Posted by Kevin.

Almost everything on this website was written by a Farstarian. And while we like to think of ourselves as an honest, forthright bunch, people who have never met us – which may include you – have no real reason to believe a thing we say. After all, we're in marketing. Our job is to make anything and everything as appealing as possible. Including, perhaps especially, ourselves.

Our clients, however, have no real incentive to say nice things about us. We don't offer them lower fees or move their jobs to the top of our to-do list in exchange for their kind words. So if you don't believe us, believe them. And if you don't believe them, well, there may be other trust-related issues you need to work out. ;-)

kl

The Clients Speak:

I can (and do) recommend Farstar without hesitation for one simple reason: They truly care about doing work that works. Which is something a lot of agencies say, but few seem to pull off. A lot of shops can do work that looks good, but it often doesn’t produce business results. And for me, that just isn't good enough. Doing work the way Farstar does it isn't easy. Not for them, and not for us. We all have to be willing to make bold moves, be willing to fail, and be willing to keep pushing until we get it right.

When the slick sales pitch is over, all that matters is the work. If you hire Farstar, you can rest knowing that they won't until they've achieved your objective.

When I joined Current Energy as COO, we were using a very large, national ad agency, and marketing was a major expense. We needed an agency that could be appropriately nimble to work with a fast-paced startup, and would deliver excellent value for our marketing dollars. I had worked with Kevin Lofgren in his pre-Farstar days, and had closely watched the birth and evolution of his new company. I was intrigued with their lead generation technology. As we began discussions, and scoped what we needed, it became apparent that Kevin was looking to expand Farstar into more traditional media - and we could benefit from that expansion.

Kevin and the team at Farstar performed strongly from the first project. As they quickly came to understand our business, they produced outstanding, creative, fresh work for both electronic and traditional media.

Over the last two years, Farstar has continued to produce strong work and results for us. They completely overhauled our website and online store. Their lead generation work generated substantial numbers of leads. And they drove a new spin on our branding. Our print, outdoor and in-store signage and our website all have the professional look and smart tone we sought.

We’ve enjoyed working with the team at Farstar. They’ve been a partner to us, rather than merely a vendor. They’ve been willing and able to go above-and-beyond to help us develop our brand and our business. Working with Farstar on our marketing has been an outstanding decision for Current Energy and I would highly recommend Farstar to anyone looking for an agency that consistently delivers results.

Kevin Lofgren and the team at Farstar created unique and effective programs that far surpassed our expectations, and the results were due entirely to their creativity, diligence, and approach to customer satisfaction. Working with Farstar is a bit different than a typical agency engagement. Kevin and his team are outstanding at what they do, and you're buying into their expertise – not simply their executional abilities. Sure, we could have run focus groups and surveys and spent a fortune learning what Kevin and Farstar told us out of the gate, but betting against their instincts is a good way to lose money!

Another important aspect of our experience with Farstar is the personal relationship we established with Kevin. Kevin was always accessible, personally involved, and dedicated to our satisfaction. When we had a change in sales leadership between our first and second programs, Kevin set aside the letter of our contract and acted in the spirit of our relationship to allow us the flexibility to get back on track. As a result, he gained respect from our new VP of Sales and an even bigger budget, a budget he used to great effect on our behalf. Farstar was not merely an agency to us, but a strategic part of our marketing. They were, quite literally, our unfair advantage.

Finally, Farstar understands that any program is ultimately about results. It is evident in the way they create their campaigns and the tools they use to measure their effectiveness. The fact that they're completely transparent with the results, along with their continual efforts to improve things, is a rarity in the marketing industry. Ultimately, that commitment to doing what works serves everyone extremely well.
In short, I highly recommend Kevin and Farstar.

I'm a marketing professional with over 15 years’ experience in dealing with large agencies. But when I was finally the one in a position to make the ultimate decision for my organization, I knew a smaller, more nimble, more cost-effective agency was what we needed. After surveying small-agency offerings in the Dallas area, it was obvious Farstar would bring the most value to the table. I define value as having a strategic partner that will not only deliver creative work executed flawlessly (ha!), but also on time and within budget. At Farstar, you are not going to be a small fish in a big pond, but rather have the top executive’s attention at any time - day, night, weekend, whenever.

I have been consistently amazed at the level of strategic thinking and creativity flowing out of the newly renovated historic house on Main Street in Frisco, Texas. There are even times when, acting as a true partner should, Kevin Lofgren has personally questioned the goals of certain projects and/or stopped a project because the visuals or messaging weren’t quite right. I value that as a client (although I never feel like just a client) and admire his confidence, attention to detail and ultimate dedication to his clients’ success.

