Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenifer Kramer.
Hi Jenifer, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Thank you so much for having me. I’m honored!
I started my career in advertising and quickly realized it wasn’t a good fit. In looking for new opportunities, I had a recruiter who specialized in advertising who had ONE job that wasn’t in the industry. That job was a low-level account management role in the brand development group of Hearst Magazines. I interviewed, fell in love with the overall concept and started the rest of my (business) life very soon after that.
Within a few years, I decided I wanted to focus more on the kids’ licensing business and went to work at a company that managed the Teletubbies and Eloise (among others) and after about a year and a half, was recruited by Avon Products to manage their toy business. This job allowed me to travel to Asia for trend shopping and factory tours and really taught me the ins and outs of toy development and marketing. After about a year of dating my then-boyfriend long distance NYC to LA, I decided to make the move to Los Angeles and got a job at the Agency of Record for Burger King managing BK’s kids’ meal calendar. A year later, I was promoted and managed all the agency’s Clients including Embassy Suites, Kohl’s Cares for Kids and 23 of the top 25 department stores including Macy’s. From there, I jumped to a competitor where I sold premiums to most of the studios and entertainment entities before taking a quick detour into the digital space at an online advertising platform called SocialVibe. (Yes, I see the irony in coming full circle back to advertising. LOL) When my position at this start-up was eliminated after 15 months or so, I decided to launch my own consulting business with the goal of developing licensing and promotional programs and wrapping them in digital. The rest, as they say, is history…
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Many licensing and even promotional consultants don’t require a retainer, but as a solopreneur, every minute of my workday counts and must be profitable. I try to keep my retainers reasonable and adhere to my company motto “We go above and beyond.” I charge Clients not by the hour but by the target, meaning that we jointly select an agreed-upon number of companies and brands at the beginning of a project that we agree align with the Client’s brand and which may lead to a successful and symbiotic collaboration. Then, I systematically call on the targets over time until I get responses. Once I have someone interested, I will nurture the relationship until a deal is negotiated and a contract executed before turning it over to my Client for program execution. I generally explain this process very clearly at the beginning of discussions with any new potential Client and usually, it works out for both parties. There have, however, been a few incidents where the Client didn’t hold realistic expectations for what was possible in a given time frame or for a certain expenditure. Thankfully, this has only happened about three times in nearly a decade. I’m proud to be able to state that most of my Clients have either stayed with me for an extended period and/or have come back and hired me again in the future when other new opportunities have arisen that they wanted to explore. For example, I have been with Crayola for almost a decade and was with my BEYBLADE Client for about 4.5 years.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My specialty is brokering partnership programs between big brands (mostly for kids and families) and CPG and QSR companies. I like to say I am a “matchmaker for brands.” I have pretty strong relationships with most of the agencies handling the QSR Kids’ meal programs and maintain regular contact with most of the large CPGs including Kellogg, Kraft, General Mills and many others. Past programs have included a Crayola cereal with Kellogg, a BEYBLADE Kids’ meal program at McDonald’s and online sweepstakes giveaways between GoGo squeeZ and Learning Resources and between LEGOLAND and Welch’s Fruit Snacks. I would estimate that in the 10 years I have been in business, I have brokered almost 60 different partnerships and have generated millions in dollars of fees for my various Clients. In terms of what sets me apart, I would say my tenacity and resilience. I often joke that I am like the Energizer Bunny – I just keep going and going and going. No matter what obstacles are thrown in my way, I always try to figure out a way around them or another way to achieve my and my Client’s ultimate goals.
What were you like growing up?
As a kid, I was a self-proclaimed “goody two shoes.” I never broke the rules and always did what I was told. I usually had my nose in a book and was constantly doing extra credit assignments in school. I was “friends” with many of my teachers. On the extracurricular front, I loved to act and sing and, as a very little girl, put on plays with my brother for our family. I was very girly and refused to wear jeans and my bedroom was decorated with satin hanging pillows, rainbows and unicorns. I loved movies and TV shows and would sneak out of bed late at night to watch TV after bedtime. I was also known to read under the blankets with a flashlight. It’s no wonder I ended up in Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jenerositymarketing.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenerosityMarketing
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jenerositymktg
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/jenerositymktg/
