marketplace, Net Solutions remains by their side, helping to integrate flawless design with a seamless user experience.

We chose Net Solutions because we wanted a partnership where we can expect innovative work for our various business units. Our consistently excellent experience with Net Solutions in our previous ventures made the team our obvious choice.

Krishna Subramanian

Krishna Subramanian

Co-founder, Captiv8 Captiv8

Ready to See What the Creative Team at Net Solutions Can Do For Your Brand?