Health & Productivity: Bryan Markowitz
Small & Minority Business Advocate
Corrections or additions?
These articles by Michele Alperin and Vivian Fransen were prepared
for the January 10,
2001 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Position Yourself: Lisa Hines
In the face of stiff competition in today’s marketplace,
companies are finding it increasingly difficult to differentiate
themselves
from other businesses. To achieve success, says Lisa Hines,
partner in Acadia Marketing and Design, “a company needs to
understand
where it stands as compared to the competition and how it can bring
value to its customers.” This analysis of internal strengths in
the context of customer needs and the competitive marketplace,
Hines
says, will yield an identity that will position a company in the
marketplace.
“It’s creating a brand.”
Hines and Debra Newton, president of Newton Interactive
will offer a seminar on “Positioning Your Company for Market
Success,”
for the Mercer Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday, January 17, at 8
a.m. at the New Jersey Hospital Association, 760 Alexander Road. Cost:
$20. Call 609-393-4143.
Successful positioning demands careful analysis, ongoing contact with
the marketplace, and creative and consistent marketing strategies.
To ensure the appropriate positioning so critical to a company’s
success,
Hines suggests the following process:
Assess the marketplace and the customer base. Look atmarket trends and market size and determine the strength of the nichethat the company’s products or services will address. New companiesor those launching a new product or brand must specify their customerbase and what its needs are. Companies must ask themselves: Is thefield large enough to support the number of companies in themarketplace?If not, do I offer a compelling advantage that will make mesuccessful?Analyze the company, its product or service, and thecompetition.A company must examine its own strengths and weaknesses and thoseof its competition and then compare the two, says Hines. “Youshould come out of this process with an understanding of yourcompany’scompetitive edge or differentiation.”Investigate how the marketplace perceives or will perceivethe product or company.Possessing strengths is not all it takes;it is even more vital that the marketplace recognize these strengthsas an advantage. Hines has seen many young technology companies, whoindeed “come out with the best of all possible products.”But as she points out, “they find out later that the productwasn’tbetter enough and didn’t offer enough of an advantage for customersto make a change from what they were currently doing.”Position the company or product. Decide how the marketis to perceive the company and its products. A company may positioneither a single product or, particularly in the case of servicecompanies,the company in its entirety. “Although the companies may besupplyingthe same services,” says Hines, “the messages they send tothe marketplace may be different, based on what their core strengthsare.” Sometimes a company may need to change its product offeringsto be perceived as valuable by its customers.Set marketing objectives and goals. Decide on desiredsales volume, market penetration, and the target level of marketawarenessof the company and its products.Develop a creative platform. Develop the language andvisual imagery that will be used to communicate about the companyand its products: logo, headlines, taglines (for example, BellAtlanticYellow Pages’ effective tagline “Life, listedalphabetically”),and talking points (to be used when talking or writing to customers,on the company website, and in brochures and other marketingmaterials).Critical to the success of a creative platform is that it be usedconsistently in all of the company’s interactions with its customersand market.Specify a marketing strategy for delivering the positioningmessage.After setting a reasonable budget, says Hines, “createa comprehensive plan where everything that happens reinforces thesame message.” A company must send consistent messages that themarketplace can use to evaluate the company and to understand howits products are differentiated from competitive ones. Hines warnsthat a company can weaken its positioning by not being consistentand thereby fail to convey its position to its proposed market. Forexample, if a company were to say in one place “we have a premiumbrand” and in another “we have cheapest product onmarket,”these conflicting messages might nullify each other.Hines did not follow a direct path to marketing. She majoredin biology and minored in chemistry, graduating in 1984 from BowlingGreen State University. While working in medical research aftergraduation,she decided to take a business class for fun — in accounting ofall things. Hines remembers, “I realized, almost immediately,that I’d have to make a shift. I took the business