Farinella LLC

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-director and lead programmer at the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival. It’s a once-a-year annual festival.

What challenge were you trying to address with Farinella LLC?

Up until about last year, we’d never had a real focus on social media. We’d done some, but it was totally from street smarts. In order to be visible and relevant in our marketplace, we needed a company that could help us cultivate a social presence year-round and not just during our festival dates.  

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Farinella LLC manages our social media accounts and supports us with digital coordination. To start, they interviewed our team to get a sense of who our competitors were, what audiences we were reaching out to, and how we felt about our own identity. They also researched our market because, as far as I knew, they’d never worked with film festivals before.

Once they’d identified our top five competitors, they broke down how each group approached their topic to their audiences. It was incredible background information — they even outlined our competitors’ market share and where they were in their calendar. 

From there, they’ve been very specific in setting up our schedules and plans. They help us highlight news on documentary films, social justice, and investigative journalism throughout the year. That keeps us engaged with our audience on our program’s focal points. They’ve also played a big part in transitioning our festival from a live event to a virtual setting during the pandemic. 

We’re now in our second year of working with them and are gearing up for our 14th festival, which will be in April 2021.

What is the team composition? 

I work with David (Principal & Creative Strategist) and Bianca (Lead Social Media Strategist). Bianca is the one who runs our accounts, putting together our scheduling and providing in-depth research on our posts and buys.

How did you come to work with Farinella LLC?

A member of our festival staff had recommended them to me. She’d known them personally through work. When we met, it just all seemed to click for us. They were reasonable in their statement of expectations, and we were able to budget their pricing for our festival.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s about $15,000 for the year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2019. 

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

Farinella LLC has essentially taught us about social media management through the metrics that they’ve put together. We had none to start with because we didn’t have any presence, but they’ve absolutely helped our business grow.

How did Farinella LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve always met deadlines and done research ahead of time. That way, they can inform us if they find anything that would be interesting to post. Likewise, if we find something that we think is useful, they’re more than happy to work with us. It’s a very collaborative, positive relationship.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed by how knowledgeable they’ve become about our industry. They were interested in learning as much about our industry as they could to help us become successful. And, now, they have so much enthusiasm for what we do and our efforts. The team is supportive of our endeavors, which makes a world of difference.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’ve enjoyed the relationship.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

First of all, you need to know your own business. That means understanding your goals and how you want to present your identity to your audience so that you can convey that to Farinella LLC. If you’re specific and honest, they can partner with you in creating what you’ve decided to put out there.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a trade association and event production company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Farinella LLC?

We needed help with a rebrand.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did a complete corporate rebrand and refresh of all of our prints and copy. The team provided mission statements, taglines, and simpler messaging. It was a mixture of design, writing, and project management.

What is the team composition?

I worked with one person from their team.

How did you come to work with Farinella LLC?

They were referred to me by a former client of theirs. They really integrated into our team.

How much have you invested with them?

Our budget is $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2020, and our work is ongoing.

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

We kept track of success through social media, click-through rates, and CPM. They totally exceeded my expectations.

How did Farinella LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great at project management and meeting my deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their overall knowledge of the industry and of their sector really stands out. I work in a specialized industry, and I needed to work with someone who has knowledge of that industry. I was really impressed with how they absorbed my message and wrote in my voice.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to lean in, be candid, and trust them. They’ll do nothing but good things for your company.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My organization is a retail lumber company based out of the Bay Area. We serve all of California, especially the northern part of the state, and as the Marketing Director of the company, I work directly with Farinella.

What challenge were you trying to address with Farinella LLC?

We were looking to enhance our Google Analytics and digital marketing strategy and efforts.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Farinella helped us consolidate our Google Analytics efforts and tracking so that we could take better advantage of the information and track how various pages and efforts were performing. We also worked with them to help better define our brand, creating a brand guide and refreshing the website.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with David on brand and image strategy at least twice a month and included other team members as needed before deploying a project. We connected weekly to discuss strategy on Google analytics, and then on a monthly basis to review our progress and next steps with his experts.

