CEO Interview

Interview with the President and CEO of Creative Marketing Alliance, Jeffrey E. Barnhart

1. What excites you about being in the marketing business?

I like that marketing is still about exploring possibilities. Lots of people think that because this is a recession year, they have to stop marketing all together. But as a business owner, I’ve seen what an outbound marketing campaign can do. When a client tells me “no one else has been marketing to us,” that shows me this market, and many other industries, are full of possibility and opportunity. Businesses have the chance to edge out competition like never before.

2. How is CMA adapting to the move toward more digital communication and social media?

CMA has been providing digital communications solutions for many years now, but what’s changed the most is the opportunity to create a two-way dialogue with customers. Social media offers a company or association that opportunity. Because of this shift, we recommend our clients strategize now more than ever to be able to make new Web 2.0 marketing tools work for them. Just like what we’ve seen with the green trend—you still have to be sure the marketing tactic is right for the target audience. Don’t just jump on the bandwagon. Our strategic process MarketectureTM has helped many clients stay focused.

3. What can a client expect from CMA’s proprietary Marketecture process?

Marketecture provides a blueprint. It’s a true collaboration between company executives and the CMA staff designed to refine key messages, determine target markets, evaluate potential opportunities and threats and analyze the possibility of unforeseen events by looking at the market forces you can’t control. Marketecture helps us determine how to convey the company and product image in the most effective way for success.

4. CMA also has a good reputation for its event planning. How important are face-to-face meetings and events to doing business in your opinion?

We’re all much more connected now even across great distances, but I truly believe that by attending face-to-face meetings, you’ll see the highest return on investment of any marketing channel. Whether it’s exhibiting at a tradeshow or attending an industry association conference, meetings offer valuable face time and relationship building, not to mention essential continuing education opportunities. Many companies are scared of ending up with a PR problem if it looks like too much money is invested in out-of-office meetings, but I don’t see the risks of this outweighing the benefits in a permanent sense—it’s too much of a backbone to so many marketing programs.

5. What do you want people to think of when they think of CMA?

The word synergy gets thrown around a lot, but I think everyone who works here would agree that’s what we have. We have a passionate, unified team and our clients truly benefit from that strategic and creative wavelength.