Member Spotlight: Marketwave

The Plano Chamber membership team is thrilled to present our NEW monthly Member Spotlights! Each month, we will be highlighting different Plano Chamber of Commerce members to continue connecting our members with each other and the Plano community at large.

The Plano Chamber would like to welcome and spotlight one of our Invest members, Marketwave. Heather Wagemann, our Membership Engagement Manager, asked Marketwave Vice President, Michael Young, a few questions about their business, membership, and their role in the community.

1. What would you like readers to know about Marketwave and what you specialize in?

Marketwave is a full-service marketing and brand communications agency that has been in business for nearly 25 years. We are a certified Woman-Owned Business (WBE) and a Conscious Capitalism company. We primarily serve the middle market and large businesses with expertise in Brand Strategy, PR/Strategic Communications, Employee Experience and Lead Generation. Post-pandemic, our clients have a greater need for support in the employee engagement and employer branding areas to focus on retention and culture connections that resonate with the way employees view work and their expectations for feedback, growth, and flexibility in their roles. Our clients who have tapped us for this employee experience work are seeing positive impact on engagement, productivity, and retention, as well as recruitment efforts. Whether it’s social media strategies, PR plans, lead generation or thought leadership campaigns, Marketwave helps companies elevate their brands, boost sales, and attract and keep the best talent. We operate with our brand of Texas tenacity each day and are proud to call Plano home with our new corporate headquarters move in 2020.

2. How has being an active member of the Plano Chamber of Commerce impacted your professional development/career?

Our business success hinges on relationships. 90% of our new business starts with a referral. Having the opportunity to meet new people and learn about their businesses through the chamber opens the door to new client opportunities for us. I network all the time, attending multiple events each week including the Plano Chamber events, and I find that that this Chamber offers an excellent way for me to engage with larger groups of business leaders on a regular and recurring basis. The connections I’ve made through the chamber have led to introductions to other people that may be great referral sources or future business for Marketwave.

3. Tell us about your involvement in the community.

Marketwave is a group of service-minded people who love to volunteer and stay connected in the community. We have several recurring volunteer events we participate in guided by the Communities Foundation of Texas and its Collin County office, as well as more impromptu and individual activities by team members. We have a monthly internal meeting that we call Victory Laps where we celebrate successes in a few different areas both business and personal. One of the key areas we cover in this meeting is volunteer hours. We’ve tracked that effort for several years now, and it continues to climb with our team dedicating more than 300 hours a year to local nonprofits. In our recent annual employee survey, we had overwhelming support for doing more volunteering as a team. It’s a big part of our culture and we recognize the community where we do business as a key stakeholder in who we are as a company.

4. What piece of advice would you give to our newest members?

I guess it’s like so many other things – you get out of it what you put in. I’ve had great conversations with numerous people I’ve met through the Chamber. The Chamber employees have been fantastic and really seem to care about connecting me and helping me grow Marketwave. I know that sometimes it’s easier to just get to work and a chamber event might not seem like something you have time to do, but I can honestly say that each event I’ve attended I’ve found value and met at least one new person. I consider it an investment in my company to be connected to other business and civic leaders through this chamber.