Lowell Consultants Expand Class Docket

From the basement office of their Lowell home, Kristin and Steven Ferguson built a national name for their multitasking marketing consultation firm, KSFerguson & Co. Inc. Now they want a stronger presence in Northwest Arkansas.

Since 1998, the Fergusons have given semiannual lectures about marketing to corporate executives in Dallas and Chicago auditoriums. Representatives from companies such as Tyson Foods Inc., Pillsbury and Campbell Soup Co. have attended the Fergusons’ corporate Marketing Return on Investment program.

Each person pays $1,600 to attend the two-day corporate programs, and the cost doesn’t include associated travel expenses. The next session will take place this summer in Chicago, and the Fergusons said the trademarked concept has been quite profitable. About 50 people have taken the course, the owners said.

Now KSFerguson & Co. is trying to break into the Northwest Arkansas market by launching a Marketing ROI program that is tailored for local small businesses.

Companies large and small in every industry invest in marketing, Steve Ferguson said, and they all want to earn a high return on those investments.

However, the couple said they didn’t just shrink the corporate-program material to fit in a smaller classroom. The Fergusons researched the small-business market for nearly two years before launching the program in February.

“Businesses in general undervalue marketing,” Kristin Ferguson said. Steven Ferguson added, “We try to get people to recognize the value of developing their marketing.”

Both programs highlight the importance of understanding and taking advantage of the different aspects of marketing, but they target very different clientele.

The corporate Marketing ROI program generally attracts company employees whose résumés include a master’s degree in business administration and 1-5 years of experience, Steve Ferguson said. Product managers and their assistants, account executives and advertising agents are typical attendees for the large-firm program.

In contrast, small businesses cannot usually afford to employ a person or department solely dedicated to marketing. Small-company employees often wear many hats, and the firm’s owner is likely to attend the session.

Because the new Marketing ROI program is still young, the Fergusons charge each attendee $210-$250, but they plan to raise the cost later.

“Price sensitivity,” Steve Ferguson said, “isn’t really an issue.”

Kristin Ferguson said many small ventures can’t afford to hire a consulting firm such as KSFerguson & Co., but the sessions are designed to quickly equip small-business employees with the practical applications of marketing.

“We believe there isn’t another marketing program that gives [customers] the hands-on experience in such a short period of time,” Kristin Ferguson said. Candid discussions and local media examples help make the class interactive, she said.

The next one-day small-business session is scheduled for May 1 at the Springdale Holiday Inn.

The husband-and-wife team launched the small-business version of Marketing ROI in Benton County because Kristin Ferguson worked for 10 years at Tyson Foods as vice president of marketing in food services.

When she’d had her fill of corporate life, Kristin Ferguson left Tyson in 1995 and opened KSFerguson & Co. with her husband. They started the consulting branch of the business first, offering clients business-to-business and business-to-consumer guidance for marketing strategies.