Farinella

Farinella Farinella is a creative brand and marketing agency. We help to uncover and amplify your brand’s promise. How do we pick these folks?

We’ve spilled thousands of gallons of ink and scattered millions of pixels looking for inspirational, creative, clear, and dynamic ways to communicate. We have a deep bench of strategists, writers, designers, coders, and social media pros. Creative brilliance helps, but we’re just as concerned with how they treat our clients and how we mesh together. We operate as a virtual agency, so we build the right team for every project, ensuring our clients get the best service for the best price.

06/08/2026

We’re happy to introduce you to Ellie Keating, who’s joining us as a summer intern from St. Mary’s College.

Ellie is jumping into the deep end and tackling all aspects of what it means to work at an agency, from account services to brand to digital.

“I enjoy making connections and building relationships,” she says, “but can see myself really geeking out and getting into the tech side of things.”

Here’s to a great summer, Ellie! Welcome to the team.

"Should we invest in search or social?”It sounds like a strategic question. It isn’t.It’s a framing problem.Search and s...
05/21/2026

"Should we invest in search or social?”

It sounds like a strategic question. It isn’t.

It’s a framing problem.

Search and social don’t compete. They do different jobs at different moments in the buying process.

Search captures intent.
Someone is actively looking, comparing, deciding.

Social builds perception.
Someone is learning, observing, forming an opinion over time.

If you treat them as interchangeable, you’ll misallocate budget and misread performance.

We see this play out often:
A company invests heavily in paid search expecting brand lift.
Or leans on social expecting immediate conversions.

Both underperform. Not because the channels don’t work, but because the expectations are off.

The better question is:
Where is your buyer in their decision process, and what do they need at that moment?

Awareness → social introduces and shapes perception
Consideration → search and content validate and educate
Conversion → paid channels accelerate action

The strongest strategies don’t choose between search and social.

They align both to how decisions actually get made.

What’s the biggest mistake companies make with video?They start with format instead of function.“How-to or brand video?”...
05/13/2026

What’s the biggest mistake companies make with video?

They start with format instead of function.

“How-to or brand video?”
“Product demo or culture piece?”

Wrong question.

The right one:
What do you need this video to do?

Because the best-performing videos aren’t defined by type.
They’re defined by intent.

→ Teach something → build trust
→ Show your process → reduce risk
→ Explain your POV → shape perception

Video isn’t a content category.
It’s a delivery mechanism for decisions.

If you don’t know the goal, the format won’t save you.

We’ve been defining “brand” too narrowly.Yes, it’s more than a logo. It always has been.It’s your messaging.Your positio...
05/01/2026

We’ve been defining “brand” too narrowly.

Yes, it’s more than a logo. It always has been.

It’s your messaging.Your positioning.Your customer experience. The full expression of your company’s promise.

But here’s the part most teams are still missing:

Your brand isn’t just what you build anymore.
It’s what shows up before anyone gets to you.

Quick example:

Search your category in an AI tool.
Or look at a “best companies” list.

Who gets mentioned? How are they described? Are you there at all?

That’s your brand in the wild.

When buyers are:
• Asking AI what to trust
• Skimming summaries instead of websites
• Comparing you before you even know they exist

Your brand is being shaped without you in the room.

Which means branding and SEO aren’t separate lanes anymore.

Brand is:
• How you’re described
• Where you appear
• What you’re associated with
• And whether you’re included at all

Not just your logo, voice, or website.

That’s why we think about this as Search Everywhere Optimization.

Because visibility without positioning is noise. Positioning without visibility is…invisible.

Curious how your brand actually shows up across search, AI, and everything in between? It’s usually not what you think.

SEO didn’t die—it expanded beyond Google.We kept seeing it in client work: rankings stayed steady, but traffic and conve...
04/23/2026

SEO didn’t die—it expanded beyond Google.

We kept seeing it in client work: rankings stayed steady, but traffic and conversion paths changed.

Why? Because discovery changed.

People now find brands through:
• Google
• AI answers (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity)
• Reddit, forums, and niche communities

Search didn’t disappear. It spread out.

That’s why SEO is no longer just about rankings—it’s about being the source AI and search systems trust, summarize, and surface.

We call it Search Everywhere Optimization: still SEO, just applied everywhere people look for answers.

Who would've thought that a small-town event launched in 2007 by a few documentarians and film-loving folks would become...
04/09/2026

Who would've thought that a small-town event launched in 2007 by a few documentarians and film-loving folks would become an Oscar®-qualifying festival in 2019?

The Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival (SDFF) launched in 2007. By 2020, the festival had grown from a local happening into a prestigious event, but then came March 12, 2020.

Days before opening night, the world shut down.

When they called us, they had one mission: to make sure the world knew about this festival. Our job? To make some noise.

Our team launched active campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, and (then) Twitter to inform filmmakers, documentary enthusiasts, and others that the SDFF was happening, albeit in a different format.

That transformation from hidden gem to Oscar®-qualifying festival didn’t happen by accident. It happened because of strategy, resilience, and the courage to adapt when everything changed.

Much of the success that SDFF experienced over the years was because of Jean McGlothlin, a passionate lover of truth, art, and documentary films. Jean passed last month. Our hearts go out to her entire family and all of the people that loved and respected her.

We are ecstatic that SDFF 2026 is kicking off! Learn more about the festival here: https://www.sebastopolfilm.org/

Big ideas… don’t need a big chair. But a big chair does make a great photo.
03/25/2026

Big ideas… don’t need a big chair.
But a big chair does make a great photo.

We are THRILLED to welcome Katya Lopez-Nichols to the Farinella team. Katya comes to us with oodles of experience as a s...
03/06/2026

We are THRILLED to welcome Katya Lopez-Nichols to the Farinella team.

Katya comes to us with oodles of experience as a social media and content strategist and practitioner. One of the things we loved while talking to her references was the common thread of “she’s going to dive in and go above and beyond.”

We’ve thrown her into the deep end, and it’s been amazing to see her ideas and work come to life.

Welcome, Katya!

Thought you’d like to meet the Farinella team, junior style.
03/04/2026

Thought you’d like to meet the Farinella team, junior style.

12/30/2025

Hi. David here.

This post boils down to this: THANK YOU.

It's been a wild and wacky 2025. Thanks for spinning through the year with us. You trusted us with brands and marketing, communications and social media. Heck, we did big advertising campaigns and big photo shoots. It was a doozy.

Oh, also, we hope you're taking a deep breath this week. Get outside, see some people, watch some dumb movies ... Chill.

Our team of Big Thinkers & Ass-Kickers will be back on 5 January, ready to help. Until then, though, have some fun!

Address

1195 Park Avenue, Ste 202
Emeryville, CA
94608

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

Telephone

+15103399922

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Farinella posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Farinella:

Shortcuts

Share

Category