Rocket Farm

BACKGROUND

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

SOLUTION

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the medical and continuing medical education (CME) facilitator for Providence Saint John’s Health Center.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to find a company that could help us record our annual CME program called Saint John’s Post-Graduate and Annual Assembly. We also needed to put the recording online so the rest of our medical staff would be able to see it. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rocket Farm recorded the CME program and worked with our speakers remotely by sending them home recording kits. The team went to the local speakers within the area and helped them set up while having protection against COVID-19.

Apart from recording the speakers, Rocket Farm synchronized the presentations’ format. Each speaker had their own format with different colored backgrounds, so the team had to synchronize them. They guided our speakers to be more comfortable, relaxed, and professional as they spoke to the camera.

Rocket Farm took the lead on the production effort. They met with us and led numerous meetings, showing us the options we had. Their resources gave us suggestions and guided us around what would look best, what would flow nicely, and what would be more eloquent for our viewers. 

So far, we’ve used them three times for our annual event. We don’t have many large events, but the event is something we’ve been doing for 75 years. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with about seven people, including their organization's founder and administrative assistant. 

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm?

Our medical services department director learned about Rocket Farm through a mutual business partner. We were looking for a company that could work closely with us and our budget. I encountered some companies that were so expensive that we couldn’t work with them.

As a result, our director reached out to her counterparts in other health centers and hospitals. One of them recommended Rocket Farm, saying the team did a phenomenal job when they used their services. Their members were professional and approachable. 

They had other clients then, but they adjusted to accommodate us considering our predicament. The team provided us with their pricing and let us know our options. As a result, we decided to hire Rocket Farm for our annual event. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2019, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Rocket Farm knows their work, and they’re truly knowledgeable about their working environment. They ensure that our speakers have the same backgrounds and that everything matches and flows nicely. They’ve touched up and made everything more professional. Overall, they’ve done great work. 

How did Rocket Farm perform from a project management standpoint?

Since we’re working in the healthcare industry, there’s never a dull moment. Emergencies always happen with patient care. In fact, we’ve missed a couple of meetings with them. However, Rocket Farm kept us on track. They provide us with updates if we miss any meetings and follow up with us — they’re phenomenal when it comes to keeping us organized.

Our team can’t use some of Rocket Farm's software programs because of our firewalls and cybersecurity. They’ve worked around that and made things happen even if one program doesn’t work for us. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Rocket Farm’s overall customer service and cordiality are impressive. The way they treat and speak with us has been great during our joint collaboration. On top of that, their resources are truly wonderful people. They work with us without any nagging or hassling. 

For comparison, the other companies we’ve checked out had negative attitudes. They were giving us expensive quotes but offered lousy customer service at the same time. It wasn’t a good feeling. 

By contrast, Rocket Farm has been completely cordial with us. They’re professional and understand our predicament. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They don’t work with many health centers and entities within the healthcare industry. As a result, they don’t know what software to use to get past our firewalls and cybersecurity. To be fair, things are changing all the time in the healthcare industry; firewalls and security measures are constantly being upgraded on a weekly basis. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Lay all your cards on the table and let Rocket Farm know what you’re working with, especially if you’ve never worked with a production company before. Be completely open and honest with them because the more they know, the more they can help you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and co-owner of Beforeutrade, an online platform to purchase vehicles directly from consumers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm?

We needed help with UI/UX design to improve our site, get better engagement, and drive more traffic to it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, we went through a discovery period so that Rocket Farm learned about our goals and objectives. We also had an existing site, so we showed it to them and talked about what we liked and didn’t like about it. We also discussed how we wanted the customer journey to look.

From there, almost simultaneously, we started working alongside Rocket Farm’s design team to come up with different templates. Throughout the design process, we had a lot of review calls to change buttons, call-to-actions, and other visual details like those until we reached a very solid design for our site.

While undergoing the design process, we also had a two-day content creation period, during which we defined the different digital assets we wanted to develop, including static ads, social media posts, and videos. Moreover, we dove into our target market and demographics, working closely with Rocket Farm to define our audience.

After the design process, their development team built the website from scratch, and they set up an AWS account for us so that we could administer the hosting. Still, they now provide us with maintenance ongoingly.

Once the site went live, we started testing different markets and different ads to optimize our ad spend. Over the last six months, we’ve kept working with Rocket Farm to hone our advertising and marketing efforts by measuring our site’s traffic and other metrics. Currently, they manage all of our digital marketing and social media, and they’re in charge of creating monthly deliverables for our advertising. As for social media, they specifically handle our Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok accounts.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with Jeff (Founder & Creative Director), Pierce (Digital Strategist), an SEO specialist, Morgan (Designer), and another person.

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm?

