|
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Moments of Brilliance
Vickie Szombathy isn’t easy to impress. But she likes a magazine that knows its place. "What impresses me is when everything a brand does reflects the essence of that brand. There’s nothing that makes you ask ‘Why the hell would they be doing that?’"
Sticking to the essence means every new idea adheres to that point. "I think that most of the consumer magazines I deal with on a regular basis – newsweeklies and business publications – have been forced to define who they are, and they do a good job of coming up with things that reflect who they are. On the trade side, which is vertical, they struggle a bit more."
She notes that the leading publications in a category are very clear about what they represent within the industry and are consistent with what they bring. Her advice is be true to who you are – keep coming up with innovative ideas and renewing yourself, but stick to what you do well.
Szombathy is involved in strategy development from the very early stages with each client, all the way through to recommending what kind of media they use and execution. The media range from print to events, online to research, consumer and trade, and many combinations of all of the above. The clients range from associations to consumer products, domestic and international and include such names as Caterpillar, Rubbermaid and the American Medical Association. She helps the business decision makers, mostly the "C" suite, decide how they relate to the media, whether it’s a trade publication or "60 Minutes." What she wants to know is how that medium "fits into their world."
One program that stands out was a campaign StarLink did for the AMA. "We are doing an interesting program with U.S. News, which consists of three important elements. One is the use of the brand U.S. News in the marketplace with equity in health care."
The program used print for outreach to patients, as well as doctors and influencers within the medical universe. An online component tapped the AMA’s message of advocacy for patients and doctors. "We want interaction with these people to get a dialogue going," she says. For doctors, the site feeds information that is compiled from U.S. News resources.
By providing doctors with the hottest news of the day in medicine, the AMA helps keep the medical community one step ahead of its patients. "You don’t have Mrs. Smith walking in saying, ‘I saw something in USA Today or on television," says Szombathy. Tapping a resource so that neither StarLink nor the AMA has to compile the information and send it out uses the strength of the brand with the audiences, she says, "and it’s been really successful. Because U.S. News has carved out equity in healthcare, it has made it a good partner."
When a publisher comes to Szombathy with a proposal, she looks for a publication that can get involved with the client’s objectives early on, as well as the flexibility to design something that meets those goals. She says she is seeing proposals that demonstrate the publisher understands what the client needs, and they can present something exciting based on early conversations. "They are coming with things that make sense, not wasting time, because they can’t any more," she says. "If they don’t come with the right idea, they won’t get the money."
The Holy Grail "is to overdeliver on the client’s expectations – to be true to their quest, their objectives, their goals, what they want to achieve, but to be able to surprise them, to overdeliver. It’s risky sometimes, but you have to take that risk, and hopefully the moments of brilliance will pop out of that."
Leap of Faith
ART HISTORY WAS Vickie Szombathy’s love in college. "I wasn’t planning on advertising," she laughs. But art wasn’t going to pay big money, so she took a job as a spot buyer at Darcy in St. Louis. After a few years, she moved to DDB Needham, then tried a stint at a midsized agency as media director, where she learned to run the business of advertising. "That was really good," she notes. When StarLink was starting up in 1999, Szombathy worked with Starcom Mediavest Group global chief Renetta McCann. StarLink provides small to mid-sized advertising agencies and businesses with media planning and strategy, as well as buying services.
Getting immersed in a client’s business fascinates Szombathy, who says it’s important to tap into your passions. She cites one of her own passions, competitive horseback riding, as an example: "I’m a dressage rider. I laugh about life lessons and dressage, and I think about that with clients and situations. There are moments of brilliance. You can ride conservatively and not make any mistakes. Or, you can push the limits, make a mistake or two, go for the brilliance, and probably get best of class."
Now, she looks for those moments of brilliance for her clients. "You have to know when to let go of the reins with a client, or take a really strong hold. Apply your interests or passions to your life and your job, if you believe in them."
- min's Special Issues — April 19, 2011
- Event/New Event Programming: National Geographic Magazine, Experience Parks and Conservation — October 1, 2007
- Total Integrated Program: ESPN, ESPN The Magazine's Next 2007 — October 1, 2007
- Scott Kruse: EVP, Director, Print Services, MediaCom — April 1, 2007
|
.jpg)
Internet Sales Guidebook