Eric Schneider is leaving Totem Brand Stories, the company he established under the name Redwood Custom Communications in 1998 and subsequently built into a content marketing powerhouse.
Totem owner TC Media announced Schneider’s departure from his role as senior vice-president, marketing solutions and customer engagement on Wednesday. His final day with the company is Sept. 14.
Schneider sent out the following note to his professional acquaintances early Thursday afternoon:
Dear FriendsI apologize for this broadcast note, but I wanted to advise of personal career changes and new contact details.
As per the attached press release, after an extremely gratifying 14 years of building Totem (formerly Redwood) from a base of zero into the leading North American Content Marketing organization I have decided that I need to make a career move as I set myself up for the next 14 years.
I have had the great privilege of working with the many hundreds of people who at some point or another represented Redwood/Totem, as we forged a path thriving on constant change and innovation. Customers always first. Strategic and creative excellence as table stakes. This all resulted in an enviable portfolio that spans North America. A gratifying experience to say the least.
After selling my interest in Totem to Transcontinental almost 2 years ago, I remained committed to managing the transition of the business into a new environment, and ensuring that “content marketing” would be a key strategic pillar for the overall organization. I now feel the need to reconnect to “business building” and the creativity and leadership it demands. My last day at Totem will be September 14th. After that, I will be throwing my energy into discovering the opportunities that might take me forward.
Schneider is the third member of Totem’s senior management team to leave the company this year, following the January departures of editorial director Dick Snyder and SVP of marketing and business development Joseph Barbieri.
Schneider said the departures are a natural evolution of the 2008 sale of Totem to TC Media. “When you sell a business, it creates a set of dynamics and people start to make career choices,” he said. “People start to look at the culture to get a sense of whether they can align their careers on a long-term basis.”
Schneider said that his entrepreneurial background played a big part in his decision to move on. “It is generally more of a challenge to operate as an entrepreneur when you move into a much more corporate world,” he said.
Totem is currently in the midst of a “fantastic” period said Schneider, having recently landed new business from Right to Play, Del Monte and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation. The assignments incorporate everything from social media to digital content and custom publications.
“We actually have developed a lot of forward momentum, and from a timing perspective I feel I’ve accomplished my mission in setting Totem up in a positive manner on a go-forward basis,” he said.
Asked about future plans, Schneider told Marketing he still has “one big career” ahead of him and noted that entrepreneurialism is “very much part of who I am and what I am.”
While he didn’t rule out remaining in the content marketing business – an area he characterized as “incredibly hot and certainly ripe for development” – he said he would also be interested in pursuing a new venture.
While Schneider said he has had an “incredible time” developing and defining the custom content category, he added that, “I’ve always believed that innovation happens when you’re not constrained by experience. I do want to consider opportunities that get me into environments where I perhaps have no experience.”
In a release, TC Media’s SVP, content solutions, Ted Markle, called Schneider an “entrepreneur and visionary” and said he was instrumental in developing and crafting Totem into its current form.
TC Media acquired Totem in 2008 as part of what it called a strategic move to develop its marketing communications offering. After the sale closed, Schneider became a member of TC’s sector management committee, using his expertise in branded content and custom media to position the company as one of the sector’s key players.
