PO & Co.

How can you sell products and services if you're ignored in the first place?

PO&Co. helps small-to-medium-size companies spring from their sales plateaus and increase revenue through effective marketing free of buzzwords, shiny objects, and black boxes.

Marketing Consultant & Fractional CMO

Common Giant

Common Giant is a growth-minded branding agency that digs deep into marketing strategy to produce stunning creative execution.

Common Giant was founded in 2012 to My role with Common Giant is to help grow the brand strategy framework for the agency and evangelize the company's brand. 

As of 2021, I have moved out of day-to-day operations to focus on brand growth at SFW.

Founder, Board Member, and Partner

Common Giant is a brand growth agency that digs deep into marketing strategy to produce stunning creative execution for companies who want to become legendary.

Common Giant stands tall with expertise in brand strategy, creative execution, and strategic communication. Our ethos is not only about delivering collaborative, successful brands and campaigns for our clients, it is also about building committed partnerships. We’ve worked globally with clients in the software technology, medical technology, consumer packaged goods, food, and retail industries.

At Common Giant, we channel our partners’ visions into projects that are inspired, clear, and concise. We bring our team’s full range of talents to generate a signature agency experience.

Founder and Chief Creative Officer

The YEC is a selective, invite-only group of like-minded peers and entrepreneurs from nearly every industry. YEC has been honored by Nasdaq, The White House and has been recognized in media outlets worldwide.

Member

Sales Factory

Sales Factory is a retail-focused agency compelled to succeed by a data-driven integrated approach for home retail brands eager to learn, grow, and win.

My focus is to develop winning brand strategies that drive business growth for our clients.

Vice President of Brand Strategy

Piedmont Opera

The mission of Piedmont Opera is to create operatic productions of the highest artistic quality to enrich our community and to advance the art form.

Our Vision is to be the finest opera company of our size in the nation and acknowledged as the best at what we do.

Board Member

iCan House

iCan House supports and enhances the lives of those with social challenges by teaching social skills, educational opportunities and provide a source of educational resources and networks. 

In our community, there exists a large population who live their daily lives with autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, PDD-NOS, and other social disorders. As they grow and experience a world created with rules that they may not understand, it is imperative that these unique individuals are provided with positive social models that care to help them grasp the social world in which they must live in.

Together we are stronger. A support system of parents, professionals and advocates will help us succeed and provide our loved ones with the best chance to get the most out of life. Let's chat and see how I can help.

The Variable

Formerly known as PAVE Creative Group, The Variable is a digitally informed marketing think tank that is committed to turning the traditional agency-client relationship on its head. We like MadMen here. But we're more like MathMen (and women, of course). In that spirit, The Variable thinks agencies should stop being cost centers and start being revenue generators.

Specialties –
Business Strategy, Digitally Informed Advertising, Brand Development, Innovation Development

Art Director

PAVE Creative Group

Designer / Art Director

Freelance Graphic Designer / Art Director

Freelance Art Director

Crobar Creative Leverage

Marketing consultant, Fractional CMO, brand strategy, energetic speaker, foodie, soccer player, and proud Dad

I love marketing and building brands. Friends, colleagues, and clients feel that energy from the first moment of interaction. It all begins with curiosity and evolves into a blend of strategic thinking and creative magic to construct brands through effective marketing.

Over the past two decades, I've led marketing initiatives for a diverse range of companies across various industries and sizes, including technology, medtech, consumer goods, and professional services, catering to both B2C and B2B sectors.

In 2012, I founded Common Giant, specializing in crafting branding and marketing for companies that understand that brand is a competitive advantage in a world full of commodities and a marketplace competing on price.

During my career, I’ve worked client-side managing retail stores up to $52MM, served on the agency side as VP of Brand Strategy, successfully launched an agency with global clients, started a marketing consultancy, and served as fractional CMO for multiple businesses. 

Throughout my career, I’ve believed in these four pillars:

1 - Marketing is a business practice. 
Successful businesses use marketing beyond promotion, as a series of business levers to pull for higher profits.

