Pastilla Inc.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Established in 2016, our business is manufacturing a hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier with applications in a variety of areas, from organ transplant and sustainability to first response.

We opened our facility in Malvern, Pennsylvania in early 2019.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pastilla Inc.?

We hired Pastilla Inc. for a couple of reasons.

When we were starting the business, we were mostly focused on the bio process and manufacturing. We didn’t pay a lot of attention to our overall message and different communication and branding elements.

We were looking for a company that could help us develop a website for communicating with potential investors, partners like research institutions, and new hires. We wanted to find a company that was good at not only establishing a website but also at helping us create the right message.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially went to them to build our website but ended up expanding the scope to branding. The process was very much driven by their team.

They have an approach for understanding their clients and identifying their needs. Beyond what we told them, there were latent needs we weren’t aware that we had. Those things were brought up to the surface through the conversations we had with them.

At the time, there was a dialogue with myself and our CEO at the time, who was also our chief scientist. The conversations helped us understand the landscape, the idea behind it, how this scientific idea could be applied, and how the public and investors would look at us. We catered our message with a balance to all parties.

The messaging part was very comprehensive. We explored different ideas in the beginning, including the branding, messaging, and mission statement.

Pastilla Inc. helped us put everything into graphic images and visualize what the brand, colors, and mood would be like in business cards, web images, and stationery. It was a comprehensive image that gave us an overall idea of the branding, color scheme, and design in all aspects.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Rudy (Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder) and a few people from his team, from project managers to designers. I’d say that we’ve worked with five core people and nine people altogether.

How did you come to work with Pastilla Inc.?

We reviewed over 10 companies. We’re based on the East Coast, and I’m running the company from the West Coast. We started looking at firms in both but shortlisted about 4–5 in each area.

One of my contacts introduced us to Pastilla Inc. He’s a designer that was working for a major European car manufacturer in the UX area. Since he wasn’t available to help us because of that, he put me in touch with Rudy.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Pastilla Inc. around August 2019, and we paused in December of that year, after a few design iterations. We started again in March 2020, and we wrapped up in late-May 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We ended up receiving very positive feedback. I left it open for Pastilla Inc. to interpret what we want and make proposals. We didn’t want to confine their deliverables by telling them what we wanted. After conceptual discussions, we left it open-ended for them to tackle our problem.

One thing I told Pastilla Inc. was that the product had to be something they should be proud of and that it shouldn’t look like any other biotech company’s website or brand. I wanted our imaging to have an impact not only on a technical level but also on a subconscious and emotional one, so that people could relate to our mission and what we do.

Pastilla Inc. asked the right questions to understand our company and mission and to deliver something we were happy with. I worked with technical people in the initial process, and they couldn’t really comprehend what we were trying to achieve.

We selected texts and images that were less technical and more emotional. When everything came together, people could see what we were trying to get to. Our website has a lot of graphics that tie to abstract aspects relating to our mission.

How did Pastilla Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Their company has a good project management structure. Their project manager is on top of things, and they have good communication with us from both the individual level and framework they work in.

They had weekly communication with us, both by email and verbal. They set up metrics that showed us where we were and what their outlook for the rest of the program looked like. It was easy to keep everyone on the same page.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Environments change all the time in business, but Pastilla Inc. was flexible and able to keep the momentum during different periods of our collaboration. That was something that I appreciated.

They were very effective in working with us to synergize something that was both practical and elegant.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything at the moment. Their down-to-earth team is committed to what they do. I hope they can keep the same spirit and DNA if they become a bigger organization. Since they’re in the small to mid-sized segment of the business, some of the things that I appreciate might not persist if they become bigger.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s important to have an initial conversation to mutually understand what the other party is looking for. There are many ways to skin a cat, and it’s very important to understand what the other party wants.

If they understand the client’s core idea, Pastilla Inc. will be able to frame its approach. That will be a more effective collaboration.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of product development at a BPO company. We represent the China-based factory within the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pastilla Inc.?

