HARLINGEN — It used to be so simple, really.
Your customer base is right there, and you have A-B-C as tools to reach them.
But these days, says Nick Consiglio, marketing director for Texas Regional Bank, you “have the whole online monster.”
“Everyone has smart phones. Internet connections down here are at a high percentage of high-speed Internet,” Consiglio says. “You have to always stay in tune with what’ going on.
“In marketing there’s the latest and greatest of everything, and you must be doing this or your missing out,” he adds. “But there also are very much tried-and-true elements.
“As much as there are a lot of new and fun and creative things that you can do with marketing, there are still some very good delivery channels that have been around for a long, long time,” he said
Consiglio, 33, joined Texas Regional Bank in 2012 after establishing his own marketing firm, dcnc Marketing, in 2008.
When it comes to marketing in the region, Consiglio bristles a bit about misconceptions some may have about the Rio Grande Valley.
“I think there’s a popular notion that somehow the Rio Grande Valley doesn’t stay up with trends, or might be three or four years behind the trends, and I think that’s kind of silly and the old way of thinking,” he says.
Consiglio graduated with a marketing degree from Texas A&M University in 2002, and he credits TAMU with providing the foundation for his success in the field.
“One of the best decisions I made,” he said. “I was 18 years old and I can remember dropping off my application around Nov. 18, 1997, dropping it into the mail here at the New Combes Road post office, thinking ‘well, here it goes, we’ll see what happens.’
“It’s all been a wonderful experience since then.”
When Consiglio talks about the fundamentals he learned attending A&M, he could be talking about more than marketing.
When he talks about the community, his voice is one of authority, as evidenced by his remarkably diverse public service portfolio.
Consiglio is vice-chair of the City of Harlingen’s Planning and Zoning Commission, and a board member of Keep Harlingen Beautiful, the Boys & Girls Club of Harlingen, Valley International Airport, the Cameron County Children Advocacy Center and the city’s Internal Audit Committee.
And speaking of being grounded in fundamentals, he still finds time to teach Continuing Catholic Development and the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults seeking to become Catholics at St. Anthony Catholic Church.
“Step out of that comfort zone and do it,” Consiglio says of volunteer work. “Take that leap of faith and dive into it. … You just have to get involved, and that’s the biggest challenge for a lot of organizations across the nation.”
“The best advice is to step out of that shyness, step out of that hesitation and just get involved, network and meet people, and be sincere about what your goal is or how you can truly contribute. I think a lot of times you’re a little shy, or feel like I can’t contribute anything, but the fact of the matter is we just need people to get involved and contribute to the best of their ability.”
– Nick Consiglio