We were referred to them. We ultimately hired them due to their understanding of our business model and their attention to detail.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2021, and our engagement is ongoing. Now, we have a monthly retainer for website maintenance, marketing, and advertising.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the biggest challenges that Rocket Farm overcame during the site’s development was seamlessly creating a third-party integration we required — it was the biggest development accomplishment. As for quantitative metrics, we’ve seen an 800%–1,000% increase in our site’s traffic over the last eight months.

How did Rocket Farm perform from a project management standpoint?

Rocket Farm’s project management is very good; they’re very responsive to our needs and deliver on time. Throughout the engagement, we’ve had weekly, biweekly, and monthly touchpoints to see our progress and results. We communicate via Microsoft Teams and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The fact that Rocket Farm took the time to understand our business model and target market is outstanding. We hadn’t experienced that with another provider before.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Although there’s always room for improvement, I can’t think of anything specifically Rocket Farm could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I don’t have any particular advice; Rocket Farm will lead you in the right direction, and it’ll feel natural.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a communications and production manager at a tech company. My role is to run the production studio used for the EVP's comm department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rocket Farm, and what were your goals?

We have a steady stream of work that includes recording executives in our studio, streaming interviews, and creating motion graphic and edited content. We needed to have a partner who was flexible, affordable, and created quality content.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

They were already the primary partner when I joined the team.

Describe the video(s) and the process in detail, including the project steps and all stages of production.

Most of our videos are a bit wash, rinse, repeat, with a few notes during production about potential talking head portions to remove. A few may require a creative brief to get going in the right direction. If our initial projects goals lack enough information, Rocket Farm will probe for more information and come to the table with suggestions on how to execute. Rocket Farm will create a V1 based on our discussions and then integrate review notes from there.

Who did you work with and what was the feedback process like?

We primarily work with the DP/editor, who posts reviews to Frame.io, where we can input notes directly. Feedback is always graciously received. Rocket Farm does feel comfortable pushing back on feedback if they don't believe the feedback helps the overall video or achieves the creative goals.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The continually growing quality of content coming out of our studio is definitely being noted by the execs we assist. It's helping to bring a better focused brand standard across all our comms.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We create a schedule and have weekly meetings to make sure we are aligned with upcoming shoots and deliverables. Rocket Farm will flag if there's anything they can't hit, but that hasn't come up often. Our deliverables are a mix of "we need this within 6 hours of filming it" to "chip away at this edit while you have time".

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Rocket Farms flexibility is much appreciated. Their adaptability to constantly shifting parameters makes them feel like they are part of our team.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the creative director at J.D. Power & Associates, a leading company in data analytics. We serve the automotive, insurance, and financial industries with data products, such as market research, analytics, insights, and more. I work in the capacity of content creation and graphic design services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm?

We were going to market specific products and services, and we needed to explain how these products and services could benefit clients. We wanted to do so by using modern media, digital advertising, and videos.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve engaged Rocket Farm to turn our complex ideas into video format and deliver our messages via email, social media, and website. In general, they develop our marketing materials; they’ve helped us with live and animated videos. Also, they’ve provided graphic assets. We have our own email marketing automation systems, and they supply the content that we forward.

In this project, we worked on a video that mostly used stock footage with a voiceover. We paired the footage alongside different insights. We started with a rough storyboard of the type of scenery we’d need to explain the product. Rocket Farm worked with us to develop the initial scenes and show our leaders and salespeople how to fill in the gaps where questions were needed. Then, they took it and turned it into a visual product.

What is the team composition?

Jeff (Creative Director & Owner) and April (Program Manager) were my main points of contact. We worked with up to 3–4 people, and they had others behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm?

Before this position, I worked at a small advertising agency with a large client base. They used Rocket Farm to develop online tutorials, and when I came over to J.D. Power & Associates, I brought along my connection at Rocket Farm to develop content.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $7,000 on the last engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our most recent engagement started in May 2022 and ended in August 2022, but we have multiple projects with them. Sometimes they last only a week, and sometimes they last a handful of months; it depends on the complexity of the video. However, many campaigns are one-off projects that don’t require much involvement.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The video from our last project hasn’t been launched yet. We’re planning to show it on a webinar, and then it’ll be available on our website and social media. On the other hand, we can say that various marketing leaders enjoy Rocket Farm's work. Every year, their assets help us increase the impressions and click-through rates on our website or social media. For example, the video for the most recent engagement with our global electric vehicle team was very well received. Everybody on the electric vehicle team was highly impressed and excited to share it — it was a huge morale booster.

How did Rocket Farm perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great project management partners. They provided timelines and updates, and we could call them to call out any questions or concerns. Also, they were available whenever we needed them; we could count on them to fit us into their production schedule. Overall, they were very easy to work with.

