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Joel Babbit

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Joel Babbit
Mother Nature Network co-founders Joel Babbit (left) and Chuck Leavell speak at the 2015 Fortune Brainstorm E in Austin, Texas.
Born11 August 1953
Atlanta, GA
Occupation(s)Marketing Executive, Entrepreneur
Websitehttps://www.narrativecontentgroup.com


Joel Babbit (born August 11, 1953) is an American marketing executive and entrepreneur. He currently serves as CEO of Narrative Content Group and Mother Nature Network,[1] which he co-founded in 2009 with Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell.[2][3][4]

Early life and education

Babbit was born in Atlanta, Georgia.[5] He attended the University of Georgia, graduating in 1976 with a degree in advertising.[6] He received the university's John Holliman Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.[7]

Career

The majority of Babbit's career has been spent in the advertising agency business, working with clients including AT&T, The Coca-Cola Company, Dell, Home Depot, RJR Nabisco and United Parcel Service.[2][4][8][9]

Babbit began working at McCann Erickson in 1978,[10] and would later serve as executive vice president of Chiat/Day and president of WPP's GCI Group.[8][11] He co-founded Babbit & Reiman Advertising with business partner Joey Reiman,[2] and served as CEO while it became one of the largest advertising agencies in the U.S. Southeast.[8][10] In 1988, it was acquired by London-based Gold Greenlees Trott.[8] Babbit also co-founded 360,[9] a marketing firm later acquired by WPP's Grey Global Group.[12][13]

Babbit has been profiled by a variety of national and international media outlets, including Forbes,[3] Advertising Age,[12] Fortune,[14] The New York Times,[8][15][16] Financial Times,[13] and The Wall Street Journal.[17]

Narrative Content Group

Babbit currently serves as CEO of Narrative Content Group.[1][18] Founded in 2009 by Babbit and Leavell, its equity partners include CNN and Discovery Communications.[19] The company creates, publishes and distributes content for its own sites and in partnership with brands including Aflac, AT&T, Bacardi, The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific and Mercedes-Benz.[2][20][21][22]

Narrative owns Mother Nature Network and TreeHugger,[22] and also publishes other websites for various clients.[21][23][24] Alexa Internet ranks Narrative's flagship property, Mother Nature Network (MNN), as the most visited for-profit website in the world in its environmental category.[25]

Through MNN, Babbit and Leavell also created and produce the White House Correspondents' Jam, held annually in Washington, D.C.[26][27]

Civic involvement

Following Atlanta’s selection to host the 1996 Summer Olympics, Babbit took a leave of absence from the private sector and was appointed by Mayor Maynard Jackson to be the city’s first chief marketing and communications officer.[16][28] He also served as a member of the mayor's cabinet.[29]

Babbit has done pro bono work for organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, United Way of America, Boys & Girls Club and the United Nations Foundation.[1][30] He wrote and produced a 2015 public service video about road rage starring former professional boxer Evander Holyfield,[31] which has been viewed more than 12 million times on YouTube (as of September 2016).[32]