How did you come to work with Farinella LLC?

We were working with a large third-party team that was changing, and we were not getting our full value out of our efforts. In our search for a new partnership, David and his team were recommended by another retail partner. I liked that David’s team was more boutique, local, and able to customize their efforts to be more strategic for our business.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent about $25,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started discussions in August and executed projects in October 2019 and our work together is still ongoing.

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

David and his team bring top-notch marketing expertise and can apply that to any industry. They were able to understand our niche industry quickly and enhance our marketing strategy in such a short time period. They are open to listening and learning about our organization and industry. Because of that, we built a great rapport for communication and idea exchange of what would work well for our business. For example, we are in a much better position to measure our e-commerce activity, and their work has helped us increase our digital presence. We have had more yelp reviews, more social media likes and followers, and generally better engagement than we had in the past.

How did Farinella LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

Farinella does a great job of managing the projects. They are a boutique firm, so they are always on top of exactly what they need to be doing and give us clear expectations for timelines and deliverables. All their team members are responsive, and more often than not, they are the ones keeping us on track.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The level of attention that they are able to deliver to each client is really unique. There are a lot of third parties who fall off once the contract has been signed, but Farinella is the exact opposite of that. They are always willing to meet with us and put in the time to do research on what works in our industry and give us feedback about how we can continue to improve.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing at the moment. They have become a part of our business family and continue to provide a high level of service.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear and straightforward about your goals and expectations. This will allow David and his team to navigate and find the right strategy to help you meet your goals and deliver the best experience possible.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former president of Libratone Inc. We manufacture speakers and headphones.

What challenge were you trying to address with Farinella LLC?

Farinella LLC was our Facebook advertising agency.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Farinella LLC developed our strategy for Facebook advertising. They made the creative materials—including the ads, copy, and even some videos. They then measured the results, reported them, and advised us on what campaigns were more profitable to invest in further. 

What is the team composition?

We mainly worked with David (Principal/Creative Strategist, Farinella LLC).

How did you come to work with Farinella LLC?

We already had Google advertising well in hand, so we were looking for someone who could help us exclusively with Facebook. After an extensive agency search and interview process, we found that Farinella LLC had the expertise and resources to make our goals happen. They’re a boutique agency, so they can mobilize a lot to implement our campaigns, but we still get to interact with senior people directly about our project.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $100,000 on creative materials. Farinella LLC also managed about $500,000–$1 million in ad spend.

What is the status of this engagement?

Farinella LLC was our agency of record from April 2017 until the time I left the company, which was about June 2018.

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

Before we brought on Farinella LLC, we never turned a profit in Facebook advertising. A few months after they took over, we saw a positive ROI for the first time. Farinella LLC was also instrumental in launching our advertising campaigns announcing our new headphone line. Thanks in part to their creative testing and spend optimization, we found that it had a better ROI than our speakers. We couldn’t have found that out without Farinella LLC.

How did Farinella LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They did an excellent job. Their account management was top-notch, and they achieved all our deadlines on time and on budget.

What did you find most impressive about them?

David’s personal involvement stood out the most to me. He took the time to understand our business, learn our problems, and propose solutions. Farinella LLC acted like a true partner from start to finish. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I recall.

Any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking for a hands-on boutique agency that gets involved right after the pitch, Farinella LLC is a great choice. They have the ability to do good work at scale and still make you feel like an important client.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is Compass Made. We are in the contract manufacturing business, and we primarily work on system integration as well as cable and harness assembly. My position is senior vice president of marketing and sales.

What challenge were you trying to address with Farinella LLC?

We wanted to rebrand ourselves and come up with the marketing materials required to improve our position in the marketplace.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with an effort to identify who our competition was and what our current niche was. They really broke it down in terms of the kind of business we are going after and evaluated how to market different aspects of our business to those demographics.

