15245: The A Pledge Needs An A-Team.

Adweek reported on an initiative in Atlanta—The A Pledge—whereby local advertising agencies are committing to matching their staff’s diversity to that of the city within ten years. A decade seems like setting the bar low in terms of a deadline. Then again, given that Atlanta is 62% BIPOC, meeting the mark would be quite a feat. There are no advertising agencies from holding companies participating in the challenge. And while Atlanta-based brands including Aflac, the Atlanta Hawks and Mailchimp will allegedly hold the firms accountable, missing from the advertisers is the most prominent player in the area—The Coca-Cola Company. In short, The A Pledge lacks A-list allies.

 

Atlanta Brands Are Keeping Their Agencies Accountable for Racial Equality

 

The A Pledge encourages the marketing industry to match the city's diversity

 

By Doug Zanger

 

While there are some bright spots and progress, ad agencies continue to grapple with diversity. Awareness of systemic racism is one thing; acting on improving the situation is quite another. Brands continue to look at their vendor relationships—agencies included—demanding greater diversity and accountability.

 

To that end, the Atlanta market is embarking on a plan called The A Pledge that asks agencies to match their teams’ diversity to that of the city by 2030. Current demographic information from the city of Atlanta shows that, in 2020, the market is 62% BIPOC and 38% white. Further, U.S. Bureau of Labor data indicates that the broader marketing ecosystem is overwhelmingly white, with all categories north of 80%.

 

Driving the effort to diversify the agency community is market-wide participation from several Atlanta-based brands like Aflac, the Atlanta Hawks and Mailchimp. At present, the site lists 16 city agencies—all independents—participating in the pledge.

 

“While our city’s demographics will inevitably shift over time, the point of this pursuit is to acknowledge the disparity in the advertising and marketing industry—and more importantly, to take real, measurable actions to correct it,” said Jeff Hilimire, The A Pledge co-founder and CEO of digital engagement firm Dragon Army. “The agencies that join in taking this pledge will use our collective power to intentionally address the myriad of obstacles preventing systemic change from being a reality today.”

 

According to Shannon Watkins, svp of brand and creative services at Aflac, the killing of George Floyd and the fact that Atlanta is growing and so diverse sparked the idea to create systemic and positive change. Each participating agency is responsible for creating company-specific strategies, plans and reporting.

 

“The disparity in our workforces is one of the biggest indicators of ongoing racial inequality in the city,” Watkins said. “And when we compare the lack of diversity in the Atlanta agency community with the demographics of our city, we see an inequality gap that truly needs to be closed.”

 

Specific to her role at Aflac, Watkins notes that it’s critical to drive authentic work to diverse audiences, and that having multicultural insights from people who understand broad constructs and nuance matters. Additionally, if an agency doesn’t have inclusion built into its teams, “it slows down the work and costs me, as a client, more money due to the time it takes to onboard new talent.”

 

Aflac chose Dagger in 2020 for its above-the-line strategy and TV, adding to the work the agency was doing in social. Watkins cites the agency’s diversity and culture as a significant plus.

 

“So far, the work is developed faster and creative testing scores are higher,” said Watkins, who credits Aflac CEO Dan Amos for shaping a workforce that is 45% multicultural, almost 70% female, and includes a board that is 45% diverse and a consumer brand team that is 60% multicultural. “Diversity, equality and inclusion are inherent in Dagger’s culture. Having a team like that is good for business.”

 

Ted Wright, founder and CEO of word-of-mouth and experiential agency Fizz—one of the shops participating in The A Pledge—has long valued diversity. He estimates that the agency is 70% women, 40% Black, 20% Hispanic/Latinx and almost 20% Asian. He cites two main reasons why diversity matters: that it’s the right thing to do, and clients get better work.

 

“Having people with lots of different backgrounds, and I’m talking about true diversity, has been helpful for us,” he said. “We’re smaller and scrappier so we have to have better insights, and there’s no better way to find that than to lean on decades of experience that people have in other parts of their lives. This gives us the best opportunity to grow our clients’ businesses.”

 

Watkins concurs with the sentiment that for brands to grow, putting diversity and inclusion at the top of the list is the only way forward.

 

“The right talent needs to sit at the table to create the work,” she said. “Through the lens of their experiences, that brings it to life.”

14954: Is The 3% Movement Hijacking The Civil Rights Movement?

Adweek reported Kat Gordon is driving her White women’s bandwagon to the corner of intersectionality in Atlanta. Sorry, but Gordon’s understanding of intersectionality and women of color is, well, less than 3%. And it figures that the 3% Movement’s ride toward true diversity will likely be postponed—and sent into reverse—by COVID-19. Perfect.

3% Conference Heads to Atlanta in Effort to Solidify Commitment to Intersectionality

The organization makes its way south for the first time

By Mary Emily O’Hara

Since its inception nine years ago, the 3% Movement has helped inspire waves of inclusive change across the advertising industry. With a pay equity pledge program, an in-depth agency certification for gender parity and conferences that bring diversity discussions to a massive stage, 3% is changing the game by leveling the playing field.

Founder Kat Gordon told Adweek that after 25 events around the globe, advertising’s most visible gender equality organization is pulling back from its frequent mini-conferences. Instead, the 3% Movement will have one major annual gathering in addition to its “seasonless” work consulting with the industry.

In 2020, the conference will move to Atlanta, bringing its impact to a black-majority Southern city for the first time. The move reflects Atlanta’s growth as an advertising hub and the 3% Movement’s commitment to approaching gender equality through a diverse lens. The city has one of the most visible LGBTQ populations in the country in addition to being a black culture mecca.

