WE ARE MEMPHIS

Memphis Brand believes in the power of catalytic positive change that exists at the intersection of mission and marketing. Through our efforts, we are generating massive visibility, energy, and investment into our community, positively impacting issues and ecosystems at scale.

1. FUTURE FOCUSED

Memphis Brand is focused on the future with the uncompromising belief that our greatest strength is diversity of people and ideas, creating the next great epicenter of inclusivity, innovation, culture and creativity.

2. OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL

Memphis Brand is driving inclusivity by creating direct
pipelines for opportunities for centered on jobs, entrepreneurship, community and culture.

3. POWERING A MOVEMENT

Memphis Brand is accelerating change by breaking down barriers, shining the spotlight on success, and putting the power with the people to build a community that works better together.

MAKING THE DIFFERENCE

From our aggressive and strategic public health campaign to fight the spread of COVID-19, to elevating the diverse voices that make up our community, Memphis Brand rises to the occasion.

• Elevating Memphis and its diverse voices and changemakers, we have generated over 350 positive stories of Memphis and our citizens creating change – that equates to over 4.85 Billion positive media impressions worth over $81.6 Million in media value!
• In 2022, Memphis Brand secured nearly 20 unique articles that highlight the diversity, equity and inclusion in Memphis and among Memphis organizations including Collage Dance Collective, Hattiloo Theatre, My Sistah’s House, University Middle, Cxffeeblack, Orange Mound Tower and more. The coverage and surrounding pick-up has garnered more than 800M PR impressions and $13.5M in ad value equivalency.
• Since 2017, we have aggregated and amplified the positive news, stories and profiles of diverse Memphians creating change throughout our community. Check it out!
• The WeAreMemphis community boasts over 410K followers and 130K email subscribers, the largest pro-Memphis social community in existence.
• With 20% year-over-year growth, WeAreMemphis.com is top 0.18% of websites worldwide with half a million visitors a year! Recognized authority in Google ranking on over 10K keywords and consistently atop “Memphis,” “Companies in Memphis,” “Memphis Black History,” “Memphis Music,” “Memphis Apartment Guide,” and more.
• As talented and diverse individuals leave large cities amid this economic downturn, we have created targeted campaigns through WhyMemphis.com showcasing the unique opportunities of living and working in Memphis. Over 13,000 leads are generated each quarter from target markets including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and others.
• 140,000 people in key talent markets reached and 60,000+ engaged through virtual events featuring Memphis artisans, influencers and businesses alongside counterparts from NYC, ATL, Dallas and Chicago.
• We are building on Memphis’ reputation as a hub for black business in our ongoing partnership with Blavity, the no. 1 network of sites reaching African-American millennials. Our content hub featured stories of our city’s most talented entrepreneurs across web, socials and e-mail, garnering more than 150,000 impressions from Blavity’s hyper-engaged audience. The Memphis Brand Team also attended Blavity’s AfroTech 2022 conference where we shared Memphis’ tech and talent stats with industry leaders such as Google, Epic Games, and MailChimp.
• We are powering ecosystems vital to Memphis’ growth. The launch of WeAreMemphis Music LIVE introduced a new and needed resource to our city, highlighting the diversity of our live music scene and making it easy to plug in. The appetite for WAMM Live is undeniable – it’s already a primary entry point to WAM sites from our target markets and is the second most visited page in the WAM family.

PROVE IT

We believe in wise investments that drive action and achieve dramatic returns that elevate our changemakers, celebrate our city, and attract others to join our multicultural community. Our job every day is to make sure Memphis wins and we prove it. Data as of December 2022:

Local Success:

• Residents hearing primarily negative news about Memphis has decreased since 2017, declining 21% in the City, 28% in Shelby County, and 48% in Memphis DMA
• Associations with “Soulful” are on the rise, up 11% in the city, 15% in Shelby County, and 7% in the DMA since 2017
• A majority of Memphians also now feel “Memphis is, or is becoming, a great place to live and work”, City of Memphis residents up 10% from July 2017.
• A majority of City of Memphis residents now feel “Highly Favorable” or “Favorable” toward our city, up 7 percentage points from July 2017

