Batman and Robin. Peanut butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. Tom and Jerry. Some of the greatest duos started as individuals with different strengths coming together for a greater purpose. Recently, an unexpected partnership has formed between the marketing team and the technical and branch teams that work in the field every day.
For Social Media & Content Marketing guru, Merinda Gruszecki, that partnership has become one of the most rewarding parts of her role. While marketing often happens behind a computer screen, Merinda knows that you can’t be your best self by yourself. So, she decided to reach out to personally experience the real stories in the field and physically watch teammates protect homes, businesses, and communities every day.
Tom Cargill, former technician and current Service Manager at the Western Pest Services Cape May branch, welcomed Merinda on several ride-alongs to provide a firsthand look at the work technicians perform daily. Together, the two have combined technical expertise and storytelling to help better educate customers and showcase the incredible work the Western team does every day. Whether it’s learning treatment methods and pest terminology or seeing customer interactions in real time, the experience helped bridge the gap between marketing and operations.
“It’s always fun when Merinda comes out to do a ride along,” Tom shared. “Filming the jobs being done helps show value to would-be customers. It also helps educate the marketing department on the science of what we do regarding keeping our communities healthy, considering the environment, and implementing control of problematic pest species.”
The same kind of teamwork has continued across brands and regions. The team knows that it’s essential to get together and share experiences and your love of community and pass those passionate feelings on to everyone they come into contact with. Doing so makes a heroic impact that goes beyond controlling pests alone. So, when Merinda needed to reach out to someone at another brand she works on, it was easy to choose Tommy.
Tommy Atkins, Branch Manager of McGee Pest Control, an OPC Pest Services Company based in Murray, Kentucky, worked with Merinda to support community involvement initiatives and local outreach efforts. Through creating flyers for food drives, brainstorming ideas, or helping to promote the brand locally and on social media, the partnership quickly became more than a typical marketing request.
Batman and Robin… we mean Tommy and Merinda have worked together to bring Tommy’s community initiatives to life, with Merinda helping behind the scenes to turn ideas into impactful outreach for the community.
“I reached out to our Marketing Team and Merinda got back to me. Since day one she has been AWESOME,” Tommy shared. “I’ll come up with ideas, send them to her, and she’ll make it happen. Since the first time we worked together, we’ve clicked. We are like brother and sister that got separated at birth.”
While marketers and operations may have very different day-to-day responsibilities, partnerships like these prove that when teams work together, they can better educate customers, strengthen communities, and showcase the remarkable work happening in the field and in the office every day.
Merinda commented: “I really do learn something new every single day in this industry. The partnerships (aka friendships!) I’ve built with our operations and technical teams have helped me better understand the incredible work happening behind the scenes, and that knowledge helps me create content that feels authentic, educational, and meaningful for both our customers and our team.”
While they may not fight crime, or taste delicious together, they do protect others and the community, put each other’s needs ahead of their own, and do whatever it takes to get the job done. It may seem like an unlikely duo, but it works for everyone.