course for fun,and I loved it.” She went on to get her MBA in marketing fromthe University of Connecticut and thought that her science backgroundwould give her an edge in understanding technology-based products.After a number of years of marketing technology products, HinesfoundedBusiness Plan Concepts, which did business and strategic planningfor high tech companies. A year and a half later, she decided toreturnto her roots in marketing by co-founding Acadia(acadiamarketing.com),an advertising agency and marketing consulting firm, with a partner,Dale Schierholt, who had been an art director of an advertisingagency.Hines recently worked with her co-speaker Debra Newton’s company,Newton Interactive, on an unusual positioning problem: AlthoughNewton’s25-person firm on Pennington Road is a substantial company, the marketidentified it entirely with its very dynamic CEO. Because thecustomersloved the CEO, they did not sufficiently understand the depth of thecompany’s staff. To continue its growth, explains Hines, “NewtonInteractive needed to move away from Debra.” The positioningprocessrevealed that what had actually made the company so strong was thequality of its employees — people who are creative, not just inthe design sense, but in getting a complete solution to customers.Musing about what had made her efforts with Newton Interactive sosuccessful, Hines cited the collaborative process, with fullinvolvementof the management team, as well as the fact that Debra Newton fullyembraced her recommendations. “We developed collateral andbrochures,”says Hines, “but they made it part of their culture.” Thevisual imagery, headlines, and positioning themes that Hines developedwere implemented consistently and across the board, from the web siteto new customer presentations to all written materials. Says Hines:”The management team was part of the positioning process, embracedit, and said to their staff, `This is who we are. Understand who weare and what our advantages are and how we will communicate with ourcustomers.’””You have to be known,” says Hines, “in order to gainmarket share. Successful positioning or branding, in conjunction witha successful sales program and making good on promises, will helpsales grow and enhance profitability.”— Michele AlperinTop Of PageHealth & Productivity: Bryan MarkowitzIt’s easy to take our good health — and ouremployer-paidhealth care benefits — for granted until an illness or injuryoccurs. Facing the harsh realities of health care policy and financingissues at the personal level is when many people begin to understandthe intimate relationship between one’s health and productivity.But for business leaders and employee benefits professionals, healthand productivity are daily concerns. According to one study of 43large private and public employers released last April, employersare spending more than $9,992 annually per employee for health andrelated costs, including group health benefits, turnover, unscheduledabsences, non-occupational disability, and workers compensation. (Seewww.medstat.com for more details).Successful businesses can’t afford to remain in the dark about howto best manage the health and productivity of their workers. That’swhy the Business Council of the Princeton Chamber of Commerce haschosen the topic, “Knowledge is Power: What You Need to Know Aboutthe Increasing Costs of Health Care Plans,” for discussion atits breakfast on Wednesday, January 17, at 7:30 a.m. at the NassauClub, 6 Mercer Street in Princeton. Cost: $23. For reservations call609-520-1776.”The cost of health insurance is increasing across the board,”says Bryan Markowitz, vice president of health affairs at theNew Jersey Business and Industry Association, who will be a featuredspeaker (www.njbia.org). “With double digit inflation rates, thissituation is especially scary for small businesses.”The good news is that information is readily available for those whoknow where to look for it, according to Markowitz. He offers theresourcesof his organization to help today’s business leaders make informeddecisions.”With standardized plans, it is much easier to make comparisonsbased on price and benefits,” adds Markowitz. He refers to thewebsite at www.njbia.org, where employers can review data on quality,based on customer satisfaction surveys.Born and raised in East Windsor, where his mother worked as a teacherand his father is an associate dean of the School of Business atRutgers,Markowitz earned his undergraduate degree in political science atRutgers and recently completed his master’s degree from the BostonSchool of Public Policy at Rutgers. He has been working with the NewJersey Business and Industry Association (which now has 16,500members)for seven years now, spending much of his time as a lobbyist.”Everyone should be an educated consumer,” he says, notingthe need to be well-informed about health benefits and resources.”It’s important