Marketing Manager

Description

Marketing Manager

Full-Time • On-Site, Armada, MI • Reports to Director of Marketing • Blake’s Orchard & Cider Mill

Who We Are & About This Role

Since 1946, Blake’s Orchard & Cider Mill has been a cornerstone of Michigan agriculture and agritourism: an 80-year family operation with deep roots in Armada and a genuine growth ambition. Our mission is to cultivate growth in our people, our community, and our business. We operate across Armada, Almont, Big Apple, and South Lyon, and we welcome thousands of guests every year.

Blake’s is more than cider and donuts. We offer an experience, a tradition, and a feeling. The Farm is what we grow, the Community is who gathers here, and Family is how every guest should feel the moment they arrive. The Marketing Manager helps decide how all of that gets told.

This role is a genuine blend: you are a storyteller and a builder. You are the primary copywriter, you lead our public relations work, you contribute creative ideas across campaigns, and you represent the brand on camera when the moment calls for it. You also own the master marketing calendar and the operating rhythm that gets campaigns across the line on time and on brand.

We also work differently than most marketing teams our size. Blake’s is AI-forward by design, and this role is built for someone who is AI-native: you use tools like Claude and Claude Design as part of your daily practice, not as an occasional experiment. AI gives you speed and volume. You bring the brand voice, the judgment, and the taste. That combination is what lets a small team produce at a scale that should not be possible.

If you write well, think creatively, work with real pace, and want to shape how a beloved Michigan brand tells its story, we want to hear from you.

Your Role With Blake’s: Key Responsibilities

Brand Storytelling & Copywriting

You are the voice of Blake’s across almost everything we publish. Passion & Positivity: our copy should sound like a place people love, because it is.

• Serve as the primary copywriter across content, campaigns, email, SMS, web, and creative work, maintaining a consistent and on-brand voice

• Help shape and articulate the Blake’s brand story across campaigns, events, and seasonal moments so our voice and positioning carry through every touchpoint

• Generate and refine creative ideas for campaigns, events, and content; translate selected concepts into plans the team can actually deliver

• Represent Blake’s on camera and on set for brand video, partner content, behind-the-scenes moments, and media appearances

AI-Native Marketing Practice

Blake’s works AI-forward, and we expect this role to lead that. Learning & Innovation: the tools change constantly, and staying sharp on them is part of the job, not an extra.

• Use Claude and Claude Design as core daily tools for drafting, iterating, ideating, and producing marketing work at speed

• Build AI into the marketing workflow: first drafts, campaign variants, research, competitive scanning, content repurposing, and creative exploration

• Apply strong human judgment to everything AI produces; nothing goes out that has not been shaped by your voice and your standards

• Verify what AI gives you before it leaves the building; names, dates, quotes, awards, and claims in press materials are checked against a source, never assumed

• Identify where AI can remove friction from the marketing operation and put those improvements into practice

• Stay ahead of new marketing AI tools as they roll out. Test them early, judge them honestly, and bring what earns its place back to the team

• Keep the team iterating. Run the experiment before anyone asks for it, share what you learn, and make trying the unfamiliar a normal part of how this department works rather than a once-a-year offsite idea

Public Relations & Media

You own how Blake’s shows up in the press. Trust & Communication: strong media relationships are built over time and they are worth building well.

• Lead Blake’s public relations efforts including media outreach, press materials, partnerships, and reactive press opportunities

• Build and maintain relationships with local and regional media

• Write press releases, pitch stories, and manage media partnerships from first contact through coverage

• Serve as a confident on-the-record and on-camera representative of the brand when called on

Campaign Execution & Delivery

Great ideas only count once they’re in market. Achievement & Accountability: you turn strategic direction into finished work that goes live on time, on brand, and complete.

