ab higher intelligence winter 2008

HIGHERIntelligenceHIGHERIntelligence... from Above & Beyond Marketing

INSIDE:Great Ideas& How WeMake Them Fly!

Winter 2008

PLUS...A&B's ClientsSpeak Out

Gary Minkoff

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Gary Minkoff

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WHO ARE WE?

CAN WE HELP YOU?

HOW WE HELP YOU

OUR EXPERIENCE

OUR PROJECTS

OUR CLIENTS

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OUR RESULTS

CONTACT US

Above & Beyond Marketing

We are a small, dynamic enterprise specializing in marketing and management consulting assignments. We deliver results for marketing/sales organizations by blending insight with appropriately integrated analytic, productivity, communication and information solutions in the areas of business and professional development and client relationship management. We apply this expertise in business to business, business to consumer and non-profit contexts.

Above & Beyond Niches:

WHO ARE WE?

Identifying, designing and completing essential, but "hard to classify" projects;those requiring multi-disciplinary expertise, capabilities, skills or resources Above & Beyond clients’ daily operations

Providing relevant, incisive business intelligence/opportunities to decision-makers of "niche" organizations

Delivering practical strategies and tools for our clients to communicate with their own "niche" target audiences

CAN WE HELP YOU?

1. Is your organization missing important opportunities because of a "disconnect" or "impairment" in: -Customer’s perceptions and awareness of the relevance or value of your products and services -Cross-functional team and external communications related to new product/service introductions/promotions? -Client satisfaction measurement and organization feedback processes?

2. Do you have that "special" instructional, sales or communication tool that you budgeted to complete, but just can’t re-allocate existing staff (or find the person with the right talent) to complete the project?

3. Do you have an interim, finite or periodic need for a product/service development function or a need for an addition to your existing team?

4. Do you need to supplement your "in house" marketing or communications staff-or contract for these services on a case-specific basis?

5. Do you have the in-house resources or talent to research, analyze and communicate the risk/reward of new business models or opportunities?

6. Do you have a need to train staff/constituents/yourself in subjects such as effective event/organization planning promotion and communication? Is a staff member developing and delivering the course for you, or do you have a need for outside expertise? 7. Do you have a specialized niche audience and are unsure about the most effective approach, methods and media to use in targeting your message?

8. Do you have multi-faceted marketing, sales or customer-oriented challenges due to: -Lack of diversity of required in-house skills -Constraints in reallocating sufficient staff time to complete the project?

You may run a division of a large enterprise, you’re a business owner/entrepreneur or you are involved in promoting or developing the resources of a non-profit organization.

Consider us if you answer "yes" to at least one of these questions:YES NO

HOW WE HELP YOUAbove & Beyond Marketing provides you with critical, timely insights by consistently applying a unique combination of:

UnderstandingWe are relentlessly thorough in our research of your situation, helping you identify, articulate and set priorities.

ExperienceWhat’s new to many enterprises today was news to us over 15 years ago; This translates into both increased project efficiencies and savings of your precious resources-time and money! We are challenged by that which is truly new and original-and embrace the opportunity to creatively leverage our knowledge to benefit our clients.

Interdisciplinary Approach/Impressively Diverse ResumeWe provide big-picture, substantive solutions incorporating best practices we have identified, developed and/or adapted from our experience in a wealth of industries, our projects in a wide array of areas and our culture of quality affiliations & relationships.

CommunicationExpect us to speak your language and that of your clients! If not, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what we’ll do to reduce learning curves to become productive. We share our knowledge with you in the form of practical strategies and tools to effectively communicate with your clients, prospects, constituents and stakeholders.

Simplification"Infowhelmed", "technoloaded" and unnecessarily "jargonified"? (Overwhelmed by information, technology overloaded and drowning in jargon?)We are sophisticated technically, yet pragmatic in productive uses of information and technology as part of our solutions development process.

Standards Above & BeyondClient satisfaction is a beginning; Above & Beyond is about exceeding client expectations through unmatched personalized service, commitment to quality, integrity, and flexibility in identifying and delivering the correct application of resources to address client needs and deliver results!

