Mirko Bonmassar
Q What do you do?
“The question should be what do I don’t do.”
The great untold truth of running a creative agency is that you end up very quickly juggling many objects whilst wearing many different hats at the same time. For the sake of the readers, I'll spare you the ugly and boring and dive into the beautiful. I'm the Creative Director and Head of Strategy of our marketing agency Social Fixation.
What I love the most is to help clients to find the best possible strategy to grow their brand. Then, I guide them to our team of marketing coordinators who will execute the plan. This could be a single campaign, or at a retainer capacity. Disciplines include branding, marketing, social media management, content creation, SEO and graphic design.
On a day to day, I tend to overview the agency's operations, and the best part is to work with what I believe to be the best possible team I could have ever asked for.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
I would love to say, it was easy, but it wasn't. My career started 13 years ago (when I moved to Melbourne from Italy) as a waiter who couldn't speak English. Then, I made it through to work as a business development manager for a specialty coffee roaster. After 2.5 years, I decided to pursue my dream and opened my own creative agency. Like I always say, I built it twice: once before COVID, and rebuilt it after COVID.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
We are a full-stack agency that operates within the organic space of marketing and only works with hospitality, food and beverages brands. Therefore we deeply specialise in our niche and deliver anything (organic) digital-related: strategy, management, content creation, branding etc.
Q What are you working on right now?
The two projects that are making me smile every morning are: the rebranding of an iconic Melbourne cocktail bar and the launch of our very own digital assets. The first project is to bring to life a clear identity of this beautiful bar which has somehow never truly had a brand guide, hence why we are helping them out. The second involves the launch of our online store and we will be providing a mix of digital products, free and paid, from mockups to full guideline templates.
Q What’s your style?
I'm currently loving hard flash/popping photography alongside chunky fonts. Having said that, the style and taste consistently changes and evolves.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
Good question, probably I'd pick 'strategising' for our internal projects alongside ads creation. Both are areas where I could give it more of my time and focus.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Bookkeeping/Accounting. Anything rational that involves spreadsheets and boring tasks. Unfortunately it's part of the job.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Easy, a personal assistant to help me keep up with myself.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
2015: "start an agency now, you'll love it".
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
High performance in sport. Top athletes have performance coaches, and their expertise allows them to make a significant difference, especially when the game gets tough.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
I'm looking for more branding opportunities alongside helping brands come up with a super tactical strategy and build a successful plan of attack.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
Our ideal clients are brands that operate within the food and beverage space. We love when a brand trusts the process and gives us white paper.
Q What is your rate?
We usually have a tailored approach, because one size doesn't fit all. However here's a price range breakdown:
- Social Media $2,000 - $10,000 per month
- Branding $9,000 - $25,000 per project
- SEO $2,000 - $5,000 per month
- Strategy $5,000 - $10,000 one off
- The Lot $10,000 - $25,000 per month
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Probably the GOAT in the social media space GaryVee.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Keeping my eyes open, love looking at street posters/billboards/Pinterest.
This member profile was originally published in April 2024