Carlson Marketing Group last month
tapped Jim Schroer, a former executive with Auburn Hills,
Mich.-based DaimlerChrysler, to serve as its new president. M&C
spoke with Schroer shortly after his appointment to the
Minneapolis-based incentive giant.
M&C: As a former client of
Carlson, what made you want to work for the company?
Schroer: Carlson does a fabulous job with dealer
motivation programs. In November 2002, Chrysler was in deep trouble
it was just after the merger with Daimler. Carlson ran the dealer
program that year, and the participants gave better scores in their
confidence in the product, firm, etc., than they’d given when Lee
Iacocca ran the company. Carlson played a key role in boosting
DaimlerChrysler dealers’ motivation. That drives the bottom line,
and it worked for me, so I’d like to see other firms use incentive
and motivation programs, too.
M&C: What are the biggest
challenges facing Carlson’s clients today?
Schroer: Our clients used to spend the bulk of
their dollars on advertising, and whatever was left over was put
into sales and marketing. As we go forward, I think U.S. industry
is morphing from an ad business into the marketing services
business.
M&C: What are Carlson’s present
challenges?
Schroer: To be the “best in class” provider at the
least possible cost. To that end, we’re further developing
web-based systems for incentives and meetings that can be used for
multiple clients in different types of businesses.