We communicated through emails and used Trello for project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their experience and mastery of their work were outstanding. They were experts in video, editing, compositing, and animations. We’ve worked with them to deliver good videos for almost five years, and they’re great at what they do. We wouldn’t go with anybody else.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there weren’t any areas that needed improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very detailed and organized in the scope and deliverables. They aren’t a large studio, so be sure you have all the details and information about what you want and need from them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CFO of a community business bank.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm?

We wanted to update a very stagnant and stale website and improve our local marketing.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our old site was very static and was probably developed in the early 2000s. We wanted something fresh that interacted with clients. They were able to deliver that along with a new branding focus. Now, visitors to our website and the bank know who we are and what we stand for. They made videos for us from two hours’ worth of interviews with employees. Additionally, they created video testimonials from clients who received PPP loans from us in response to COVID-19.

What is the team composition?

We worked with five people from their team.

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm?

The principal of Rocket Farm knew our CEO. They had the experience in the field and the youthful vibe that we wanted.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $100,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2017, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Immediately upon getting our new site launched, we were clearly able to see how direct traffic was being driven to the site. We never had access to that data before. It’s been fun to watch the metrics increase over the years.

How did Rocket Farm perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re awesome. They were always available to come on-site when we needed them. Email is our most frequently used form of communication and it works well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their videos have been out of this world. The quality was exceptional and they were able to capture 7–8 employees answering the same questions in an engaging way. The professionalism in that process and with our clients is tremendous. They have the acumen to help interviewees open up on camera.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They help us with ideas for our blog and make sure that we keep things updated on a weekly basis. They write like millennials, not business people. They don’t know that after a period there should be two spaces; I go back and change their copy to make it sound more professional and add that extra space.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to sit down with them and have them help you verbalize your vision. It’ll help you move forward efficiently.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a medical device company. We have two different product lines: one is for wound care and the other is for respiratory products. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm?

We needed a corporate video. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rocket Farm created an informational video for our respiratory line of products. We were working off of a script and once it was finalized, they had all the tools and means to start the video production. After one or two takes, the job was completed. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with three people from Rocket Farm, including the owner of the company and two other people. 

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm?

My company is located in New York, and Rocket Farm is in California. We have a distributor there that was working with them. They asked for my help and guidance, so I reviewed the script and made comments, so that’s how I got to know them. Once I learned about the first project, we decided to do a second project with a different concept. 

How much have you invested with them?

Both projects cost a total of $1,500, as far as our portion was concerned. It was very reasonable and well worth the price.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on the project from August–September 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The video was well-received; everybody liked it in terms of educating the end user. It was around three and a half minutes long, but it was sufficient to provide information to customers or potential customers. 

How did Rocket Farm perform from a project management standpoint?

I was directly involved in the second project, and it was much easier and less labor-intensive because the first project was already done. Very minor changes were required in the script about the parts and operation of the device. We communicated mostly by email and phone, and it was perfect.  

Their entire team was fully involved in the execution of the project. They were forthright and forthcoming with all the changes. The team was cooperative and receptive to last-minute changes. The cost was reasonable, too, compared to other projects that I’ve been involved in. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the things they were very good at was getting the script down to the last detail. Once the script was done, they were very quick in learning about the product and its features. It was quite impressive how they were able to take a video, cut and paste parts, and put the final product together.

Given that we were in a pandemic and it was very difficult to be present for the production, they couldn’t have done better. This was a long-distance project, and they had all the information in advance. I communicated by phone or video conference just in case they had questions, but the end product was perfect.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there is anything they could have improved. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d tell them they’ll be in good hands. Rocket Farm is a good team to work with and they’re a young and very energetic group of people. They’re very reasonable and the team wants to do a good job. 

Get the script complete and done correctly, or else it’ll mess up video production. In the first project, I was not directly involved in the editing process; the script was written up by our distributor and there were some mistakes in it. 

However, once you have the correct script right from the get-go, it’s much easier to go through the production. There’d be less hassle and fewer mistakes.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a singer and the president of a nonprofit choral chorus in Long Beach, California. We have 24 professional singers and 75 volunteer singers. Everybody is fully auditioned. We are the symphony chorus for our local symphony and baroque orchestra. This year, we are celebrating our 55th anniversary. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm?

We’re a small arts organization in a city of about 500,000. There is a lot of entertainment here. We’re trying to attract more audiences and donations, as well as get our name out there. 

For years we’ve sent out postcards, emails, and similar things. I started doing the marketing, which was basically designing postcards, having them printed, and doing the emails as well. Recently, we got a grant to update our website because that is something that we couldn’t do ourselves.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Rocket Farm to produce a new website for us and act as our marketing consultant. They do our marketing on a project basis. They have also produced short videos that we put in our emails and post on Facebook and Instagram.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Matt (Marketing Coordinator), and he does all of the graphic design. We also work with Jeff (Creative Director) on the bigger picture things.

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm?