“It’s very much a crusade. And the people who come become foot soldiers in the crusade, so we want it to be truly intersectional,” Gordon told Adweek. “We don’t just want women here, and we don’t just want white people here. We want a true representation of the industry, and we want more male attendees as well.”

Gordon launched the 3% Movement after learning that only 3% of creative directors were women, a number that has since gone up to 29% (with Gordon’s work playing no small part.) But she wants to see an industry where women make up at least half of creative directors and where people of color are not only in higher roles but want to stay in those roles.

Focusing on gender parity in advertising means recognizing that some groups of women have unique needs and challenges. That’s why the 3% Movement commissioned the Parenting in Adland report to find out why mothers were under-indexing in the industry. And at the 2019 conference, 3% surveyed attendees to gather demographics. While the majority of attendees self-identified as white females ages 31-50 in senior leadership positions, 39% of people at the conference said their race or ethnicity was black, Latino or other non-white groups. In addition, men made up 21% of attendees, and a few attendees identified themselves as transgender or non-binary. The survey did not include a question about sexual orientation.

“Women aren’t a monolithic group,” Gordon said. “There are groups of women who need extra muscle from 3% applied to make sure they’re heard and celebrated and discoverable for hiring.”

As one of the major advertising hubs in the South, along with Miami, Atlanta agencies struggle with the same diversity and inclusion issues as any agency in New York or Los Angeles. Celeste Hubbard, executive vice president at full-service agency Chemistry, moved to Atlanta four years ago after a stint at 72andSunny’s L.A. office. Hubbard said that while Atlanta is a black-majority city, staffing at agencies has far to go to match the city’s resident makeup, something she believes the agencies are taking into account and working on.

“I think agencies are putting in that effort to recruit, identify and retain talent that comes from multicultural or minority backgrounds,” said Hubbard, noting that Atlanta is more than just home to massive corporate clients like Coca-Cola and Home Depot. It is also home to a groundswell of talent in music, film and television and influencer spaces.

Hubbard said that while agencies are still working on adding and retaining staff of color in Atlanta, it’s common to see agencies there working with “local entrepreneurial production and video content development companies that are often led by African-American young people that are making digestible content for the local digital platforms.”

Atlanta native Shannon Watkins, senior vice president of brand and creative services at Aflac, said that the city’s diversity and its stance as a sort of an outsider to traditional Madison Avenue advertising drive more creativity.

“Women and minorities in creative fields can thrive in Atlanta because the city itself is a creative community that is open to unique points of view,” said Watkins. “As a result, advertisers and marketers can focus on delivering breakthrough work without fear or judgment. And when that happens, creative ideas are delivered in their purest form and have the highest likelihood of breaking through in the marketplace.”

Atlanta is already a hub for women leaders in advertising who consistently push the industry to diversify. The city is home to executives like Ronnie Dickerson-Stewart, chief diversity officer for Publicis Groupe and former diversity and inclusion leader at Digitas, who was given the Nancy Hill award at 3%’s 2019 conference. The city is further drawing talent away from Silicon Valley with the recent move of Kimberly Easley from Facebook to Dentsu Aegis, where she now leads creative and executive talent recruiting.

And in Atlanta, you’ll find agencies like Moxie, which is easily identified as one of the most diverse offices on multiple levels, and women-founded companies like WeAreRosie.

While Atlanta is modeling the 3% mission, it’s not perfect. Hubbard said that women in Atlanta advertising too often work underneath the same glass ceiling that hampers women in other markets.

“When I’m attending client meetings or even when I’m in internal meetings within my own agency, oftentimes, the majority of the participants in the room are women,” Hubbard said. “Women are leading these projects and executing these massive deals and assignments, but then when you look at the vps and executives and higher, you’re not seeing that representation at the same percentage. It’s a complete flip.”

14108: Black Shogun, Afro Ninja.

In 2014, Atlanta Black Star published a report titled, “The World of Sakanouye No Tamuramaro: Black Shogun of Early Japan.” It’s a lengthy piece, but well worth reading. Wonder if modern-day descendants include the infamous Afro Ninja.

13596: Advertising For Change…Or Crumbs?

Adweek reported four White advertising agencies in Atlanta—JWT Atlanta, 22squared, Fitzgerald & Co. and Moxie—joined together to launch the Advertising for Change coalition to promote diversity in the area. Not sure if “Change” refers to revolution or the amount of money behind the initiative. The first concept being executed by the coalition is—you guessed it—a minority internship program. What’s more, the shops turned to the 4As MAIP for direction and guidance; that is, they likely delegated diversity to the trade organization.

“We have as much responsibility to reflect our community as we do our clients’ brands and our own bottom lines,” stated JWT Atlanta CEO Spence Kramer. “Atlanta is one of the most diverse cities in the world, so it’s incumbent on us to attract and retain the best talent for the city. This isn’t about ‘making a number’ or reaching a goal. It’s about doing what’s best for our business.” Um, most sources show Blacks account for up to 54 percent of Atlanta’s population. So the Advertising for Change coalition has a looooooong way to go before their name has legitimate meaning—unless “Change” refers to the amount of money behind the initiative.

Oh, and the illustration accompanying the story (shown above) seems to indicate this is another diverted diversity deal, as the majority of depicted minorities are women.

These 4 Atlanta Agencies United to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in Their Hometown

Advertising for Change coalition wants to help the city stand out

By Erik Oster

Four Atlanta agencies have united to form the Advertising for Change coalition to promote diversity in their hometown.

JWT Atlanta, 22squared, Fitzgerald & Co. and Moxie make up the coalition, which launched today and promotes inclusion both as a better business practice and a way to help Atlanta stand apart as a destination for advertising talent.

