HANOVER — Marketsmith Inc., the largest independent, full-service marketing agency in New Jersey, announced that its Founder and CEO, Monica C. Smith, has been named one of the “Top 50 Women in Business” (2021) by ROI-NJ.

It has been an impressive year of growth for Marketsmith, one of the fastest-growing women-owned firms in the state. The company has built its reputation and business on its patented analytics software, MarketsmithIQ™, and human ingenuity, giving the agency and its clients the data and analytics to inform the decision-making process.

Some of the firm’s prominent New Jersey clients include The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance – Get Covered N.J., New Jersey’s Official Healthcare Insurance Marketplace, NJ Lottery, PSE&G NJ, and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Clean Energy Program.

“I am honored to be named an ‘ROI Influencer’ for the publication’s ‘Women in Business List,’ which features a group that I am proud to be a part of,” said Smith. “This accolade reflects the hard work and determination of our team and the incredible results we’ve been able to generate for our clients across a number of industries – from energy/utility companies and consumer brands to government agencies.”

Marketsmith uses data to optimize brand communication and deliver greater return on investment (ROI) launching products that grow brands from challenger to champions. Its campaigns rely on MarketsmithIQ’s patented algorithms, which can predict outcomes with 94% accuracy.*

Smith founded Marketsmith in 1999, on the idea that technology and humanity are inextricably linked when it comes to creating successful consumer-centric marketing. She has driven Marketsmith to become one of the largest woman-owned and operated independent media and marketing agencies in the country. She is considered one of the strongest active CEOs in media today – especially in omnichannel media strategy driving retail success.

“Monica is a woman who lifts the people around her, constantly inspiring and challenging each team member to reach their potential and navigate through complex landscapes to deliver for our clients,” said Carina Pologruto, Chief Innovation Officer at Marketsmith. “In 15 years of working together, there has not been a day where she has not made me smarter. It’s truly an honor to work beside her and continue to see her brilliance, tenacity, and heart make our team, community, and state better than they were the day before.”

Amid challenging economic setbacks due to COVID-19, Marketsmith introduced several new services to accommodate work-from-home (WFH) setups – including remote-produced digital video solutions, turnkey direct-response TV campaigns, and other creative services.

Similarly, according to Smith, her leadership style adapted upon the outbreak of the pandemic – focusing more on balancing and managing the demands of her staff’s professional and personal lives. The Marketsmith CEO introduced more agility in the firm’s day-to-day operations – an approach that drove continued professional growth and the hiring of 13 new staffers in the past 12 months.

Smith added: “Marketsmith’s campaigns create the ability to see around corners and provide total prescriptive solutions for the ‘modern human experience.’ We are powered by world-class data science, unmatched talent, and effective, patented offerings.”

Marketsmith’s client roster continues to grow, as the company is working with energy and utility entities throughout the region and country, plus prominent companies like Lovesac, SharkNinja, and Brother International, among others.

Smith holds several industry patents and was also named to ROI-NJ’s Power Technology List in 2021.

For more information about Marketsmith’s campaign management and award-winning solutions click here.

Marketsmith Inc. is one of the largest independent, woman-owned agencies of its kind and is among the nation’s fastest-growing integrated marketing agencies. Headquartered just miles from New York City for over 20 years, the full-service firm offers marketing, media, creative, and data solutions. Marketsmith Inc.’s approach is consultative and collaborative for all of its clients’ needs – these include some of the finest companies and public entities in the Tri-State Area, along with national consumer goods corporations. Marketsmith Inc. has built its reputation and business on its patented analytics software and human ingenuity, giving the agency and its clients the data and analytics to inform every decision from strategy to media to creative. LGBT- and WBENC-certified, the firm “makes challenger brands champions.”

PARSIPPANY — The pandemic changed our lives forever in many ways. Throughout the past year, we’ve had to deal with a lot of loss and loneliness. Many have had to deal with job loss and financial issues. However, when not focusing on the pain, there is a lot we can learn about our civilization and society.

One of the fascinating things about the pandemic is how it has impacted industries that are usually quite predictable. The housing industry is one such example. While housing prices work on quite a direct supply/demand basis, it has been near impossible to predict which factors would make houses available and encourage people to buy. Thus, housing markets expected to crash have actually flourished.

Another industry that has proven incredibly complicated is the insurance industry. When it comes to pricing premiums, insurance is usually predictable. Increased risks mean increased premiums. But despite risk having increased dramatically in a number of areas, no types of insurance have seen the correlation you’d normally expect.

Let’s take a look at insurance prices in Parsippany to get an idea of why this is.

Life Insurance in Parsippany

Life insurance is a fascinating place to start. Obviously, the pandemic has increased the risk of death by quite a lot. This increased risk is unlikely to disappear altogether along with the pandemic. After all, thousands of more people are now suffering from chronic lung illnesses.

If insurance companies were dealing with a handful of people with increased risks, they would simply hike those individuals’ premiums. However, the risk has increased throughout Parsippany and the United States.

Hiking the premiums of every single Parsippany resident according to the extent of the risk would have been a form of self-sabotage for the industry. The reality is that many life insurance policies have lapsed due to loss of income and increased health expenses. While this does benefit the life insurance industry to an extent, as they won’t have to pay out those policies, the loss far outweighs it.

Insurance companies have therefore had to be careful with premium increases, as they cannot afford to lose more customers. Furthermore, they’ve had to pay out more insurance claims due to the pandemic, and are scrambling to make up ground. All of these factors have served to keep life insurance prices in Parsippany somewhat stable.

But what about health insurance?

Health Insurance in New Jersey

The health insurance industry has faced similar battles. They have had to pay out a lot of claims due to the pandemic. Many policies have lapsed due to loss of income and loss of jobs (especially for those companies that rely on policies sold to employers). Furthermore, the increased risk of illness on the horizon for the foreseeable future puts the industry at risk of a neverending increase in claims.

They cannot simply hike premiums to cover the risk, as that would only lead to more individuals having to let go of their health insurance. The general public is simply not solvent enough at the moment to ask too much more, even if there is an increased need for health insurance.

For these reasons, health insurance in NJ and Parsippany has remained as affordable (or unaffordable) as before the pandemic. That’s unlikely to change in the near future, but health insurance companies are sure to find a way to take advantage of consumers without losing their patronage.

Homeowners and Renters Insurance in New Jersey

One type of insurance that has mostly avoided the trials and tribulations of COVID-19 is homeowners and renters insurance in NJ. While it is true that customers have been lost to the virus and policies have lapsed due to the financial consequences of the pandemic, the need for property insurance and the risks have not changed much.

Homeowners insurance, in particular, has stayed stable, with very few homeowners willing to risk leaving their homes uninsured, even when they are battling financially. Renters insurance, which covers a renter’s possessions, is less of a sure thing. After all, many renters are battling against eviction, and paying rent is more of a priority than paying for insurance.

Renters insurance in Parsippany has therefore remained at the same prices (and even dropped in some cases). There is no increased risk due to the pandemic, but it is more difficult to pay for.

The insurance industry is usually fairly easy to predict, but the impact of the pandemic has changed that. Now, it remains to be seen how insurance companies will deal with the risks once the country has recovered financially.