2 - Know the customer as much as you know yourself.
We’re in business to sell products and services. But it’s hard to sell something customers don’t want or why they should buy from you. Get to know what, how, and where they’ll buy.

3 - Grow the orchard while you sell the fruit.
A small percentage of your current target audience is ready to buy. Sell when they’re ready and invest in the brand long-term to sell a lot more.

4 - Boring is expensive.
Boring is forgettable and less effective. Being ignored means being forgotten and spending more for attention. Boring is bad for business.


Now that you’ve read this excruciatingly verbose bio, I’d like to add that, in addition to my professional endeavors, I am an enthusiastic keynote speaker, delivering engaging talks on branding, marketing, creative problem-solving in business, and effective marketing strategies to audiences of all sizes.

Phillip Oakley

As people discuss the business decline of McDonald's and Wendy's, and blame it on brand promise or not making customers "feel" something, we need to keep in mind that prices outpaced inflation, and (for most), quality declined to maximize profits. 

Providing decent food for the value is the bottom rung of the consumer benefit ladder. You need a solid first rung before climbing up to the feels.

Once that bottom rung breaks, just as Domino's faced years ago, you must slide back to the ground to fix it. 

Or customers won't care to ask "Where's the Beef?"

Stand Tall.

Mixing strategy and creativity to build brands through effective marketing. Energetic speaker, foodie, soccer player, and proud Dad.

Did you know 30-year-old sonic branding for Mentos is so powerful, it can burn a Michael McDonald Yacht Rock earworm straight out of your brain?

I have a confession to make: I quite like Yacht Rock. 

My wife and I have been enjoying more than our fair share of The Doobie Brothers, Christopher Cross, and Steely Dan of late. For some reason, Michael McDonald has cameos in loads of them. 

One night last week, I couldn't get to sleep. I was being haunted by Michael McDonald. If you've heard the song "Ride Like the Wind," you know why: 

🎶 I've got such a long way to go 🎶

It had to stop. (Such a long way to go)

So I turned to ... The Freshmaker. And it works every single time. 🎶Doo doo doo doo, doo doo, doo wah! 🎶

Loads of smart people talk about brand codes and distinctive brand assets here on this platform. But I'll fly the Mentos flag any day as being one of the most powerful assets that's still an easy recall. 

Bookmark this post, so next time there's an unwanted song stuck your head you can freshen up with this commercial (one of many, might I add). How many of their TV spots do you remember? 

Nothing gets to you, staying fresh, staying cool, with Mentos, fresh and fuuuuuuull of life!

Stand Tall.

“I hate those things.” After overhearing three different customers share the same opinion in two days, the visiting district manager removed the virtual tellers from my local bank, for good reason. 

First off, good on the area manager for being in the branches to see how customers interact. 

Secondly, good on them to recognize tech was getting in the way of helping the customer, and hurting the brand. 

This was a video teller interface. You would walk into the branch, not speak to a human, visit a kiosk and push a button to summon a remote teller who would assist you via video. And when they finish your transaction, they can move on to someone else in another city.

Sounds a bit dystopian. And while the tellers were trained well, it just felt disconnected.

I’m sure decisions makers tried to level the playing field with larger banks through technology. And I’m willing to bet this idea was presented in a deck along with the words “digital transformation” in the mid-2010s.

But in the end, it actually removed what makes small local branches better: help.

Help from a real human. 

Know your brand by recognizing what customers need from the different touchpoints of your business. Especially the points where they seek real human interaction. 

If it can be outsourced to a screen, it can be outsourced to AI. 

Stand Tall.

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Most of us who grew up in the 1970s or 1980s can recall that the Fruit of the Loom logo used to feature a cornucopia, a horn-shaped basket spilling out apples and grapes. Except it never did. 

There was never a cornucopia. Not once. Not ever.

Yes, I checked. I scraped the interwebs. Snopes confirmed it.