Babbit has been active in numerous civic and non-profit organizations, including the Young Presidents' Organization, the CDC Foundation, the Atlanta History Center and the Anti-Defamation League. He is currently a director of Primerica and GreenSky Credit.[1][30][33]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Executive Profile: Joel M. Babbit". Bloomberg. S&P Global Market Intelligence. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d Grillo, Jerry (December 1, 2011). "The Ad Man And The Rocker". Georgia Trend. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "O'Malley Greenburg, Zach (January 7, 2014). "Turning Red And Blue States Green, With Some Help From A Rolling Stone". Forbes. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  4. ^ a b Pearson, Bob (2011). Pre-Commerce: How Companies and Customers are Transforming Business Together. Jossey-Bass. p. 284. ISBN 9781118023037.
  5. ^ "Florio, Elizabeth (July 1, 2010). "Mother Nature's Daddy". Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  6. ^ Moreno, Stephanie (March 9, 2015). "UGA Grady College announces recipients of 2015 Alumni Awards" (Press release). Athens, Georgia: UGA Today. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  7. ^ "UGA's Grady College honors distinguished alumni". Athens Banner-Herald. April 22, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d e Rothenberg, Randall (November 24, 1989). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: Advertising; A Regional Star Risks New York". New York Times. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Vaeth, Elizabeth (August 18, 1997). "Chasing Fox is unpleasant exercise for Babbit". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  10. ^ a b "Welch, Mary (November 5, 2003). "Drama and Comedy, Agony and Laughter: The History of Atlanta Advertising, The 1960s to the Early Nineties". Oz Magazine. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  11. ^ Tobin Ramos, Rachel (August 14, 2006). "Ad man Babbit to lead PR giant". Atlanta Business Chronicle. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Newman, Andrew Adam (November 22, 2010). "Green Website Finds Sustainable Model in Creating Custom Ads". Advertising Age. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  13. ^ a b "Kompanek, Christopher (August 15, 2014). "How to profit from web ads: Mother Nature Network's Joel Babbit". Financial Times. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  14. ^ "Gimbel, Barney (January 14, 2009). "This green Web site really rocks". Fortune. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  15. ^ Bryant, Adam (July 7, 2012). "Why C.E.O.'s Need a Dose of James Bond". New York Times. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  16. ^ a b Applebome, Peter (February 9, 1993). "How Atlanta's Adman Pushes the City to Sell Itself". New York Times. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  17. ^ Debaise, Colleen (January 19, 2011). "An Ad Man's Foray Into 'Green' Media". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  18. ^ "Blau, Max (July 1, 2016). "What is it? An oral history of Izzy, the mascot marketing snafu of Olympic proportions". Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  19. ^ Saporta, Maria (November 15, 2012). "Mother Nature Network to merge with Discovery's treehugger.com; new entity to be based in Atlanta". Saporta Report. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  20. ^ Kempner, Matt (March 27, 2016). "Unofficial Business: Rolling Stones' Georgian shares in historic Cuba concert". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  21. ^ a b Bondick, Christine (July 15, 2015). "Tales of the Cocktail to Launch the New TalesoftheCocktail.com" (Press release). New Orleans, Louisiana: Tales of the Cocktail. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  22. ^ a b Koch, Wendy (November 14, 2012). "Eco websites Mother Nature Network and TreeHugger merge". USA Today. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  23. ^ "About Us". Narrative Content Group. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  24. ^ "Boy Scouts of America Partners with Mother Nature Network to Launch Earth Badge Initiative at 2016 Sustainable Brands Conference" (Press release). San Diego, California: Boy Scouts of America. June 9, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  25. ^ "The top 500 sites on the web > Category > Science > Environment". Alexa. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  26. ^ Heil, Emily (April 13, 2016). "Chuck Leavell is bringing a few (famous) friends to play the White House Correspondents' Jam". Washington Post. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  27. ^ "Grinapol, Corinne (April 29, 2016). "WHCD Party Invites: White House Correspondents' Jam II". Ad Week. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  28. ^ Payne, Michael (2006). Olympic Turnaround: How the Olympic Games Stepped Back from the Brink of Extinction to Become the World's Best Known Brand. Praeger. p. 173. ISBN 9780275990305.
  29. ^ Elliott, Stuart (June 3, 1992). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING -- ADDENDA; Babbit Takes Post To Promote Atlanta". New York Times. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  30. ^ a b "Joel Babbit, CEO and Co-Founder of Mother Nature Network, speaks at Terry Third Thursday" (Press release). UGA Terry College of Business. March 18, 2010. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  31. ^ "Coffee, Patrick (January 30, 2015). "Evander Holyfield Warns Against the Dangers of Road Rage". Ad Week. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  32. ^ "Evander Holyfield shows angry driver why road rage is a bad idea" on YouTube
  33. ^ "Company". GreenSky Credit. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
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