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Our Founder Mack Burnett III is a 2021 Silver Apple Awardee

Our Founder Mack Burnett III is a 2021 Silver Apple Awardee

The team here at POWERFUL IMPACT is very proud to announce that our founder Mack Burnett III was awarded the 2021 Silver Apple Award by the Direct Marketing Club of New York (DMCNY).

Mack was among this year’s six Silver Apple recipients honored by the DMCNY in recognition of more than 2 decades of outstanding contribution to the New York Direct Marketing community.

The Direct Marketing Club of New York (DMCNY) is a regional, professional non-profit

association for direct and digital marketing professionals and enthusiasts. Since 1926, the DMCNY has been providing support, education, and networking opportunities to direct marketers. DMCNY currently has members from over 200 companies from the New York tri-state area.

According to the DMCNY, the Silver Apple Awards honors the most distinguished achievers of the direct marketing industry: the entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators in both the online and offline world of marketing. The award is given to “direct marketers who have not only made strides within their areas of expertise but who have also generously contributed their time and talents to the industry for 25 years or more.”

Making a difference through marketing

Mack went on stage to receive the direct marketing award during the DMCNY’s 37th Annual Silver Apple Awards held on November 4th at the Edison Ballroom, New York. In his acceptance speech, Mack shared how his journey in digital marketing began: from being a coder who was clueless about marketing to falling in love with it.

Watch the 3-minute video of Mack’s acceptance speech to see how he inspired the crowd:

Read the full transcript of Mack’s speech:

When I started this journey 25 years ago, and I sat in a cold, air-conditioned room in the Mercantile Exchange building writing code across the street from the World Trade Center, I never thought I would be standing on this stage.

I didn’t know what a customer journey was. I didn’t know what a persona was. I just knew I built cool stuff that nobody used. And I didn’t know why.

So I started studying this marketing thing.

And I fell in love with it.

I fell in love with the possibilities of what we could do. The ability to impact, inspire, persuade, changed my life.

I was a terrible programmer. Awful. But that journey led me into consumer behavior and growth, how people buy, and why people buy.

I built an agency that fell apart in 2008 when the market crashed. I went back to work and worked on all these cool companies. I got real-world experience.

And then I built another company that I run now. I employ 30 people in nine different time zones, and we do amazing things for our clients. I feel so blessed to have found this craft because I don’t feel like marketing is something that you do as a job.

Marketing is something that you have to do because you love it.

You have to be in this thing in a different way. And to all of the students out there, I want to inspire you. If there’s something that you want to do, go get it. Because I wanted to go get it and I did it.

I don’t work, I get up every day and I help my clients pick up their Rubik’s Cube, turn it around and make sure all those colors line up. So for everybody out there who’s doing marketing, if you want to make a difference, do it. Because what I do is I turn strangers into friends and friends into clients.

I’ve been able to teach at NYU and touch over 1000 students and get them to come back to me and say, because of your class magnet, I’m going to be in a career in marketing. There’s nothing better.

So what I would say to all of you who are in the positions that you are in, it is such a pleasure and honor to be in this room. And I promise you will be more involved in this organization.

But what I will say to not only those of you who are… who have been in this industry for 5, 10, 15, 20 million years, but my student says “well, please respect the craft of marketing.” Take your clients seriously. Take your end-user seriously.

The biggest challenge that we have coming up on us, in my opinion, is authenticity. People want to buy from people and brands that have a story that they care about. So if you’re going to be in this craft and if you’re going to take it seriously, care, care, care, care. Don’t get in front of new computers if you’re not ready to do that.

Thank you guys so much.

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