Strategic & Creative Marketing Inc. - Your Full-Service Marketing Solution

Expertise

With 25+ years of global and domestic marketing experience for industry-leading firms, our owner has the knowledge and vast background to lead the team and deliver results for a wide range of clients. In addition, our Director has served on National Advisory Panels for LinkedIn and Facebook corporate for 4 years, providing feedback, ideas and beta testing to these global leaders in social media. In return, we have representatives at each company that train our team every month, and provide campaign support that enables our campaigns to reach more people, deliver higher engagement and conversions for the lowest cost per click. What does this depth of knowledge and expertise mean for you? It means we can more quickly understand your business, your industry and how to best reach and engage your potential customers. And, we make sure that campaign results are easily understood, measurable and actionable so your company can build your business on a solid marketing foundation.

Processes

An effective marketing campaign depends on a well-established strategy, supported by processes, to make it work. From market research to customer engagement and sales conversions, we outline the steps necessary to implement your marketing plan for success. Our experienced team has worked through trial and error over the years to develop comprehensive and highly-effective processes that we know will deliver the best results, along with the smoothest implementation for our clients.

Our Signature 4-Step Process

Our Signature 4-Step Process draws on marketing principles that guide the business strategies of Fortune 100 companies. We’ve served those industry leaders, along with small and mid-sized companies, plus non-profits and government agencies since 2001.

Here’s how our 4-Step Process works:

1. We collaborate with your team via our carefully crafted Discovery Session to establish definitive business and marketing goals for your organization.
2. The next step involves clearly identifying many key facets including target audience, competitive advantage, value proposition, brand and messaging. This information drives the creation of a detailed marketing strategy and plan. Our precision in identifying these elements is our key to success. It builds the foundation for the entire strategy and plan. Just like Origami pieces rely on precision folds to create beautiful images, our precise targeting sets the foundation for a fully integrated campaign.
3. From the marketing plan emerges a well-defined menu of tactics in direct alignment with business and marketing goals. Created with eye-catching themes and designs, along with engaging copy, these tactics drive initiatives such as lead generation campaigns, trade shows, social media engagement and conversion, print and outbound campaigns, plus public relations/brand awareness.
4. Integrating the selected tactics, timing, creative and budget is key to driving sales and recruitment marketing success for our clients. And our dedication to tracking results and ROI means that we pay attention to campaign results, and we optimize tactics on an on-going basis, vs. just reporting on the outcomes once a campaign ends.

Our services include an initial analysis of your current marketing strategy by conducting a comprehensive review of target markets, sales goals, creative content, and messaging. Then, we build the campaign, visual look, brand, and powerful messages to clearly communicate your value proposition to your customers and prospects.

Continued Learning

Marketing managers require plans and reporting to communicate the cost/benefits of every campaign or project. Our tactical best practices provide documentation on execution to educate stakeholders at every level. Plus, our team believes that being “cutting-edge” in the marketing business is not a choice, but a requirement. Therefore, we all continue to educate ourselves, and take part in educational seminars, plus training sessions from leaders such as Facebook and LinkedIn. All of this education empowers our team to provide the leading marketing tactics and strategies to keep your company in the lead.

Our Great Minds

Our principal leadership and staff bring depth and expertise to every client relationship.

Susan MacNicol

Susan MacNicol has more than 25 years of business experience spanning several industries including media, entertainment, retail, higher education and data. Her diverse roles have ranged from marketing, employment branding and client relations, to sales, recruiting and training, providing her with a unique viewpoint on how to build businesses and the best marketing techniques used by a range of organizations. After a successful management career at both domestic and international companies, including Fortune 500 organizations, Susan established the firm in 2001, and has completed projects for non-profits, small businesses and enterprise level companies, plus government agencies. Some clients include: Experian, Nielsen, Charter Business, Office Max, Sears Holdings, Ericsson, Charter Cable, Time Warner, Level 3 Communications, International Channel Networks, United Artists/Regal Cinemas, Columbia College Chicago, BCCA (Broadcast Cable Credit Association) and Johnson & Johnson. Specific areas of focus throughout her career included: corporate and regional recruiting and employment branding; local and national sales, advertising, promotions and publicity campaigns; domestic and international marketing, events and corporate sponsorships; client relations, training and business development. Prior to establishing the company, Susan held sales and marketing management positions at HSA – High Speed Access Corp, STARZ Encore Group, Orbit Satellite and Radio Networks (Rome, Italy), Samuel Goldwyn Studios, Columbia TriStar Television Distribution and Columbia Pictures (Sony Pictures Entertainment). Susan has her B.A. In Marketing Communications from Columbia College in IL and her MBA from Pepperdine University in CA. She Is also a certified Recruitment Marketer. She lives In the Chicago area, and is actively Involved in supporting community organizations focused on education. She's served as a judge for the BPA (Business Professionals of America) Illinois state high school competition, taught for Junior Achievement at local school districts, built a community-wide organization to partner with parents and educators to support gifted and honors programs and also serves as an advisor for INCubator, a high school program that educates future entrepreneurs. Susan Is a 2019 graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program, and the winner of the Stevie Award for Innovation In business and recipient of the Daily Herald award for Entrepreneurship.

