Stefanie Pont, founder and managing partner of Pont Media Direct, is the DMA’s List Leader of the Year.
During her two-plus decades in the industry, Pont has held positions with several blue-chip marketing, list brokerage and management companies, including Millard Group, Paradysz Matera and Boardroom Inc. Before starting her firm, she was vice president and corporate media director for Euro RSCG-Brann North America from 2000 to 2004.
The award is a fitting tribute for someone so enamored of the list industry that her wedding invitation mimicked a 6-by-9-inch direct mail package, complete with lift note, “I accept”/“I decline” stickers, a letter and a “fast 50” device offering DM premiums to the first 50 respondents.
“We actually had people throw the invitation out because they thought it was junk mail,” Pont recalls. She and her fiancé ended up doing a phone-based recapture campaign. “We had an 85% net.”
One of the fast 50 respondents was DMA Hall of Famer C. Rose Harper, who won a little AOL hat which she wore on top of her bouffant hairdo, Pont says.
Pont cites Harper, along with Bob Castle (both of whom were past List Leaders) as significant influences. “Rose taught me to deal only with people I respected, regardless of their position. And Bob would always say ‘Never stop learning. You never know everything.’ Bob had the most expansive mind. When I had a dilemma, I would call Bob and say, ‘I don’t know how to do this,’ and he would say ‘Sure you do, kiddo!’” As it turned out, Castle was right.
Pont also has given a considerable amount of time and energy to professional organizations. Between 1999 and 2003 she served as chair of the Direct Marketing Association’s List and Database Council — the longest tenure of any chair in the council’s history. And in 1995, as an operating committee member, she created the List/Database Young Professionals Series, which provides educational opportunities to those new to the list business.
“I think education is the most important thing we can do,” Pont says.
Pont chaired the DMA’s List Vision (formerly List Day) events in 1997, 2001 and 2004. She’s held a seat on the Direct Marketing Club of New York’s operating board and now serves as special events/DMA liaison chair for the List and Database Council.
Her peers tout Pont’s reputation for inspiring excellence in the list business. Deb Goldstein, president of IDG List Services and 2005’s List Leader, says their conversations often focus on service within the marketing community.
“She has a strong sense of customer service,” Goldstein says. “She’s a touchstone for me in terms of making sure my company comes up to her standards.”
Pont’s love for direct marketing has even made its way into her personal life: She’s married to veteran circulation, direct response and analytics figure Stuart Jordan. The couple share their home with Onyx, a “pitprador” — a Labrador/pit bull mix — that Pont describes as a 75-pound lap dog. They live in Norwalk, CT.
Network
