The elevator pitch a decade ago: RockCorps creates concerts around the world, and the only way to get into them is to give four hours of your time at a community project. The reality in 2015? You know you're on to something pretty special when British Prime Minister David Cameron honours your initiative with a Big Society Award. See below:
So what exactly does it take to get your business strategy so right it gets all the biggest accolades and makes magic wherever it goes?
Matt Karpinski, Managing Director of RockCorps South Africa, says the best way to get to know RockCorps is to give four hours of your time at a volunteer project to uplift a community project and yourself. The second best way is to watch the video embedded below, because "If it doesn't make you want to be part of it, we're not sure what will."
Karpinski further explains it's where community work, youth and music combine to create entertainment sponsorship and brand partnership. Intrigued? Read on...
Karpinski: RockCorps produces rock, pop, hip-hop cross genre music concerts, distributing tickets exclusively to inspired volunteers who perform four hours of service at a RockCorps organised volunteer project for the benefit of a local non-profit group or charity.
You can't buy a ticket, you can't win a ticket, you have to earn a ticket.
RockCorps' first concert took place in New York City in 2005 @ Radio City. Since then, RockCorps has produced over 50 celebratory concerts globally in the United States, Great Britain, France, Israel, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Australia, South Africa and Japan. Shows have featured major international artists including Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Busta Rhymes, Puff Daddy, Ciara, D'Banj, Smashing Pumpkins and Pharrell Williams - and that's only a tenth of the artists that have performed for RockCorps and our global partners.
Over the past 10 years, RockCorps has leveraged the power of music to inspire young people to give back well over half a million hours of volunteer work to their communities. RockCorps has worked with over 3,000 partners in the non-profit sector, engaged directly with more than 160,000 volunteers on six continents and compiled a worldwide database of over 750,000 people.
Impressive. How was this global platform created and executed?Karpinski: Let's start with the creation. One person, one show, one city at a time - we are crazy enough to think we can change the world. RockCorps started a few years ago in Los Angeles, California.
Inspired by the aftermath of 9/11, we, like many others, felt this was a great time for people to pull together, get to know each other, build neighbourhoods and have fun doing it. We wanted to figure out a way to work with brands that would channel the power of music and celebrity towards making volunteering a part of youth lifestyle - just like sports, music, fashion and gaming.
As RockCorps continues in cities throughout the world with cool companies connecting with youth to make volunteering fashionable, we are reminded of how core and universal the desire to give back and have fun really are. And that gets us out of bed in the morning... but not too early.
Moving on to the execution, RockCorps has eight regional managing directors. Together with the brains trust of the seven friends who founded RockCorps, and a locally sourced team of volunteering and marketing professionals, get to the job at hand; inspiring and motivating young people to give of their time to their needy communities at our volunteer projects. At the same time, we engage with our brand partners in a unique and fun way that creates consumer engagement on a level that creates a partnership, understanding and ultimately brand love for our partners.
Sounds good. How can interested South Africans sign up with RockCorps?Karpinski: We've had a long-running relationship with the Coca-Cola company globally, and that's what initially brought us to South Africa in 2013. We've found the RockCorps platform to work brilliantly for all stakeholders in SA: our brand partners, media partners, NGOs and most of all, the incredible youth of the country. I would say the uptake here is better than many of other countries, as volunteering has been popular in a lot of countries around the world for a while, but it is really starting to peak here in SA, and that's not to mention South Africans' love of music.
Now that our platform's been tried and stress-tested here in SA, we're ready to roll out the full platform and are currently engaging with several potential partners in SA who we believe share our vision for the youth of SA. Entertainment sponsorship is where some big brands are moving to. The fact that 2015 is a non-football and non-Olympics year is great from a music point of view, so our timing in the market could not be better.
What's global uptake like, compared to SA?Karpinski: Since its inception, RockCorps has had a 100% earned out concert rate. This means we've had 100% uptake from our volunteers and there's never been an empty seat. Wherever we go in the world, volunteers, celebrities and music artists are drawn to RockCorps as it is a simple yet powerful platform for change and everyone wants to be a part of it. Everyone wants to give back and RockCorps is that platform that makes giving back a simple, effective and fun way of doing just that. Our message is simple - give, get given.
RockCorps believes everyone has a volunteering muscle. Once exercised in the right way, they want to ideally continue to exercise it. Our projects last for four hours. This is just the right amount of time to fully engage our volunteers, action all the work for the community beneficiary and make it an all round fun volunteering experience that easily fits into one's schedule.
The best brand fit is those that want to engage in marketing that matters, by making a difference and standing out from the clutter that is the white noise of current marketing and media campaigns, says Karpinski. RockCorps is the change our country needs.
To get involved with RockCorps, follow the example of Abi, Amalgamated Beverage Industries, which gave their staff paid time off during the year to attend CSI projects within their communities, and DStv, which is set to partner with RockCorps this year - click here to find out more or contact Karpinski on 082 704 4079 or az.oc.sprockcor@iksniprakm.
