Legend Interview: Ronald C. Pruett, Jr.

Ronald C. Pruett, Jr. @ronaldcpruettjr, is the Managing Partner of The Boston Associates, advisors to equity and enterprise. He operates and advises direct to consumer (DTC) brands, digital media and TV platforms, entertainment commerce companies, and their investors worldwide.

Global experience across launch, growth, acquisition and turnaround stages: Founder, CEO, CMO, Board Director and Advisor roles, for leading publicly traded and privately backed marketing-led companies and consumer internet brands.

He graduated with a B.A. (Honors) in International Relations and Political Science from Trinity College in Connecticut and received his M.B.A. from the école Européenne des Affaires (now ESCP Europe), a French Grande école located in Paris, France where he graduated as Valedictorian.

 Budd: How did you get into the direct marketing industry?

Ronald C. Pruett, Jr: I literally fell into direct marketing via direct response - an industry I should say that I never knew existed. In fact, when I went to business school in the early '90s (in France which may explain it) we never had specific courses called "Marketing". The closest to it was Industry Analysis which was related in that we studied pricing, positioning and promotion but under the guise of reviewing industries. Clearly in the US, great schools like Northwestern were steeped in the worlds of marketing and advertising, but most programs were not. It could be that in France, the home of most of the world's best luxury brands, superior marketing was just a given - so why study it? Either way, the international career I had led me into the venture business in the States, and then quickly getting hooked on this new thing called the Internet. And, more specifically, it was around this time, now the later 90's, that the notion of developing consumer products and services delivered over the Web began in earnest. Most of my colleagues at the time thought I was insane for jumping into this new frontier but, to me, it was compelling. I was quickly hooked and it was around this time that my real pursuit of "marketing" came to be. Then, in the early 2000's as these Dot.coms as they came to be known started to go sideways for their investors. A group of us started to get calls to assist them, often via turnaround. This then led to direct response companies and agencies. I never looked back. There's tremendous talent in the industry, it's growing globally, it's quantitative by definition, and it has led to the development of this new era of direct to consumer DTC brands.

Budd: Whom do you admire?

Ronald C. Pruett, Jr: Well, there are many but overall I've always admired my family and have felt privileged to be the product of many generations of entrepreneurs and truly motivated, contributing citizens. To me, entrepreneurs are creating new high tech companies as well as running small corner stores. This may be one reason I've often migrated toward new ventures or turnarounds, perhaps fearful of and frustrated by static environments.

Budd: What did you study at University?

Ronald C. Pruett, Jr: For my undergraduate, I studied political science and international relations initially under the mistaken belief that I'd be heading to law school. A few summers of running my own businesses during college satisfied my desire to study law and eventually I ended up in Paris, France for graduate school at EAP, now ESCP*.

*ESCP Business School is a prestigious European school of management with campuses in Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid, Turin and Warsaw. In France, ESCP is one of the most selective French Grandes écoles and referred to in France as one of the "Trois Parisiennes" (three Parisians), together with HEC Paris and ESSEC Business School Established in 1819, it is considered as the world's oldest business school Source: Wiki

Budd: Did it help you?

Ronald C. Pruett, Jr: My studies were a tremendous boost to my early career which was largely in emerging markets and attached to an airplane seat. Business school helps shape models in your head and going to class with so many nationalities was hard to beat especially for an American. I still have an endless curiosity for anything global and have an insatiable travel bug. However, I will say that once my career moved toward the Internet, all bets were off. It was the Wild West and no one truly knew where it was headed in 1999, if they do today, so it was really learning on the fly. Great fun really.

Budd: In unusual times we can look back at history for some possible solutions. With your experience what advice do you have for this industry?

Ronald C. Pruett, Jr: I'm actually quite bullish about opportunities in direct marketing worldwide. This extends across all channels though mostly digital of course. If you look at the new DTC companies in the US and Europe as well as the expanding ecommerce platforms, it is apparent we are in a new global game. The USA has Amazon and Walmart of course, amongst many others. There's MercadoLibre in Argentina and expanding north. Jumia in Africa. Flipkart in India (purchased by Walmart). Lazada in Indonesia. Rakuten in Japan. Alibaba and JD of China. These markets are exciting. And new agencies are forming around each of these platforms creating new ecosystems for each. Additional brands will be spawned both locally and nationally in each region. In fact, one outcome from Covid19 might be the advent of stronger local brands. Also quantitatively, so many of these companies are being driven by superior customer information which will improve customer service and experience as well as delivery and logistics. Yes, privacy and regulatory issues will remain. But, longer-term the customers will benefit. 

Budd: The TV Shopping industry faces a serious challenge by changing consumer behaviour and digital retailers such as Amazon. What do you see as the future for TV shopping?

Ronald C. Pruett, Jr: The answer depends upon how one frames the question. Change is inevitable. When I first got into the direct response industry, I was impressed by the entrepreneurs I met and the orientation of the numbers of the agencies and operating teams. The same goes for home shopping. The idea of being able to track real-time results on sales of airings and views was just impressive compared to staid brand advertising. For so long, anything direct response was considered to be the ugly stepchild of traditional marketing. But so many had forgotten that legends like David Ogilvy started in direct marketing. So while great things were happening in the industry across all channels like mail and TV, they were not at the forefront. The likes of Amazon started a ripple of change which has now cascaded. All brands to be successful must master direct marketing. It can no longer be the afterthought. With that said, those experienced in this field, including home shopping, have a leg up on others and this is driven by culture. If you've grown up in an entrepreneurial culture with direct DNA, then there are good times ahead. TV will be a big part of that and now the best TV may originate on a cell phone.

Budd: During your career in the DRTV industry, what is your best memory, top sales accomplishment, proudest moment?

Ronald C. Pruett, Jr: I've been blessed to be on the operating teams of leading directs such as Insurance.com, Liberty Medical and As Seen on TV, advised many others, and have also been on the sets of respected home shopping behemoths like HSN and QVC. This has enabled me to partner and work alongside many tremendous names in the industry and celebrities too. I was always impressed by how approachable and modest most were. It's made me proud to see that the tenets of the industry have now gone mainstream. Being close to your customers will never go out of style and that is the essence of direct marketing.

Budd: How is now different from then?

Ronald C. Pruett, Jr: We're in a challenging time but opportunities are being made. It is back to basics time, especially for the newest of venture-backed Direct To Consumer (DTC) brands. Experience counts more than ever. Ultimately strong foundations for growth have to be built on solid financials and great teams. Talent is the one differentiator that leads to big success and it is hard to replicate should it be lost - like customers. So going forward, the basics of being customer-focused and investing in talent will prevail. Yes, technology will continue to drive efficiencies and effectiveness, but technology has largely created new channels like the Internet and TV before that. The quantitative backbone, the DNA if you will of direct response and direct marketing, is just beginning. 

Budd: Ronald is a warm and engaging friend who is a wealth of executive vision and experience. I have benefitted from his savvy and insightful views on our industry and global business. His strength is an intuitive feel for markets, a feel for global consumers and integration between customer and interactive digital systems. And vitally, he is a confident and open-minded, brave soul ready to take on new and usually challenging, exciting, complex projects.

Ronald C. Pruett, Jr. The Boston Associates, Managing Partner (M) 617.710.3975 Twitter: @ronaldcpruettjr www.BostonAssociates.com https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/ronald-c-pruett-jr-98ba791/

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