Tom Morello’s Hard-Rock-Mission-Slash-Marketing-Lesson

Tom Morello is a modern day guitar god, having rocked the crap out of the nineties with Rage Against the Machine. He dabbled in supergroup mediocrity in Audioslave with Chris Cornell, and now? Now he’s back. And he’s back to his save-the-world-with-rock mission. Rage was always very political, speaking truth to power, and giving the oppressed a very loud soundtrack. Morello is taking those beliefs, and now mobilizing the masses – turning his fan base into an actionable mob.

The new group is called Street Sweeper Social Club, currently opening for the NIN/JA tour. (That’s Nine Inch Nails / Jane’s Addiction for the kids out there.)

He’s got a new front man, Bootsy somebody, who raps as well if not as angrily as Zach de la Rocha did in Rage. And here’s the kicker. After shredding and riffing for a good 45 minutes (I can’t lie, the crowd was loving it), Morello grabs the mic and says this:

“We are on a mission. To feed the hungry, fight the power, and rock the f*** out.” (The crowd goes wild.) He continues, “If you are with us, text in right now …” And yes, right there in the middle of the concert, people took out their phones, jacked-up on rock adrenaline, and joined the SSSC mission. Right then and there. I know I did.

Every night, Morella takes an enthusiastic crowd, and turns them into a community around a belief to do good. (There are also a lot of great online/social media bells and whistles with SSSC and the NIN/JA tour.

So, what can marketers learn from Tom Morello? First thing, I’d say, is to find your mission, save the world, and rock the f*** out. I'm reading: Tom Morello’s Hard-Rock-Mission-Slash-Marketing-LessonTweet this!