Who are Mark and Greg Wright, what is Cavalry Media and what do you do?
Greg and I go quite far back, right back to the days of nappies and bottles actually, considering that we’re brothers. Greg is a Fine Arts graduate and I have a degree in Journalism. We both walked out of university fairly disillusioned with our qualifications and found ourselves pulled towards the world of digital communications.
Greg told a local communication agency that he could code, when he actually couldn’t, but ironically found out that he had a knack for it. His fine arts qualifications turned out to be a valuable asset that allowed him to excel in front end web design. Four years ago he saw an opportunity to go on his own and took it. He then worked as a freelance developer under the banner of wearesignals.net and was involved in a variety of high profile projects ranging from from government department through to NGOs.
After varsity I went straight into traditional public relations, then a brief stint in advertising and then joined forces with Greg to start Cavalry Media in February this year.
We formed Cavalry Media with the goal of creating a digital communications agency that specialises in bespoke web development, content marketing, search engine marketing and social media management and marketing. The idea is to provide a holistic communication solution to brands, from platform development right up to communication optimisation and on-going marketing and lead generation. We both felt that traditional Marketing, Advertising and PR agencies were struggling to make the transition to digital and few digital agencies were delivering quality work.
“Every brand that wants to succeed online needs an eye catching, optimised website. Most businesses get that, but what few understand is that this is only the beginning. Once the appropriate channels have been established, brands need to generate bucket loads of content in an original and defining communication tone. They need to view content as a medium to entice, convince and convert users into potential business leads and that is where we step in.” Adds Greg.
Greg deals with web development and design, I deal with communication. We work together in regards to project management, sales and admin. We go out of our way to foster a network of quality freelancers that we can call in on a project to project basis and try to surround ourselves with young, inspiring and like minded entrepreneurs.
Tell us what makes your digital agency stand out from the rest?
It sounds a little strange, but we do what we say we’ll do. Many agencies and freelancers promise their clients the world to seal the deal, when in fact they can’t backup their promises. If we can’t do something, don’t view it as viable or believe it’s the wrong approach, we’ll tell our clients. It’s an approach that can backfire at times, but we base our business on open and honest communication, the truth, even if it hurts.
We’re luckily enough to have a strong artistic eye, mixed with a firm understanding of communication at the heart of our company. It lets us blend creativity into our client’s communication, while keeping in mind what works on the web and other digital platforms.
Oh, and we’re young, workaholics that have nothing to lose and who are determined to leave our mark on the South African digital landscape.
How would you define your style or art?
It’s always difficult to describe yourself and considering the nature of our industry, one never really gets to produce work that is entirely their style as clients have different needs, design and communication parameters. I’d say that our style is flexible, diverse enough to adjust from a corporate management consultancy to eye-catching design portfolios.
What inspires your work?
The challenges faced by our clients.
Our personal inspiration comes from the rapid development of technology and the possibilities it enables. We also like to stay up to date with international digital marketing trends and the advancements in the African telecoms sector.
What are you currently working on?
We’re proud to be involved in a variety of projects from web development and design for an industry leading logistic company, a steel works company that produces groundbreaking work and a well-known office solutions brand. We’re also working on search engine marketing campaigns, search engine optimisation projects and inbound marketing campaigns.
All of this while trying to find and meet with potential clients, keep our heads above all the admin and not miss out on what is left of our twenties.
What advice would you give young creatives looking to do what you do?
Save up some cash, cancel your unnecessary expenses, move back in with your parents if you have to and give it your best. There is plenty of space in the market for people who are willing to give it their all. This is going to sound a little wanky, but you’re going to fail plenty of times along the way, sometimes quite badly. It’s how you pick yourself up, learn from your mistakes and keep going that will decide if you make it or not. Oh and never stop learning, ever. Someone can always teach you something.
Where can our readers follow your work?
The first and most obvious place to keep track of our work is our website www.hellocavalry.com.
Other than that you can find us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/CavalryMedia)
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CavalryMedia)
LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com/company/cavalry-media)
Google+(https://plus.google.com/111307869682472435509/posts)
We also try our best to contribute to a variety of industry related publications on a regular basis. If you really want you can pop in for a coffee at our offices at the Media Mill in Johannesburg.
The post Brothers Mark and Greg Wright Talk about their Digital Agency – Cavalry Media appeared first on SA CREATIVES.