Interview: Bonnie Nijst, CEO of Zeesman Communications, Marketing Firm

Bonnie Nijst (pronounced NICEt), is the CEO and President of Zeesman Communications, a marketing, advertising and design firm in Los Angeles that just recently did the ad campaign for the Griffith Observatory’s re-opening, which was in 40 newspapers and 8 different languages, on billboards and bus shelters in English and Spanish, on the radio, in Internet banner ads and email blasts.

Sarah Shewey of Pink Cloud Events had the pleasure of sitting down with Bonnie in their new Beverly Hills office to talk about marketing, the creative process, and of course, parties.

Please tell us about yourself and Zeesman Communications.

I joined Zeesman Communications in 2000. Prior to that I worked in senior management positions at PR Newswire in the 80s, then Medialink in the 90s. We took the company public in 1997, and the last couple of years I worked in client development for Medialink’s corporate communications consulting division, MCTV. In 2000, I went to Internet Wire, a start-up that merged both audio and video in press releases. The company is now called marketwire.com.

I first came in to Zeesman as VP of business development. My job was to grow and diversify the company and to re-position it as a strategic marketing firm. The way we deliver on the marketing strategies that we create for our clients is through advertising, design, direct mail, PR…and the recommendations that we make and the programs we execute really depends on what the client needs to accomplish.

What do you consider good design?

Especially in light of what our company does, good design has to be not only compelling, but strategically on target. Good design by itself is meaningless when we’re trying to accomplish something specific for our clients: whether that’s furthering their brand, whether that’s communicating a message, trying to get someone to take action. So a quirky picture and a funny headline isn’t enough. It has to be on target.

“I’m not an advocate that any attention is good attention; it has to be the right kind of attention.”

Made for MTV's Rap the Vote - with stickers, tattoos, and mailers.

How do you get that “right” attention? Please tell us more about your creative process.

It’s not rocket science. My job is to make sure that the marketing of a company and the creative process makes sense. It really should flow very logically, one thing to the next if you’re asking the right questions. A lot of people will come into a marketing firm like ours and say, “We need a brochure.” And there are plenty of companies that will ask, “OK. How many do you need? What is your budget? By when do you need this?” We eventually get to those questions, but the first thing we ask is, “What is the result that you’re trying to get?” And that’s the beginning of the whole creative process.

"By working with our clients on strategy first, we create the critical underpinnings for everything we do in the future."

I think the misconception is that the creative process is just going away and creating something that looks nice. And you know this from planning an event – what looks nice has to be in context with: who it is that’s going to be coming to the party, what it is you’re trying to communicate about the person who is hosting the party, and what it is you want the guests to do while they are at the party. All of that goes into the planning of a party. It’s not just figuring out the menu and putting up nice decorations and creating an invitation. I think ultimately the creative process is a strategic process. At its heart, it’s a thinking game.

So, your process involves a lot of research.

I can’t invent a company, I can’t invent a brand. I don’t know if you have heard the saying that the worst thing you can do for a company that’s not ready or badly organized is to create a great marketing program because it will only magnify the problems. We look at our job as uncovering what’s authentic about a company and why they’re successful. I’m not going out there looking for unsuccessful companies or companies that aren’t good at what they do. I’m looking for great companies, successful company, who need marketing that’s as good as they are.

“What I really want to do is find out what our clients’ customers really love about them and then market that because that’s who they are and what they deliver every day without even thinking about it.”

Do you find clients or do clients find you?

We try to do things to make sure that we’re easy to find. We’re active in the community, we do advertising and direct mail, we submit our work for awards, we do PR, and we issue press releases. I am also the Los Angeles Chapter President of the National Association of Women Business Owners and that has raised our profile quite a bit.

What’s the best or worst party you’ve been to and why?

I have to say that one of my favorite parties is one that my husband and I do every year. It’s a fundraiser for about 16 people that we auction off at our son’s school. We start eating at 6:30 and end at midnight. It’s a 6 course Indonesian dinner that I start preparing a week in advance. It’s a night without the kids and we sit down and I get to sort of educate our guests about Indonesian food over laughter and wine. So there’s no entertainment - except the conversation - and there’s no decoration - except the batik on the table - but to me, great people, interesting conversation and wonderful food are the heart of a great party.

See more of Zeesman Communications’ work here, on www.zeesman.com

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