Tami Wloch

Tami Wloch’s career includes 20 years of corporate sales and marketing experience in retail, tourism, and telecommunications, plus entrepreneurial experience gained by starting and managing her own retail business. For over 15 years, she has been providing Marketing services for companies, including expertise in Social Media, PR, Trade Shows, Radio/TV/Newspaper, print, cross-promotions, and more. Because of her successes with Social Media Campaigns, she was asked to serve on Advisory Boards for both Facebook Corp & LinkedIn Corp where she continues to help shape the future of social media. She does beta testing & evaluates their future products & services and also has a team she can call at each company. She Is certified in both SEO & Google Analytics and believes data should drive every marketing campaign. Tami teaches social media classes around the world In places such as Australia, Bangladesh, & Kuala Lumpur to show business owners how to harness the power of social media to Increase their brand recognition and sales. As a previous sales executive, Tami negotiated million-dollar contracts with telecom companies such as MCI, and, while owning two retail stores, Tami gained employment branding experience by recruiting, hiring and training a sales team that delivered $500k in sales in its first year. She has a B.A. degree from University of Illinois. Her community background ranges from teaching in higher education to serving on committees and boards for several charity organizations.

Shilpa Chaubal

Shilpa Chaubal’s career includes 10+ years of experience managing projects in IT industry. She has extensive experience as a Lead Software Tester and Business Analyst Consultant for Discover Financial Services and Northern Trust. Before joining Strategic and Creative Marketing Inc., Shilpa worked as a Freelance Market Research Consultant and Report Writer for leading market research companies like Synovate and Maritz. She has also volunteered actively as a fundraising committee member and marketing coordinator for local Non-Profit organizations Lifespring Ministry and People’s Resource Center. She is currently a board member for a district wide parent organization for Gifted and Talented students in Oswego School District 308. Shilpa’s educational background ranges from B.S in Electrical Engineering to MBA in marketing from DePaul University. She is a member of Eta Chapter of Delta Mu Delta; prestigious National Honor Society; in recognition of outstanding scholastic achievements at DePaul University.

Trisha Johnson

Trisha Johnson currently develops social media and digital campaigns for clients, including ad creation, content development and paid campaigns that reach targeted audiences and deliver results. Her career includes 20 years of sales and marketing experience in the fields of mortgage lending, in-store advertising and ecommerce business sites. Her strong client service relations and attention to detail have earned her numerous awards for outstanding performance throughout her career. Trisha graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois where she was recognized as a Pullman Scholar as well as a Dean’s List honoree. She actively volunteers in the school district and has led multiple committees that are dedicated to enriching the educational experience of its students.

Steve Lovisa

Steve Lovisa - for all of his life, Steve has been fascinated by the interplay of design & technology. Since the internet first became a mainstream medium in the mid-90s, his career has focused on Web Design & Development, Brand Development, and Digital Marketing for agencies and corporate clients of all sizes. He founded his first digital agency in 2005, and exited in 2013 for the opportunity to merge his team with the creative and technical staff at his largest client’s company. It was an opportunity to work closely with a fast-growing company, and to continue building dozens of great brands, both nationally and internationally. There, the teams he led grew to include more than 20 creative and technical professionals, and to serve literally millions of consumers around the world, via the web. Now, his focus is helping growing businesses and governmental agencies put their best foot forward. Steve provides experienced Web Development, Branding, and Digital Marketing solutions and, as your partner, he’ll communicate transparently about both opportunities and challenges, and work towards achieving goals rather than simply executing to-do lists. He becomes an extension of your company, an extension of your brand, and stands ready to do the heavy lifting with you.

What Our Clients Say

I am happy to say that the very first social media post that SC Marketing ran for me had more views than all of our previous years of social posting combined. In just a few weeks, we already have potential customers calling us from the social campaign that SC Marketing is running for us.

- Elizabeth Colon -
President & CEO
Metaphrasis

Tami, Thanks for participating in the LinkedIn Advisors community and sharing your valuable feedback and ideas. The LinkedIn Advisors completed 142 studies this year and helped us learn about the LinkedIn member experience and how we can continue to improve to meet your professional needs. We are very grateful to have you as a member of our community and look forward to hearing from you in the new activities we have planned for the LinkedIn Advisors.

- The LinkedIn Advisor -
Research Team
LinkedIn

(Susan) can juggle many projects at one time and somehow maintain consistent quality in her work product. I have a high degree of respect for Susan both personally and professionally, and would gladly hire her again should the opportunity present itself.

- Corey Livingston -
Sr. Director of Integrated Marketing (North America)
Level 3 Communications

Thanks, Susan and Strategic & Creative Marketing Inc. for getting our story out to online publishing companies. And thank you for the great job of getting us on TV! You have done excellent work for us.

- Mary Nguyen Aregoni -
Restaurant Entrepreneur
Saigon Sisters & Bang Chop Thai Cuisine

Tami Wloch gets 100 stars! Her knowledge, dedication and exemplary service has benefited me in many ways. She consistently goes above and beyond to ensure I am thrilled with my results. Thanks Tami!!

- JuliAnn Stitick -
Branding Expert & Entrepreneur

About Us