Your Outsourced Marketing Department

Founded in 2004, Summit Marketing Group was created based on a need that Chris Burns saw with small businesses in the Western North Carolina; the need for a single company to act as an outsourced marketing department for small to medium sized businesses.

What does that mean?

In short, it means that one company can oversee the marketing needs of your business, regardless of how simple or diverse those needs are.

Think of it this way...the typical small business starts with the owner handling all of the marketing; whether that be defined as sales, advertising, social media, content marketing, earned media, website updates and reputation mangement...or all of the above.  Chris saw a recurring trend with his commercial clients; they would start small and gradually outsource things to specific vendors.  For instance, if the client started advertising in print media, the print media source would come up with the messaging and creative and design the ads.  If that moved to television, the TV station would come up with the message and creative for the ads.  If that moved to digital advertising, the digital advertiser would come up with the messaging and creative.  An employee would be assigned social media and the web designer would handle the design and content of the website.   All of this being done in independent vaccums.  The business would then typically have 4 different looks or designs supporting 4 different messages, in 4 different tones of voice.

As an outsourced marketing department, Summit took all of those functions and combined them into a cohesive, consistent look, tone and message across all platforms.  Add in Chris 30+ years of experience in the business and marketing world and you have a wealth of knowlege and experience to guide and direct the process.

We Love Our Community

"What is important is family, friends, giving back to your community and finding meaning in life."   -Adrian Grenier

Community keeps us inspired and keeps us motivated to do great work. That’s why the Summit team contributes its time, talent and treasure to Western North Carolina.

In addition to doing as much pro-bono work as possible for our non-profit clients, each team member contributes time to organizations in our area that are dear to our hearts.

Partner and Creative Director Tony Seagle has a calling to work on behalf of the children of our community. Formerly the president of Hands-On! Children Museum and currently on the advisory board of the St. Gerard House, a school for autistic children, Tony gives 100%, both physically and emotionally, to any cause he serves.

Tony says, “As a native of Western North Carolina, it means a lot to me to now be giving back to the place that offered me so much as a child.”

In the past, Partner Chris Burns has served as president of the Pardee Hospital Foundation, Blue Ridge Community Health Services, Hendersonville Rotary, The Henderson County Young Leaders program, and the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce. Today, he spends much of his time working on the board of the Ecusta Trail, a rails-to-trails project that he believes will contribute greatly to the physical and economic health of Henderson and Transylvania counties.

“It’s exciting to think that something you are working on today with fellow community members could make such a lasting impact on our entire region for years to come,” says Chris.

Summit Partner Marybeth Burns currently serves on the board of the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce and the Hendersonville Rotary Club, as well as on the Student Health Advisory Committee. But her passion lies in educating the community about balanced health and disordered eating, so Marybeth spends much of her free time acting as president of the board of T.H.E. Center for Disordered Eating and speaking to community students and organizations about eating disorders.

Marybeth says, “The main reason we started Summit Marketing Group was to serve the needs of our community. It keeps us in the place we love and working with the people that mean so much to us.”

Other Summit team members contribute their time to The Rotary Club, Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce, and humanitarian and church outreach groups, just to name a few!

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