Joel Babbit

Early life and education

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

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.

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

Babbit has been profiled by a variety of national and international media outlets, including Forbes, Advertising Age, Fortune, The New York Times, Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Narrative Content Group

Babbit currently serves as CEO of Narrative Content Group. Founded in 2009 by Babbit and Leavell, its equity partners include CNN and Discovery Communications. 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.

Narrative owns Mother Nature Network and TreeHugger, and also publishes other websites for various clients. 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.

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

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. He also served as a member of the mayor's cabinet.

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. He wrote and produced a 2015 public service video about road rage starring former professional boxer Evander Holyfield, which has been viewed more than 12 million times on YouTube (as of September 2016).

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.