Because we didn’t have a full design team internally, we hired Pastilla Inc. to help our new branding launch in the US market. We needed a hardworking group that was more familiar with the culture. We also needed an outside group to facilitate getting rid of decision gridlock within our company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We engaged with Pastilla Inc. to perform branding services by creating a logo and identity package. In the beginning, we went through branding exercises to find our identity. We also needed to come up with a guideline book to establish the color palette, styles, and fonts. They also designed our logo.

What is the team composition?

In total, we’ve worked with three or four different people. We had a project manager, a person in charge of the logo, another person in charge of the brand identity, and a sales rep.

How did you come to work with Pastilla Inc.?

I searched and found a few different companies. We went through the interview process with their team and other companies. After the interviews, we felt that Pastilla Inc. went through all of our questions with flying colors. I believe that Pastilla Inc. is also on the smaller side, but I thought that the hands-on touch was needed for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March–June 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Their work standardized practices across our new brand. For the logo, I felt that they were creative and provided something unique. Overall, their team delivered professional work, and everyone was happy with the results.

How did Pastilla Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They provided a great project manager. We mainly communicated through phone calls and emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team at Pastilla Inc. was the right fit. Along with their great attitude, their pricing was within industry ranges.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They stayed within the scope of work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Talk with a few different vendors and see which one is the best fit. Depending on how you want the work, find one that’s willing to work with that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the deputy editor and member of a nonprofit entertainment organization. Amongst other things, we’re known for giving awards every year.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pastilla Inc.?

We were having issues with our previous provider for internet tech support, so we looked for a new one. Our organization was in search of a more responsive team that would prevent crises during intense traffic moments.

We also had a lot of issues with our website’s content and design. These issues needed to be addressed in order to improve user-friendliness and overall website aesthetics. Our platform has three channels—institutional, media-based, and a massive database going back over 75 years. Each channel has different requirements.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first task was investigating the website’s structure. It’s a Drupal platform that was experiencing a lot of problems. In order to address them, Pastilla Inc. looked into the site’s chronic, publishing, and security issues. They also fixed glitches along the way.

In order to provide a smooth experience for our largest award ceremony, their team conducted an intense testing and investigative process. They also worked with another editor to successfully fine-tune and publish our photos and videos on time.

Currently, they’re working on an in-depth redesign of the website. The backend is still Drupal, but they’re making the content more appealing, user-friendly, and easier to navigate. Their team is collaborating with our partnered design company to incorporate all our visual styles. Pastilla Inc. is doing a clean-up on color, font choice, as well as other things. We don’t have a wireframe yet, but it’s in the works.

What is the team composition?

The main point of contact is mostly for technical and design inquiries, but there are two others for complex issues. At the award ceremony, they had four team members on-site and another four working remotely.

How did you come to work with Pastilla Inc.?

Through a three-month process, we put out an RFP with very specific parameters of what we needed. We received eight initial responses and narrowed those down to four companies. Pastilla Inc. presented an amazing pitch and responded satisfactorily to all my queries.

What is the status of this engagement?

We partnered with them in September 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We easily had the best response in user traffic we’ve had in three years. This occurred during our biggest award ceremony and other events. The goal isn’t to always have the most traffic, the goal is to present ourselves in the best way possible and be the industry leader in these events.

Our organization managed to become that with Pastilla Inc. They understood the uniqueness of our website because it has three channels.

How did Pastilla Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Project Management was a dream. It was just perfect. As I’ve been doing this for a long time, have worked on big events, and am a stickler for preparation, I was impressed that Pastilla Inc. was prepared for anything that might have happened.

They did this by testing and placing fail-safes for all of the what-ifs. Their team was excellent with preparation and because of that, the whole team was in sync. They got the website working under pressure and performed updates in real-time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team faced immediate challenges within the start of the project. There was time-intensive work that needed to be done, and they provided the smoothest experience. Pastilla Inc. is capable of presenting a beautiful website within an hour of an event. Not only are they capable and fast, but they also possess an integrity to their work—which is very important.

They’re the best fit for us because their company size is not too big. We have a good working relationship with them. Their team is great at supporting robust needs from design to photography to tech. They’re proactive and patient with the process. It’s really a bonding process because they’re fun people to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

So far, there’s nothing they need to improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to be candid about what your project is. Show your failures, issues, and problems—they love solving them. Just throw stuff at them, and they’ll respond.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the program coordinator for a municipality. I manage marketing media relations for our community development department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pastilla?

