Metspacer Spotlight had the pleasure of sitting down with Mark Goren, founder of 10|20 Marketing. Mark started down his path in marketing when he first attended Concordia University here in Montreal. Then, looking to advance his skill set, he obtained a post-graduate certificate in Copywriting a Humber College in Toronto. During his studies, Mark trained as a copywriter while gaining practical and theoretical experience in advertising.
After working at agencies in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal for the first ten years or so of his career, Mark ventured off to establish himself in social media research and analysis and then launched 10|20 Marketing a few years later. Mark explains, “I started by focusing on market research using social media listening platforms and providing consulting work to help brands learn what audiences were saying about them. Providing these services and giving them reports lead me to work with some major companies, such as Ford Canada and Air Transat. I have since started using another platform that has helped smaller companies gain consumer input through online reviews.”
With two decades of experience behind him, Mark still believes that advertising fundamentals remain unchanged, while the delivery mechanisms and content opportunities have. “Previously in advertising brands were focused on the tagline, what words got the audience excited? What design layout attracts the consumer the most? Today, the ways we send messages to communicate with consumers are more dispersed. As a result, consumers have more power to accept or reject messages that brands are trying to put out there.”
More power is with the public. The creation of content creators and influencers has skyrocketed alone in the last decade. In 2017 alone, 12.9 million brands sponsored influencer posts. As a result, marketing and advertising have changed, and 10|20 Marketing has adapted to it.
“At the end of the day the thing that people trust the most is when they see people like themselves endorse a product or business. The consumer wants to know that the product they are going to use delivers on its promise. Our job is to help companies understand the power of the individual voice. First, we try to make sure they are found online, and then we work on converting more people based on what they find. And often that starts by listening to what people are saying about your business.”
When it comes to working out of the Metspace West Island office, where Mark rents closed office space, he says, “I love being able to get out of the house and have a private spot where I can come to work. I appreciate the team and sense of comradery and family that Cat, Paolo and the staff have built. I’m starting to get to know other members a bit better, even using some of their services. I like that I now can be on my own but not alone.”