Earned Relevance

If The Music Was In Your CEO’s Blood…

You’d never know that the guy in the video below strumming the guitar is the head of a thriving digital media company which counts several Fortune 500 companies as clients. He is. He’s Justin Kennedy, and he and his wife Carmen lead a group of talented digital artists that create digital magic at Imagery Media.

The online interactive content that Imagery creates for clients like Nickelodeon, Canon and FedEx isn’t merely engaging and fun.  The rich multimedia properties are exactly the kind of creative products that big name companies are scrambling to acquire as they scale advertising expenditures from broadcast to online.

Despite Justin and Carmen competing at the highest level in a space (digital media) that has not been readily open to companies headed by African Americans, I’m not writing about Imagery so much as I am its CEO.

Justin is a creative soul compelled to release every ounce of that creativity out of his 6′3″ frame.  Following the success of establishing Imagery as a competitive force in its industry, he and his wife moved the company’s headquarters to the tidewater area of Virginia. It wasn’t just because the office lease was cheaper, either.  VA is home to a burgeoning music scene which, as you can see from the video, is exactly where Justin wants to be.

His dreams of music are deeply rooted in hedged bets in music and the arts.  You see, he’s a former entertainment lawyer who knows all about licensing rights and the royalty payments they can generate. So whether creating music for the charts or for business clients, it’s all part of Justin’s master plan.

That brings me to the video.  As a former ad exec, I appreciate business leaders that use available marketing and advertising tools in unique ways.  In his video,  Justin is introducing the world to his music side through Facebook.  He wrote the song, played each instrument on the track, provided the vocals, edited the video, and published the final piece online.  He’s demonstrating skill and creativity in a way that not only demonstrates a command of today’s tools, but inspires and motivates viewers to action. 

“Call me, if you want to get into the music scene in VA!” he states. 

With the mention of Facebook in the song and the catchy hook “reppin’ VA” it wouldn’t be surprising if the song became affiliated with the social networking site or caught fire on Youtube. From the quality of production, he could easily jump into music video production, as well.  Maybe that’s exactly what Justin planned. World domination, baby.