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Lanzano Preaches Four P’s

Feb 14, 2007  •  Post A Comment

In an ad world filled with hard-to-define buzzwords such as engagement and activation, Steve Lanzano sums up his approach to the business with the four P’s.
“Our business comes down to four very simple things,” said Mr. Lanzano, who was promoted to chief operating officer of MPG U.S. last month. “People, that’s the most important thing, product, performance and there’s another thing called profit.”
A key part of his job will be ensuring that the agency staff has the right combination of talent and skills, and that they’re put in position to make them successful and the agency successful. “To me, our product is our people,” he said.
“But you know, at the end of the day, we have to really continue to put the client in the center of our universe,” he said. What do clients want? “Much of it is about consumer insights, how do we find greater ways to reach our customers and how do we find a better way to measure our return on investment.”
MPG already has sophisticated econometric modeling systems and recently hired Joe Abruzzo as executive VP and director of research to help measure returns on advertising investments. But to Mr. Lanzano, the bottom line is simple: “I invest a certain amount of money into a certain marketing program; what kind of return do I get on it.”
Mr. Lanzano, who had been general manager of MPG’s New York office, may be old school in some ways, but he’s looking at new ways of organizing the buying process.
“We all talk about communications planning, but no one talks about communications buying, and are we set up to buy that way,” he said. “I think many agencies are still set up for buying in the traditional way, which has been going on for 40 years now, and I’m not sure that’s the way we should be set up to buy.”
Right now most agencies have spot buyers, print buyers and outdoor buyers. He thinks a more vertical structure might be called for. He’ll be taking a hard look at the structure, but he doesn’t have a time frame for when he wants to make changes.
“It’s a progression, a longer-term thing that we come up with what we think is the best buying structure and then we start implementing it. It might be on a client-by-client basis, and then that it gets its own momentum like a snowball going down the hill. I think it will keep evolving.”
Mr. Lanzano grew up in Nyack, N.Y., and went to Seton Hall College, where he played third base on the school’s famed baseball team, which produced Major League stars Mo Vaughn, Craig Biggio and Rick Cerone.
He majored in journalism and planned to be a reporter until he took an elective in media planning and found he liked it. He got an internship with Katz Communications and a career in advertising was born.
Mr. Lanzano worked at NW Ayer, Ogilvy & Mather, Ammirati & Puris, FCB and MediaEdge:CIA before joining MPG in 2003. Last year the agency added several new clients, including Dannon, E-surance, Hershey, Exxon Mobil, Pearlevision and Blue Cross/Blue Shield.
Outside the office, Mr. Lanzano watches his kids play sports. Daniel, his oldest, plays baseball at Wagner College. A pitcher, “He’s better than his father” and a potential pro prospect.
Daughter Michelle is a senior in high school who gave up gymnastics and is now captain of her cheerleading squad. “She’s a very good athlete,” Mr. Lanzano said.
Ten-year-old Thomas is a good athlete too. “He keeps me young at heart,” Mr. Lanzano said.
Who knew? Mr. Lanzano is part Native American. “I have a third cousin who is an Ogawa Sioux chief. He said he jokes with his uncle that he should have opened a casino. His kids are the last generation that would be considered Native American. It’s something they’re proud of,” he said.

9 Comments

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