The history of marketing has always been a personal interest of mine; I believe we can learn a lot from reviewing the past history of marketing.
During my year as chapter President, I helped celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Boston Chapter of the American Marketing Association; the chapter was started in October of 1940.
With this post, I am starting a series of interviews with Past Presidents of AMA Boston. My first interview is with Diane Schmalensee who was past president during 1983-1984. During my year as President I met with Diane and she provided a lot of good advice, and she has continued to act as a mentor to other incoming Presidents in recent years.
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John: Welcome to the Past President’s interview. Perhaps we can start by you giving us a little of your background before the Presidency?
Diane: I joined the AMA in San Diego while I was in graduate school and quickly became head of membership (along with a fellow student). This was an outstanding way of meeting other members and getting connected. It also helped us get jobs!
When I moved to Boston, I joined the chapter there and held many positions in the organization before becoming president. I loved the camaraderie, learning new things at each meeting, and feeling part of the marketing community.
John: How long had you been volunteering with the chapter before you became President?
Diane: See above. I guess I had been volunteering for about 8 years or so.
John: I recall you had some interesting personal circumstances. How did you prepare for your chapter year?
Diane: I worked for the Marketing Science Institute, whose president was a past AMA Boston president and who encouraged us to follow our interests.
The biggest preparation as incoming president was to prepare an annual plan, complete with the big, hairy goal of becoming the best AMA large chapter of the year. I did that in August, and then had a late summer meeting with my team so that we could go over all of the plans and everyone’s role. It was a fun meeting as I recall, with everyone getting pumped up. After that, all I had to do was watch my team and help them when needed. After October or so, I was actually coasting.
John: Can you recall some of the highlights of the chapter year?
Diane: We made a LOT of money, which we badly needed. We did this by offering several conferences as well as our monthly meetings. We expanded our membership and increase our member retention. We started a networking group for young members and services, research and healthcare interest groups.
The workshops were our big money makers and brought a high level of education-content to the chapter. They usually consisted of 2 -3 speakers on a common topic and lasted half a day. I can’t recall the topics exactly, but we had a half day on research methods and a half day on internal and external marketing for service firms. The speakers were usually local experts (we have plenty here), but sometimes from out of town. If we held the workshops in conjunction with a dinner meeting, we were able to save money on the facility and negotiate better prices for meals. I think we had about 30-40 people attend these afternoon events and then would have them stay for dinner, which swelled the dinner audience to perhaps 100. Of course we always allowed plenty of time for networking during breaks and encouraged people to exchange cards with others there so they could benchmark or stay in touch later.
John: How did you run the chapter then, and how do you think it contrasts with today’s AMA Boston for changes in the industry?
Diane: Today I see the chapter being more focused on advertising and communications than we were then. This may reflect changes in the market. The Ad Club was very strong then, and we collaborated with them on sharing lists for appropriate events. So, our events were less about communications and more about research (about half our members then were in research) and issues such as new product development or internal marketing.
John: How did you communicate with members during your Presidency?
Diane: We had a printed newsletter that we mailed each month. We also had special mailings for our conferences and special interest groups.
John: Who were some of the friends and contacts you developed during your chapter year? Have you kept in touch?
Diane: I recall Chuck Comegys, Alden Clayton, Mary Lou Roberts, Tony Armor, Larry Gulko and many others. We were all good friends and I do stay in touch with some of them.
John: What has the presidency of the chapter meant for you on reflection?
Diane: It was a great chance to be a senior manager. I learned a lot.
John: What advice would you give to chapter leaders as they prepare for their new chapter year?
Diane: It’s best if you can hold other positions first and serve on the Board so you observe what other presidents do. Then, think about what you believe the chapter most needs and make that your goal for your year. Definitely have goals for your team.
John: Lastly, can you tell me more of your background since you left the presidency?
