The New Normal is the Old Normal: People and Personalities

I think personalities drive many businesses and many business segments. I don’t have any scientific proof of this, but—based on my experience—it just seems to be the way of the world. Some examples perhaps will provide proof of concept: Steve Jobs, Apple; Tom Watson, IBM; Larry Ellison, Oracle; Mort Zuckerman, U.S. News and World Reports; and Rupert Murdock, News Corp.

Do you agree, disagree?

Larry Kimmel is the personality of integrated marketing. Long ago, Larry may have been called a renaissance man, but today, he is an integrated man—a guy with many facets, many talents and many ways of getting his message across.

His opening remarks at the recent DMA All for One Event, held in New York City, were a clear example of his leadership and his business and personal integration into a field that needs both. Larry’s role as the CEO of the DMA is to me the right person at the right time.

Not to kiss up to Larry, but I would like to meet him all the same. He seems to be as diverse as the media he hawks.

The opening speech he gave was not your typical “welcome to the event” stuff, but was an interesting montage of what we need to do and how to accomplish it. He also defined, in part, the tools to make it happen—all done in less then 30 minutes. With no boring charts, graphics or silly images, his presentation was a creative, visual treat and simple, but right on target.

I have been told that his speech will be posted on the DMA website in the next few weeks. the-dma.org. Larry ended his opening remarks with a story about his dog, Sadie, with this personal story being an interesting presentation about communicating with your market.

Larry was the consumer; his dog the market. When the market needed a walk, Sadie knew how to get the consumer out of a warm bed (Larry says he shares his bed with his computer and dog). Larry eventually gets back into bed and everyone seems to be happy (happy at 4:30 in the morning is in itself a variable term).