My childhood memories are lying to me.

If you remember the cornucopia, you’re in the collective hallucination with me, in what’s known as the Mandela Effect. It’s when a large group of people confidently remembers something that never existed.

But here’s what’s fascinating from a brand perspective: Fruit of the Loom built such powerful mental associations that we invented missing details, giving fruit leaves more importance than they called for. 

The logo felt like it should have a cornucopia. The imagery of abundance and nostalgia was so strong that our brains filled in the blanks. That’s brand memory at work.

Distinctive assets so sticky they expanded themselves in the public imagination. And even with several major refreshes over 100 years, the logo stayed consistent enough to be recognized through every iteration.

Or maybe it’s just crazy pills passed out by the bucketload.

Every brand should hope to be remembered so vividly that people recall things that were never even there.

Stand Tall.

📸: Snopes

“It’s a workshop for startup incubators, of course we have to use acronyms.” - Tongue in cheek client comment. I chuckled at this smart, self-aware comment by one of our clients in a brand workshop this Thursday. 

Sometimes, it seems today’s business world makes up comments on the fly. 

What’s your CAGR from your COGS?

Is your POS communicating your TOS to land your SLA?

And if your brand doesn’t know its COGS, how can your sales team understand its BANT?

How about your OAR? ELO? KLF? REM? POD? INXS? NWA? TLC? EMF? RUN-DMC?

LMFAO!

Isn’t the inside speak exhausting? It sounds like my mixtape playlist from 1992.

Speak clearly and lose the jargon if you want to connect with your target audience. They’ll appreciate the lack of need for an FAQ, IMO. 

Because if you overuse acronyms and insider terms, they’ll look at you like ODB. 

Speak the language of your customers. 

Stand Tall.

Misfit Way

The Misfit Way: Weekly newsletter 🗞️ with 2200+ misfits,
Learning about the art and business of personal branding.

Why personal branding?

Because:

It showed me opportunities I didn't think possible.
It opened doors I thought were closed.
It took me through the paths less traveled.
It made me feel accepted for who I am.
It showed me my signal in a world full of noise.

And it's my responsibility to pass this knowledge back to the world.

To help someone like me, solve the problems I've solved,
And explore the freedom of being a misfit.

It's my duty to help a lost misfit find their way back home.

But most importantly,

To do it their way,
The Misfit Way.

And I know,
This a big hairy audacious goal.

But if I can have 2,211 misfits (and counting) to join me on this journey,
I can impact a million.

It might take a year, and it might take a decade. and it might take a lifetime.

But it is possible,
One misfit at a time.

On a journey to build a nation of misfits,
A home for the homesick,
And an escape from the sickness of home.

That's why I want to invite you to join the Misfit Way newsletter:
https://misfit-way.com/

A newsletter without the hustle, a conversation without the pain, and a community without the judgment.

Writer

My Nobel pursuit of being in the business of bettering others is through the Misfit Way™️.

An untraditional creative community that works at the intersection of personal branding, self-leadership, and coaching.

The Misfit Way is a place that has one mission,
To end loneliness for lost misfits.

The Misfit Way is the only place for misfits to feel heard, do what they love, be accepted for who they are, and live their purpose fully.

Even if that means facing limited beliefs, challenging perceptions, and getting outside your comfort zone.

Not just that,
The Misfit Way is the place for professional misfits who are looking to transition from best-kept secrets to no longer having to introduce themselves.

How you might ask?
By blurring the edges of:

- Business & Art
- Education & Action
- Connection & Creation

Through the lenses of:

- Personal Health & Brand Wealth
- Emotional Intelligence & Critical Thinking
- Community Practice & Self Leadership

The way we do things is through:
Art — Autonomy — Freedom — Permission — Spirit of Generosity — Privilege — Passion — Intuition — Meaning — Impact — Fun — Exploration — Play - Conscious Capitalism

I believe that every misfit deserves a home,
A home where every voice is heard —

If you want to be part of this movement,
Check out the community page below:

https://brandorchestrate.com/community

Community Conductor

Brand Orchestrate

Most public speakers want to speak to grow their brand, make money, or have influence.

