Digital marketing strategy for Laurence Guy’s sophomore LP

Laurence Guy had built a significant streaming following, but this album marked several firsts: his first time facing press directly, his first live show with a full band in front of his own audience, and a musical shift away from the dancefloor-oriented house he was known for, toward a more musical, feature-heavy direction with Jamal Bucanon, Chester Watson, Wayne Snow, and Deem Spencer.

I worked with Starling Works management and The Orchard (Sony Music)'s artist management and digital marketing teams, building and executing the campaign's digital communication strategy end to end.

The goal was to build a real, engaged community around Laurence ahead of the album, one he could connect with directly rather than simply announce to. That meant growing his social presence, introducing his live band to an audience that had never seen him perform, and helping him navigate a genuine shift in musical direction without losing the audience that already knew him.

The deeper lesson from this album: when you show a different side of your music to an audience that expects something specific from you, you can't expect the same response you'd get from releasing what they already know. You have to expect different results, and stand behind what you put out creatively regardless of the outcome.

We released music videos for the album's singles, each one carrying a different layer of the story (the record explores, in Laurence's words, the push and pull between hedonism and the fog of the morning after); watched together, the three videos trace that full arc. The videos were commissioned from Superglow, the award-winning London studio behind work for Dua Lipa, Sigrid, and Amber Mark, directed by Roisin O.

PR was handled by All Stripes, who'd previously worked with Arlo Parks.

The album was covered across CLASH, Essential Journal, Notion, Music Tech, House of Solo, Faith Magazine, and Future Music, with further features on Mixmag, WhyNow, Tinnitus, Dance Wax, Phil Taggart's Chillout da Beats podcast, Stereofox, and Acid Stag. On BBC 6 Music, the record was supported by Huw Stephens, Tom Ravenscroft, Nemone, Gilles Peterson, Lauren Laverne, and Mary Anne Hobbs, and on BBC Radio 1 by Pete Tong, Jack Saunders, Sian Eleri, and Abbie McCarthy, alongside support from Afrodeutsche on BBC 6 Music and an A-list placement on Rinse FM.

The label asked for a content strategy that could sustain engagement in the run-up to the album. Having worked with Laurence and his team for a couple of years by that point, building something that felt genuinely like his voice came naturally. Together, we conceptualised "Record Digs," a weekly series where Laurence shares a record from his own collection. Sampling has always been central to how he makes music, and visiting record shops is one of the things he actually does with his time outside music and bouldering.

Alongside "Record Digs," we built "Your Good Times Will Come," named after one of Laurence's older track titles, into a motto for his personal and lifestyle content, giving the audience a way to connect with his story and personality, not just his release calendar.

Laurence had been part of the industry for years without ever facing press directly, so part of the work was introducing him properly for the first time. The same was true of performing live: this campaign built toward his debut show from nothing, with a full band his audience had never seen him play with before.

Laurence's debut live show, performing with a full band for the first time, sold out East London's Night Tales Loft. Instagram engagement rose from 1.5% to 3% over the campaign, with a 25% increase in followers.