College friends Cameron “Cam” Fordham and Ben Hiott initially launched the company as a side hustle in 2016 away from their day jobs as a way to monetize celebrity Facebook pages by curating the content on them. Alex Dermer, who had managed Waka Flocka Flame, joined six months later, and the three co-founded Get Engaged Media. Six years later, the company has led social media campaigns for artists ranging from DJ Khaled, Wiz Khalifa and Imagine Dragons to Walker Hayes and Ozzy Osborne.
“That album came out when everyone was locked down and right in the height of the pandemic, and so many people were suffering and scared,” Hiott says. “We were able to create viral moments, especially with the ‘Blinding Lights’ dance, that was able to bring happiness and joy to a lot of people.” celebrities and 10,000 influencers on more than 7,500 campaigns that Dermer says have generated over 30+ billion views across social media platforms.
This year, in addition to opening its Nashville branch, Get Engaged’s principals launched a record label called Series A Entertainment, which has signed rapper The Letter M as part of a joint venture with 300 Entertainment. They have also branched out into artist management, representing rapper SYMBA.
Several months ago, Jason Zerden, then vp, business development for Create Music Group, reached out to Get Engaged’s founders about buying the company. They weren’t for sale, but Zerden was impressed with how Get Engaged competed toe-to-toe with much bigger companies. “I came up through CAA, then Stem and then Create Music Group, all very flashy companies,” he says. “These guys are operating a 90-person business in this space out of Georgia.