EXPERIENCE IN A WEALTH OF INDUSTRIES

Media "Old & New"

Telecommunications

Computer Hardware/Software

Entertainment

TravelEducation & Training/ Library & Information

Chemical Manufacturing

Cable & Broadcasting

Municipal Government

-Brokerage-Insurance-Financial Planning-Banking-Corporate Finance-Treasury/Cash Management-Mortgage Brokerage-Real Estate Brokerage

-Skilled Nursing/Assisted Living-Hospital-Pharmaceutical

(with a "subspecialty in marketing to "Kosher" audiences)

Financial Services

Healthcare

Food

OUR PROJECTS

Customer Relationship Management/Quality AssuranceBusiness Model/Operational Feasibility and Competitive AssessmentsSales -Professional Development -Organizational Effectiveness -Administration & OperationsMarket ResearchTechnology Assessments/DeploymentProduct/Service Documentation/Materials DevelopmentProposal/Plan writingPresentation DevelopmentAdvertisingSponsor DevelopmentMarketing Communications/Collateral DevelopmentTeaching/InstructingProduct DevelopmentDirect MarketingMedia Analysis/PlanningNon-profit Management/Governance/Development/PromotionPublic RelationsSpecial Event Planning/Management/PromotionAssociation ManagementFinancial AnalysisOperations ManagementIndustrial Hygiene/SafetyHuman Factors Engineering/ErgonomicsTechnical Support for Litigation

PROJECT AREAS IN WHICH WE HAVE WORKED

OUR CLIENTSA CULTURE OF QUALITY AFFILIATIONS & RELATIONSHIPS

Our clients, professional affiliations and the prior employers of our President and Chief Solution Officer-Gary Minkoff, are

a selective and admired group of enterprises, including:

AT&TAmerican Express

Bell AtlanticBell Laboratories

CiticorpMerrill Lynch

MonsantoRutgers University

S.B. ThomasSmith Barney

SmithKline BeechamTime Warner

OUR RESULTS

THE CLIENT:Time Warner CitycableThis division of the world’s largest media company is the industry leader in cable advertising sales.

OUR ASSIGNMENT...a multi-phase project including: Designing and implementing a study to collect market intelligence/quality assurance data from a database of existing/prior clients Developing a package of "testimonials" as a "point of sale" tool with prospective clients Analyzing/Communicating results/providing incisive recommendations for sales/sales operations process enhancements Designing/Conducting training to familiarize the staff with the project’s purpose and results, as well as to provide market-based recommendations to enhance their productivity and teach effective use of their new sales tool.

THE CLIENT'S APPRAISAL:


OUR RESULTS


THE CLIENT:First American MortgageThis locally owned and operated boutique mortgage company is a market leader in Pennsylvania, primarily servicing over 2,000 real estate agents in annual transactions totaling several hundred million dollars.

OUR ASSIGNMENT...• Business intelligence, operational/quality assurance research to improve market share • Provided recommendations/training to enhance: communications of benefits/availability of products, relationship management, perceived/actual quality of loan processing • Conceived, developed operational specifications/associated training and collateral materials, and managed the implementation of a loyalty program/priority service platform to reward existing top clients and provide incentives for increased agent referrals• Created innovative technique to support sales coaching for improved loan officer productivity


Initially, some members of our new partnership, who were unfamiliar with your work, felt we would be better served by taking the “safe route”; that is, retain a mortgage industry specialist, presumably with a track record of results to match.

However, your success with our predecessor firm, which gave us a range of insights and strategies to help us improve our market share, and in particular, focused us on the need to transform our approach and staffing for our client service function was crucial in our decision to retain you again. Notably, the improvement in our client service function was essential in positioning us to successfully absorb the substantial growth in loan volume we have experienced as the company expands.