Diane: I have started my own market research and consulting firm, Schmalensee Partners, and feel good about how my clients have succeeded in achieving their goals with my help. I have continued my association with the AMA at the national level - serving on the Board twice, chairing several conferences, speaking at many conferences and now acting as the head of the national nominating committee. As you can tell, I’m a big fan of the AMA!
Christopher Kenton author of the article “What, exactly, is a brand?,”(BusinessWeek) argues that the definition of Brand as a mutually valuable relationship between the customer and the organization and its product. Rather a brand is an image in the mind of the consumer. It is also a name, a sign a logo or symbols that distinguishes the products and services of one company from all others. A brand identifies the seller or maker. It is something the company owns.
It is not the customer who gets attached to a product what is called brand. The brand experience is a valuable factor, because a customers experience can make or break a brand reputation. It is important to look at questions like; what does your market think of your brand? How does it make your customers feel? Will they use it again? Will they recommend it to friends? Regarding to Christopher these factors are important but they don’t make up brand.
“It is a seductive thought for companies that value their clients, but it’s a misguided one. Your customers own their impressions, and you can influence those impressions with the quality of your product, and the experience you foster. But your brand is just symbol that anchors those impressions to the product you create.” (Christopher Kenton.)
A brand as a symbol has attributes because it brings to mind certain attributes. These attributes must be translated into functional and emotional benefits. For example owning a Mercedes makes the customer fell important and admired because he/she owns an expensive car. The brand also says something about the producer’s values. Staying with Mercedes, this stands for safety, prestige and performance. The brand also represents a certain culture, in this case a German culture. The brand can project a certain personality and suggests the kind of consumer who buys or uses the product. Marketers must decide at which level to anchor the brand’s identity and additionally decide about the brand’s name, logo, colors, tagline and symbol.
On June 16th, AMA Boston is hosting an awards program that everyone can participate in. It is for those simple marketing programs or tactics that never seem to get the respect they deserve. The proverbial shoestring marketing tactics. Everyone has done these in the past. Heck, here at AMA Boston, as a non-profit, we are always trying to find ways to squeeze out a little more from a little less.
I’ve seen some great examples already in the entries - printing a logo on ice cream wrappers and giving them away outside a summer conference; a simple little one page tri-fold product brochure that looks good, but costed nothing to produce; and a child’s origami puzzle with product messages inside that attendees couldn’t put down.
There are no ideas too small for this program. That is the idea. In these days of hard nosed budget cuts, let’s share some ideas others can learn from, and get a pat on the back in the process.
I’m a big fan of podcasts and listen regularly while I’m on the treadmill. Recently, I found an interesting new source from a consultant I’d worked with in the past. David Baker works exclusively with creative service firms. He did an interview with Susan Hader re: marketing luxury brands, and I found her focus on the user experience of brands extremely interesting. A lot of what she says is appropriate to almost any brand. Visit www.recources.net and look for the podcasts or put www.recources.net/podcasts/podcast.xml into iTunes and download the interview.
In “A Dumb Branding Strategy,” Seth Godin warns about choosing your company name, which plays a big part of branding strategy. Companies like Party Land and Computer World are meaningless because they don’t add value and are too generic to really stand out. Plus, if you’re not careful what you name your company and you become successful, it’s hard to prevent competitors from copying you. Lesson learned, think smart when naming your company.
Lori A. Rochino - With over 7 years of marketing communications experience, Lori has worked in a variety of industries, including finance, publishing, and fashion. She is currently a marketing specialist at an e-commerce firm and manages web content for the AMA Boston Chapter. She resides in Natick with her husband.
In “Two Social Media Camps in the Enterprise,” the blogger Shel Israel supports social media over traditional media because it’s cheap, efficient, and allows companies to connect to consumers to find out what they “really” think. When companies connect to consumers through SM, they allow a real dialog to happen rather than just one way communication with the company selling a product to the consumers and not hearing the consumers’ concerns. For the other media camp, the traditional marketers who see social media as nothing more than another marketing channel, they’re missing the boat on learning about the very people they sell products to.
