McConnell Marketing was recently acquired by two senior associates, Katie Hively and Megan Sovik. You can read all about their professional credentials and history with the company in our official press release below… but, if you really want to know who the new owners are check out some of these lesser known facts about them. 

 

Katie Hively

• Also known as “D.J. L8 K8.” She’s known for her ability to pick the right music for the office, an rdio.com expert as well as 8tracks playlist extraordinaire
• Mother of twin first-graders
• Has helped pioneer the art of “free pouring” coffee
• Also part owner of  Brown Horse Projects, a mission based, non-profit organization
• Takes an annual medical-relief mission trip to Haiti

 

Megan Sovik

• Local celebrity, hosts a cooking segment on Youngstown’s 21 WFMJ news channel
• Long time former speech coach and competitor
• Breaking Bad enthusiast and Walking Dead tolerator
• Understands more about northeast Ohio’s grocery industry than anyone should
• Experienced cyclist who participates in the annual Ride M.S. “Pedal to the Point” multiple sclerosis awareness event

 

Okay, now here’s the official stuff:

Long-Term Associates Purchase McConnell Marketing

Canfield-based Boutique Hospitality Marketing Firm

(Canfield, OH) – McConnell Marketing, a hospitality marketing communications firm founded in 1991, has been acquired by two senior associates. The new owners, Katie Hively and Megan Sovik, have been with McConnell Marketing more than ten years each and have served as Senior Account Executives during that time. The new owners are equal partners and are committed to maintaining the company’s commitment to integrity, creativity, service and social responsibility. The firm will continue to operate under the current name.

Both Hively and Sovik graduated from Youngstown State University with Bachelor’s Degrees in Business Administration, majoring in Advertising and Public Relations. They have extensive experience in copywriting, graphic and web design, brand development, public relations, promotions and social media strategy.

McConnell Marketing specializes in hospitality marketing—offering services including copywriting, editing, graphic design, print/web production, creative services and social media marketing. During its 25 years in business, McConnell Marketing has earned a national reputation in the industry, servicing some of the most prestigious hotel names in the country. Among those on the current client roster are Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Ritz-Carlton Hotels and Resorts, St. Regis, InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, as well as many independently owned and operated hotels.

McConnell Marketing had been owned by Mark W. McConnell since its inception. About the acquisition, McConnell says, “Megan and Katie are two of the most talented marketing professionals I’ve ever known. I have no doubt that the company will continue to thrive under their leadership.” McConnell will continue to serve as a full-time professor at the University of Mount Union.

We have something a little different for this week’s post!  Our friends at Astute Solutions sent us this great explanation of Social Relationship Management. Hope you find it useful!

What is Social Relationship Management?

by Nicole Prairie & Dennis Schiraldi

Every hour of every day, millions of conversations are taking place on social sites. In fact, not surprisingly, social sites and blogs account for 23 percent of all our timespent online. No matter your generation, or what business you are in, you have most likely heard about the importance of social media for branding and customer relationship management (CRM). Social relationship management (SRM) has become a mainstream term, but you may still be wondering exactly what it means and how it impacts your organization. Here’s our take on it:

Keeping a finger on what is trending, discussions on your social media pages or a competitor’s site is great, but by itself, it’s simply not enough. An SRM solution, such as Astute SRM, helps you filter through the noise and focus on topics and trends relevant to your business. From there, SRM helps convert the information you gather into stronger customer relationships through successful campaigns and features, such as:

• Monitoring millions of social media sites, blogs, and review sites (e.g. not just Facebook and Twitter, but also Instagram, Google +, LinkedIn, YouTube and Amazon Reviews)
• Analyzing relevant comments and categorizing them as positive, negative, or neutral, and also taking Sentiment Analysis a step further by detecting specific emotions such as anger, disdain, affection, etc.
• Routing priority issues to the appropriate email or queue in your CRM responsible for maintaining your social media or quality control
• Engagement that ensures you respond to relevant tweets, posts, comments and discussions at the right time. This is especially crucial in an era where 42 percent of consumers expect responses to social media complaints in 60 minutes or less.

Using these tools, your marketing team gains real-time intelligence that reduces the need for costly market research and focus groups. Additionally, SRM can: make your messaging and branding more effective; identify and correct a problem with your product or service before it goes viral; uncover gaps in your service model; and gather feedback about new product rollouts. In other words, SRM puts you far more in control of your social media presence and overall brand image than ever before.

SRM is the future of customer retention and creating more engaged audiences ready to become loyal brand advocates, so what are you waiting for? For more information on Astute Solutions Social Relationship Management solutions, click here.