What Six Years With TrueCar Taught Me About Enterprise Work

Enterprise clients work differently than small businesses. More stakeholders, longer timelines and, when the client is public, production that moves with the stock price. I learned that over six years working with TrueCar, one of the nation's leading automotive marketplaces, on everything from rebrand design to Webflow sites for dealer initiatives.

Part of The R&D Dept.'s special sauce is being nimble and getting to market fast with a marketing hypothesis. So a lot of this work was a lesson in patience and legal departments.

How is enterprise work different from small business work?

• More stakeholders. Every initiative needs buy-in from marketing, product, compliance, legal and executive leadership.
• Longer timelines. What takes weeks at a smaller company can take months to socialize and approve.
• More feedback loops. Input comes from every direction, so you need agility and patience at the same time.
• Top talent moves. We've worked with six VPs of marketing and brand, because good managers always have a chance to move up or out.

TrueCar taught me how to thrive in that environment: stay consistent, stay proactive, be stock-price aware and keep the relationship strong while holding the long-term vision steady.

What did we do for TrueCar?

• Rebrand design. R&D was part of a multi-agency brand update. We translated the TrueCar brand across multiple contexts and onto a new platform (Yew! Webflow).
• Web projects. Designed and built Webflow sites for specialized dealer initiatives and sub-brands.
• Marketing support. Helped deliver digital campaigns, sales collateral and content as their market position evolved.
• Stakeholder socialization. Framed and presented work so it could win alignment across departments, or gave our direct contacts what they needed to sell it internally. That skill matters as much as the creative.

What does enterprise work teach an agency?

• Patience is a strategy. Decisions at scale take time. Respect the process and keep nudging the work forward.
• Clarity creates alignment. Clear frameworks and visual storytelling help a big group see the same picture.
• The relationship outlasts the deliverable. The creative is the output, but trust is what keeps a partnership going for years.
• Flexibility wins. New leadership, new priorities, new markets. You adapt without losing focus.

What was the real result?

Trust. Over six years we became the partner TrueCar could call for high-visibility dealer projects and for Friday night edits. That trust got tested again and again, and the work held up to enterprise scrutiny.

Quick answers

How long did The R&D Dept. work with TrueCar?

Six years, across rebrand design, Webflow sites for dealer initiatives and sub-brands, and marketing support.

Why do enterprise projects take longer?

More stakeholders (marketing, product, compliance, legal and executives) have to sign off, and leadership often changes mid-project.

What platform did TrueCar's sites move to?

Webflow.

Planning a big brand or website project inside a large organization? Let's talk about keeping it moving.