After that, we came up with a plan for becoming more competitive in our weakest areas. That included developing a singular new logo because our logo and brand name were scattered across five different web domains that had collected and ages over about 35 years. Their team then helped us pitch those changes to the leadership of the company, who in some cases were very reluctant to change things so significantly.

In order to completely refresh that look and messaging, they redesigned all of our branded material and rebuilt our website from the ground up. Once we had the refresh in place, they conducted an extensive social media campaign including videos on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to help increase traction.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with David (Founder, Farinella LLC) for the majority of the project.

How did you come to work with Farinella LLC?

We were referred to them by another company that had worked with them on a rebranding project in the past.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent just over $100,000 at this point.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from September 2018–September 2019, almost exactly one year.

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

We refocused our marketing efforts toward harnesses, and we definitely found more attention in that area than we had before using our new marketing materials. Their work for us made the market a lot easier to penetrate.

How did Farinella LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed very well in that regard. Frankly, they were on top of reminding me about all of our various tasks and milestones during the project. They made sure that everything moved forward as smoothly and quickly as possible.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of our more difficult asks was to create internal company presentations on top of the rest of their work to help sell people within our company on the changes we were trying to implement. Their efforts to deliver those as well and quickly as possible really impressed us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

David could definitely give up on the Dodgers. That’s the best business advice I have for him.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I found a lot of value from listening to an expert and following his advice. Anyone looking to work with Farinella LLC should be willing to do the same.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Although I’m at a different company now, I was the vice president of global film and media for Akamai. Akamai is a cloud computing company and the premier content delivery network for digital content and media.

What challenge were you trying to address with Farinella LLC?

At the time, I was working to position Akamai as a leader in the shifting digital landscape. That required us to determinedly market to our target audiences. I brought on David (Principal & Creative Strategist, Farinella LLC) to provide marketing support for our media division.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Farinella LLC managed our marketing communications: everything from product and event marketing to whitepapers. They oversaw the package that we compiled before reaching out to our key constituents in the media marketplace.

While it was long before social media management became an industry norm, David drove the initial and core messaging that became an integral asset for our in-house social media team.

What is the team composition?

David was my primary point of contact.

How did you come to work with Farinella LLC?

I’d worked with David in my various positions at different companies. David has great communication skills and a deep knowledge of the industry from his background as a media writer. I continuously rely on his services because of his ability to build the appropriate narrative to reach audiences.

What is the status of this engagement?

If I recall correctly, that specific engagement lasted from 2012 until mid-2014.

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

It’s been so long so I don’t have any concrete metrics.

I know that David and his team demonstrate a critical balance between tactical marketing know-how and a deep knowledge of the media space. They understand all the market challenges and have solutions to offer. They were extremely effective at building a narrative that connects with our target audience.

How did Farinella LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent. They hit every deadline and milestone. They work very quickly and are flexible all around.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their extensive and nuanced understanding of the media entertainment space is pretty outstanding. As journalists who used to cover the industry, their communications acumen is razor-sharp.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they always do a great job.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a tax parter at Devereaux, Kuhner & CO LLP, a boutique CPA firm in San Francisco, providing tax preparation and consultation services.

What challenge were you trying to address with Farinella LLC?

We engaged Farinella LLC during a transition stage, as one partner was leaving and another had just joined. We thought it was an appropriate time to refresh our logo and letterhead. In addition to the rebranding, we also wanted to refresh our website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Starting from wireframes, David (Principal & Creative Strategist, Farinella LLC) redesigned our website in WordPress. He also developed our content to reframe our business. He even came in with a photographer and took new pictures of us for the site. On top of the company website, he also helped establish our LinkedIn profiles, so that we could market ourselves better.

He created new business cards, envelopes, and other materials using a fresh, new letterhead. While we’re still set up with what he established, he’s the one we call whenever we want to update any of the products.

