Joel Babbit

Joel Babbit (born August 11, 1953) is an American marketing executive and entrepreneur. He is CEO of Narrative Content Group,^[1][2] which he co-founded in 2009 with Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell.^[3][4][5]

Joel Babbit
Babbit (left) and Chuck Leavell in 2015
Born	11 August 1953 (1953-08-11) (age 71) Atlanta, Georgia, US
Occupation(s)	Marketing Executive, Entrepreneur
Website	https://narrativecontent.com

Early life and education

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]

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.^{[3][5][9][10]}

Babbit began working at McCann Erickson in 1978,^[11] and would later be 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 was 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]

Narrative Content Group

Babbit is 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).

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.^[17][28] He also was 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 civic and non-profit organizations, including the Young Presidents' Organization, the CDC Foundation, the Atlanta History Center and the United Way. He is a director of Primerica (NYSE: PRI) and GreenSky (NASDAQ: GSKY).^[1][30][33]