“We have as much responsibility to reflect our community as we do our clients’ brands and our own bottom lines,” JWT Atlanta CEO Spence Kramer said in a statement. “Atlanta is one of the most diverse cities in the world, so it’s incumbent on us to attract and retain the best talent for the city. This isn’t about ‘making a number or reaching a goal. It’s about doing what’s best for our business.”

For its first initiative, Advertising for Change collaborated with the 4A’s Multicultural Advertising Intern Program, or MAIP, to promote the Atlanta advertising community to young talent. Each of 10 interns will be assigned to one of the four agencies and then rotate weekly meetings with the other three agencies, exposing them to several different agency cultures instead of just one.

“Advertising for Change worked with [MAIP] to select talented interns from across the country interested in seeing what Atlanta has to offer,” said Moxie president Solange Claudio.

In addition to daily responsibilities at their respective agencies, interns will split into two teams to craft a pitch for the Atlanta-based nonprofit of their choice. At the end of the summer, the two teams will face off and pitch against each other. At the conclusion of the program, one intern will receive competing job offers from all four AFC agencies.

“It’s a unique opportunity,” Fitzgerald & Co. chief talent officer Liza Ramos said. “Each agency will agree on the recipient and extend the intern the same offer. This empowers the AFC Scholar to pick the agency he or she wants to work with, and it upholds our goal of attracting and retaining the best diverse talent in the city of Atlanta—even if the choice is a friendly competitor.”

Planned initiatives from the Advertising for Change coalition include something it calls “portfolio boot camps” and affordable advertising courses designed to help creative professionals transition into advertising careers.

“The state of diversity in advertising has been less than satisfactory for a very, very long time,” said Singleton Beato, 4A’s executive vice president, diversity and inclusion strategy and talent development. “The AFC coalition is an outstanding example of how, by working together, our agencies can help drive the entire industry toward the type of change that can break down the systemic challenges of our past.”

13563: Tinny Titanium.

Campaign reported Titanium Worldwide (a minority-owned collective headquartered in New York City) tapped member Ten35 (a shop with offices in Chicago and Houston that focuses on multicultural and generational audiences) to help Mercedes-Benz woo Blacks in Atlanta. The scenario underscores the advertising industry’s diversity zaniness on multiple levels. That is, a minority-owned collective headquartered in New York City—which has a Black population of about 25%—must recruit a shop with offices in Chicago and Houston—which have respective Black populations of about 36% and 25%—to service a client in Atlanta—which has a Black population of about 54%. Mercedes-Benz couldn’t find a qualified agency in Atlanta, where Blacks essentially dominate? To top it all off, the photo illustrating this news story featured a White woman. Perfect.

Meet the minority-owned collective fueling Mercedes-Benz’s African-American outreach

By Kathryn Luttner

Titanium Worldwide catered to the LGBT community first; now, it’s after Atlanta residents for the automaker.

It’s not often that a football team gets to play their first game in a new stadium as reigning world champions. But with their appearance in the Super Bowl this Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons could be exactly that when they christen Mercedes-Benz Stadium next season. This stroke of luck wasn’t part of Mercedes-Benz USA’s original plan to win over Atlanta residents, but for VP of Marketing Drew Slaven, it doesn’t hurt the brand’s chances in a town where the automaker is planting some serious roots.

The initiative, titled “Take Back Atlanta,” began two years ago when Mercedes-Benz moved its American headquarters from Montvale, N.J., to an Atlanta suburb. That same year, the brand bought the naming rights to the Falcons’ new stadium, making it the second to bear the Mercedes-Benz name (the other is the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans). Now, the automaker has tapped Chicago and Houston-based marketing agency Ten35 (part of minority-owned collective Titanium Worldwide) to connect with African Americans in its new hometown.

To be clear, Slaven doesn’t like the term “Take Back Atlanta”—even though the phrase originated from the automaker—because he said, Mercedes-Benz is the best-selling luxury automotive brand in town, so “there’s nothing to take back.” Although it isn’t entirely focused on the African American community, that is a big factor. “In our new home, we want to not simply be No. 1, we really want Atlanta and Mercedes-Benz to go hand-in-hand,” Slaven said.

If you haven’t heard of Titanium Worldwide or read about Mercedes-Benz’s big push into the African American community, it’s all part of Titanium CEO Robyn Streisand’s plan. She takes a “walk, crawl, run” strategy to business—and her own collective of minority-owned agencies is a testament. Titanium Worldwide soft launched in 2013, but Streisand, an LGBT entrepreneur (and Barbara’s second cousin), didn’t announce it until last year, because she wanted to “prove the model. Holding companies are watching us.”

That model, she said, bloomed from a frustration she encountered after 20 years at her own marketing agency The Mixx. Fortune 500 companies regularly approached for small jobs, she said, but when it came to the big campaigns, the argument was always the same: minority-owned businesses simply didn’t have the depth—in talent, money and resources—to do the job. So Streisand interviewed more than 150 agencies across the United States and landed on 17 to form Titanium. “There’s no overlap in skill sets,” Streisand said proudly. “Everyone has their own lane.”

And yet, there’s one point of contact and one P&L (while maintaining 17 individual agencies), which was one of the attractions for Mercedes-Benz who had been a client of The Mixx for 10 years. (The other, Slaven said, was authenticity. “When you want to talk to a community, to work with a provider that understands that [community]—that lives that [community]—is really important,” he said.) That single point of contact is something agencies are increasingly looking to provide, as witnessed by recent client-centric restructurings from Publicis and Ogilvy.

