In order to keep pace with modern consumers, the MI industry needs a fresh approach to marketing, at least according to Mark Bower, founder and CEO of www.rocksolid.agency his new venture, put together specifically to meet the rapidly evolving needs of MI brands, manufacturers and retailers.
The business boasts that it is founded by ‘passionate music fans and gear nuts’ and that every member of staff, whilst being experienced marketers, ‘is fanatical about music, music production, playing music, live music, musical instruments and music technology’.
Consumers demand ever-closer relationships with brands that they are interested in via social media and digital content channels such as YouTube. It’s practically impossible for ‘old school’ generic marketing businesses that don’t understand the new landscape to connect with them effectively.
‘You just can’t fake it any more.’ Says Bower. ‘Today’s consumers are so savvy to what’s going on out there that anything that smacks of insincerity just stands out a mile. It’s not good enough to rely on tired demographic models, and ‘push’ messages out in the hope of reaching your audience, you have to be in the trenches, living and breathing it.’
A true digital pioneer, Bower has spent over 20 years involved in ecommerce and digital marketing, having previously developed successful online campaigns for such notables as Warner Music, SMEG, Weber Barbecues and high street retail giants such as DFS, Bensons Beds and Wren Kitchens.
‘After a lifetime spent selling literally millions and millions of pounds worth of beds, sofas and fridges online, I was looking for something more satisfying. I’ve been playing guitar since I was 12 or 13 and have always had a passion for ‘gear’. I couldn’t help noticing that a lot of the marketing output from the MI sector seemed to be less than inspiring, so we started rocksolid.agency to do something about that.
We want to take the best of what we’ve learned over the last 20+ years and apply it to something that we truly love. It’s so obvious, when you think about it. We don’t do fashion, we don’t do banking and we definitely don’t do sofas! We want to build a business that is the absolute unquestioned expert in MI marketing, in the UK, Europe and who knows maybe, one day the world!’
The Rocksolid.agency offices are based in Prime Studios, Leeds; one of the leading independent studio facilities in the North of England, providing access to a huge network of creative talent. ‘The location at Prime Studios was really important’ says Bower.
“We need the flexibility to work with all kinds of talented people on a really wide range of briefs from basic social media management, blogging and content writing, all the way through to large scale film and video pieces. With the amazing pool of talent that’s available here, we can deliver pretty much anything that anyone cares to throw at us, from basic hand-held viral type stuff, right through to full broadcast quality.’