Mayor Shirley Franklin and the Atlanta Committee for Progress (ACP) today announced the launch of a public/private initiative, the Brand Atlanta Campaign, charged with creating a new, compelling branding strategy and marketing plan for Atlanta. The goal of the initiative will be to better position the city and its hospitality, entertainment, and tourism offerings to visitors, residents and businesses. A branding campaign offers an unprecedented opportunity to establish Atlanta as a preferred destination by distinguishing and communicating what makes Atlanta special. The campaign will support key objectives recently outlined in the New Century Economic Development Plan introduced by the Mayor, including the creation of 60,000 additional jobs by 2009. The hospitality, entertainment and tourism industry currently generates 55,000 jobs in the city of Atlanta and is a targeted industry cluster for development as outlined in the plan.
The launch of this initiative also coincides with recent and upcoming openings of several new hotels and world-class entertainment venues, including the new Georgia Aquarium, the new World of Coca-Cola and the expanded High Museum. The campaign also will leverage current city attractions such as The Carter Center, The King Center, the Atlanta History Center,
Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta, the CNN Center and the city’s offering of restaurants and shopping.
“In the next few years, Atlanta will see the opening of many exciting, world-class attractions, which is great news for visitors,” said Mayor Franklin. “It is also great news for residents. We have outlined ambitious goals to create new jobs. Promoting our city and its hospitality and tourism industry is key to reaching those goals. Now is the right time to launch a campaign like this.”
A.D. “Pete” Correll, chief executive officer and chairman of Georgia-Pacific Corp. and chair of the ACP added, “The business community recognizes that supporting Atlanta’s thriving hospitality and tourism market is good for all businesses. The city’s great history of successfully forging public/private partnerships reinforces the importance of involving everyone in developing and communicating a brand that represents us all.”
Mayor Franklin will chair the leadership team guiding this project, along with Vice Chair former Mayor Andrew Young, and executives from several major corporations in Atlanta.
Jackson Kelly, a marketing executive on loan from The Coca-Cola Company, will serve as executive director of the Brand Atlanta Campaign.
"It's the legacy of The Coca-Cola Company to support major initiatives undertaken by the City and the business community that enhance economic development and, thus, Atlanta's quality of life," said Neville Isdell, chairman and chief executive officer, The Coca-Cola Company. "As the steward of the world's best known brand, we look forward to providing marketing expertise and executive leadership to this important public/private partnership. And, of course, we're delighted with its timing, as our new World of Coca-Cola soon will start taking shape next to the Georgia Aquarium."
About the Leadership Structure
Working with Mr. Kelly in his role as executive director will be three subcommittees that will have distinct responsibilities in developing and supporting the campaign. The chairs and responsibilities of the subcommittees include:
- Marketing Strategy Committee – led by Vicki Escarra, current chairperson of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau; will oversee the strategic development and tactical implementation of the branding campaign.
- Stakeholder Committee – chaired by Dick Sullivan, executive vice president of marketing for the Atlanta Falcons; will be responsible for working with public and private organizations to ensure they have an opportunity to provide insight and perspective on the campaign and its implementation strategy.
- Atlanta Champions Committee – chaired by a high-level business executive to be named soon; will be charged with working with recognized leaders in their industries to champion the campaign and to ensure the campaign is properly financed to drive sustainable results.
The initial efforts of the leadership team will be to develop the branding strategy and core idea, as well as the integrated marketing and communications strategy, by the end of the third quarter of this year. Final implementation of the campaign, which will include plans to ensure its long-term sustainability, is expected in late fourth quarter 2005.
Other organizations working in conjunction with the Brand Atlanta Campaign include The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which provided pro-bono strategy consulting support led by Mike Deimler, a senior vice president and director with the Atlanta office of BCG, and the Atlanta Development Authority, which oversaw the development of the New Century Economic Development Plan.
About the Atlanta Committee for Progress (ACP)
The ACP, established in 2003 by Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, consists of business and academic leaders brought together for the purpose of collaborating with the City of Atlanta on economic development initiatives as well as advising and guiding the City’s business recruitment efforts. The ACP is chaired by Pete Correll, chief executive officer of Georgia-Pacific and includes the chief executive officers from Bell South Corp., Cousins Properties Inc., Cox Enterprises Inc., Georgia Power, Georgia Tech, GE Power Systems, Grady Health Systems, HJ Russell & Company, and SunTrust Banks, Inc. among other organizations.