In 2015, the community that Mercedes-Benz zeroed in on was LGBT. That same year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to legalize same-sex marriages, so the timing was no coincidence. Titanium developed a year-long strategy of print and digital advertising, in addition to paid social media and an event at the New York International Auto Show, to deliver 2.2 million digital impressions and 135 percent increase in brand mentions on gay news websites.

Plus, the National Gay Media Association awarded Mercedes-Benz the top honor in its automotive category at its first Ad POP Awards (POP stands for Pride in Online and Print). In the end, Streisand said marketers have thanked her for “getting corporate to wake up and smell the coffee.”

“It can’t be that you’re just advertising at Gay Pride,” she said. “You want 100 percent on the HRC Equality Index. One and done at Pride is not enough anymore.”

Fast forward to 2017, and Ten35 is implementing Streisand’s “walk, crawl, run” strategy to its Take Atlanta Back initiative. Sherman Wright, managing partner and COO of the agency, said the campaign won’t be a one-off effort. While it’s still in development, Wright said to expect “heavy digital components and an experiential element” that connects personally with the communities of Atlanta.

“What’s important to understand is the African American community is not this monolithic community,” Wright said, adding that it’s important for marketers to understand the nuances. “You look at things such as accomplishments and that values are placed in achievement. Making sure the idea of luxury comes through this idea of achievement” is extremely important to African Americans, so look for Mercedes-Benz and Ten35’s work to pay “homage to that journey and the hard work and commitment that goes into it.”

If successful, Wright said the carmaker will expand this African American initiative nationwide, taking the minority-owned collective along with them—proving that together, minority-owned agencies can tackle the big jobs.

13503: From Dream To Action.

From Campaign…

Honor Dr. King by making his holiday about action, not just remembrance

By Vann Graves

Let’s use Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a time to gather and ask ourselves what actions we are prepared to take, suggests Vann Graves, CCO of J. Walter Thompson Atlanta.

To many who were not yet born during the Civil Rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered primarily as a speaker. The power of his immortal “I Have a Dream” speech still resonates as strongly today as it did when he spoke on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963. Eminently quotable, his words continue to inspire across social media, worldwide.

But beyond being one of history’s greatest orators, Dr. King was, first and foremost, a man of action. He was an inspiring organizer who could rally people together to demand change they never thought possible. And though he is remembered for his non-violent tactics, he was a fighter in the truest sense of the word: never afraid to be aggressive when the situation called for it.

This is why framing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as simply a day of remembrance does a disservice to the man and his legacy. According to The King Center, when Coretta Scott King and those at the newly formed organization first observed the holiday one year after his assassination, it was positioned not as a memorial, but a “celebration of Dr. King’s life, education in his teachings and nonviolent action to carry forward his unfinished work.”

Those goals, education and action, are as important now as they have ever been in the decades since Dr. King’s death. As we head toward Martin Luther King Jr. Day this year, we also head toward the dawn of an era where many fear that much of what Dr. King fought for may be pushed aside, even erased. In this unsettled and unsettling climate, our intentions must turn to action, not memory.

In the words of the Reverend, “Almost always, the creative, dedicated minority has made the world better.” As advertisers, it is our first instinct to communicate, to tell a story. But this MLK Day, we must use our creativity and our dedication to not just say something, but do something.

For starters, let’s use Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a time to gather and ask ourselves what actions we are prepared to take. Agency leaders should get everyone in a room and figure out what it is they want to invest their time and energy into. Ask yourself and your team—what do we have to offer, and what do we believe we can accomplish with our collective powers? And when you figure it out, whether it’s helping out an existing organization, forming a new one or creating a tool that can push a cause forward, don’t relegate the initiative to after hours or extracurriculars. Build it into your business plan.

Let’s use our talents to mobilize others into action. It has always been at the core of our profession to harness the energy of crowds—to tap into the culture and the zeitgeist and push it forward with our creativity and our reach. The voice we give to our clients is one we can give to the people; whether we act as consultants, helping budding activists learn how to amplify their own voices, or as a catalyst, using our platform to advocate for the issues most important to us.

As we gear up to take action, let’s remember the words of President Barack Obama in his recent farewell address, “I am asking you to believe—not in my ability to bring about change, but in yours.” It’s a sentiment that surely would have made Dr. King proud, and it’s one we all need to work to live up to, now more than ever.

—Vann Graves is chief creative officer of J. Walter Thompson Atlanta.

12878: Ignorant Fool On Facebook.

A MultiCultClassics visitor pointed to a disturbing story—which has actually gone viral and global—spotlighting the firing of Polaris Marketing Group Ex-Employee Gerod Roth, who displayed racist commentary on Facebook involving the 3-year-old son of a Black co-worker. Roth actually had the ignorant audacity to attempt to defend himself on the local news in Atlanta. The most outrageous part is, Roth will have an easier time landing another job in the advertising field than most minorities—even in Atlanta, where there is a 54% Black population.

12687: Black Hawks Down.

The Atlanta Hawks were swept in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are now heading to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2007. But don’t be too quick to credit the extraordinary talent of LeBron James for the decisive victory. Rather, put the blame squarely on the Offensive Karma ignited by Hawks owner Bruce Levenson and Hawks general manager Danny Ferry. Thanks to Messrs. Levenson and Ferry, the Hawks couldn’t have beaten LeBron James—or even Kevin James.

12674: Hawks Should Concede Now.

The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, leaving one to wonder if the Hawks should simply concede the series now. After all, the Offensive Karma sparked by Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson and Hawks general manager Danny Ferry virtually guarantees the team will not win a championship this year. More importantly, nobody wants to watch an NBA Finals featuring the Hawks.

12535: Atlanta Hawks Prediction.