to know what your own health plan covers.”Of special interest to employers are detailed answers to thesequestions,which he will cover in his presentation: What are other companiesdoing? And what about self-insurance?Bonnie Butler, director of corporate health and employeeassistanceprograms at the Medical Center of Princeton, will also speak. “Myfocus is helping employers understand why it’s important to care aboutwhat is happening in the personal lives of their employees,” saysButler, who oversees an employee assistance program calledConfidentialAdvisory Program (CAP) (www.mcp.org). “There is a spilloverin terms of productivity and absenteeism.”Born and raised in Kendall Park where her mother worked as a nurseand her father is an engineer, Butler earned her nursing degree inMiami and a master’s degree in business administration at RiderUniversity.She has been working with the Medical Center at Princeton in variouscapacities for 14 years. And she freely admits her bias is promotingprevention and wellness issues.”Employee assistance programs are not only a resource for mentalhealth issues,” she explained. “We also help people withfinancialand legal services, as well as anything else that can be a sourceof distraction or stress for individuals.””We are a filter, directing people to the most appropriate servicefor their particular need,” Butler added. “That helps peopleby not wasting their time. We can help people determine which is thebest course of action, whether inpatient services are needed or atune-up with a counselor.”Butler describes a wide range of corporate health services, includingprograms that address the physical and mental health needs of areaemployers and occupational health programs (such as drug screenings,pre-employment physical exams, immunizations, and back-to-workevaluations).Various health education services include smoking cessation programs,stress management, cardiac risk factor assessment, and worksiteevaluations.For details, visit www.mcp.org or call 609-497-4206.— Vivian FransenTop Of PageSmall & Minority Business AdvocateAnother networking group, Mercer County BusinessAssociation,has changed its name to Business Entrepreneurs Network of New Jersey(609-883-2424; fax, 609-278-9500). “The name change is meant toreflect advocacy on the statewide level for small and minority andwomen-owned enterprises,” says Greg Williams, presidentof this group and of his own company, G.W. Enterprises Inc.(609-278-9600,48 West Lafayette Street, Trenton 08608.Active in BENNJ are those in charge of diversity opportunities atmajor companies such as Merrill Lynch (Bruce Perkins) andBristol-MyersSquibb (Donna Westerman). Verizon and Summit Banks will maintainseats on the board.Williams is also a board representative for Fleet Bank. “WithFleet Bank, the BENNJ will be in the forefront of their efforts toreach out to minority and women-owned businesses,” says Williams.He says that Fleet is bringing $2.6 billion into New Jersey to assistsmall and minority and women-owned enterprises.Williams’ fourth hat is as chairman of the board of the New JerseyDevelopment Authority, which works with the New Jersey EconomicDevelopmentAuthority to help small businesses. Williams was appointed to theNJDA board three years ago and became chairman this year. “Wedo loans from $50,000 to $125,000 but can leverage our activitiesby joining forces through other institutions and can do loanguaranteesas well,” says Williams. Larger loans go through the EDA, andNJDA shares staff with the EDA.He and fellow BENNJ members have received multimillion dollarcontractsfrom the likes of Merrill Lynch, IBM, and Bristol-Myers Squibb, butWilliams says these contracts are only the byproducts of good works:”My belief has always been, from when I was a little boy, thatyou should go out and serve the community and don’t worry about whatcomes back to you.”Top Of PageFor Women OnlyWomen who are staff or freelance career professionalsin the media communications field — print, radio, television,PR, dotcoms — are invited to the first meeting of a new networkinggroup, Women in the Media. The launch will be Sunday, January 21,from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ramada Inn on Route 1 South in NorthBrunswick(near Wal-Mart). Cost: $10 at the door. Dress is casual, butreservationsbefore January 15 are requested. A continental breakfast will beserved.Call Susan Young of Susan Young Media Relations at 732-613-4790or Maggie Glynn at 732-603-9519. Alternatively, E-mail:syoung@sueyoungmedia.comor Email: NJJaunts@aol.com.”It will be a great way to see old friends and colleagues, networkwith new people, and lend support and creative ideas,” says Young.”We are not advertising but are simply telling people by wordof mouth and E-mail and counting on everyone to reach out to theirown circle of friends.”Previous StoryNext StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