We wanted to improve our marketing efforts for Glendale Tech Week, which is a weeklong conference. This included raising our profile’s visibility in Glendale and the surrounding region. We also wanted to increase the attendance for the event.

Pastilla managed our marketing campaign, helping to develop an event app in addition to providing digital advertising services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we began the project, we didn’t know what we wanted. The first step was to sit down with them and explain our thoughts.

After that, Pastilla created a proposal an event app that did everything we suggested. We discussed the proposal iteratively until it fit our budget. Their team used a subcontracted app developer in Estonia to actually create the app.

The final product was a baseline, no-frills app available on Android and iOS. It had basic functionalities such as a calendar, maps of the venues, a bookmarking ability, and information about our sponsors and speakers. Most importantly, it allowed us to send push notifications to our users.

As for advertising, Pastilla made recommendations and managed all of our ad buys. They developed digital and print marketing assets, constructed the language of the ads, and handled our social media during the months leading up to the event.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with Scott (Account Manager, Pastilla). He was the liaison who delegated tasks to appropriate staff members. He made it easy to streamline the process. I didn’t have to figure out who was going to address certain issues. I also worked with an app developer.

How did you come to work with Pastilla?

We put out an RFP, and 12 companies responded. After narrowing it down to those who seemed qualified, we conducted interviews and decided to go with Pastilla.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $18,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from July–September 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Leading up to the event, Pastilla looked at our 2018 RSVP metrics and provided a weekly comparison to the 2019 RSVPs. There were really positive results from the event app and advertising. We saw a huge jump in the number of attendees from 3,000 in 2018 to 5,500 in 2019.

Pastilla’s quality of work was excellent—they elevated our marketing to a higher level. Their team did things I didn’t even know could be done. They conducted digital data analyses before and during the campaign, ensuring that we had a high impact with our campaign’s audience. 

This is something we’d never done before. Whenever we showed any insecurities, they were very good at showing us the numbers and quelling our fears.

Their team looked at analytics that showed how our ad buys were performing. When they recommended that our ad buys be 100% digital, we were a little worried. We decided to follow their recommendation and we’re glad we did—they have an amazing staff who tracked our campaign.

How did Pastilla perform from a project management standpoint?

Scott was always available, and the turnaround for requests and inquiries were fairly quick. He was very knowledgeable about what we were doing and provided weekly updates. Even though the app development side wasn’t necessarily in his wheelhouse, he was always very transparent.

Scott provided all the information he knew. If he couldn’t answer a question, he promised to return with the answer in a timely manner. Having Scott as the lead project manager worked really well for me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their data-driven marketing is remarkable. Of all the proposals we received, many were artsy and creative. Pastilla had the creative and art components in the bag—they’re very talented people. But on top of that, their digital marketing strategy really stood out from their competitors.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had a few challenges on the app development side. As experts, I would’ve expected them to anticipate those challenges before I noticed them happening. Also, their subcontractor was located in Estonia, so there were some time difference issues.

However, whenever I brought these issues to their attention, they bent over backward to make it right. We had some scary moments, but they always took 100% responsibility. If a certain ad wasn’t working, they made the appropriate changes and pivots. Pastilla always found a solution to our problems and there wasn’t anything they didn’t resolve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear and specific about what you want upfront. Spell it out and give every little detail on the desired deliverables. I often put it on the company to give me recommendations about what to do and how. Make those expectations 100% clear from the get-go. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product manager for a music retailer.
 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pastilla Inc.?

We engaged them for technical development at first. We now work with them for maintenance.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Over our 13-year partnership, Pastilla Inc. has provided backend programming and ongoing system administration for our web server and our main e-commerce site. They’ll also write custom code and build new features as needed. Our website is built on HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP.

A few years ago, Pastilla Inc. helped make the entire site responsive to mobile browsers. We worked closely with Pastilla Inc. to design, build, test, deploy, and iterate on each of our e-commerce templates. That engagement took well over the year to cover all our templates.