As the NBA season recently marked its All-Star break, the Atlanta Hawks hold a commanding lead in the Southeast Division. Alas, it’s almost guaranteed that the team will not hoist a championship trophy this year—thanks to the Offensive Karma sparked by Bruce Levenson and Danny Ferry. The only way the Hawks could upset the prediction for failure would require other contending teams to outdo the cultural cluelessness—or if the Atlanta franchise hired a Black advertising agency to woo its predominately Black audience. Hey, it makes sense given the fact that Blacks comprise 54 percent of Atlanta’s population.

12057: Hawks GM Ferry, Please Leave.

USA TODAY reported Atlanta Hawks GM Danny Ferry took an indefinite leave of absence as a result of the racist controversies surrounding the team. Talk about a late whistle. Ferry caught heat for allegedly reading aloud the following lines from a scouting report on Luol Deng: “He’s got some African in him. And I don’t say that in a bad way. But he’s like a guy who would have a nice store out front but sell your counterfeit stuff out of the back.” Um, Ferry sounds like a guy who plays the nice liberal out front but smears people with bigoted bullshit out of the back. Ferry’s biggest question mark, however, has nothing to do with the Deng quote. Rather, he’s got some explaining to do regarding the infamous Bruce Levenson email—as the culturally clueless memo was sent to Ferry. Did he respond to Levenson in a “Luol Deng” fashion? Ferry’s got some Old White Guy in him.

Hawks GM Danny Ferry takes indefinite leave in wake of racism controversy

By Adi Joseph, USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry has taken an indefinite leave after the release of an audio recording of him reading a racist scouting report in June, the team announced Friday.

Ferry was on a conference call with the Hawks’ ownership group when he discussed Luol Deng. Apparently reading a report written by an external scout, Ferry said, “He’s got some African in him. And I don’t say that in a bad way. But he’s like a guy who would have a nice store out front but sell your counterfeit stuff out of the back.”

Initially, the Hawks privately disciplined Ferry despite co-owner Michael Gearon’s recommendation to part ways with him. But they conducted an internal investigation that led to the release of an offensive e-mail written by controlling owner Bruce Levenson to Ferry, and Levenson has decided to sell his share of the team.

Ferry had the backing of several prominent members of the NBA community, including NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Silver told USA TODAY Sports this week that he did not think Ferry should be fired.

But a recording of the call was released Thursday night by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, leading to this decision and a statement of apology from Ferry.

“No words can adequately describe my remorse for the hurt that I have caused many people through the statements I repeated, most importantly Luol Deng,” Ferry said in a news release from the Hawks.

“Luol is a good man who I have known for many years and he has done a tremendous amount of good for his country and around the world. I apologize to Luol and I apologize to all that I have offended. As I have said, while these were not my words, I deeply regret repeating them. Almost all the background information I provided during the lengthy presentation regarding Luol was positive and my personal and professional recommendation during the call was very much in favor of adding Luol to our team but I never should have uttered those offensive remarks and for that I apologize.”

Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer will oversee basketball operations.

Here’s the full statement from Hawks CEO Steve Koonin:

“This afternoon, Danny Ferry requested, and I have approved, taking an indefinite leave of absence, effective immediately. This has been an incredibly difficult time for him and his family and it is my hope that this time away from the Hawks organization allows him the privacy he needs to listen to the community, to learn about his mistakes, and to begin the long process of personal healing. As a human being, manager and friend, I wish him well as he undergoes this process.

“While the issues related to race are deeply troubling, at the heart of this dispute is an unfortunate disagreement amongst owners. That said, we have taken several steps to address what we can do as an organization to be better and stronger, including working with a diversity consultant to examine us and to train us to ensure something like this never happens again, we are committed to hiring a Chief Diversity Officer, and we have and will continue to meet with community leaders in an ongoing way to ensure our values reflect the community in which we play and work. The process of selling the team, which is to remain in Atlanta, is already underway.

“Effective immediately, our Head Coach, Mike Budenholzer, will assume oversight of the basketball operations department. He will report directly to me.

“I am deeply saddened and embarrassed that this has put a blemish on our team and our city, which has always been a diverse community with a history of coming together as one. We should build bridges through basketball, not divide our community or serve as a source of pain.”

12050: Hawking For White Girls.

Came across the 2012-2013 advertisement for Atlanta Hawks Cheerleaders depicted above and couldn’t help but think of Bruce Levenson’s 2012 memo, wherein the recently resigned owner noted “the cheerleaders are black” before stating, “I have been open with our executive team about these concerns. I have told them I want some white cheerleaders…”

Was the ad actually part of a diversity recruitment campaign designed to find the White women Levenson demanded?

12049: Hawks Need Black Ad Agency.

Wanted to comment further on the racist memo sent by Atlanta Hawks owner Bruce Levenson, as well as the punishment delivered to Hawks general manager Danny Ferry for his cultural cluelessness.

First, the Hawks’ chances of winning the NBA Championship in 2015 are less than zero—and not because LeBron James and Kevin Love are now in Cleveland. No, the team will not nab a trophy for the same reason the Los Angeles Clippers didn’t reach the Finals in 2014: Offensive Karma.

In 2011, MultiCultClassics identified Offensive Karma as a key driver to a team’s downfall. Offensive Karma is defined by a team’s display of offensiveness in the form of words or actions rooted in bigotry, discrimination and ignorance—which then leads to the team’s ultimate demise in the championship tourney. Donald Sterling sealed the Clippers’ fate last season. Bruce Levenson and Danny Ferry executed a pickaninny-and-roll to doom the Hawks for the upcoming season.

