May 28:
Alan Hecht of Multi-Channel Marketing
As well as starting and building a variety of businesses, Alan has held senior management and marketing positions for a wide range of companies. Alan spent 10 years at Saks Fifth Avenue, where (as head of the catalog division), he grew sales four-fold and increased profits from $600,000 to $5,600,000 in 4 years. In his last position at Saks, as VP Marketing & Consumer Research, he initiated and managed database marketing and customer relationship programs that generated over $50,000,000 annually in measurable sales. He also led the start-up and growth of a market share leading company in the adult education industry. Much of this company’s success was due to his creation of a highly profitable online business and wholesale sales operation. Other positions held include – Account Executive for Grey Advertising, Director of Advertising Services for Bloomingdales, and President of the Sporting Edge Companies (a catalog and multi-unit retail specialty business).
With Multi-Channel Marketing, his practice and passion have focused on helping mid-sized and smaller businesses achieve their marketing objectives and grow their business. An area of particular interest is internet marketing and “web-centered” marketing programs - Alan enjoys educating people about the how they can use the web in combination with other channels to grow their business. He offers seminars to demonstrate the benefits of this marketing approach.
As an active member of the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, Alan serves as a member of the Economic Development Committee. He is also heading up a new Buy Local initiative designed to educate the community about the quality of life and economic benefits associated with shopping locally for goods and services. A website – www.webuylocal.org – with a directory of local providers has been created to help consumers locate these products and services within the local community.
A native New Yorker, Alan has a BA in History from Queens College, an MBA in Marketing from New York University, and is a former Peace Corps Volunteer who spent two years in Honduras. He resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with his wife Evelyn (an artist), whose business Top Dog Art he helped start. The ultimate goal of Top Dog Art is to generate profits that could be used to support animal rescue, to which they are strongly committed.
