Residence: Phoenix, Arizona
Education: Bachelor in Marketing from Skyline College
Skill: Brand Development
Recognition: Recognized and respected for her visionary management and proficiency in developing and customizing licensing programs specific to each client’s goals and objectives
Career Highlights:
- Created several hard-hitting, multifaceted marketing campaigns by providing the most accurate data
- 44 years of marketing experience with exceptional skills related to the core ingredients of a thriving business
Over the years, marketing and advertising concepts have evolved from door-to-door selling to social media and digital marketing. Before the advent of social media, marketing was a very tedious and complicated job. Since the advent of digitalization, several companies have been implementing unique and innovative strategies that have resulted in the massive transformation of the marketing and advertising industry.
Pursuing her interests and intending to transform the industry, Barbara Ferrigno established Concept Marketing Group in 1978. Sharing similar views on the dynamics of marketing, she states, “Over 44 years of being in business, I’ve seen many changes, from print to digital, phone calls to zoom calls, and press releases to social media”. Since its establishment, Barbara has been spearheading Concept Marketing Group as the CEO and propelling it to greater heights.
Innovative Marketing & Advertising Solutions
Concept Marketing Group is a full-service marketing agency and a recognized leader in targeted marketing, direct-to-retail, and other brand extension initiatives. The company provides its industrial knowledge and contacts to other businesses. These include fashion and interior designers, leading brands, celebrities, media companies, historic estates/museums, non-profits, manufacturers, and retailers.
In 1994, Concept Marketing Group established and launched its own website with the domain ‘MarketingSource.com’ in order to establish its presence on the internet, acquire clients nationwide, and expand the customer base. As a result, the company increased its workflow and achieved sudden growth which helped attract new clients globally. Since then, the company had new clients and received regular orders coming in throughout the year. During that point, the company’s mission and vision changed to include nationwide and global clients, a 30% increase in sales and new clients every year, and offering a full-service marketing menu of services.
The Internet Revolution Phase
The establishment and growth history of Concept Marketing Group dates back to the time when the internet was just introduced. During 1994, Barbara mostly focused on niche marketing and started offering an association database free-of-cost to visitors. During that time, companies offered free resources to get listed and recognized online and the clients would sign up based on the quality of the free services offered. The association database became a success and Concept Marketing Group’s website started attracting visitors and client’s requests to offer the database on disks and CD-ROM for which they were willing to pay.
Motivated by the success of the association database, Concept Marketing Group further integrated an online system. Additionally, the company also started offering consulting services to the industry that became one of the most popular products in the array of services provided at that time. To further extend the scope and reach of the services to the target audiences, Concept Marketing Group also started offering custom direct mail and email lists. According to Barbara, defining target audience does not require sending thousands of email. Enunciating her views on the same, she adds, “Sending to the right contact, the target industries(s), and timing it to the prospects peak selling time, you have a win-win situation.”
Team of Dedicated Individuals
Being at the helm of the company, Barbara is responsible for the efficient functioning of the business and actively participates in all aspects. She is responsible for the growth and success of the company, emphasizing more on recent trends and developments in the business sector and market. This helps her to achieve optimum results and stay ahead of the competition.
The team of Concept Marketing Group is led by Barbara. Being a leader, she believes that customer preferences are constantly changing with time. She further adds that customers want more outsourcing of their work with more communication and a hands-on approach. To meet the latest customer demands, the team serves their customers better by making themselves available for 16 hours a day through email, chat, or text. Additionally, the company introduces new services every year and these changes or additions are based on the current or predicted future marketing climate.
Customer-Oriented Approach
Concept Marketing Group follows a customer-centric approach to ensure optimum client satisfaction. The company offers exclusive privileges to the clients and customers. It ensures that the customers don’t overspend their marketing budget and have nothing to work with long-term. Marketing and advertising take time, consistency, and effort. However, Concept Marketing Group makes sure to provide positive results to every customer.
Additionally, the company maintains a strict quality check and provides only those products and services to the clients and customers that have been tried and tested. Further, to maintain efficiency, it keeps a constant check on its marketing and advertising program and rectifies or modifies in case of any issues even if it has to bear the expense. These exclusive services and solutions have helped Concept Marketing Group build a long-term relationship with several clients where some have even been connected to the marketing group for more than 30 years.
To achieve optimal ROI, Concept Marketing Group also collaborates with other marketing companies as per the required area of expertise. The primary intent is to provide optimum client satisfaction and best results, no matter what it takes. “We are not industry-specific with our clients. We can help all industries achieve maximum results,” asserts Barbara.
Note of Conclusion: Barbara’s foretelling of the Future
Briefing about her future plans, Barbara quotes, “In five years, I’m hoping to retire”. She further adds that she is currently working on adding subcontractors to her team and outsourcing some of the work. Adding to her future plans, Barbara says, “I plan on handing my company over to a person or company that has the same tenacity, vision, and work ethics as myself. I built this company on sole ground and I would love to see someone take it to another level”. She has also communicated the same to her clients to ensure transparency. Leading a team of 8 subcontractors, Barbara values the contribution and efforts of every member. Ensuring to keep the team productive and motivated, she practices an open line of communication and makes sure to recognize and appreciate each member for the work done by them.
Words to the Wise:
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