Not sure why Ferry is only being disciplined for dissing Luol Deng. After all, Ferry was the recipient of Levenson’s 2012 memo, and he apparently kept it secret for years. It’s safe to presume Ferry responded to Levenson, as one does not usually ignore your owner-boss. For Ferry’s sake, let’s hope he didn’t reply with a text, email or some other retrievable form that could hurt him.

That aside, the next big question involves the future advertising and marketing of the Atlanta Hawks. The Clippers hired a new AOR, allegedly to create fresh branding to distance the team from the PR damage exacted by Sterling. Will the Hawks draw up a similar game plan? If so, it’s time to consider MultiCultClassics’ suggestion to bring in a minority advertising agency.

According to a lazy Google search, the Hawks are currently being serviced by a company named CSE, which specializes in sports marketing. But how well was this place performing if Levenson felt the need to conduct his own research and analysis on the fans?

In the Hawks’ case, it makes even more sense to draft a minority shop—and preferably a Black firm. If Levenson was correct in his memo, the team has a huge Black audience; hence, the Hawks could benefit from recruiting adpeople who hold expertise in connecting with Blacks. Plus, everyone knows Blacks love basketball.

12048: Hawks GM Called For Foul Too.

From USA TODAY…

Hawks GM Danny Ferry’s comments about Luol Deng led to owner’s ouster

By Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry’s comments that were deemed offensive and racist by team CEO Steve Koonin were made about veteran NBA forward Luol Deng, a person familiar with the details told USA TODAY Sports. Those comments sparked an investigation that ultimately led majority owner Bruce Levenson to say he’s selling his stake in the team.

The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the sensitive nature of the situation.

Reading from a player profile report compiled from input by multiple internal and external sources, Ferry said Deng, “is still a young guy overall. He is a good guy overall. But he is not perfect. He’s got some African in him. And I don’t say that in a bad way,” according to the person.

Ferry will be punished by the Hawks, too, according to the person familiar with the situation. Ferry could have avoided the situation by editing or not reading that comment about Deng.

Deng, who from Sudan, is considered one of the hardest workers in the NBA and one of the league’s good guys. In April, he was given the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award. He is a two-time All-Star and spent the first nine-plus years of his career with the Chicago Bulls. He was traded to Cleveland last season and signed with the Miami Heat this summer.

Ferry apologized to Deng’s agent, Ron Shade, according to Yahoo Sports.

Ferry’s comments were made during a basketball operations meeting to discuss free agents and a team owner flagged the comment. Ferry’s words triggered the internal investigation which unearthed Levenson’s 2012 e-mail in which he made multiple racially insensitive comments about Hawks fans.

Levenson said Sunday he will sell his controlling interest in the Hawks. In an apologetic news release, Levenson said, “If you’re angry about what I wrote, you should be. I’m angry at myself, too. It was inflammatory nonsense. We all may have subtle biases and preconceptions when it comes to race, but my role as a leader is to challenge them, not to validate or accommodate those who might hold them.

“I have said repeatedly that the NBA should have zero tolerance for racism, and I strongly believe that to be true. That is why I voluntarily reported my inappropriate e-mail to the NBA.”

Acting NBPA executive director Ron Klempner released a statement regarding the issue with the Hawks Monday.

“We’ve had continuing discussions with the league office about the incidents of disturbing statements attributed to representatives of the Atlanta Hawks’ franchise. We recognize that there is an ongoing investigation regarding the circumstances, and we will continue to monitor these events and take any action we deem appropriate.”

12044: Another NBA Sterling Performance.

From USA TODAY…

Bruce Levenson will sell Atlanta Hawks after releasing racist e-mail

By Adi Joseph, USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta Hawks controlling owner Bruce Levenson has self-reported to the NBA that he sent a racist e-mail in August 2012 and will sell his interest in the team.

Levenson reported the e-mail to the NBA in July, almost two years after it was sent but while the league was deep in litigation over the now-completed sale of the Los Angeles Clippers. The investigation was ongoing when Levenson decided to leave the team.

The e-mail, to Hawks President Danny Ferry, details Levenson’s belief that the Hawks’ fan base was too heavily African-American. (Scroll down for full text of the e-mail.)

“I wrote an e-mail two years ago that was inappropriate and offensive,” Levenson said in a Hawks news release Sunday morning. “I trivialized our fans by making clichéd assumptions about their interests (i.e., hip hop vs. country, white vs. black cheerleaders, etc.) and by stereotyping their perceptions of one another (i.e., that white fans might be afraid of our black fans). By focusing on race, I also sent the unintentional and hurtful message that our white fans are more valuable than our black fans.”

Levenson was one of the strongest critics among owners of Donald Sterling, the Clippers owner who was recorded making racist comments and quickly banned for life from the league.

Levenson is stepping down, effective immediately. Hawks CEO Steve Koonin, who joined the team in April after leading Turner Entertainment, will take over team operations.

The NBA will look for a buyer now. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer set a high bar in purchasing the Clippers for $2 billion from the Sterling family, but the Hawks likely won’t draw that level of interest.

“Prior to the completion of the investigation, Mr. Levenson notified me last evening that he had decided to sell his controlling interest in the Atlanta Hawks,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in an NBA news release. “As Mr. Levenson acknowledged, the views he expressed are entirely unacceptable and are in stark contrast to the core principles of the National Basketball Association. He shared with me how truly remorseful he is for using those hurtful words and how apologetic he is to the entire NBA family — fans, players, team employees, business partners and fellow team owners — for having diverted attention away from our game.”

Levenson has been the Hawks’ governor and controlling owner since 2004.