In the midst of a mortgage market characterized by a huge slowdown in real estate transactions and rising interest rates, one in which volumes are shrinking and many of our competitors are simply closing their doors or desperately seeking merger partners, we are stronger than ever. You deserve much credit for the innovative, incisive and often, common-sense recommendations you made during your most recent engagement, while spearheading the implementation of your recommendations with attention to all the critical details. You focused us on some tough, but necessary decisions that have enabled us to re-energize relationships and drive significant growth in our loan volume from key referral sources. Additionally, we see enormous value in the FAMOne loyalty initiative that you conceived, passionately advocated and carefully implemented. And, the ingenious method you devised for us to conduct quality assurance monitoring of our mobile sales team provides us with a great coaching tool. In summary, your efforts have made a substantive positive impact on our bottom line-which is a tribute to the package of talent, skill, savvy, professionalism and relevant expertise, from our industry and many others, which you applied so successfully for us.

OUR RESULTS


THE CLIENT:New Jersey Clean Communities Council

OUR ASSIGNMENT...Develop and deliver leadership/project management workshops for this organization responsible for litter abatement programs serving the state's 500+ municipalities and 21 counties. The workshops, entitled Talking Trash: Having an Impact When Everyone Seems to be Dumping on You were attended by government officials, public works and environmental/sustainability professionals, and community program leaders.


Your keen interest in environmental issues delighted our audiences when you presented at our regional workshops entitled "Keeping your Community Clean With Little Time and Limited Resources."

The course evaluations rated your training sessions as "excellent."The audience was moved and motivated by your discussion, asking only for more time with you to learn more. We were grateful to have someone of your caliber speak to our audience. Thank you for shar-ing your expertise.

OUR RESULTS


THE CLIENT:Rutgers University's School of Communication Information and Library Studies (SCILS)

Above & Beyond Marketing President Gary Minkoff has served as an Adjunct Instructor and Seminar Leader in the Public Relations and Organization Promotion subject areas.

Gary taught undergraduates the "how to" of Message Design for Public Relations and Organizational Communication by creating a "Public Relations Laboratory"-style learning environment. This "active learning" approach provided students with the PR basics, along with challenging opportunities to apply their knowledge on actual client projects.

One such example is the Rutgers University Library, which engaged a student-run PR agency from the Message Design class to create and implement an integrated promotion to students and faculty intended to enhance the Library’s visibility and communicate the benefits of using Library resources. The University-wide publicity generated for both the project and the class achieved multiple benefits-positive results for a satisfied client, and a group of proud students who convincingly demonstrated their ability to apply the PR skills they acquired in the course.

Rutgers University Librarian

"I'm happy to advise you that the winning entry in the student category of the "Libraries Essay Contest" is a SCILS student…this essay is posted on the Libraries Web-site…and it has been printed in the Libraries' internal publication - The University Librarian's Agenda.

The fact that a SCILS student submitted the #1 entry is a nice epilogue to the story of the different contributions made by SCILS students and faculty to this contest… developed with suggestions from a group of undergraduate students in a SCILS "Message Design" class last semester. Students in this class were grouped into four PR ‘firms’, each of which took on a real client with a real PR challenge.Six students, led by a student 'agency director' and overseen by their instructor, adjunct professor Gary Minkoff, invested six weeks of effort into helping the Libraries' Communications Coordinator… prepare the overall strategy and nuts'n bolts tools for the contest; we were quite pleased with the fruits of their labors…

Please accept my thanks… for (SCILS’) assistance in this contest. It was greatly appreciated."

OUR RESULTS


THE CLIENT:Rutgers University's School of Communication Information and Library Studies (SCILS)

Effective Media Relations and Organization Promotion:A one-day workshop designed for Public Relations and non-Public Relations professionals (for-profit and non-profit) to enhance their media relationship management and event-creation/promotion skills.

"Good practical material I can use…It was excellent! …was interesting and to the point…a lot of participation exercises kept the audience involved"

"The most important benefit for me was learning to write press releases that will grab attention and be deemed newsworthy…"

"I appreciate the amount of hard work that went intopreparing and presenting this program. You were very conscientious in your preparation and did a good job covering a great deal of material in one day…the content and delivery of your presentation got great ratings…"

Participant Appraisals...

Director of Professional Development Studies Program Appraisal...

"Thank you for a very informative, interesting and fun presentation.It's not always easy to sit in a room for 6 hours, but you made it a lot easier!"

