As the new president/CEO of World Marketing, Mac Rodgers sees ways to link the pieces of this full-service direct marketing agency that has facilities spanning both coasts.
Mr. Rodgers, who took over in January, previously was chief operating officer at Vente. He devised an exit strategy for the online data collection company and left when it was sold to Experian in 2005.
At World Marketing he provides the “vision and strategy for keeping the company in strong growth mode and performing financially.” Mr. Rodgers believes the best way to do this is by setting a high-energy company culture. Clients get the best service when employees are motivated, he said.
Mr. Rodgers himself is motivated by “being part of a team that excels and accomplishes significant things.” He translates this into one word: “winning.” To use more words, this means running a profitable business that delivers outstanding service and adds value to employees' lives.
World Marketing provides an array of direct marketing offerings that bridge database services, list sales, list processing, lettershop facilities and fulfillment.
“We will do whatever a client needs to round out a solution,” he said. “If we don't supply it, we'll find someone who does.”
Mr. Rodgers thinks direct marketing depends on using the latest in database and e-mail technologies to provide customers with relevant, targeted messages.
“Customers and prospects don't want to be marketed to in an aggressive way, in something they haven't expressed interest in,” he said. “If you focus on what means something to people, then direct marketing is a great medium to drive sales.”
World Marketing, Omaha, NE, is a recent conglomeration of smaller companies including Ace Marketing Services and Lee Marketing Services. It also has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and St. Louis. Mr. Rodgers will use his experience to manage the seamless integration of these firms.
“The growth of the business will drive new services and provide new challenges to the management team,” he said. “These are things I've done before.”
He began his career in DM after completing his B.A. in business administration at Doane College in Nebraska. It was an inauspicious beginning in the warehouse of MetroMail in 1984. But after doing a series of promotions for the lettershop business, he was appointed vice president of operations for a lettershop in Vermont in 1989.
Experian bought MetroMail in 1998, and he joined the Experian North American Operating Board, where he worked until leaving the firm in 2002. He then invested in a small software company focusing on driving the retail side of the eyewear industry, but recently sold this company to a multinational conglomerate.
