We help platform businesses turn new operating models, ecosystems and technology into a clear reason for people to participate, adopt and keep coming back.
The platform business marketing agency for brands changing how markets work
Why platform marketing is different
Some platforms connect buyers, sellers and partners. Others change how work gets done. Both rely on belief in the model as well as the product. For established businesses, marketing must explain the shift while preserving the trust already earned.
Experience
20+
Years across aggregators, builders, marketplaces and ecosystems.
Clients
>50
Track record with platform vendors.
Projects
250+
Successful outcomes across platform models.
Look who trusts us
We have built marketing programmes for established SaaS providers, specialist platforms, fast-growing scale-ups and ambitious technology brands.
How platform marketing creates momentum
Platform growth depends on participation as much as promotion. The model has to make sense, create value for each audience and build momentum across the ecosystem.
Our Capabilities define the programme. Our Services bring it to market.
Purpose before participation
We define why the platform exists, what it changes and why customers, contributors and partners should participate.
Capabilities
Services
Copywriting
Content & asset creation
Web content, design & build
Video & animation
Transition with intent
We help SaaS, services and data businesses introduce a broader platform story without confusing customers or abandoning existing value.
Capabilities
Services
Copywriting
Web content, design & build
Content & asset creation
Video & animation
Impact before architecture
We translate data, workflows, integrations and architecture into clearer operational and commercial value.
Capabilities
Services
Copywriting
Content & asset creation
Video & animation
Web content, design & build
Ecosystem momentum
We connect customer demand, contributor participation, partners and sales around a shared value model that strengthens as adoption grows.
Capabilities
Services
Web content, design & build
Content & asset creation
Exhibition design
Video & animation
The platform buyer and influencer group
A platform can depend on customers, contributors, partners, developers and internal teams all seeing enough value to participate.
For businesses building platforms for others, the proposition must also connect strategic ambition with the technical reality of creating and operating the model.
Our track record in platforms
First Resonance
Accelerating an industry shift in modern manufacturing
Prevedere
Articulating a category in intelligent planning
Fooji
Helping create Fan Experience Management
OpenText
Demonstrating the value of consolidation
Real stories of clarity and value
How we work
Across all forms of platform business, we take clients to market with leadership, momentum and impact.
Client onboarding
Commercial alignment to make sure we're all on the same page.
1 week
Discovery
No need for a written brief. We can surface the key criteria via a structured workshop.
1 week
Research, assess and benchmark
Understand what we've got and what we need.
1 week
Campaign masterplan
Establish and agree a framework, flow, elements, metrics, MarTech stack and dependencies.
2 week
Create
Design, produce and build appropriate assets, tools and resources for the programme.
2-8 weeks
Deploy
Prepare and activate an appropriate launch plan for the project.
1 week
Optimise
Monitor and review project performance and undertake appropriate data-driven enhancements.
Ongoing
Scale
Apply findings to the current campaign or use them to develop larger or parallel initiatives.
Ongoing
Give every side of your platform a reason to participate
Let’s shape a platform marketing programme around your business model, ecosystem, proposition and next stage of growth.
Choose an agency that understands the platform is the business model
Other agency models can treat platforms as another software category, focus almost entirely on the end customer or announce a platform transformation before the market is ready to understand it. We connect purpose, proposition, participation and demand around the mechanics of the model itself.
Other agencies
The Rubicon Agency
Understand which platform you are marketing
Use the same platform language for marketplaces, operating systems, ecosystems and software suites with more integrations.
Starts with the model. We establish who creates value, who consumes it, how participants interact and what makes the platform stronger as it grows.
Market the model, not just the product
Promote functionality and features while leaving audiences to work out why a platform approach is better than the status quo.
Makes the operating model part of the proposition, showing how participation creates new value, removes friction or changes how a market works.
Build participation on every side
Concentrate marketing on customer acquisition while treating partners, contributors, sellers or developers as secondary audiences.
Builds connected propositions and journeys for every audience whose participation determines whether the platform succeeds.
Choreograph the platform transition
Rebrand an established SaaS, services or data business as a platform and announce the new language before customers understand what has changed.
Stages the transition. We connect the existing offer to the future model, define what is genuinely new and introduce the platform story at a pace the market can follow.
