Joel Babbit

Babbit was born in Atlanta, Georgia.[6] He attended the University of Georgia, graduating in 1976 with a degree in advertising.[7] He received the university's John Holliman Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.[8]

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.[3][5][9][10]

Babbit began working at McCann Erickson in 1978,[11] and would later serve as executive vice president of Chiat/Day and president of WPP's GCI Group.[9][12] He co-founded Babbit & Reiman Advertising with business partner Joey Reiman,[3] and served as CEO while it became one of the largest advertising agencies in the U.S. Southeast.[9][11] In 1988, it was acquired by London-based Gold Greenlees Trott.[9] Babbit also co-founded 360,[10] a marketing firm later acquired by WPP's Grey Global Group.[13][14]

Babbit has been profiled by a variety of national and international media outlets, including Forbes,[4] Advertising Age,[13] Fortune,[15] The New York Times,[9][16][17] Financial Times,[14] and The Wall Street Journal.[18]

Babbit currently serves as CEO of Narrative Content Group.[1][2][19] Founded in 2009 by Babbit and Leavell, its equity partners include CNN and Discovery Communications.[20] The company creates, publishes and distributes content for brands that have included Aflac, AT&T, Bacardi, The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific and Mercedes-Benz.[3][21][22][23]

Narrative owned TreeHugger[23] and Mother Nature Network, the company's flagship property, which was ranked by Alexa Internet as the most visited for-profit website in the world in its environmental category.[24]

Through MNN, and in partnership with Southern Company, Babbit and Leavell also created and produced the White House Correspondents' Jam, which was held annually in Washington, D.C.[25][26]

In February of 2020, Narrative sold Treehugger and Mother Nature Network to digital media company DotDash,[27] an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ: IAC).

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.[17][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 32 million times on YouTube (as of February 2022).[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 United Way. He is currently a director of Primerica (NYSE: PRI) and GreenSky (NASDAQ: GSKY).[1][30][33]

• Narrative Content Group
• Mother Nature Network