Theory SF

I am the Creative Director of Backblaze

Cloud storage

Referral

2-5 Employees

TheorySF partnered with Backblaze to develop and launch a bold, differentiated brand campaign timed with the company’s IPO. The project was executed on a fast-tracked schedule and included foundational brand strategy, creative development, and production for a high-impact multi-channel rollout.

While the project took place during the Fall of 2021 and traditional campaign attribution was limited due to the nature of an IPO launch, several key performance indicators reflected the campaign’s strong impact:

TheorySF demonstrated exceptional project management throughout the entire engagement. Despite a fast-paced and high-pressure timeline tied to our IPO, they remained proactive, focused, and calm under pressure—delivering every major asset on time, from creative development to video production to digital display ads.

Virtual Meeting

What stood out most about TheorySF was their strategic depth. From our very first interaction, it was clear they had done their homework—they knew more about our business, our competitors, and our audience than we ever expected. They came to the table not just as creatives, but as true strategic partners.

The only thing to offer—more as a reflection than a criticism—is that in a few instances, the pace of execution occasionally led to small errors that needed revisiting. But to be fair, this was a high-stakes, high-speed initiative tied to our IPO, and TheorySF’s ability to move fast was part of what made it successful.

I’m the CMO of a company that provides enterprise networking solutions as a service. We provide wireless networking for buildings, schools, and similar establishments.

I engaged Theory SF before the launch of our company. Up to that point, we were in stealth mode with no external presence or website. We had limited messaging and marketing materials. We used their team to build our early positioning message and develop a campaign that would help build our brand.

At the start of the engagement, I sent them a folder of materials they could review alongside documents that we’d written internally. I described why our company existed, what pain point we were trying to solve, and what made us unique to other providers in the market. On top of that, I provided them with case study materials so they could see what some of our early customers were saying. From there, they worked on the project in two phases.

We worked with four teammates from Theory SF, including Chip (Creative Director & Partner). Our team worked with him most regularly. Russell (Partner & Chief Strategy Officer) served as our account manager. They also had a creative talent and a resource who served as our day-to-day advisor.

I found Theory SF online as I was searching for local agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The first phase of the project cost around $90,000. We didn’t finish some things in that phase, so we had a little back and forth. They agreed to do a second phase with us at a significant discount. This second phase cost around $7,000.

The project lasted from December 2022–September 2023. We finished all of the initial work in two phases. The first phase was completed around April 2023, while the second phase wrapped up around September 2023. We’re talking about picking up another project with them, but that hasn’t been finalized yet.

The materials Theory SF produced were a part of a larger project. Generally speaking, their work was well-received, and we’ve been excited about the direction that they gave us.

Their project management was great. They delivered everything on time and within our budget.

Theory SF was a great creative brand agency.

They had one engagement model for companies regardless of size. If they wanted to engage with more small startups like us, they should consider changing their engagement model based on that. They could have more cost-effective options for younger startups. The pricing they shared with me would not be a big deal for a big company. However, for a small startup like us, it was a huge sum of money. We had many back-and-forth conversations around that.

Be clear about your objectives. Go into the engagement with total clarity of your goals and expectations. Make sure everything is reflected in the SOW. This way, you can keep Theory SF focused on those goals.

I’m the executive director of business development at Issio Solutions, a workforce optimization platform.

We needed Theory SF to help with branding and marketing.

We weren’t standing out in the market and Theory SF helped us to change and align our branding to who we are today and want to be in the future. We showed them who our target market was and they took it a step further and really supported us in understanding the market and industry as a whole. They helped us with our competitive analysis to know where we needed to be aligned to move forward. They interviewed several within our company as well as our external customers.

We work with a dedicated 6-8 people.

Nancy (Senior Marketing Advisor) really supported us in our efforts. I don’t have a marketing background and she did a phenomenal job guiding me and helping me understand what areas I needed to focus on. The person responsible for the copy was phenomenal.

Theory SF was recommended by our former director of marketing. We evaluated four companies and chose Theory SF because they aligned with us.

The project cost $50,000-$100,000.

We started working together in January 2023–ongoing.

Theory SF took has taken our brand, elaborated it, and made it palatable for the market. Our brand is now entertaining, eye-catching, and drives home who we are today and where we want to be in the future. Our partnership with Theory SF is everything I was looking for and more. They guide us and ensure us that we’ll have an unveiling into the market in about a month.

The project manager really helped guide us to ensure we were meeting our expectations efficiently. They respect our guidelines, deadlines, and budget. They always have an open and honest conversation with us before deploying any effort.

I’m impressed that Theory SF went above and beyond to help us understand what we needed to be accomplished. They give us everything that we need.

No, they exceeded expectations.

Bring your true and authentic self to Theory SF and they will help guide you in the right direction.

I am the Director Brand and Content of (a/an) Software

Saas. Business accounting and payment software.

Online Search

Other

2-5 Employees

Theory created a full visual brand system for our company, a launch campaign for the brand based on extensive ideation, and assets for the launch including a brand anthem video, animated ads, and a series of image ads. They did the scripting and storyboarding for the video and worked with animators to deliver a final product.

Project management needed improvement part way through as the project heated up and the schedules tightened, and they worked to rectify the issues with stronger management.

Virtual Meeting

Their creative is excellent. They are amazing communicators who took our founder through a broad range of choices for the company's visual identity and methodically and comprehensively brought key stakeholders through the process to results that everyone loved and appreciated.

The project management could have been a bit stronger when it came to executing the detailed specifications of the various ads. At this point, we were also working with an agency to handle the ad buys, so it was complex.

I’m the CEO of R&R Head Labs. We’re a brand new barbershop concept built around hiring formerly incarcerated barbers.

We needed a company that could build an entire brand for us from scratch.

We started the entire branding process with Theory SF from scratch. We started by asking them to come up with a name to build our entire branding platform around. Once we got a name, we worked on logo options and narrowed them down to one from there. Then they created our first campaign, which included a lot of visual assets, content, and text that went along with it. After that, they built our brand guidelines so that when we use other vendors, they will know how to conform to our brand. We are currently working on shop design with them.

We’ve worked with seven people from Theory SF, including Russell (Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer), Chip (Partner & Chief Creative Officer), a brand manager, and a client whisperer.

I found Theory SF from Clutch. I reached out to them, talked several times, and looked at their past work. Between their portfolio, the conversations we had, and their positive reviews, I knew they would be a good fit for us.

We started working together in September 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

We don’t have any success metrics so far.

Theory SF has performed well in terms of project management. We mostly use email and phone to communicate.

Theory SF’s creative product and guidance have been excellent. They've also done a good job balancing our input and pushing back when they felt strongly about a certain decision. They don’t just take our direction and go with it no matter what; they use their brains and push back when needed.

We had some communication and deadline issues in the early stages of our engagement. They’ve since hired a client whisperer, who has been a huge help to us. I give them credit for knowing they needed more help and finding a great person to help.

If you want a company that could challenge you and that you could benefit from their expertise, go with Theory SF. But if you want someone who would do exactly what you tell them to do, they’re probably not the right fit for you.