Addressing systemic inequalities - pro-bono work with the Diversity Marketing Consortium

At Superbolt, we care deeply about diversity, and are dedicated to putting in the work towards helping solve the problem of unequal access to funding and resources for minority startup founders.

This is why last year, Superbolt was thrilled to join the Diversity Marketing Consortium, a group of agencies committed to breaking down systemic barriers to access for underrepresented communities by providing $3 million in pro-bono marketing services. The DMC was formed with a mutual recognition that women and minorities do not have equal access to opportunities, a structural reality that has been highlighted by continued racial injustices and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Along with seven other agencies, we lend our expertise to companies selected by Harlem Capital, a VC firm on a mission to change the face of entrepreneurship by investing in 1,000 diverse founders in the next 20 years.

In this article, we wanted to take a step back and share our learnings and experience from the past year. We’ve been fortunate to work with and learn from two startups - Stuf and Compt - for three-month collaborations that have been rewarding and enriching.

Stuf is a new contender in the self-storage landscape. During the COVID pandemic, founder Kat wanted to de-clutter her home but realized that there were few flexible, attractive, clean solutions to store objects that, as long-standing parts of our homes, are dear to our hearts. She set her mind to modernizing storage and created the “Uber of Storage Units”, with initial funding of $1.8M.

Superbolt came in to help Stuf with their digital marketing strategy. We tested paid channels like Facebook and Google to find avenues for scaling. On Google Ads, we created highly-targeted local campaigns to find audiences with strong purchase intent. For Facebook and Instagram, we crafted playful creatives that showed the beauty of the storage units - some people even commented that it looked nicer than their apartment - which works well with Stuf’s “Home Away from Home for your Stuff” branding.

We saw great engagement and high CTR with our Facebook campaigns, whether it was advertising for Stuf’s existing NY and Oakland locations or when we helped them build brand awareness for their SF and LA launches.

This has been a favorite project at Superbolt, since we learned so much together. At the end of our collaboration, Kat shared the following thoughts:

“I tell everyone about Superbolt and the DMC every chance I get, and it's truly heartwarming to see the level of commitment from your team to help us build upon our vision… Thank you so much for your team's time, energy and investment in helping us scale our business! We learned so much throughout the process, which was much more complicated than we could ever imagine."

Compt is a B2B HR platform that helps companies allocate benefits in the way that works best for their employees, who can choose how they want to spend their benefits. Amy, founder and CEO, started Compt because as a former three-time CFO, she continually saw that company benefits spoke to only a certain percentage of her team. She raised $1.5M in seed financing led by Harlem Capital.

We helped Compt test paid channels that they had previously not accessed, from Facebook to LinkedIn to Google Ads. Our advanced data reporting also provided visibility into the customer insights available to them.

Most of all, our creative team created data-driven visuals of high marketing value. We crafted over 30 assets that they continue to use on their various platforms.

This collaboration was incredibly rewarding for Superbolt, as it was a reminder for our team of the positive impact of what we do.

Compt team member Sarah told us:

“From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for everything you brought to Compt over the last few months. We are so thankful for our partnership and learnings… You are all truly magic!”

We felt the same!

There is so much to be done to combat systemic inequalities in our country. As we look towards our second year of partnership with the DMC and soon our third collaboration with a new startup, we couldn’t be more excited to continue our efforts to help.