FULL TEXT OF THE E-MAIL (via the Hawks):

From: Bruce Levenson

Sent: 8/25/2012 11:47:02 PM

Subject: Re: Business/Game ops

1. from day one i have been impressed with the friendliness and professionalism of the arena staff—food vendors, ushers, ticket takers, etc. in our early years when i would bring folks from dc they were blown away by the contrast between abe pollin’s arena and philips. some of this is attributable to southern hospital and manners but bob and his staff do a good job of training. To this day, I can not get the ushers to call me Bruce yet they insist on me calling them by their first names.

2. the non-premium area food is better than most arenas, though that is not saying much. i think there is room for improvement and creativity. Levy is our food vendor so we don’t have much control but they have been good partners. i have wished we had some inconic offereing like boog’s barbeque at the baseball stadium in balt.

3. our new restaurant, red, just opened so too early for me to give you my thoughts.

4. Regarding game ops, i need to start with some background. for the first couple of years we owned the team, i didn’t much focus on game ops. then one day a light bulb went off. when digging into why our season ticket base is so small, i was told it is because we can’t get 35-55 white males and corporations to buy season tixs and they are the primary demo for season tickets around the league. when i pushed further, folks generally shrugged their shoulders. then i start looking around our arena during games and notice the following:

• it’s 70 pct black

• the cheerleaders are black

• the music is hip hop

• at the bars it’s 90 pct black

• there are few fathers and sons at the games

• we are doing after game concerts to attract more fans and the concerts are either hip hop or gospel.

Then i start looking around at other arenas. It is completely different. Even DC with its affluent black community never has more than 15 pct black audience.

Before we bought the hawks and for those couple years immediately after in an effort to make the arena look full (at the nba’s urging) thousands and thousands of tickets were being giving away, predominantly in the black community, adding to the overwhelming black audience.

My theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a signficant season ticket base. Please dont get me wrong. There was nothing threatening going on in the arean back then. i never felt uncomfortable, but i think southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority. On fan sites i would read comments about how dangerous it is around philips yet in our 9 years, i don’t know of a mugging or even a pick pocket incident. This was just racist garbage. When I hear some people saying the arena is in the wrong place I think it is code for there are too many blacks at the games.

I have been open with our executive team about these concerns. I have told them I want some white cheerleaders and while i don’t care what the color of the artist is, i want the music to be music familiar to a 40 year old white guy if that’s our season tixs demo. i have also balked when every fan picked out of crowd to shoot shots in some time out contest is black. I have even bitched that the kiss cam is too black.

Gradually things have changed. My unscientific guess is that our crowd is 40 pct black now, still four to five times all other teams. And my further guess is that 40 pct still feels like 70 pet to some whites at our games. Our bars are still overwhelmingly black.

This is obviously a sensitive topic, but sadly i think it is far and way the number one reason our season ticket base is so low.

And many of our black fans don’t have the spendable income which explains why our f&b and merchandise sales are so low. At all white thrasher games sales were nearly triple what they are at hawks games (the extra intermission explains some of that but not all).

Regardless of what time a game starts, we have the latest arriving crowd in the league. It often looks and sounds empty when the team takes the floor.

In the past two years, we have created a section of rowdy college students that has been a big plus. And we do a lot of very clever stuff during time outs to entertain the crowd. Our kiss cam is better done than any in the league.

We have all the same halftime acts that other arenas have but i question whether they make sense. people are on their cell phones during half time. i wonder if flashing on the scoreboard “$2 off on hot dogs during halftime tonight” just as the half ends would be a better use of our halftime dollars and make the fans happier.

We do all the usual giveways and the fans are usually their loudest when our spirit crew takes the floor to give away t-shirts. It pisses me off that they will yell louder for a t-shirt then for our players.

Our player intro is flat. We manufacture a lot of noise but because of the late arriving crowd and the fact that a lot of blacks dont seem to go as crazy cheering (another one of my theories) as whites, it is not great. Even when we have just returned from winnng four straight on the road, i am one of the few people in the arena standing and cheering when our team takes the floor. Bob has kicked around ideas like having the starters coming down aisles rather than off the bench during intros. Sounds cool but may highlight all the empty seats at the start of games.

Not enough of our fans wear hawks jerseys to games. i have just begun to push for ideas like discount food lines for folks wearing jerseys, special entrances, etc. I think we need a committed and perhaps incentivized fan club. We need to realize atl is simply different than every other city. Just adopting nba best practices is not enough. we have to create our own.

I am rambling and could probably go on forever. If you have any specific areas you would like my thoughts on, let me know.

Best,

Bruce

ps—I have cc’d todd and ed so they can chime in with additional or different thoughts.

Sent from my iPad

11068: Breaking Out The Champagne.

New sources reported on an arrest warrant for rapper Gucci Mane, who allegedly smashed a champagne bottle over a fan’s head at a nightclub in Atlanta. Hey, this might inspire fresh rhymes:

Meeting Gucci Mane can be a real trip

You could get christened like a new cruise ship

Rapper Gucci Mane wanted for allegedly hitting fan in head with champagne bottle

From ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATLANTA — An arrest warrant has been issued for Gucci Mane after a fan accused the rapper of hitting him in the head with a champagne bottle at a downtown Atlanta nightclub.

Authorities say 32-year-old James Lettley, of Fort Hood, Texas, tried making conversation with the rapper — whose real name is Radric Davis — in the VIP section of Harlem Nights Ultra Lounge on March 16.

Police department spokesman Sgt. Greg Lyon says the rapper is accused of hitting Lettley in the head, causing a gash on the man’s head. Police say Lettley was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital.

