Meet Rocky: A Day with OHM’s Marketing DirectoR
Ever wonder what it takes to keep 17 unique brands thriving across the country?
Meet Rocky, OHM’s Marketing and Creative Director. His days are a blend of creativity and technology, collaboration and strategy. By fusing his IT and engineering experience with his passion for creativity, he is a strong asset to the OHM team.
Keep reading to step into Rocky’s world and discover how he brings life to the OHM brand.
Photo by Asher Moss
Rocky’s Road to OHM
Starting in Industrial and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, Rocky quickly discovered that he had a creative streak that needed exploring. This led him to explore fields like interior design and advertising, where he found a satisfying mix of creativity and technical application.
His internships took him from fashion editorial photography and retail merchandising in California to trade shows, where he built booths and crafted marketing strategies for clients. A stint at Entrepreneur Magazine (and various marketing agencies) followed, allowing Rocky to fine-tune his skills in website development, online marketing, and customer experience.
Perfecting the Smile in Dental Marketing
This eventually led him to medical marketing where he served as Director of Marketing and Technology —here, he learned the importance of being creative within the parameters of a strict budget and legal regulations.
One of Rocky’s primary focuses in dental marketing was honing the customer journey. By prioritizing the management team’s motto, “Serve those who are serving others”, his efforts empowered the company, both internally and externally. This focus on the customer experience had a ripple effect, enhancing not only the brand’s image but also elevating staff morale and client satisfaction.
Home at Oliver Hospitality
Photo by Asher Moss
So, how did he land at OHM?
It all started with casual LinkedIn browsing that led him to connect with the OHM team. Rocky’s extensive experience managing multiple locations and his ability to tailor messaging to fit diverse audiences were impressive. He joined the team in 2022, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge and a passion for the industry.
“I found my home in hospitality,” Rocky says. “It’s given me the chance to dig my heels into everything I’ve done up to this point. I can innovate in ways I’ve never been able to before.”
A Typical Week for a Creative Director
Rocky’s days are filled with a mix of meetings, project management, and creative deep dives.
Mondays kick off with a weekly touch-base with the company’s full marketing team, using this time to prep and determine the focus for the week. They dive into the portfolio, discussing current marketing initiatives, upcoming activations, and the needs of each hotel.
He then meets with his internal team to come up with a game plan, keeping in touch daily throughout the week to make sure they are on track.
But it’s not all meetings and emails. Rocky carves out 2-4 hours of “focus time” each day to tackle critical tasks like overseeing paid marketing and SEO campaigns, optimizing budgets, and fine-tuning retargeting efforts.
He stays on top of email requests, sorts tasks through Monday, and juggles various marketing projects, from updating menus and key card sleeves to planning opening parties for new venues like Mable’s. He also manages all website edits and email campaigns, organizes the company’s photo library, and builds profiles for new apps and tech platforms.
His creativity gets put to work whenever he crafts new collateral for the sales team, such as flyers, decks, digital ads, and even websites. It’s in these moments that Rocky’s love for the intersection of technical systems and marketing truly shines.
How Rocky is Pursuing Growth in this Season
As OHM continues to grow, Rocky is particularly excited about the challenges and opportunities that come with it.
“In this season of growth, we’re learning to consolidate our messaging to create cohesion across our diverse portfolio of brands,” he explains, “and this, to me, is exciting because I’m being challenged to look at this through various lenses.”
This is all in an effort to scale and create confidence in the markets OHM breaks into and the people we partner with. Each brand of OHM has a unique voice and Rocky has been learning to understand how these voices can fit back into the narrative thread as a whole to streamline one cohesive brand story.
Through this year, the team has also gained a deeper understanding of hotel operations. It’s not typical for marketing professionals to dive into the operational side, but doing so has made each a better team member.
Looking Ahead: Future Marketing Efforts
The next big focus for Rocky and his team is launching OHM's loyalty program, “Invited by Oliver”, designed to elevate the client experience across our collection of boutique hotels.
This initiative will involve close coordination with different departments, including operations and accounting, to ensure the program is effective and easy to implement. The goal is to make the guest experience as smooth and enjoyable as possible, while also providing tangible benefits that encourage repeat visits.
Another significant project on the horizon is the redesign and transition of all OHM websites to a new web platform to create a more unified digital presence and that also allows for a streamlined management internally as well. This update is about more than just aesthetics; The aim is to ensure that every online interaction is intuitive and reinforces the unique identity of each OHM property on one platform.
See Rocky in Action
Photo by Asher Moss
As he continues to drive forward OHM’s vision, Rocky’s work promises to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the hospitality industry.
For those eager to learn from Rocky’s expertise, don’t miss his appearance at the Independent Hotel Show in Miami, FL, where he will be speaking on the panel, "How to Integrate Community into Hotel Projects.” It’s a fantastic opportunity to hear firsthand about his approach to brand innovation and design.
Stay connected and follow Rocky’s latest updates and insights by connecting with him on LinkedIn here.
