Brightpod Customer Case Study - Cooper Niswonger of Sonic

Cooper Niswonger, Communications Manager at Sonic // Santa Rosa, CA

Cooper's favorite gadget is her phone, favorite news-reading app is theSkimm. Her favorite time-saving trick is to plan the day in the car and prepare herself along the way. Cooper's favorite blog is the Sonic’s CEO blog

Describe an average day at your company?

We’re a forward-thinking tech company, so we’re constantly moving, so most our days look a bit different. I can say for sure that each day we’ll have fun, work hard, and stay creative!

What is your work routine? How do you start and end your day?

Each day begins with coffee, morning pow-wows, project management and prioritization for the day. And each day ends with prioritizing our next day’s activities and more coffee.

"Brightpod has been a really great component to our department’s productivity."

What are your top 3 productivity hacks that help you work smarter?

1. Take breaks when you can. I know it sounds counter-productive, but I’m able to re-focus and give my brain a break. I find I’m much more productive when I get up and walk or scooter (yes, scooter) around to clear my mind.

2. Internal communication makes the world go ‘round! When the right stakeholders are involved in projects and communication from the beginning, projects run smoother.

3. We haven’t had Brightpod for very long yet, but so far it’s been a really great component to our department’s productivity.

How many projects and team members do you have in Brightpod? Could you give us some insight on what kind of projects/ work you manage with Brightpod?

Our whole in-house Marketing Team is in Brightpod – so, a mighty 8 for now. And currently, we have close to 40 projects within Brightpod and are adding more pretty quickly. We have ongoing multi-channel communication plans in place right now. So, being able to see what materials drop daily, in which areas and track order progress throughout the day is super helpful.

Were you using any other tool or method before Brightpod? Why did you make the switch?

For the most part, we weren’t using another tool like Brightpod. *gasp* We felt the need for more cohesive communication and structured task management, so we did our research, then made the move to Brightpod.

"Brightpod is pretty intuitive!"

Was there a learning curve associated with Brightpod? How did your team/client adapt to a new software?

Our company and our team in particular is used to using new software, and Brightpod is pretty intuitive, so the switch seemed like a breeze and a relief (since we didn’t previously have anything in place).

What is your favorite, or most used Brightpod feature?

We use ‘clients’ a bit different. They help further categorize our ongoing projects and geographical areas and allow us to see into different cities, where we have ongoing projects/communications.

How would you feel if you could no longer use Brightpod?

I bet there’d be a few stages. First, sadness. Then, anger. Followed by self-pity – wait, you’re not going to take it away, right?!

Are there any other thoughts that you would want to share with us regarding our service, product etc.?

We can’t wait for a Brightpod APP!

Thank you for your time, Cooper!