Bolin Marketing has quite a few interesting things tucked away in the basement of its quiet Minneapolis office, among them, one of their clients, Gipson Shoemaker III.
Shoemaker runs his guitar making business, Lucky Devil Guitars, out of the marketing agency’s basement in a workshop that he planned and constructed himself. He was also the first to benefit from Bolin’s new brand incubator, North Made.
Similar to a tech incubator, North Made provides free services to local makers and entrepreneurs that otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it. The agency takes on one project per quarter, offering help with things like branding or social media and continued support for at least a year after launch.
The project represents a unique intersection between two Minnesota business communities: makers and marketers. While entrepreneurs are excellent dabblers, Kraabel explained, they don't always have the digital marketing savvy needed to grow in an e-commerce economy. For many, it's difficult to develop a product, run the business and manage marketing. North Made puts marketing in the hands of experts, allowing makers to focus on what they do best.
It's an interesting partnership, and one that could likely only happen here because of the Cities' growing advertising hub and concentration of makers.
According to Bolin’s creative director Michael Kraabel, North Made is the only incubator of its kind in the Twin Cities. While other agencies occasionally offer services pro bono, it’s usually so they can attract a certain type of clientele. For example, doing some services for a small brewery in order to land a contract with a large liquor store, Kraabel said.
So what does Bolin get out of their new endeavor?
“We get to flex our creative muscle outside the traditional way,” Kraabel explained. “This is a nice way to shake things up. We can make a difference doing something we’re good at.”
Kraabel had been toying with the idea of a North Made-type program for a couple years. But when he met Shoemaker while shopping at the Canterbury Park Junk Bonanza, he found the perfect candidate.
“He had a day job, but was really passionate about making guitars,” Kraabel said. “And I realized that this was a place where we could change someone’s life.”
A LUCKY DEVIL
Gipson Shoemaker's story has all the makings of a great folksy-blues song, one that might best be accompanied by a cigar box guitar of Shoemaker's making. Shoemaker has been building, sketching and tinkering all his life, but only started making his guitars a few years ago after he lost his job during the recession.
Before that, had a steady job working for a construction company, creating high-end finishings for upscale houses in the area. Business slowed, then stopped. Shoemaker and his wife sold their house in the suburbs and he started looking for a work.
“The guitars were born out of desperation,” Shoemaker said. “I started making them because we could barely pay our bills. And I just needed to get my mind off the situation and make something.”
He said he was inspired to great his first instrument after watching a blues documentary featuring rock-and-roots star Jack White. In it, White strings together and plays simple instrument called a Diddley Bow, a beer can attached to a plank of wood with a single string running the length of the board. The instrument has a powerful twangy sound, and is often heard in blues or old school country music.
An avid blues fan and builder, Shoemaker decided to do the same. Soon, he had his first Diddley Bow, began experimenting with the construction of cigar box guitars and started selling his product at shows and fairs across the Cities.
North Made has worked with Shoemaker to redevelop his brand, build a new website and assist with social media. Bolin is also helping Shoemaker create a YouTube channel and prepare for a big booth at the State Fair later this summer. Within the last month, Shoemaker quit his day job to run Lucky Devil full-time.
“It’s a product that doesn’t lend itself to modernization, but these guys have brought me kicking and screaming into the digital age,” Shoemaker said. “They took me from a dude selling a couple guitars to a guy with a brand that can make money in 10 different ways and offer 10 different services.”
NORTH MAKERS
While Kraabel and other members of the North Made team continue to work with Shoemaker, they’ve taken on two additional clients: Barley John’s Brewery and the Freshwater Society.
Kraabel said that when North Made put out the call for a second project, they were inundated with requests. After posting about the project on Facebook, Kraabel said he received 20 emails from interested entrepreneurs the next day.
The North Made team is working to formalize the application process, but for now the requirements are fairly straightforward. Kraabel said the ideal applicant must be based in Minnesota or the Midwest and committed to making the North a better place.
Kraabel doesn’t know exactly where North Made will go, but said that everyone at Bolin enjoys working on the project and he hopes the idea will spread to other agencies in the Twin Cities.
“A lot of people think, ‘Oh, we just work in advertising. We’re not changing lives.’ But here’s a place where we could,” he said. “It proves that advertising and branding can make a difference.”
