Susan Emerick
Founder & CEO
Susan Emerick is recognized by industry leaders as the foremost authority on building, implementing, and measuring successful advocacy programs for leading brands. Susan founded Brands Rising LLC because she is passionate about focusing brand advocacy on people who share expertise in the social network. She knows the most successful brand advocates are those who gain visibility and trust by sharing their expertise, and the most successful brands are those who build systems around these experts to align and scale impact for the brand.
Susan is the co-author of The Most Powerful Brand on Earth: How to Transform Teams, Empower Employees, Integrate Partners and Mobilize Customers to Beat the Competition in Digital and Social Media – A must read for anyone striving to build brand advocacy.
Prior to pursuing an entrepreneurial path, Susan led global enterprise social business and digital marketing programs for IBM where she led the technology giant’s social media strategy including social media listening and planning, brand engagement guidelines, social media governance, policy and measurement standards. Before joining IBM, Susan led the development successful direct marketing and brand management programs for companies across a multitude of industries ranging from publishing, financial services, retail, distribution and consumer packaged goods.
She serves on the advisory board of Social Media Today and is an active member of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association where she serves on the Research and Measurement Council, and in 2013 she co-authored the WOMMA Influencer Guidebook. In 2011, Susan was named to the elite iMedia Top 25 Internet Marketing Leaders and Innovators, an annual list of cutting-edge creative professionals, strategists, and technology innovators.
A passionate marketer, adjunct professor, and speaker, Susan enjoys navigating the redefinition of the marketing profession “as we know it” as a result of emerging technology. During her “off the grid time”, she enjoys climbing dunes and walking the shores of Lake Michigan with her family.
313-466-4249