Lori A. Rochino - With over 7 years of marketing communications experience, Lori has worked in a variety of industries, including finance, publishing, and fashion. She is currently a marketing specialist at an e-commerce firm and manages web content for the AMA Boston Chapter. She resides in Natick with her husband.
Confident your child is safe watching a friendly game of baseball, you leave the room. When you return, your eight-year-old son is ogling a half-naked model caressing a light beer.Even with parental controls for TV and the Web, provocative ads are still finding their ways into our children’s consciousness. You breathed a deep sigh of relief when Joe Camel retired. Nevertheless, your daughter wants to know if you take the little purple pill.
Every month, the Boston Marketing Club brings the Greater Boston marketing community together to discuss a hot topic in a relaxed and social atmosphere. Join us at this month’s Boston Marketing Club for a lively discussion about the lurid and insidious messages molding our children’s minds. After we introduce the topic, our Connectors will poll you for your opinions. We’ll discuss questions such as:Have ads become more shocking, or is our moral compass broken?
Should we increase federal regulation of advertising?
What are my responsibilities, as a parent and a marketer?Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2008Time: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Free appetizers, cash bar.
Contact Information:
American Marketing Association - Boston
411 Waverley Oaks Road
Suite 331 B
Waltham, MA 02452
Phone: 781-647-7555
E-mail: theoffice@amaboston.org Join our LinkedIn Group
As I’m working on a marketing plan for a client, it strikes me how these five words can strike fear and doubt into so many executives - “How do you define yourselves?”
It is a painfully simple question, but the answer is so important.
Many hours can be spent on this question.In workshops, when I ask this question, the initial answer client’s give is often the most honest.Someone in the room inevitably blurts out the answer, and I write it down.Then someone else inevitably adds that the first definition is too limiting, and provides a different definition.Often a much broader one.
To give an example, I once worked at a very large company where the executive in charge decided how to define our business.His definition was the equivalent of defining a bakery as a “flour, water and eggs mixed together and baked for 12 minutes” business.Much easier to say, “We are a bakery.” His answer created confusion.Customers wondered what we were talking about.
Why all of the confusion?Many people, and companies, want to appear to be more than they are.They get caught up in internal thinking, strategic thinking and politics.
For lack of a clear definition, companies broaden their definition to a higher level in an attempt to cast a larger net.As with my example, this only ensures that no one will have any idea what they are speaking about.
So is this a complex question?It does need to be.Customers are looking for a simple answer.They are tired of trying to sort out what companies actually do versus what their Web site says.Give them a break - give them the simple answer.Save the complexities for internal documents.
One obvious question lies in waiting - how do you define yourself, or your business?If you are using more than ten words to define yourself, then you should do some editing.Write back to me and tell me your definition.
Any member wishing to have a voice in the chapter is welcome to attend our monthly board of director meetings. If you are a current AMA member and either want to participate or have an agenda item you would like the board to consider, then please write to president@amaboston.org.
AMA Boston is offering the opportunity to make your mark. To be a part of something larger than your day job and become part of the marketing community.
The Boston Chapter is searching for a few more candidates to fill out our 08/09 board of directors, and for candidates to serve in elect positions for 09/10. This is your chance to get involved with a growing number of top marketing professionals to shape the chapter and grow your career! Here is the one statistic you need to know - over the past two years, 7 out of 10 chapter board members have either:
Seen a significant advancement in their careers.
Found great new opportunities for their businesses.
It’s not hard to figure out. In this connected world of personal branding and Google searches, it looks darn good to see your name attached to a brand like AMA’s.
Boston is one of the largest single concentration of AMA members in the country. We have it all - higher ed., market research, branding, strategy, marcom, events, and on and on. AMA Boston envelops every discipline of marketing under one organization. Don’t miss this opportunity!
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