After I became the president, I hired and fired five marketing managers in five years. At that point, I decided to try an outside consultant, and that’s how we came to find Rocket Farm. I met them at a networking event that I had been invited to.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $50,000–$100,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2018, and we are still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve definitely increased our Facebook and Instagram followers. Our profits and the reputation within our community has been growing. Better imagery has also helped us with our professional look.

Rocket Farm helped us save money because we have four concerts every year, and we only really need intensive marketing around those concerts.

How did Rocket Farm perform from a project management standpoint?

The team has been accommodating. They communicate via email and sometimes text. I prefer to talk on the phone, but not a lot of young people will do that.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their video skills are excellent and fantastic, and they’re much higher-level than anything we’ve had before. Their imagery has been beautiful. You can go on our website and Facebook page, and you’ll be able to tell right away the difference between what I’ve done and what they’ve done.

They're young, talented, ambitious, and very personable. They're also patient and responsive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They had a real learning curve for our industry. They didn’t know anything about the choral industry at all. Matt has learned quite a bit about it. I would have encouraged them to come to more of our concerts and perhaps even some of our fundraisers in order to continue understanding the culture of the organization. That entails doing things on their personal time, as a work commitment, because all of those events happen on weekends.

It would also be good if they had reviewed some language with me before it went out. I might’ve said it slightly differently than they did, but it wasn’t a material problem.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager of a kidney dialysis company. I’m on the branding team, and we handle all the photoshoots and video shoots. We find patients who are on dialysis with us and invite them to tell their stories. This provides more of a real connection for other patients who are going through the same thing as they are. That’s why we do these photoshoots instead of finding stock images online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm?

We brought Rocket Farm on to handle all of our photoshoots and post-production efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We work with them on the pre- to post-production stages. Their team comes on-site to these photoshoots after we do the planning; they happen in cities all across the country. Filming is dependent on wherever we find patients who are willing to participate and have the right story to tell.

What is the team composition?

We work with one individual for the planning stage; they’re my primary contact. When shooting on location, there are usually five team members.

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm?

I was directed to contact Rocket Farm to work with them on the photoshoots. They have had a relationship with someone in my company’s internal team.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in January 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The projects are always complete and many people are pleased with the results. On paper, Rocket Farm seems like a boutique agency but they don’t operate like one. They’re smart and talented. The results are always beyond what anyone is expecting because they do such beautiful work.

How did Rocket Farm perform from a project management standpoint?
Project management is great. There’s a lot of communication via email, phone, and Webex. We use Google sheets to share content on what’s being done and make changes as needed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re 100% invested in our projects. I know they have a lot of other projects happening simultaneously, however, it doesn’t seem that way because they’re always available.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’ve been very happy with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior manager of auto retail practice for JD Power. Any of our manufacturing programs that have to do with automotive retail, I’m involved with and work with our clients on.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rocket Farm?

We’re getting ready to launch a new digital retailing initiative with dealers nationwide, and we needed to shoot a short production.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They are building a production video of our digital retailing product. We needed the video to be around three minutes focused on the importance of digital retailing and why it benefits the dealership and the customer.

Rocket Farm has helped create the production and script for the video, and we’re in the process of finalizing everything. They’ve brought in really strong actors and talent that we need for the video. They took our idea, put together the script, added visuals, provided the talent, and started production. 

They provided the completed product for us to review, allowed us to make edits as necessary, and implement the changes. They’re currently just enhancing the color and removing some scenes from the final cut. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with three people, but there could be others behind the scenes. 

How did you come to work with Rocket Farm?

Initially, I asked our marketing and creative team if we could do this internally. They said the production quality was more than we could handle, so they recommended a few providers who I then spoke to.

Rocket Farm was the team that actually seemed to be the most professional and were really great writers, which is why we chose them over other providers. They were also local to us in Southern California.

How much have you invested with them?

Our engagement has cost close to $25,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the work together in February 2020 and our relationship is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen the final video and really like it. We’re still making final changes, but we’re pleased. 

How did Rocket Farm perform from a project management standpoint?

In terms of communication, we mainly used email or phone calls. Sometimes we had conference calls directly with our client, as well. They’ve been great at completing everything on time. Every time we have a question, they respond right away, even after hours sometimes. They’re extremely responsive. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re extremely helpful. They’ve been very responsive to every change we’ve asked for and never made us feel like we were asking for too much. 

We started production before COVID-19, but it came during the process so we needed to take a 1–2 month break. Our biggest concerns were that we needed it done quickly and with safety in mind for the talent and production crew. They made us feel a lot more comfortable moving forward with the process. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything I’d recommend they do better. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re an extremely talented team. You don’t need to provide a highly detailed outline of what you’re looking for, but it couldn’t hurt to do so. Ask Rocket Farm for ideas and alternative approaches.