Fractional Management Leads to Stronger In-house Team
The challenge
Staff turnover leads to marketing crisis
Teamwork, self-confidence, and safe competition are the core of AmeriCheer’s business model. However, it’s marketing that drives the event production and AmeriCheer’s in-house marketing team had established a seamless relationship with the event managers. When an unexpected turnover decimated the marketing department just as all of the brands were ramping up to their combined and largest annual event, AmeriCheer faced a production crisis.
The Sullivan Solution
Building foundational process to strengthen the in-house marketing team
Instead of rushing to hire from outside, owner Elizabeth Rossetti chose to call on Sullivan Solutions. We had collaborated with AmeriCheer on previous projects so we knew their business. Liz knew that our expertise in in-house, multi-brand marketing management meant that we could hit the ground running fast.
The key to working quickly was to create a rolling 52-week map with an instant view of seasons, events, brands, and launch dates.
From there, we standardized the events into product groups with “recipes” to market each product type. These product briefs gave the event managers a fast way to communicate the marketing needs for each event with a prescribed lead time for each component.
Since the majority of AmeriCheer programs occurred the same time every year, we could project their timing with a high degree of accuracy and plug them into the marketing calendar up to 3 years in advance. Extrapolated from that were the standardized production schedules that could be also plugged into the calendar so that everyone knows what the focus would be for any given time.
To further reduce ambiguity, we worked with the marketing and operations teams to map the areas of responsibility so each product brief noted the role responsible for inputs and decisions along the production timeline.
All of these components were combined into an online project management system to provide visibility and clarity across the organization.
Since partnerships and event sponsorships are key to the success of the AmeriCheer events, we helped AmeriCheer streamline the partnership agreements with clear definitions of AmeriCheer’s deliverables for promoting their partners. This front-loaded the year-long agreements so staff didn’t need to chase down elements or play catch up throughout the year. This element of management was also added to the project management system to eliminate guesswork throughout the year.
Throughout this process, Sullivan Solutions provided c-suite level marketing leadership with regular and frequent team and leadership meetings.
Our tactical support allowed us to fill in where needed to keep the AmeriCheer team on track and make sure they had exactly what they needed.
As new hires were added to the marketing department, we transitioned the tactical management to them. The online project management system reduced the onboarding stress by clarifying requirements and scheduling as well as providing historical records for reference. Best of all, AmeriCheer’s in-house marketing emerged from chaos stronger than ever.
We provided leadership and tactical support to fill in where needed to keep the team on track and make sure they had exactly what they needed.
Think About Marketing
We help entrepreneurs find ways to think better, sell better, and communicate better to bring their vision to reality.
Our expertise is understanding the entrepreneurial mind, early-stage budgets, and customer expectations — and then guiding marketing strategy accordingly.
When you work with Sullivan Solutions, you are partnering with a team of specialists covering every aspect of marketing including strategy, branding, and messaging as well as the development and design of marketing materials that will impact and motivate your target audiences.