National Success:

• Agreement that Memphis is a “City with Soul” has increased among the National and Millennial audiences since the beginning of the campaign in 2019, up 25% and 12% respectively
• Appeal of Memphis to the Creative Class has increased 16% nationally, and 26% among Millennials since 2019
• Knowledge of Memphis has increased with both National and Millennial audiences, up 7% and 15% respectively

Target Market Success:

• Over 50% of residents in Target Markets Atlanta, Chicago, and NYC are favorable towards Memphis. From April 2019 to October 2022:
  • Atlanta +20%
  • New York +15%
  • Chicago +16%
• Association with soul is over 50% in Target Markets, with increases in each market:
  • Atlanta +14%
  • Chicago +22%
  • NYC +13%
• Agreement that Memphis is an appealing city for the Creative Class:
  • Atlanta +14%
  • Chicago +12%
  • NYC +23%
• Target Market residents hearing primarily positive news about Memphis:
  • Atlanta +17%
  • Chicago +10%
  • NYC +17%

A NEW NARRATIVE

Memphis Brand positions the city as a contemporary epicenter of originality, soul and change by amplifying a new era of talent growth, diversity, economic development and civic pride.

The spirit of soul lives on: a deep dive into the Memphis culture scene

My Sistah’s House Is Providing a Black Trans Community with Emergency Resources

A Living Record of Five Local, Black Cultural Institutions in Memphis

Black theatre in Memphis plans tuition- free school

Revitalizing Black Neighborhoods by Preserving Their History

To Spur Revival, a Memphis Neighborhood Goes Back to School

Memphis Organization Offers Paths Out of the ‘Homelessness’ Tangle

A Memphis Restaurant Builds Bridges Between Cultures

MEMPHIS RISING

Since our launch in 2018, we have worked with countless partners across the city as the central organization representing Memphis’ complete story to the media. In that time:

• Conde Nast Traveler names Memphis as the only US city on its list of “23 Best Places for 2023.”
• Memphis is Named as One of Only Four Cities for Starter Homes by TheStreet.com.
• Forbes ranks Memphis companies as ‘America’s Best Employers’
• Memphis among 10 best industrial real estate markets in country according to CBRE.
• “Elvis might get you there, but the soul of Memphis will make you stay” according to GQ.com.
• Named the Best City for Black-owned businesses according to Ebony and Black Enterprise.
• In a study by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Memphis ranked as the most generous metropolitan area in the United States
• Memphis was named the number one city for growth of women in business according to HowMuch.net.
• Bloomberg names Memphis as the #1 American City for accelerating job growth.

A CRITICAL MOMENT

Memphis Brand is a first of its kind – a non-profit established to create catalytic positive change for all through world class marketing, communications and research. However, our work is just beginning. At this critical moment, support for the Memphis Brand is vital as we grow into a powerful engine for talent recruitment and retention, economic development and civic pride unlike anything seen before in Memphis.

We cannot do it without you. We hope you will join the many others that have seen the powerful return in this investment.

#WeAreMemphis #BringYourSoul

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

• Chair: Emily Callahan, CMO ALSAC/St. Jude
• Co-Chair: Ekundayo Bandele, Founder and CEO Hattiloo Theater
• Treasurer: Spence Wilson Jr., Principal, Kemmons Wilson Companies
• Secretary: Blair Taylor, President, Memphis Tomorrow
• Advisor: Mauricio Calvo, President, Latino Memphis
• President: David French, CMO, Memphis Brand
• Beverly Robertson, President, Trust Marketing
• Jason Wexler, Team President, Memphis Grizzlies
• Jenny Robertson, SVP Integrated Marketing & Communications, FedEx
• Jim Strickland, City of Memphis Mayor (nonvoting)
• John Carroll, President, City Leadership / Choose901
• Kevin Kane, President, Memphis Tourism
• Lee Harris, Shelby County Mayor (nonvoting)
• Paul Young, President, Downtown Memphis Commission
• Ted Townsend, President, Greater Memphis Chamber