Sell the impact, not the architecture
Lead with ecosystems, APIs, data layers and integrations, assuming the architecture itself communicates value.
Starts with what the platform enables. The architecture then becomes evidence for a more relevant story about efficiency, access, intelligence, experience or growth.
Understand the builders as well as the platform brands
Focus only on the eventual platform proposition, overlooking the firms architecting, engineering and operating the platform behind it.
Works with both platform businesses and the technology, engineering and service providers helping clients create them. We can market the platform opportunity as well as the expertise required to build it.
Choose an agency that understands the platform is the business model
Other agency models can treat platforms as another software category, focus almost entirely on the end customer or announce a platform transformation before the market is ready to understand it. We connect purpose, proposition, participation and demand around the mechanics of the model itself.
Understand which platform you are marketing
Other agencies: Use the same platform language for marketplaces, operating systems, ecosystems and software suites with more integrations.
The Rubicon Agency: Starts with the model. We establish who creates value, who consumes it, how participants interact and what makes the platform stronger as it grows.
Market the model, not just the product
Other agencies: Promote functionality and features while leaving audiences to work out why a platform approach is better than the status quo.
The Rubicon Agency: Makes the operating model part of the proposition, showing how participation creates new value, removes friction or changes how a market works.
Build participation on every side
Other agencies: Concentrate marketing on customer acquisition while treating partners, contributors, sellers or developers as secondary audiences.
The Rubicon Agency: Builds connected propositions and journeys for every audience whose participation determines whether the platform succeeds.
Choreograph the platform transition
Other agencies: Rebrand an established SaaS, services or data business as a platform and announce the new language before customers understand what has changed.
The Rubicon Agency: Stages the transition. We connect the existing offer to the future model, define what is genuinely new and introduce the platform story at a pace the market can follow.
Sell the impact, not the architecture
Other agencies: Lead with ecosystems, APIs, data layers and integrations, assuming the architecture itself communicates value.
The Rubicon Agency: Starts with what the platform enables. The architecture then becomes evidence for a more relevant story about efficiency, access, intelligence, experience or growth.
Understand the builders as well as the platform brands
Other agencies: Focus only on the eventual platform proposition, overlooking the firms architecting, engineering and operating the platform behind it.
The Rubicon Agency: Works with both platform businesses and the technology, engineering and service providers helping clients create them. We can market the platform opportunity as well as the expertise required to build it.
Frequently asked questions
What does a platform marketing agency do?
A platform marketing agency helps businesses explain and grow technology-enabled models that connect customers, contributors, partners, products, services or data.
That can involve proposition development, brand strategy, product marketing, ecosystem marketing, partner marketing, demand generation and buyer enablement.
How is platform marketing different from SaaS marketing?
A SaaS product primarily needs customers to see enough value to subscribe and continue using it.
A platform may need several groups to participate at the same time. Buyers, sellers, partners, developers, data contributors or service providers can each affect the value of the model.
Marketing therefore has to create participation as well as customer demand.
Are marketplace platforms and operating platforms marketed differently?
Yes.
A marketplace typically has to prove the exchange of value between different sides of a market. An operating platform may need to establish itself as a new environment through which work, data or services are managed.
The audiences, adoption barriers and evidence are different, even though both depend on a strong platform purpose.
How should an existing SaaS or services business move to a platform proposition?
Carefully.
The business needs to define what has materially changed, why a platform model creates more value and how the existing product or service fits into the new proposition.
The marketing transition should then be staged across corporate messaging, portfolio architecture, website journeys, sales enablement and campaigns rather than relying on a sudden change of terminology.
How do you market to both sides of a platform?
Start with the shared purpose, then define the distinct value exchange for each group.
Each side needs its own reasons to participate, proof points and journey. The messages should still reinforce one overall platform story so growth on one side strengthens confidence on the other.
Do you work with companies building platforms for other businesses?
Yes.
We work with technology, engineering, data and service businesses that architect, build and operate platforms for customers as well as businesses whose own commercial model is the platform.
The marketing challenge is different, but both require a clear connection between sophisticated capability and the business change it enables.
Get your proposal
Let’s chat so we can quickly shape an approach that fits your marketing agenda.
