As Chair & CEO of N.Y.-based MKTG Inc., marketing industry veteran CHARLIE HORSEY keeps a full calendar that includes a fair share of travel, both in the U.S. and abroad. That busy schedule shows no sign of lightening up after the company's recent acquisition by Dentsu Aegis, which figures to broaden MKTG's global reach even more. But Horsey also takes time on the weekends to be a father, a sports fan and a golfer, and he can explain why all of that only makes him a better marketer.
GANG OF FOUR: I have four kids under 14. This weekend will be jam-packed with fall sports that are starting. I am head coach for one of my daughter's teams, and then I'm an assistant on some of the other soccer teams. So Saturday is shot. Sunday, I'm supposed to head to Berlin for an event we're doing for Beats By Dre and then to Madrid for the FIBA championships next week. I try to limit the travel to the week when I can. But in this world where we focus on big sports events as well as entertainment events and shows for clients, sometimes that gets in the way. So I have to jam in as much family time as I can on Saturday. I'm not one of those parents that helicopter. They have an affinity for the game, and my son follows the leagues in Europe. He knows so much more about soccer and all the players than I do. So it's fun sharing that passion for sport with them, and to see them accomplishing things.
FAMILY VACATIONS: We like to stay local, and I think it might have to do with the amount of travel I do. We rent a shore house in Bay Head, N.J., and typically go down there for two or three weeks each summer. I'm not there the whole time, but I try to get a good solid week, if not 10 days, with the kids, just to play in the surf or get in some tennis and golf with the family.
UNPLUGGED? Most of the time, I am connected. The golf club I belong to doesn't allow cell phones, so that's a good place for me to go. Also, I'm starting to enjoy airplanes. Other than that, in this day and age, you have to learn to balance much more. One thing as far as our agency, we understand that people often work nights and weekends, so the idea is balance and encouraging people to live a fruitful life outside of work. We have a very strong ethos and belief that in the agency business, especially when it comes to marketing, that brings a lot of value back to our creative process.
A MARKETER'S EYE: Having done this now for 24 years, it's hard not to (notice marketing activation), whether it's a concert or a sporting event, even people's houses at parties. Everything is becoming so much more themed and bigger, whether it's a kid's birthday party or a bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah. It's becoming much more of a factor in all of our lives. I notice everything, whether it’s the light, the food, the staging, more importantly the interaction that the front-line people have at these events.
BEING A FAN: I love to follow golf. I find it to be a perfect metaphor for life. Things very rarely go as you want them to go. Sometimes you're in the fairway, sometimes you're in the hazard. You've got to keep your wits about you and keep your focus on your goal. It's more about how you conduct yourself than the score, which should be very representative of how I like to conduct myself in business.
CARDINAL VIRTUES: Growing up in St. Louis there is only one baseball team. Having married a Jersey girl, and feeling obligated to indoctrinate my children to Cardinal Nation, I take one of the kids each season to a game and to soak in all that St. Louis has to offer. My second oldest child, MCCORMICK, and I last year went to the World Series. My third child, SADIE, and I will be going Sept. 19, right as the playoff race heats up.