OUR RESULTS


THE CLIENT:Track Data Corporation

This leading financial services company provides various market data and related institutional trading services to over half of the top 100 US brokerage firms; the company’s myTrack brokerage is ranked among the top 20 online services.

OUR ASSIGNMENT...To provide a media relations effort to support the re-positioning/re-branding of the myTrack service as The Direct Access Broker.


"We’re a mid-sized firm that doesn’t have the money to try a bunch of projects in the hopes that one or two will succeed. We require "bottom-line oriented" solutions. This tends to bias us against hiring consultants.

The safe choice in this situation would have been to retain a large, well-known, expensive firm with more staff, a "bricks and mortar" operation. We talked to a bunch of them. It was awful...

Dealing with your firm was exactly the opposite. Your firm did an excellent job from the outset in every aspect of this assignment; in detailing and implementing a plan that was tailored to our specific needs and budget, and providing us with appropriate metrics for success. Your virtual organization created the perfect team—one with the necessary expertise, knowledge of our business, and flexibility to deliver highly pro-active and responsive service. So what if one member of the team was located hundreds of miles away? He was there when we needed him. Better to have an experienced virtual team than a larger team of green staffers up the street who are always ready to take us out to lunch.

The bottom-line? You did exactly what you promised—and more. We received great value for our media relations investment, and far better results, than had we retained one of your larger competitors. And we have the measureable results to prove it! Thanks."

OUR RESULTS


THE CLIENT:WorldGate Communications

This company is a pioneer and industry leader in the emerging business of interactive television.

OUR ASSIGNMENT...To create a web-based Local Advertising Sales Guide for cable advertising salespeople which would "demystify" the perceived complexity and technology of interactive advertising. There was a critical need to create interest among advertising salespeople, and focus their attention on the economic benefits to advertisers specifically using the WorldGate iTV service.


We wanted to take a leadership role in our industry by introducing a superior sales support tool that would properly complement our innovative technology. This project was extremely difficult, because it demanded a team with the comprehensive skills and expertise to effectively "bridge" many technical, creative, communication, media and sales-related disciplines. We were very pleased with the way Above and Beyond was able to integrate your knowledge with our needs. These skills were the key to helping us achieve our goal to effectively communicate the many business benefits and competitive advantage of our service, in a way that can be easily understood and applied by local cable advertising salespeople.

This solution allows us to amplify our focus on providing added value to our affiliates, by giving them something both practical and unique to help them achieve their business goals. You and your team are the consummate professionals; you completed the project with proactive, responsive service, while continuously providing us with keen insights to ensure that we could deliver exactly what we sought—a very usable finished product with relevance to our target audience.Thank you for rewarding our confidence in your abilities-our Local Ad Sales Guide is definitely one of our Media Services Group’s top achievements!

OUR RESULTS


THE CLIENT:Cabletelevision Advertising Association of New YorkThis is a 14 -year old non-profit professional development organization for local cable advertising sales organizations in the New York Designated Market Area (DMA). One of only 2 such organizations in the country, it’s the only one in the New York area. Members include over 2 dozen major cable TV networks such as A&E/The History Channel, CNN, Discovery Networks, ESPN, Lifetime, MTV, MSNBC, USA and The Weather Channel as well as cable operating companies Adelphia Cable, Cablevision, Comcast, RCN, and Time Warner Cable.

OUR ASSIGNMENT...Association Managment including:


Membership has increased by nearly 35% during our tenuredespite a major regional consolidation within the industry.

"You are unique in "sizing-up" almost any business situation and instinctively seeing the outcomes of alternative scenarios. We are successful today primarily because you consistently develop and implement appropriate solutions and programs with unsurpassed attention to detail. We are proud of the excellent decision we made to retain you."

Member developmentPublic/media relations

Event planning & organizationDeveloping a consensus for strategic direction & implementing the initiatives adopted by the Board of Directors

CONTACT US

We invite you to contact us to review how we can help youtake your enterprise Above & Beyond using our own brandof Higher Intelligence. For further information contact:

Gary MinkoffPresidentAbove & Beyond Marketing

Phone 732-777-6892Fax 732-777-6893email [email protected]