Melissa Proctor is nothing if not persistent.

As a 15-year-old in Miami, the keynote speaker at ASI Orlando was dead set on becoming a professional basketball coach. This despite the fact that she’d never even played the game.

Melissa Proctor, chief marketing officer of the Atlanta Hawks, delivered the keynote address at ASI Orlando.

So, she started calling the nearby arena, home to the Miami Heat professional basketball team. “I called every day,” she said. “I was open to any work to be done that would get me close to the game.”

Finally, she reached the team’s equipment manager who oversaw the team’s ball boys – attendants who retrieve loose balls, mop sweat from the floor and offer general assistance to players during practices and games.

And that’s how Proctor became the first ball girl for the Miami Heat, assisting at the court and rubbing shoulders with players like Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson. She continued to assist the team for several years, even during breaks from college classes at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. When she tried to land a postcollege job at the NBA in marketing and branding, she was turned down as “too creative.”

It was a disappointment, but she took it in stride and instead accepted a marketing internship at Turner Communications in Atlanta, a major media company with popular properties like TCM, TBS and truTV.

Meanwhile, the local NBA team, the Atlanta Hawks, had been going through challenges – for almost two decades, it had been struggling to unite and excite its fan base. Proctor knows why: a controversial midseason move by team management.

“In 1994, the Hawks traded Dominique Wilkins,” said Proctor. “He went to the University of Georgia. He was the Michael Jordan of Atlanta, and people were upset. So, the team had lost a generation of Hawks fans.”

Although Proctor’s career path seemed to have diverged from basketball at the time, fate stepped in. She was laid off from Turner Communications when she was expecting her first child. Soon after, a friend invited her to the 2014 Atlanta Hawks Draft Party at what is now State Farm Arena, the Hawks’ home in the city, for a fun night out. It was there that Proctor ran into a former NBA contact who asked her on the spot if she wanted to help them rebuild the beleaguered Hawks franchise. She jumped at the chance.

“Based on market research, the Hawks were dealing with fan apathy and a lack of loyalty because of the number of transplants in the city, but we also had untapped potential in TV advertising,” she said. “We decided to focus on the multicultural nature of the city and what would resonate with a next-gen audience.”

Building a winning brand, said Proctor, comes down to what she called the “F” word: “focus.” The franchise needed to focus on what made the city unique. “True to Atlanta” became the team’s tag line.

“We knew we could be the team for the next generation of Atlantans, to entertain and unite the city through basketball,” she said. “We continue to lean into our key brand values: inclusiveness, innovation and authenticity.”

Proctor greets attendees after the keynote.

In the years that followed, Proctor oversaw a number of bold branding moves – including developing one of the NBA’s first Brand Books (which became a model for other teams); redesigning team uniforms (“If people over 30 liked them, we didn’t want them”); and collaborated with lululemon for fan apparel in the Hawk Shop.

The team also hosted singles nights for fans (one couple who met there got married on the court) and aired an “Only Fans” parody ad with mascot Harry the Hawk on a bed.

“We took a risk,” said Proctor. “I think I got hired and fired 25 times the next day, but that’s gold for a next-gen audience.”

The franchise also took inspiration from the Atlanta community to offer unique experiences during games – like the courtside Hawk Bar and The SWAG Shop, a barbershop that overlooks the court. The Hawks are also focused on experiences outside the arena, partnering with local Good Neighbor Clubs and the YMCA to provide safe facilities for local kids to play and do homework.

“We’re a civic asset before anything else,” said Proctor. “We focus on brand, community and experience, and we’re forever true to Atlanta. At the end of the day, always be authentic.”