To sum it all up, I would confidently take Kevin and the Farstar team to any organization of which I am a part. They aren’t your traditional advertising agency that sits around and counts impressions or continuously talks to focus groups. They produce creative, thought-provoking work that delivers a real ROI – valuable customers.

Angela Berry
Director of Marketing
Current Energy

Farstar is the most dependable, creative, and collaborative agency I’ve ever worked with in more than 12 years in the business. Having personal work experience in both agencies and large enterprises, I am keen to what’s expected of an agency, and I have set my own expectations extremely high. Farstar consistently exceeds them.

With Farstar, it’s a matter of each team member having a personal commitment to success – driven from the President, Kevin Lofgren, all the way through the organization. Speaking of Kevin, he is highly creative, dependable, trustworthy, and innovative. He is probably the most passionate person I’ve met, and certainly one of the most intelligent marketers in the field. He takes his work very seriously and will go to almost any length to maintain his personal reputation and the reputation of Farstar, including taking client calls late into the night and on the weekends (which I’ve been known to grace him with). He’s a unique creative type – one that drives great creative and also understands the business environment where the creative must succeed. He’s a great blend of these elements, which makes him and his team's work superior.

Based on my experience with Farstar, I have come to expect unexpectedly great things - as long as they get the autonomy to do those things. They will always push the envelope - with you and within their own organization. In my mind, this is why Farstar programs always deliver outstanding results. Farstar programs have earned me, personally, best practice awards in an organization 30,000 employees strong. As a marketer strictly focused on delivering results to the business, this is certainly a key reason why I turn to Farstar time and time again. You won’t fall through the cracks like you might at larger agencies. You won’t feel like a small fish in a big pond – you will feel like you are their only client and you belong there.

You pay only for what you get – no excessive client service or trafficking overhead. It’s all the creative and innovation benefits of a big agency (and more) without the extra fees and lengthy big agency processes. Farstar always seems to be on the forefront of the latest technology, from web usability to social networking. It’s this kind of proactive strategy and innovation that makes them stand out from the pack. And, because they are small and nimble, adjusting to and taking advantage of new technologies happens naturally at Farstar, while bigger agencies tend to struggle in this area. Additionally, metrics and results-oriented marketing are at the core of Farstar’s DNA. They focus on the true ROI of marketing campaigns, not soft metrics like "impressions", making it that much easier to justify Farstar programs to executive and sales management. That’s why it’s easy for Farstar clients to build long-term relationships with them. “The proof is in the pudding,” as some would say. If marketing is a differentiator for your company, Farstar is the place to be.

Ryan O'Neil
Sr. Field Marketing Manager
Sun Microsystems

If you’re just looking for something vaguely resembling "branding,” or have some idea in your head that you just need someone to execute, Farstar is probably not the agency for you. If, like me, you’re looking to actually generate some real revenue, then Kevin Lofgren and his team are the right people for the job. I’ve worked with Farstar for 6 years now – almost their entire history. They practically knew the ins and outs of my campaigns better than I did because they were obsessed with the results. Things like sales appointments and ROI – what I call real results. Not just dubious metrics like impressions and clicks. Who cares about clicks if the customer doesn’t buy?

Over time, as Farstar developed new capabilities and strengths, the results got even better. We even got an appointment with the CIO of AOL/Time Warner (back when they were a happy family), which was a door we'd never been able to open. And when I changed companies and roles, I didn't change my relationship with Farstar. They considered me “part of the family,” and I couldn’t wait to work together again.

The benefits of having a small shop with all “A” team members means you’ll get the best of both worlds: top strategic thinking along with very personal service (“I want to change the way this one sentence in my campaign reads” – boom, it’s done like magic.) You will get fast moving, flexible programs that can change when your business needs change. And with no complaints or (sometimes) change orders. You pay for results and brainpower, not fancy office overhead or a squad of junior account executives followed by account supervisors followed by more and more managers, directors, and VPs. Believe me, I work with those agencies, too, and they’re some of my best friends, but not when you’re looking for a strategically integrated online and offline program that creates magic.

One of the best things about working with Farstar is the chance to work with Kevin. There’s not a business owner out there more dedicated to his customers' success. If he doesn't understand your business, your market, your customers today, you can bet he will tomorrow. (Literally, the man doesn't sleep.) Before long, he'll know them practically better than you do – and that’s even before the project officially kicks off. He’s the kind of Texan you’d want your daughters to grow up to marry, and his passionate commitment to his team, your program, and integrity is legendary. I think his employees worship him. I’m pretty sure his customers do.

