Through strategic media relations and outreach, Atlanta agency KWI created a national platform from which Google data software engineer and rapper Brandon Tory could promote his music career while inspiring minorities to pursue their own passions – whether STEM-related, art-related or both.
KWI’s media experts compiled a list of relevant contacts and developed pitches tailored to each. For journalists and publications like BET and Buzzfeed, we pitched Brandon’s story with a focus on his music; for business and tech publications like Bloomberg/Businessweek and The Wall Street Journal, we highlighted Brandon’s role in Silicon Valley in an industry notoriously lacking diversity.
Our successful outreach resulted in interviews with top-tier media outlets and subsequent articles and videos, including a feature in CNBC’s Make It series, “From growing up homeless to coding at Apple and Google—all while rapping for Timbaland;” a Forbes article, “Google A.I. Engineer/Rapper Wants Kids To Know It’s Cool To Be A Genius;” a video interview with Yahoo! Finance, “Google AI engineer who moonlights as a rapper tells his story;” an article in the Wall Street Journal, “When Your Day Job Isn’t Enough;” an interview with Jamarlin Martin on The GHOGH Podcast (twice) and a feature as part of CNN’s Great Big Story.
Since our media outreach efforts and Brandon’s national interviews, he has gained a great deal of recognition and visibility both as an artist and as an AI engineer. The articles garnered an estimated collective reach of 170.5 million, with an added social echo of 328 on Twitter and 21,941 on Facebook. Brandon’s “Purpose” music video jumped to more than 21,000 views on YouTube, his “Seriously” music video has 60,487 views, and his YouTube channel has 98,278 views.
Google has recognized Brandon as an asset and company spokesperson, providing greater professional opportunities for him and even shared his story on the Google blog in an article, “Living the Multidream,” which has been shared on LinkedIn with over 4,500 reactions. Brandon has spoken alongside Google’s Global Head of Inclusion Valeisha Butterfield Jones at the Google-sponsored Black Tech Ecosystem recruiting event at Vector 90, a venue founded by the late Nipsey Hussle, a leading figure in the urban youth community. Colleges, high schools, nonprofits and corporations across the country have sought Brandon as a keynote speaker, providing him critical opportunities to connect with young, minority audiences. Most recently the New York City Department of Education invited Brandon to speak at St. John’s University on March 5, 2020, for the Education Revolution Conference. Since receiving national media attention, he has spoken at Stanford University; Loyola Marymount University; Google New York for Music, Women and Tech; Google Los Angeles in partnership with UCLA and the City of Carson California Youth Conference.
