Bronto Gets Scrappy With Andrew Kordek

Last week I was interviewed by Andrew Kordek of the blog the Scrappy Email Marketer. Great conversation with someone who really understands email marketing.  Much of the interview was also about our approach toward our customers — open, transparent and truly committed to their success. It’s in our DNA and we think essential for anyone trying to do marketing right.
You can read the article on thescrappyemailmarketer.com or inline here:

Wilma…give me a Bronto Burger please.
December 5, 2008 by thescrappyemailmarketer

A few weeks ago I put out an APB to all ESP’s to contact me as I would like to interview them for my blog. Bronto was only 1 of 2 ESP’s that contacted me and I was sure glad they did.

Once our schedules synched I had the pleasure of speaking with Joe Colopy the CEO of Bronto the other week. Imagine my surprise that when I called him, he picked up his phone. A CEO picked up his phone and apparently that is not the only thing that is open and transparent about Bronto…..according to Joe, he does not have an office, but rather sits out in the open with the rest of the Bronto folks. Pretty cool if you ask me.

In any event, I really wanted to know why the name Bronto? He told me that he was fascinated with dinosaurs as a young kid and even thought there really isn’t a Brontosaurus anymore (which isn’t true according to my 7 year old in that the Brontosaurus was actually renamed in 1975 to be called an Apotosaurus) he really wanted a symbol for his company which was physical in nature , but wanted also the ability to empower people in his organization.

So what does the future of email marketing look like in Joe’s eyes. For one he sees a tremendous amount of innovation specifically centered around the integration of social marketing in the B2C space and the near term, the ability for B2B folks to integrate well with lead management systems.

Speaking of social marketing I asked Joe if the integration into email is just hype or is it here to stay. According to him and I agree, its here to stay.

I asked Joe about Bronto and their sweet spot in the marketplace. He indicated that Bronto is a mid market player with a good strategy in play for long tail retailers. His differentiators in the marketplace are the fact that they have experience in the marketplace and their openness and transparency.

Joe and I talked about a lot of other things both personally and professionally and I found him to be really open and honest and truly committed to email marketing which is refreshing to see in the marketplace. I think that he truly cares for the success of his clients and its evidenced by his companies blog and market presence. I follow their blog regularly and interact with with DJ Waldow on occasion and I can truly see why Bronto is who they say they are. They seem to have a tremendous amount of passion for their clients and as an industry as a whole, which truly makes them unique this business. Its rare that you find companies out their that want to help the greater email community and do it selflessly.

One final note, I got my inflatable Bronto in the mail the other week and can’t wait to submit my picture. If you have no idea what I am talking about, ask Bronto as I am sure they will be sure to oblige.