M O N E Y & INAUGURATION B U S I N E S SWEEKEND PRESIDENTIAL
PUTTING SOUL INTO MAINSTREAM MARKETING
Atlanta Entrepreneurs Add Value to Media Companies’ Bottom Lines By Rick Blalock and Ezzard C. Rolle
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wo Alpha Phi Alpha members are gaining ground in an industry that has traditionally lacked representation from African Americans. Chief Executive Officer Tirrell Whittley and Chief Marketing Officer Nick Nelson own Liquid Soul Media (LSM), the only minority-owned marketing agency doing business with five of the top six major film studios in Hollywood. In addition to film, LSM has made inroads in television, with Turner Broadcasting and most recently NBC Universal, which has enlisted the agency to develop and execute its multicultural-marketing strategy. The marketing genius of Whittley and Nelson has helped to generate more than a half-billion dollars in box-office sales for films like Walt Disney Pictures’ ‘The Princess and The Frog,’ Warner Bros. Pictures’ ‘Sex and the City 2’ and Lionsgate’s ‘Precious,’ which was nominated for Best Picture and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Mo’Nique. Whittley and Nelson met in 1993 at Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity’s Beta Nu Chapter at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Fla. They launched LSM in Atlanta, Ga., in 2001. Their entry into the film industry came when fellow chapter brothers Will Packer and Rob Hardy of Rainforest Films hired LSM to promote ‘The Gospel,’ starring Boris Kodjoe. LSM went on to promote other Packer-Hardy films, including the box-office hit ‘Stomp the Yard.’ In July 2010 LSM promoted Rainforest’s seventh film, ‘Takers,’ starring Idris Elba, Michael Ealy and Matt Dillon. LSM’s growth can be likened to a “sleeper” film, quietly building in popularity over time as satisfied studios and networks spread the word of the company’s capabilities. “Things move at lightning speed in the film and television industries, and most traditional agencies aren’t agile enough to develop relevant strategies and execute tactics that drive audiences to theaters the way we do,” says Brother Whittley. He cut his teeth in corporate America 17 years ago, after getting bit by the business bug in high school and taking his first job with a certified public accountant who attended his church. A PICTURE OF SUCCESS: Brother Nick Nelson (left) and Brother Tirrell Whittley (right).
12 THE SPHINX H Spring-Summer 2011
Brother Nelson has logged more than 15 years in corporate business. He began as a business process consultant with Anderson Consulting, from there moving into IT program-management for UPS until LSM was born. “Most agencies focus on radio, TV and print, but our formula wins because we successfully leverage strategic partnerships, digital and social media, and grassroots programs centered on big ideas,” says Nelson. LSM has incorporated black colleges and universities, barbershops and salons, fraternities and sororities, and professional and community organizations into their winning marketing campaigns. The Internet Movie Database, (IMDb) lists over 35 film and TV projects LSM has promoted since 2005, including, CNN’s ‘Black in America’ and ‘Latino in America,’ TBS’s ‘Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,’ and TNT’s ‘HawthoRNe.’ H