Silver Apples 2021

Each year the DMCNY presents its highly distinguished Silver Apple Awards to select professionals who have spent at least 25 years in marketing and who not only have excelled in their careers, but also have generously contributed their talents and time to the marketing industry. We’ll be introducing you to the 2021 honorees over the next few weeks, in advance of DMCNY’s annual Silver Apples gala on November 4, 2021, at Edison Ballroom in New York. 

Meet…

Mack Burnett III
Business Architect and Growth Hacker
Powerful Impact

Mack Burnett III is a strategic growth-focused marketer with an intense intellectual curiosity for what’s next. He loves both the craft of marketing and the data that underpins it. He considers marketing to be a calling, and asserts that the love of the craft is what makes a great marketer. His love for marketing has led to significant growth at several organizations, including Parent Media Group, where he managed more than 8 million customers and helped to increase revenues by 12-15% year over year.

Burnett, who also serves as an adjunct professor at New York University and a volunteer instructor at Girls Who Code, generously shares his expertise with students and mentees—and is launching his own nonprofit called Mini-Marketers to encourage middle school, high school, and college students to learn the business and craft of marketing.

What initially drew you to marketing?

I got a job as a mailman after high school. I ran away from dogs by day and went to college at night. I got a degree in programming and then a job building these amazing products that nobody would use. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on these products. It made no sense to me.

I was also doing graphic design and started to think about marketing the products. I loved the technology and programming but not the whole “sitting in the backroom” aspect of the job because I like working with people. And building these products no one was using made no sense. So, I started studying marketing and fell in love with the craft of it. That love of marketing has evolved in studying consumer behavior and business growth.

Tell us about a career highlight or turning point.

Back before the iPad, I built something called the digital real estate window, a touchscreen kiosk. I got a lot of press, including articles in The Wall Street Journal and Black Enterprise. I also got a lot of business from it, but overhead was eating 95% of revenue. So, we were making a lot of money and not keeping it—and then the 2008 crash came. The upside was I reevaluated everything and restructured my business to focus on solving customer problems cost-effectively and profitably, where it’s a win-win for everybody. That moment of failure was transformative for my career and created all the success I have today.

What excites you most about marketing right now?

More and more people are getting smarter about marketing. And, more and more, I’m seeing fads burning out and people getting to the brass tacks of customer journey marketing. They’re not focused on channel-centric tactics like just Facebook ads or just SEO. They’re thinking about marketing more strategically—which is great for the industry and for the craft of marketing.

Share a treasured mentee story.

A dean of my college recommended a very smart young man for a job. Mozart. Brilliant guy. He came in and became my righthand man, doing everything, and after a while was pretty much running the business. Then he left abruptly. I didn’t know why, and I was so disappointed because he was so talented.

Years went by and I ran into him. He had spent time working at a bank, but he was back in the craft, working at Grey Advertising and fully into marketing. He said, “Thank you for giving me an opportunity. I’ve worked at all these big firms, but the best work I did was working with you.”

I realized right then that I was doing so much more than marketing. The passion we bring to our craft has an impact on people’s lives. Marketing isn’t just a job for me. I want other people to be inspired about the craft, too. So, I try to add value to people’s lives over and above marketing outcomes.

Share a favorite data story. 

I live in data. When people ask me, “What do you think?” I don’t guess; I say, “Let’s see what the data tells us.” I want to tell the story with data.

A few years ago, when I was working at an agency, I had a trade school client that my boss insisted I sell on purchasing a new website from us. But I wasn’t going to do that. So, I looked at the data, met with them a few times, and recommended that we add analytics and heat mapping to their current site. We learned that 65% of his traffic was on mobile, but his site wasn’t optimized for mobile. I showed him the data and he wrote the check for mobile site optimization the same day.

What’s your go-to marketing metric?

I’m a conversion rate optimization nerd—because if I can convert more qualified people earlier on in a user journey, I can amplify the results without spending any more money. Along with that, I’ve gotten good at testing friction, because sometimes it’s better to slow walk people through a process to get that higher conversion rate. I also watch bounce rate and time on page; there are a lot of variables that impact conversion rate: messaging, traffic, offers. Conversion rate is where the rubber meets the road.

What’s one piece of advice for someone just starting out in marketing?

Learn as much as you can. Find a mentor, learn from them, and then find your own way—because you won’t be able to duplicate what they did. But you can use their success as a North Star.

Also, try everything and then find the right discipline for you, where you can be unique, special, fantastic; find your own sweet spot and go after it.

What was the best piece of business advice you’ve received? 

The best piece of advice I ever received was from one of my college mentors, Dr. Les Edmonds. He said to learn the language of your craft or discipline, so you can speak intelligently to those in the industry who are more established. This will help you be respected and accepted.

We often speak in acronyms. If you don’t learn the lingo, you can’t sit at the table.

Do you have either a personal motto or an inspiring quote that guides you?

Yes, I do. My go-to motto is “BGH”: I am blessed, grateful, and hungry. I appreciate what I have. I feel blessed. I feel grateful for everything that I’ve accomplished. But I’m super hungry for more. And that’s what keeps me going.

What’s something surprising about you? 

I want to learn how to fly and get my pilot’s license. Also, I have the guilty pleasure of sci-fi movies and reality TV.

What are a few of your interests outside work? 

I love to travel; I can get on a plane and go anywhere. I’m very much into my friends and family. And I like to read a lot. But the funny thing is, I mostly read about business and marketing.

What’s your hidden skill? 

I have the uncanny ability to remember facts, figures, numbers, and data around work. I have a bank of information that I can pull up instantly, but I can’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday and I’m terrible with names.

About the Author

Ginger Conlon, editorial advisor at DMCNY’s MKTGinsight, catalyzes change in marketing organizations. Ginger is editor-in-chief of MediaVillage and president of DMCNY. She is a frequent speaker on marketing and customer experience, and serves in advisory or leadership roles for several industry organizations. Ginger was honored with a Silver Apple lifetime achievement award for her contributions to the marketing industry.​

Find her at @customeralchemy and on LinkedIn