Pastilla Inc. also provides a lot of support with marketing integrations. When we launched our Google Shopping account in 2015, they created a custom feed that would automatically update our product catalog. We still use it today.

What is the team composition?

Zuzana (Project Manager, Pastilla Inc.) is our current project manager. We’ve worked with three over the past 13 years. We also work with a senior programmer, a sysadmin, and an account manager, which tends to be Dan (COO, Pastilla Inc.). 

How did you come to work with Pastilla Inc.?

I’ve worked with Dan in our prior positions. We crossed paths and worked on projects together. I remembered his quality of work when I joined my current position, so I brought him and Pastilla Inc. in.

How much have you invested with them?

At our peak, we spent $7,500 per month. We now spend about $1,200 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership started in June 2006 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The quality of work is high over each project; they consistently perform. My stakeholders and I are pleased. They respond to things quickly and timely. If they make mistakes, they take ownership of their work. We see the results of the quality of work they deliver.

When our site was starting to become responsive and we joined Google Shopping, we went from zero mobile conversions to a 5% conversation rate. We saw direct results from just one landing page that Pastilla Inc. developed. Overall, our site grows 10% year-over-year thanks to their work.

How did Pastilla Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

I’d give them a near-perfect score. We use Skype, Google products, and Assembla to manage sprints.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our relationship with Pastilla Inc. is unique. They care about their work, our deadlines, and whether we as a client are happy with their performance. I feel like I get treated with respect. I can always call them and get a quick turnaround on things to get them done.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As far as our business goes, I can’t think of anything.

Any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to speak with the principals there and the people that handle their business. Have a one-on-one, sit-down interview to really get to know the team there. That will add another level of comfort to working with Pastilla Inc. as an outside developer.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the development coordinator of Frederick K. C. Price III Christian Schools. We’re a private K–12 school.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pastilla Inc.?

Our school had been around for over 30 years, but many in our community didn’t know we were here. We hired Pastilla Inc. to help develop brand awareness to get more recognition for who we are and what we do.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Pastilla Inc. provides a range of digital marketing services. They’ve run Google Business ads and social media marketing campaigns for us, including creating content for us. Some of this content included 30-second videos to be used as ads, longer promotional videos, and a music video. 

They’ve also helped us streamline our logo by recreating it. In that same line, they’ve also produced new apparel with that logo on it.  

For each of these design phases, their team meets with myself and my boss to get our ideas. Once they understand our goals, they create something to send to me for approval. After they make any tweaks and I approve it, they move forward with publishing or marketing it, whatever the task may be. 

What is the team composition?

There have been about 4–5 people assigned to our account. My primary contact is Scott (Account Manager, Pastilla Inc.) and Felicia (Content Writer & Director, Pastilla Inc.) handles most of the creative work. 

How did you come to work with Pastilla Inc.?

Pastilla Inc. found us; Felicia has a connection with our school. Our school was at risk of closing, so Felicia recognized our visibility issue and offered to do a video for us. Rudy (Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Pastilla Inc.) said he would happily help us market the video. We loved their enthusiasm for our school and the work, so we retained them for future projects. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $35,000–$40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2018 and our engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The work has been amazing from Pastilla Inc. The latest video they did for us has reached over 8,000 views on YouTube, and hundreds of thousands of views on social media. The goal of that video was to earn more students, and over half of the new students have seen that video. 

How did Pastilla Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great. Everything is always very clear about our goals and timelines. Scott checks in with us every Friday to give us progress updates on those goals. We always know about any modifications they’ve made and what still needs to be done. They’re really on top of managing the project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their rapport with our students is great. They are always very kind and accommodating to the wide range of students we have. They’re always very responsive and you can never ask too many questions. 

We keep retaining them because they’re a one-stop-shop—it’s great to have one firm that handles it all. Each person has a different skill set, whether it’s the creative work, marketing strategy, or managing efforts. It’s nice that I don’t have to go to multiple companies for all the services we need. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’d like to see them more in-person since a lot of our meetings are over the phone. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to tweak things with them. The process revolves around you giving them honest feedback because they’re very accommodating. Whether it isn’t what you envisioned or you don’t have the budget, they’ll craft it to be whatever you need it to be.