Business Studies | Big Marketing Leaps with Common Giant
Phillip Oakley is the founder of the marketing agency Common Giant.
By Kia O. Moore
Hip Hop Orchestrated has been away for a decade, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been working. Our founder, Kia O. Moore, took some time to learn about running the company by attending four business-focused fellowships from 2016 to 2025. The last cohort she was a part of was the Center for Creative Economy’s Kinetic Bootcamp program, which ran from March 2025 to April 2025.
LET’S GET KINETIC
While at Kinetic, she learned how to: position the brand amongst its competitors, identify the target audience, sell the value proposition to the correct target audience, and have top-quality business strategy and marketing materials at the ready to share the company's story with others (e.g., business roadmap, one-pager, pitch deck, etc.).
At the end of Kinetic was the pitch competition. Kia struggled during practice to keep the speech to five minutes. On the day of the competition, she got very close to the end of her speech but failed to share all of her pitch deck. Despite not making it through to the end, she was still selected for the marketing prize provided by Common Giant, a marketing agency in the NC Triad area.
Common Giant founder Phillip Oakley recalls why he selected Hip Hop Orchestrated for the prize, “Kia came in with a solid vision already in place. One she'd already acted on for years on her own. She was seeking connection, culture, and commerce, all making her values front and center. I wanted to see that vision come to life.” Phillip continued, “Kia wasn't just looking for help turning a brand into a social movement; she wanted to make it work commercially, and she was ready to put in the hard work and spirit it takes to bring something like that to life.”
Kia was so grateful to win one of the prizes because she thought she had bombed her presentation. With her background in public relations, she was overjoyed to be paired with the marketing agency. She felt they spoke a similar business language and would understand each other.
DISCONNECTING FROM A GIANT
She immediately followed up with Phillip to claim the pro bono five hours of marketing advice. However, Kia was still in the middle of deciding what business structure to go after: LLC or non-profit. Also, she was not sure what type of help she needed from Phillip.
She started the conversation with Common Giant in May 2025, then trailed off. Life got in the way, and two months later, in July 2025, she lost her only contract with a Charlotte arts festival. She withdrew from everyone, including her family, and fell into a depression. From July 2025 to February 2026, Kia just stayed indoors, ate, watched TV, and slept.
WAKE UP CALL
By February 2026, her savings were almost gone, and it lit a fire in her to start getting out of the house and start job searching. She went to her local Goodwill Career Connections Center for resume writing assistance and job search guidance. Kia showed up to the Center every day in February 2026. Then the current Career Navigator saw something in her resume and commitment to coming to the Center that made him tell her about an open position at Goodwill.
STABILITY DRIVES DREAMS
Kia applied and went through three rounds of interviews. She landed the job as a Career Navigator in March 2026. She would now help people with resumes, cover letters, interview preparation, and finding the community resources participants needed. She now had a stable job with benefits. She now had the freedom to pick up where she left off with her dream without running the risk of being a starving artist.
Kia started revisiting what she learned in the fellowships over the past 10 years. She knew exactly what she wanted to do with Hip Hop Orchestrated. She started by reaching out to the previous Music Director to get him on board and discuss the next phase of Hip Hop Orchestrated. She also reached out to the Hip Hop Producer who was previously part of Hip Hop Orchestrated. They both enthusiastically joined the movement to bring Hip Hop Orchestrated back. Next, Kia had to reach out to business contacts she lost touch with to move the needle on the company.
RECONNECTING WITH A GIANT
The first business contact she reached out to was SCORE Charlotte. She was connected with a business mentor, and she hashed out what she wanted to do with Hip Hop Orchestrated. Then she knew she had to do what she was dreading: reach out to the Center for Creative Economy. She had lost contact with them after May 2025. She had also missed the deadline to use the prize they worked hard to create. She was embarrassed that she messed up that chance for top-quality marketing services. However, she swallowed her pride and sent out the apology emails in May 2026. She mustered up the courage to ask for the prize to be honored now that she knew what to do with it. To her surprise, Phillip Oakley said he would honor the pro bono marketing agency advice service.
Phillip and Kia did their initial meeting on Zoom to get an overview of the business to see how Common Giant could help. Then the emails and text messages from Phillip slowed to a stop. Kia kept checking in with Phillip, and he eventually told her the reason why he was not as responsive. What he revealed was something that Kia could understand deeply because she went through a similar life-changing event in 2024. Kia kept texting, but not to Phillip the marketing pro, but to Phillip the human with emotions. She wanted him to know she was thinking about him and she cared beyond her WIIFM (i.e., What’s in it for me?).
Phillip observed this and shared, “I've worked with a lot of founders who are just focused on their business, but Kia has taken the time to actually get the most out of the mentors around her. She leans into the relationship that comes with these kinds of engagements, not just the transaction.” He continued, “That's what's made working with her different. It's not a one-and-done consulting session. It's an ongoing back-and-forth where she comes back with real follow-through on what we talk about. I love being part of that energy, and I'm looking forward to seeing her succeed.”
FIVE GIANT MARKETING STRATEGIES
Once Phillip had taken the time that he needed and gotten his energy back, he was off to the races helping Kia to get the company ready for sponsorship and partnership presentations. From her interactions with Phillip, Kia has taken away five marketing strategies that inform her of what to do with Hip Hop Orchestrated.
Select and categorize your audience because you can’t serve everybody. Many new businesses make the mistake of believing their product or service is for everybody. Attempting to craft marketing messages that reach every single segment of the population is impossible. So, the solution is to find your target audience or audiences. You will be able to speak more directly and effectively to a target audience. When speaking to sponsors and partners, they want to know how you will help them reach the audience(s) you have cultivated a relationship with.
Know your minimum viable product and use it to show proof-of-concept to potential sponsors and partners. Knowing the lowest possible cost to create a product or service that showcases what you do and your why is a game-changer. It gives sponsors or partners an example they can get behind and understand where their dollars, in-kind donations, or time is going.
Understanding the WIIFM of a sponsor or partner is crucial. Getting a sponsor or partner on board is not about what you need from them; it is about providing for THEIR needs. Their WIIFM, or What’s in it for me, should be the first thing you determine. Speak to how your brands align and how you could be of benefit to a project or initiative they are working on. The best way to determine this is through research.
Research, research, and more research. Learning all you can about a sponsor or partner can help you create more appealing sponsor/partner packages. Nowadays, sponsors and partners don’t just want their logo slapped on everything; they want a campaign that interweaves both your and their brand into the story you tell your target audience(s). It is about creating a bespoke marketing strategy that gets them engagement with your target audience(s), not just impressions
Seeing social capital at work through introductions to additional mentors. Working with Phillip is like working with a living Rolodex or LinkedIn Network. He is willing to introduce you to connections that can help move your business forward with advice from thought leaders. This networking is social capital at work! Phillip’s warm introductions lead to warm connections, which lead to someone new helping the company grow.
This is only the beginning of working with Phillip Oakley and Common Giant. I expect to learn more marketing strategy gems from him. For now, you can explore Common Giant’s website to glean more information about marketing. Here is what Kia suggests you explore:
Happy researching!
