Today we meet Melissa Fernandez, senior account executive at Amerilist in Pomona, New York, where she's been for the past three years concentrating on the online and mobile marketing areas.
Before that, she worked in marketing at the Pros, a wedding services company. Why the switch?
"I'd been in marketing for over eight years and I really wanted a chance to get inside consumers' heads and help them develop different marketing communications," she says. "And I saw Amerilist and I thought this was a perfect opportunity since the foundation of the business is database marketing."
Though in the business a relatively short time, she acknowledges the role of the list broker has shifted from what it once was.
"The role of the broker kind of changed," she says. "A lot of the brokers and ad agencies I work with are looking for thoroughly researched list solutions and optimal channel placement based on their objectives. So they don't want [to hear] 'here's your list—and take it and go with it.'"
Even though Amerilist has been doing okay through the economic slump, Fernandez is somewhat cautious about what lies ahead.
"I think people are still gonna be a little bit hesitant to invest a large lump of money," she says. "There's definitely going to be a lot of testing to see where they should invest their dollars."
When not working, Fernandez spends time with her seven-month-old niece. She is pursuing her Masters in Business Administration at Iona College.
"That takes up a lot of my time," she says.