Lyon says a warrant has been issued for aggravated assault. Calls to numbers listed for Lettley and Davis were not returned. It’s unclear if the rapper has an attorney.

9541: Atlanta Is The Black Hollywood…?

From The New York Times…

Stars Flock to Atlanta, Reshaping a Center of Black Culture

By Kim Severson

ATLANTA — Cynthia Bailey, arguably the most glamorous of the “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” shivered in a sleeveless red shift, microphone in hand.

It was oddly cold, but the intrepid model carried on. She had a job to do: interviewing the talent that swaggered down the red carpet for the Soul Train Awards.

All along the police barriers that closed down Peachtree Street, fans screamed and elbowed one another for a better view. Those lucky enough to have tickets slipped into the Fox Theater, all glittery and prepared to party.

This was celebrity black Atlanta at its best.

A few years ago, the city probably would not have been able to pull off such a show. But fueled by a generous entertainment tax credit, the migration of affluent African-Americans from the North and the surprising fact that even celebrities appreciate the lower cost of living here, this capital of the Deep South is emerging as an epicenter of the black glitterati.

“It’s so ripe with African-American flavor and talent,” said Stephen Hill, an executive vice president for Black Entertainment Television, which will show the awards Sunday night.

“Atlanta is home to our core audience,” he said. “I’m trying not to make it a racial thing, but Atlanta is our New York, our L.A.”

To be sure, Atlanta has long had a high concentration of well-connected, affluent blacks. But the Atlanta area is now home to such a critical mass of successful actors, rappers and entertainment executives that few would argue its position as the center of black culture. Tyler Perry and his movie and television empire are based here. Sean Combs has a house in a suburb north of the city. The musicians Cee Lo Green, Ludacris and members of OutKast call it home. So does the music producer and rapper Jermaine Dupri.

Gladys Knight, an Atlanta native who was honored at the awards, which were taped Nov. 17, runs a chicken and waffle restaurant here. And it is not unusual to spot Usher at one of the city’s better restaurants.

“It seems like everything is happening here now,” said Dave Hollister, an R&B singer who spends a lot of time in Atlanta. “It feels like New York used to feel with a little more nicety.”

Atlanta’s A-list evolution was driven in part by the state’s 2008 Entertainment Industry Investment Act, which gives qualified productions a 20 percent tax break, said Warrington Hudlin, president of the Black Filmmaker Foundation, which is based in New York.

Producers who embed a Georgia promotional logo in the titles or credits can take another 10 percent off the tax bill. In the last fiscal year, $683.5 million worth of production — music videos, television shows and movies — was staged here.

“Atlanta is really becoming the black Hollywood,” Mr. Hudlin said. Because many black filmmakers are working on tighter budgets than white filmmakers, they need to save money and Georgia helps them do that, he said.

And producers of films and shows like the Soul Train Awards can find a variety of people to fill sets and seats. “This is one of our strengths, the diversity of people in Atlanta,” said Lee Thomas, director of the state’s Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Office. “It’s something we have over, say, Canada.”

The growth has also been fed by a decade of migration of blacks from the North. Nearly a quarter of a million blacks moved to the greater Atlanta area from outside the South between 2005 and 2010, making it the metro area with the largest number of black residents after New York.

More than a third of the new migrant households made more than $50,000 a year. One of the newcomers is Jasmine Guy, the actress whose most famous role was Whitley Gilbert on the sitcom “A Different World.” She was raised in Atlanta but spent 30 years in New York and Los Angeles.

She moved back three years ago, largely because she finds Atlanta offers an easier, gentler life for her family.

“At first I thought, how am I going to work?” she said. “But I have not stopped working since.”

In addition to acting, she directs and teaches younger actors. Like others in Atlanta’s black elite, she likes the fact that she finds herself among the majority at art museums and sophisticated restaurants.

And an added bonus? Paparazzi activity is at a minimum, but stars still get to feel like stars.

“They get the love and attention here like they wouldn’t get in New York,” said Kelley Carter, a pop culture journalist who has worked her share of rope lines and writes for publications like Ebony and Jet. She recently moved to Atlanta from Los Angeles herself.

It also doesn’t hurt that real estate here costs much less than in New York or Los Angeles.

“You can stretch a dollar more here,” said Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who played Theo in “The Cosby Show” and has been in Atlanta shooting a new sitcom, “Reed Between the Lines,” for BET.

“Atlanta affords you a different kind of vibe,” he said. “A little more warmth.”

But like several people interviewed, he’s not ready to say that Atlanta can best New York or Los Angeles.

Lance Gross is a star in the Tyler Perry constellation who spends part of his time in Atlanta. “A lot of people come through here,” he said, “but I can’t give it to Atlanta yet.”

Ms. Bailey, the “Housewives” star, still takes monthly trips to New York for what she calls a culture fix.

But she is investing in Atlanta, and recently opened the Bailey Agency — School of Fashion to help connect Atlanta’s most promising models with power players in the fashion world.

“Atlanta in two or three years is going to be perfect,” she said.

Maybe. The comedian Cedric the Entertainer, who hosted the Soul Train Awards, said Atlanta had always been a black mecca and continues to be one. He used to travel to the city when he was growing up in St. Louis. The city just keeps improving, he said. The talent pool gets bigger every day, which makes it easy to stage shows here.

“You can make some quick calls and say, ‘I had a fall-out. Let’s see if Ludacris can stop by,’” he said. “You have the real down-home love and you have a lot of transplants who give it a real sexy, young progressive energy.”

But, he said, Georgia will always be Georgia.

“It’s serious business down here but at the same time they’re still country,” he said. “I mean, sweet tea don’t go with everything.”

Robbie Brown contributed reporting.