The city of Atlanta is sometimes referred to as “The Phoenix City” due to its rebirth from the ashes of General William T. Sherman’s infamous torching of the city during the Civil War. Just as the city was reborn as a blank slate, it has become a canvas upon which many creative transplants have expressed themselves through art, music, and technological innovation.  

As a connector of marketers and agencies, Setup was a natural fit to help the Atlanta Hawks celebrate Atlanta’s creative marketing community for the first-ever “Agency Shootout” held at The Gathering Spot. The goal was to bring together marketing professionals to celebrate Atlanta’s creative talent while providing genuine connections within the marketing community. To ensure the evening was a success, a diverse group of competing agencies were enlisted:

• Modo Modo Agency (woman-owned, Atlanta-based creative shop)

• PM3 - (multicultural, Atlanta-based marketing agency)

• Tailfin - (woman-owned, Atlanta-based marketing agency)

• Yalo - (Atlanta-based digital marketing agency)

The judges included:

• Grant Hill (seven-time NBA all star and Hawks Vice-Chairman)

• Steve Koonin (CEO of the Hawks)

• Jesse Itzler (Part owner of the Hawks)

• Andrea Freeman (VP of Marketing for Aaron’s)

• The audience (voting done through the Hawks’ app.)

Attendees included Atlanta stalwart brands like Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-A, Southern Company, ChooseATL, and the Home Depot.  Hawks star, Kent Bazemore spent the evening mingling with the crowd and reveling in the creative atmosphere.

Months of preparation and collaboration between the Atlanta Hawks marketing team and Setup came together seamlessly the evening of August 17th. The audience also seemed to appreciate the outcome of the hard work that went into the planning. Robert Dolan, Director of Strategic Video Partnerships for Jump! (a video production and design studio) remarked:

“You were able to bring together a diverse group from the Atlanta advertising world in a refreshing way that sparked conversation, creativity, and innovation. That theme was not contained to only the participants on the stage, and the energy carried over into the audience as well, making this event a win for everyone who attended!”

The Agency Shootout embodied the true spirit of Atlanta’s “Phoenix City” nickname through the representation of creativity and diversity, while enabling Setup to fulfill its mission of making connections between brands and agencies.

The event has garnered quite a bit of press attention:

• 8/10/16: Atlanta Hawks press release

• 8/10/16: USA Today article

• 8/10/16: Setup blog post

• 8/11/16: Atlanta Daily World article

• 8/18/16: Atlanta Hawks article

• 8/18/16: Rolling Out magazine article

• 8/18/16: Atlanta Business Chronicle article

• 8/25/16: Yahoo! Finance article

The Setup team would like to extend special thanks:

• Agency partners who attended: Modo Modo Agency, Everywhere Agency, Swarm, Creaxion, and Dragon Army

• The Atlanta Hawks marketing team, that helped transform the idea for an unconventional event into reality: Melissa Proctor, Annabelle Bower, Jelani Downing, Janet Smith, and many others

• The senior marketers, agency teams, and others who attended

  Photo credits: Jason Seagle, Kat Goduco

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