Ben Grossman '06 talks about his family business, Grossman Marketing Group (GMG), how the company continues to evolve with the times, and his work in sustainability.

1.  Tell us about Grossman Marketing Group and what makes your products/service different?
Our business is a fourth-generation family firm headquartered in Somerville, MA, two miles from Boston.  The business is in its 100th year – it was founded by my great-grandfather, Max Grossman, in 1910, as Massachusetts Envelope Company.  Although we still derive a significant portion of our revenues from envelopes and direct mail materials (for clients including Google, the National Park Foundation and Zipcar), our business has evolved over the past century to meet the changing needs of our clients.  In recognition of our diversified product mix and our expanded geographic reach (aside from Massachusetts, we have personnel in Connecticut, New York, and Washington DC), we changed our name from MassEnvelopePlus to Grossman Marketing Group in June 2006.  We have a rapidly-growing graphic design agency, as well as commercial printing and promotional products businesses.  We also have expanded into electronic marketing, with the investment last year in a Massachusetts - based online rewards and incentives provider, Consolidated Marketing Services.

2.  What makes you most proud about what you offer to consumers?
From its inception, GMG has focused on innovation and responsiveness to customers’ needs. One early example of the company’s creativity a century ago: a pay envelope that recent immigrants could use to send a portion of their wages to relatives back in their homeland.

In addition to developing creative approaches to solving our clients’ marketing needs, we have a relentless focus on customer service.  We aim to make the process easy – so that our clients know that they can depend on us.  As a result, we have customer retention rates that far exceed the industry average.

3.  What have consumers/media said about Grossman Marketing Group?
Over the past several years, we have been lucky to receive positive news coverage as well as industry awards for our client projects as well as our dedication to serving the communities in which we operate:

-In 2006, we were featured in Time Magazine for our early and vocal support of paid family leave for employees of organizations

-In 2008, we were featured by Forbes for our leadership in the green marketing space

-Earlier this year, we were given a Green Business Award by the Boston Business Journal for our work bring sustainable practices to the printing and marketing industry

-Most recently, I was recognized by the New England Direct Marketing Association as their 2009 Prodigy award winner, given to the member of the New England marketing community who they believe has added the most to the art and science of direct marketing before they turn 30 years old (I will be 29 in July).

4.  How has the “green movement” changed your business model?
I launched our firm’s Green Marketing & Sustainability Practice soon after joining our company in 2006, recognizing that due to trends in the marketplace, the demand for green products would rise, and so would marketing services that help organizations send a values-laden message to their constituents that they are good stewards of the environment.  Our green initiatives helped boost our envelope sales by 20% in 1 year – in a 100-year-old business line, operating in a very mature marketplace.

We recommend that once clients make the decision to make their collateral more environmentally-friendly, they clearly articulate this to their constituents. We work with our clients to translate the environmental savings into very simple and easy-to-understand terms so their customers can fully grasp the positive contributions they are making to the environment.

5.  What impact has your Columbia MBA education had in the way you approach business today?
My Columbia MBA has had a significant impact on my approach to business.  First off, I will always remember when Dean Hubbard addressed the Columbia Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO) during the first week of our first year and explained that to be an entrepreneur doesn’t mean that you need to start a company.  Rather, you need to be able to identify opportunities and then capture them.  

In addition, the entire Entrepreneurship department was very helpful and had a significant impact on me.  This includes the staff as well as the professors, most notably Professor Cliff Schorer, who in his Launching New Ventures course, taught us how to approach the development of a new business plan.

In addition, I learned a great deal in Professor Michael Preston’s Managing The Growing Company course that I put to use almost immediately, ranging from strategic planning efforts to lessons learned from family business speakers.  I have had the privilege of returning to campus each of the past two years with my older brother, David, to speak in Prof. Preston’s Family Business Management course.

6.  How do you use the internet/social networks to promote your business?
I’m a regular blogger on green marketing and green business issues.  In addition to serving as a powerful marketing tool for our sales force, I’m excited that clients of our firm have begun to request to serve as guest bloggers on work they are doing within their organizations.

In addition, I leverage Twitter (personally @bigrossman and for the company @grossmanmktg) to build new connections as well as communicate with our clients and prospects.

7.  We are living in an economically challenging time. How is your company weathering?  
The economy is very difficult – my father, Steve, who has run the company since he left Goldman, Sachs & Co in 1975, believes it is the toughest economy our company has faced during his tenure – and we’re looking to manage costs without hampering our ability to do business.  We’re particularly proud of the fact that we haven’t had to make any cuts to our approximately 100 - member staff this year.

We have worked hard to communicate with our clients that we are fiscally strong and will continue to be there for them to meet their increasingly-complex needs.  Staying in close contact with our customers, although always important, is especially crucial in this environment.

8.  Have you observed any changes in the way products like yours are marketed in this economy?
The best way to market our products is still one-to-one sales, as clients are not buying a widget but rather a relationship that will likely last for years.  However, social media as well as working to showcase our firm as thought and practice leaders (through blogs, speaking engagements, etc) is a way to bring inbound leads to our organization.

9.  How has the Columbia entrepreneurial community supported you?  
The entrepreneurial community has been very supportive – whether it’s inviting me back to speak or The Lang Center team featuring the work we’re doing on Twitter and FaceBook, they have made it clear that they want to do everything they can to help me and my business thrive.

In addition, I’m proud to have provided other alumni entrepreneurs with marketing services, most notably alumnus Arnold Leitner and his solar energy firm, SkyFuel.

10.  What advice would you give to a graduating Columbia student with entrepreneurial aspirations in this climate?

Do not be deterred from pursuing entrepreneurial ideas - the business world is in flux right now, and there are so many opportunities out there to to capture.  I would suggest that prospective entrepreneurs survey the marketplace and seek the counsel of those they respect, to try to best refine their plans.

In addition, due to the growth in Web 2.0 tools, they will be able to build an online presence with little capital investment – so they can deploy their cash to develop the products and services that will help differentiate themselves versus their competition.

11.  What’s next for GMG?
We will continue to build our sustainability practice, and have received requests from clients to work with them on a consulting basis.  That said, I’ll be working with a summer intern over the next several months to build a business plan for a sustainability strategy consulting group.  I promise more will follow on this!

In addition, we will continue to build out our online services and will look for potential acquisitions to help us build market share in our local markets in the near term.

12.  What’s next for Ben Grossman?
I will continue to stay involved with Columbia Business School in a significant way – I currently serve as the President of the Alumni Club of Boston, and have really enjoyed getting to know prospective students and new alums as they enter our community.

I am also working with the local city government where our business is located to develop plans for an incubator space for entrepreneurs.  Somerville is 2 miles from MIT and Harvard, and I believe if the right incentives are developed, highly-talented entrepreneurs will want to build their businesses in our city.

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