Kelsey Galarza
Director, SMB Solutions
HireRight

I first used Kevin Lofgren and the Farstar team when I worked at Ditech. They created a program for me that achieved the best results of all the programs we ran that year. Not only did Farstar create a program that was a home run, working with Kevin and his team was an absolute pleasure. Because Ditech is a subsidiary of GMAC, I had many relationships with several large agencies. Farstar didn't have the overhead these agencies had, so they were much more cost-effective. Plus, we received the utmost attention at all times because we were not just one company in a sea of other companies all demanding equal attention. I doubt I could've called the CEO of those large agencies at nine o'clock on a Friday night and actually gotten them on the phone, but that's exactly what I got with Farstar. I was able to call Kevin whenever I needed something, even night and weekends. Kevin is intelligent, passionate, and believes in the old-fashioned definition of integrity.

Farstar's model is built around creating long-term, strategic relationships with its clients. Kevin and his team truly understand new technologies and social marketing, and leverage that knowledge to achieve their clients' business goals. Most big agencies are not – no matter what they say – very well-versed in the technology side of things.

Finally, Farstar begs to be held accountable for actual results – true ROI. Time and time again I have seen bigger agencies more concerned with winning advertising awards from their programs than with achieving true ROI for their customers.

I highly recommend Farstar, and know if you choose Kevin and his team you will not be disappointed.

Peggy Knauft
Director of Marketing at Kaseya
Former Director of Marketing for Ditech

There are many reasons Enkitec chooses to work with Farstar. Many of those reasons sound a little cliché, but they're all true:

The folks at Farstar are creative, knowledgeable and hard-working. They're a small agency, so we get their varsity team every time since they don't bother having a JV squad. And Kevin Lofgren (in case you hadn't noticed) is a passionate guy. His passion infects his employees, the work they do and even us as clients. They study our business and figure out what will work best for it. And if something doesn't work, they're the first to admit it and change it. A rare quality indeed.

I also appreciate Kevin's involvement in everything. I know I can pick up the phone and call him any time, day or night, with a question and he's happy to answer.

Technologically, Farstar is top notch. Their team understands how things work, and they push those things to work better in ways other people wouldn't dream possible. And they do it with a focus on my bottom line.

I suppose this is all just a long-winded way of saying that the Farstar team is a pleasure to work with, they do what they say they're going to do and, most importantly, what they do works. Not in some mystical, vague ad agency way (well, maybe in that way, too), but in measurable ways. Like sales. Which makes me a very satisfied customer.

Kevin Lofgren's vision, commitment, and expertise are to be admired. He has built a firm that absolutely revolutionizes what most would think to be a boring, antiquated industry. His understanding of interactive marketing and communications is unparalleled and at the forefront of his industry. I'll use Farstar again and again when I need my message heard.

Kevin Lofgren can see things in ways that other people can't. But there are a lot of people who can do that. The reason that you should hire him is that he also brings an impressive understanding of technology together with a rare ability to understand his clients' needs. This combination results in highly personalized and dynamic openings for relationship-building rather than a flurry of "sales leads," which is a far more effective and efficient use of tight marketing budgets.

Kevin Lofgren provided us with a truly unique system for generating leads for high-level marketing and advertising professionals at Fortune 1000 companies. The science and technology behind Farstar and what they do differentiates his product from all the other lead generation vehicles in the market. Their level of service and flexibility was the true benefit, as the company I worked for was a direct marketing and advertising company that had high benchmarks and goals for Kevin and his team to meet. If you aren't working with Kevin and Farstar, you should be.

Kevin Lofgren is absolutely one of the most genuinely honest guys I have ever met much less had the opportunity to work with. Kevin is exactly who you think he is from the moment you meet him. I like that most about him. You never have to wonder what he's thinking because he is an open book of creativity, loyalty, humor and kindness. His marketing intelligence and continuous fire for improvement, change and success is something to be admired and his friendship is something to be cherished. Kevin has developed a corporate culture that enables a family of creative team players to have fun while exceeding client expectations. He's a leader who's been down a bumpy road, popped a wheelie and climbed a mountain to come out on top. I also was very fortunate to have Kevin document my Hawaii wedding with the most beautiful photographs I have ever seen. He created a wedding photo video that makes us cry every time we watch it. It's better than any actual video footage we could have ever paid for. Don't let him fool you...he may do photography on the side, but he could do it for a living! Oh and to boot, he's also a closet rock star on drums, a metro man and a fabulous Dad!

Kevin Lofgren's company, Farstar, is absolutely fabulous. For any company seeking B2B or B2C marketing and sales strategy, lead generation, website development, or market research, Farstar will deliver results untouched by other organizations. Farstar evaluates messaging that matters, and applies creative graphics, persuasive copy and leading edge technology solutions to put your company in touch with your target market. Whether you're selling sophisticated engineering solutions, or consumable products, Farstar takes the time to understand your business, your messaging and your audience prior to developing your campaign. If you are seeking serious solutions, give Kevin a call.