I'm not going to say I'm any different because I'm not.

But what I do care about more than making money or fame is:

To speak to those lost misfits out there in the world.

The crazy ones,
The rebels,
The quiet ones,
The divergent thinkers,
The old souls,
The youth leaders,
The dreamers,
The unconditional givers,
The ones who play at the edges.

Because those people are my people.

Hell, those people are ME!

And I have a great sheer (burden) of responsibility to help myself feel less lonely.

By helping them find their voice,
By helping them find their misfit way,
By helping them change the world.

That's why I want to speak to that public.

Public Speaker

We help 5 & 6-figure solopreneurs build an executive world-class personal brand that enables them to:

- Go from a noun to an adjective, from “A” to “The”, and from a “Job Title” to “First & Last Name”

- Attract new clients with compelling copy that engages, converts, and documents their expertise

- Build a holistic personal branding business around who they are (be paid to be themselves)

- Stay relevant and top-of-mind

- Gain authority, credibility, and industry recognition

Our clients see, on average, a 20%+ increase in revenue using our strategies

Chief Executive Officer

Code Talk

Code Talk is a community where I used to teach IT enthusiasts and CS university students how to code and build web projects using front-end and back-end technologies.

Web Developer

Ghostwriting Premium Educational Email Courses for 5 and 6-figure Solopreneurs™ | Executive Personal Branding ➜ Gain Authority, Credibility, and Industry Recognition.

I am a professional misfit.

And this is a dialogue with myself to you.

This “about section” is the hardest thing for me to write.

It's not even close to writing a book or an e-book, I already did that.

When you write a book, you write with the reader in mind.

But what do you do when the reader is you?

This is more like writing a biography.

But who writes a biography about himself? Isn't that narcissistic?

Maybe.
But it's also therapeutic, it's a process of self-discovery.

However, therapy is such a sensitive process that should not be made public.

So who writes about himself OUT LOUD IN PUBLIC?

Someone who's very confident? I'm not. 

I'm still insecure about a lot of things.

I'm insecure about my social awkwardness.
I'm insecure about my loneliness.
I'm insecure about being a people pleaser.
I'm insecure about you not liking me.
I'm insecure about failing in business, like I failed in school.

But like they say,
To name something is for you to own it.

This exercise doesn't just help me overcome my insecurities,
It also helps put my strengths in juxtaposition and make a name for myself.

What I'm I good at?

- Email Crafting: Premium educational email courses.
- Personal Brand Ghostwriting: Credibility, authority, and industry-recognition for misfit executives.
- Misfit Community Branding: Orchestrating meaning, purpose, and soul into words, brands, and people.
- Public Speaking: Personal development & mental health.
- Teaching: Clarity, tough love, critical thinking, thought provocation, and mindset.
- Being fashionably late for meetings.

Because of this:

- I've built a community of professional misfits.
- I've hosted several online workshops.
- I've helped a client make $4k in the first 2 weeks of engagement.
- I interviewed people like Chris Do & Ron Baker.
- I've grown my LinkedIn to 10,000 followers and my newsletter to 1200+ readers.
- I've been featured in multiple podcasts.

Last words?

Now that I'm re-reading my “about section”,

It feels reassuring that I actually did something good to the world.

In a world of unknowns,
I just needed to discover myself and be discovered.

Like they say:
“People don’t hire the most skilled, they hire the most known”.

That's my story! Now it's time to write yours.

Help me help you be known with a capital K.

Don't shy away from saying Hi! Let's be friends!

(P.S. I'm an introvert, so you better reach out first).

Thank you for reading,
I will see you in traffic.

taplio

The Battle

Phillip Oakley

Amine Hammou

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The Battle

Phillip Oakley

Amine Hammou

Followers

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Phillip Oakley's LinkedIn Performance

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