Lonny Kocina
CEO at Media Relations Agency
Website Address: https://www.publicity.com/
Each week on “Media Champions,” our host talks to media experts across the country. This week our host speaks with Lonny Kocina from Media Relations Agency. To learn more check out https://www.publicity.com/
What is the biggest change in marketing that you see coming in the next 2 years?
The change coming in marketing is change itself. The continued fragmentation of marketing will present a big problem. The very nature of an organization is organization: its systems and processes. It’s difficult to make money when something is in a constant state of flux. If marketing departments and agencies expect to be viable over the long term, fragmentations and constant change should worry them.
Are their any trade organizations or groups that you belong to?
As the CEO, I was a 15-year member of Vistage. It’s a rather exclusive and expensive CEO peer group that meets one day a month in small groups. My dues over the years totaled more than $200,000. From the outside, someone might think it’s a bunch of snooty business leaders counting their chips. Not at all. There was rarely a meeting when someone didn’t tear up over a business issue they were having. My agency has been around for 35 years now. I credit part of that to my fellow Vistage CEOs.
What is the advantage to working with an outside media buyer as opposed to having just an internal marketing director?
As an internal marketing director, you are somewhat isolated. Working for an external agency you are exposed to insights gained from the inner workings of many clients. You get a much broader sense of what marketing tactics are available, and what’s working and what isn’t.
What is one tip that you would give when it comes to media planning?
We don’t do much media planning but I do have a tip. The tip I would give everyone in any marketing job is to learn basic marketing terms and concepts. For fun, we did a little online 10-question multiple choice marketing quiz. Out of the 670 marketers who took the quiz, the average score was 7 wrong. Statistically, that’s the same as guessing. Most people who call themselves marketing professionals don’t know the marketing mix from the promotional mix or marketing segmentation variables from segmentation strategies. Sad but true.
