Carrie Majewski (née Schmelkin) , Director of Content Marketing

04/21/2014

Calling All Marketers: Picture Your Favorite Storytellers, Now Become Them

Think of the last story you told. Was it about your recent vacation to St. Lucia? That embarrassing moment in a recent corporate meeting? Your kid’s game-winning shot during his soccer tournament? Chances are that no matter the story you told, it was rich with detail, emotion and descriptors.

That’s because when we tell our personal stories, we often speak from the heart—not pausing to consider the narrative, the flow and the descriptors. It just comes naturally. And what results are oftentimes some of the best, most engaging and truly organic stories that come from a place of honesty and from a desire to share our experiences with others.

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04/15/2014

Inconsistent Branding: A Recipe for Disaster

You know it’s happened to you. You’ve chomped down on a Big Mac (or, if you are like me and abhor fast food insert your favorite mass packaged good) only to wonder, “How come this burger tastes considerably different than the one I get near my home?” And it’s a terrible feeling. After all, maybe this was the day you decided to cheat and go for something wonderfully delectable—and horribly caloric—and the inconsistent taste left you feeling wildly unfulfilled.

Now of course some brand inconsistencies are prone to human error. For example, the French Vanilla Coffee Coolatta you get from Dunkin’ Donuts may taste different from one DD to the next simply because the barista added more French vanilla this time around. But even so, we expect a level of consistency, satisfaction and dependability from our favorite brands. And when we don’t get it, we are left feeling confused, dejected and quite possibly irritated.

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04/10/2014

Three Reasons Your Marketing Employees Need to be Smarter than You

Some of the most influential entrepreneurs and business tycoons out there—think Steve Jobs, Thomas John Watson, Sr., and David Oglivy—have revealed the secret to their success: Staff your company with employees who are smarter than you. Be comfortable being the “dumbest” person in the conference room. Don’t be afraid of that powerhouse employee who encourages you to challenge the status quo and redefine existing business practices.

“Never hire someone who knows less than you do about what he’s hired to do,” contends Malcolm Forbes, former publisher of Forbes.

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04/08/2014

What’s Sweet for You is Sweeter for Sprinkles: The Marketing Strategy Behind the Company’s Cupcake ATMs

For anyone who has ever been in “The City that Never Sleeps,” you can certainly relate. You are coming back from an event late at night—be it a Broadway show, a night out at the bar, a high school reunion… you name it—when your stomach starts grumbling. You begin to mentally scroll through a list of possible diners, delis and food carts that may still be open at this ungodly hour. But the truth is you don’t want to consume your calories in Big Mac form. Rather, you want something delectably sweet.

Big Apple desert aficionados everywhere are delighting in the fact that Sprinkles Cupcakes, the innovators of the world’s first cupcake bakery, has brought its 24-hour Cupcake ATMs to the Upper East Side. The company already boasts ATMs in Beverly Hills, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Las Vegas—all of which have attracted attention from A-list celebrities like Jay Leno and Wolf Blitzer as well as countless media outlets. New Yorkers couldn’t wait to get their hands on these yummy treats.

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04/01/2014

Second Graders Learning the Art of Persuasive Writing? Two Steps Forward for Content Marketing

The concept of persuasive writing—and persuasive argument, for that matter—was not introduced to me until my senior year of high school during AP English. I remember it vividly. I was taught that writing should not just be a string of words, but rather a compilation of words that influence how someone acts, feels and thinks. It’s about taking an active stance and communicating effectively to your audience in a simple, albeit powerful way. It’s in essence marketing. And it’s not easy.

So you can imagine my shock when I learned this Sunday that my niece and nephew (only second graders!) are being instructed on how to write persuasively in school.

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03/27/2014

Calling All Marketers: Is Your Job Starting to Feel Easy? Uh Oh…

As a marketer, do you come home exhausted at the end of the work day? Do you find yourself looking for compelling marketing messages and branding concepts in all facets of life—whether you are watching a TV commercial or attending the opening reception for a museum exhibit? Do you feel like your job is hard?

If you answered “no” to any of these three questions then perhaps you need to ask yourself another one: Are you truly an industry-leading marketer or are you just doing enough to get by?

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03/25/2014

Celebrating a Decade of Social Media and Preparing for What’s to Come

In today’s ever-changing consumer and corporate environments, a decade might as well be a lifetime. Flashback 10 years ago, for example, to see just how far we have come.

For starters, Mark Zuckerberg was tucked away in his Harvard dorm room inventing a social network that would fundamentally change the way in which we interact on both a personal and professional level. BBM, thanks to BlackBerry, was sweeping the nation and the terms “iPhone” and “Siri” were not yet a part of our common vernacular. And TV shows like “The Sopranos” and “The Wire” still dominated our TV line-up.

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03/20/2014

Tipoff is Here: Do You Have What it Takes to Play till the Buzzer Sounds?

With the play-in-games behind us and all 68 bracket spots filled up, now the fun really begins.

Today, 16 teams take to the court to inch one step closer to the Sweet 16, and millions upon millions of fans from across the country figure out a way to squeeze in pressing work meetings with live streaming from their desks. (Did you know the groundswell of excitement surrounding college basketball and brackets costs $1.2 billion for every unproductive hour at work?)

March Madness is officially here and every company can actually learn a thing or two from the tournament about best practices and corporate mindset.

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03/18/2014

Let the Madness Begin: Have You Put Together Your Marketing Bracket?

With a regular season record of 27-4—not to mention an undefeated streak of 25-0, despite a number of near upsets during that reign—there was no disputing what my husband and I (Syracuse alumni) would be doing at 6 pm this past Sunday night. Tuning into CBS to assess see how the Cuse’s recent spate of losses (don’t get me started on Friday night’s North Carolina State game) would affect Selection Sunday.

Sadly, our pitiful performance these past few games undoubtedly cost us a No. 1 seed. But since we will never stop bleeding Orange, bring it on Broncos.

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03/13/2014

The Day in the Life of a Content Marketer

Congratulations! You have officially entered the world of content marketing—a world rife with editorial calendars, social media platforms, inbound/outbound marketing campaigns, SEO metrics, demand generation… or have you? For starters, do you even know how to define “demand generation?” Do you even have a documented content strategy in place?

The reality is that while many top-level marketers claim to “walk the walk and talk the talk” when it comes to content marketing, a vast majority are merely only wading in the content marketing pool—rather than diving in head first. Need proof? While 93 percent of B2B marketers and 90 percent of B2C marketers are leveraging content marketing tactics, only 42 percent and 34 percent, respectively, feel their strategies are effective.

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