Mark Harrington, Senior Vice President Of Marketing, Ecount Harrington joined Ecount, an electronic payment solution provider, in September, after five years at the Internet company he cofounded, Half.com.
Q. How has your experience as an online marketer benefited you at Ecount? A. Because of the instantaneous results the Internet provides, online marketers have to react more quickly than traditional marketers. Because Ecount leverages the Internet as a powerful medium to do business, speed and adaptation are two essential characteristics [for achieving success].
Q. What differences exist in the relationship between sales and marketing teams at online companies versus that at non-Internet-based organizations? A. The major difference with companies that do business online is that marketing, driven by instantaneous online results, tends to play a stronger role with prospecting and supporting sales efforts.
Q. When success is largely incumbent on people changing behaviors and attitudes, is marketing's goal to build a brand name or drive sales? A. They are each very important and ultimately reliant on each other. By driving sales and employing an ingredient branding strategy, we are also building the Ecount brand.
Q. Half.com was acquired by eBay in 2000. From a marketing perspective, what were the advantages and challenges of affiliation with the eBay name? A. In addition to stability and instant credibility, eBay gave Half.com an incredible community and resource base to leverage. The biggest challenge was having our success measured against eBay's.
Q. With Ecount's offering being an electronic-based solution, what level of importance do you give online advertising? A. I am a big believer in online advertising. Again, those instantaneous results indicate which approaches are working, and allow you to continually optimize and control your efforts. Also, it allows you to attract users who are already where you need them to be — online.
RSS