What is the team composition?

We just worked with David and the photographer.

How did you come to work with Farinella LLC?

We had a connection through one of our partners who had previously worked with them. Farinella had also created our original logo and branding back in 2010.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $35,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in August 2016, and the relationship is ongoing.

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

It was such a smooth experience working with them. I really appreciated that David was so invested in accurately portraying our business to the public—he wasn’t just going to do the website and then leave.

He took a lot of time with us, even developing blurbs about each of the partners and the firm in general. He truly cared whether we were happy with the product he was providing.

How did Farinella LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

All deliverables were timely and successful so the project went very smooth. It was important that we launched our website by November 1st, which was our transition date. David gave us a project timeline and all deadlines were hit. He’s also been great about answering any questions that come up.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was really taken by his friendly and fun manner, which really puts you at ease when you’re working together (even when he’s taking pictures of you!) You’re comfortable around him, so you’re able to speak eloquently about your business. His personality helps you comfortably portray yourself on a PR platform.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really can’t recall anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to the process, and don’t feel embarrassed about sharing your thoughts. David does an excellent job of curating all the information and presenting it in an appealing way.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Marketing at a tech company that creates casino games.

What challenge were you trying to address with Farinella LLC?

We were being acquired by another company, so we needed to rebrand. We were also scheduled to ring the bell at NASDAQ just six months after merging, so we were on a very strict timeline.

What was the scope of their involvement?

This was a really large project—everything about our identities needed to be rebranded. First, they assessed our brand and the company we were merging with.

They helped us create a new name and solidified our messaging, mission statement, and values. Then they took on content creation, including graphic design and creating templates. By revisiting all of the language we used, colors, and our copy, they adjusted everything on our website.

Then they took on the task of merging both of our websites. We were two very different businesses, but Farinella LLC had to create a single platform that appeared seamless and had good UI. To give you an idea of how extensive this merger was, we needed them to manage a customer portal that hosted 20-30 information sheets associated with each of our games, but they didn’t leave a single piece of text unexamined.

How did you come to work with Farinella LLC?

We completed an extensive search and interviewed 6-7 different agencies, but many of them said the project was impossible in the timeline we gave them. We also had a relatively tight budget, so we needed to find a partner that was creative and flexible. Farinella LLC was great from beginning to end.

How much have you invested with them?

We were expecting the project to cost $600,000, but with the changes we made during the project, we spent about $650,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from January 2015–January 2016.

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

We were really happy with everything they created. More importantly, they delivered everything on time and we were able to use our new brand at the NASDAQ event.  

How did Farinella LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They were amazing. They provided us with status reports almost daily. We always knew what they needed, and what roadblocks we might encounter. Communication was very open because if we experienced any hiccups, the project could be delayed. I honestly don’t think we would have been able to complete this project in this short time period without their transparency.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re the best vendor I’ve worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I can think of.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Founder and CEO of Emergence Healthcare Group. We are a startup offering independent physician practices a turnkey practice solution.

For what projects/services did your company hire Farinella LLC?

Website design, digital marketing, brand, social media, etc.

How did you select this vendor?

If they could draw me in to inquire from their website, then I felt they could do the same for us and our customers

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They did their due diligence in the beginning and invested their time and resources to learn about us and our voice. They then designed a complete approach from web design, brand refresh and guide, signage in our first location, social media presence and developed robust and thoughtful customer profiles as a start of our targeted marketing.

What was the team composition?

Everyone!

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

It is ongoing because they earned our trust and confidence. They've begun to really become an extension of us as an organization both in terms of voice, values, and mission.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It has improved greatly to the point where they are truly partners. They've put in the time and effort to establish a helpful cadence, especially given our stage as a company.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They welcome, solicit, digest, and incorporate feedback so effectively that I'm learning this from them. I'm actually finding myself learning about service from them for our business!

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

No. It was bumpy at first, but we wouldn't be here now if not for those.