• Support the Director of Marketing by translating strategic priorities into actionable plans and completing the day-to-day work that brings campaigns to the finish line

• Own the master marketing calendar across all Blake’s business units and locations; track timelines, deliverables, and dependencies

• Translate strategic direction into timelines, deliverables, and next steps; ensure campaigns go live on time across every channel

• Support execution of events, activations, and seasonal campaigns, including deployment of email, SMS, web, paid media with external partners, and social scheduling

• Manage project tracking, intake processes, and workflows; find ways to improve efficiency and reduce last-minute work

• Monitor campaign performance and support post-campaign reporting

Creative Review & Brand Standards

You are a gatekeeper for the brand. Integrity & Commitment: if it carries the Blake’s name, it should be right.

• Review and approve creative deliverables, content, and campaign assets to ensure they are on brand, on strategy, and ready to launch

• Brief creative partners clearly and hold work to a consistent standard across internal and external contributors

• Maintain brand voice and visual consistency across every channel and every location

Cross-Team & Multi-Location Coordination

Blake’s runs across four locations and many business units. Teamwork & Character: your job is to make all of it feel like one brand.

• Partner with internal teams and business units to gather inputs, align on needs, and ensure marketing requests are clear, scoped, and well executed

• Keep stakeholders informed throughout each project; no one should have to chase you for a status

• Connect execution and storytelling across Armada, Almont, Big Apple, and South Lyon so each location is supported within one cohesive Blake’s brand

Requirements

What Great Looks Like: Qualifications

The right person writes well, moves fast, thinks creatively, and finishes what they start. Backgrounds vary: marketing, communications, agency, PR, or content. What matters is the work you have produced and the pace you can hold.

Required

• 3 to 6 years of experience in marketing, campaign execution, or a comparable creative and delivery role

• Strong copywriting skills: you capture brand voice across web, email, SMS, social, and press materials

• Demonstrated AI fluency in a creative or marketing context; you already use AI tools as part of how you work, not as a novelty

• Proficient on a Mac and comfortable working outside a browser: files and folders, spreadsheets, and software you have not used before. You pick up new tools without waiting to be trained on them

• Strong organizational skills: you manage multiple campaigns and many moving pieces at once in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment

• PR or media-relations experience, or a strong interest in growing into it; comfortable writing press releases, pitching local media, and managing partnerships

• Comfortable on camera and on set; willing to represent the brand publicly when needed

• A creative thinker who actively contributes ideas in addition to executing assigned work

• Familiarity with digital marketing channels including email, SMS, social, web, and paid ads, and how they work together in integrated campaigns

• Hands-on experience with project management tools such as ClickUp or similar

• Strong written and verbal communicator; comfortable briefing creative partners and aligning stakeholders

• Detail-oriented and proactive: you spot gaps before they become problems and follow through without prompting

• Reliable transportation and ability to travel to all Blake’s locations: Armada, Almont, Big Apple, and South Lyon

Preferred

• Direct experience with Claude and Claude Design, or comparable AI tools used for copy, creative, and design production

• Interest in learning Claude Code, the terminal version of Claude we use for bigger jobs like bulk file work, data pulls, and building small internal tools. No coding background needed, we’ll teach it. What we can’t teach is wanting to

• Experience building AI into a team workflow rather than using it only as an individual

• Background with multi-location, multi-brand, hospitality, food and beverage, or retail businesses

• Experience with photo and video production, whether on set or coordinating it

• Familiarity with marketing analytics and performance reporting

How This Role Works

• On-site role based out of Blake’s Armada campus; this is a hands-on role and the work happens where the business happens

• Regular presence required for events, shoots, key collaboration days, and seasonal peaks

• Travel to Almont, Big Apple, and South Lyon as needed for campaign coordination, event execution, and content and PR opportunities

• Work is split between a climate-controlled office and outdoor settings across the orchard, retail, tasting room, and event venues

Busy season is part of the plan. During festival and fall season, weekend work is expected and built into how we operate. Your week stays at five days: the days simply shift to cover events and weekends. Standard Monday through Friday schedules apply during off-season months. This is not an ask on top of a full week. It is the week, arranged around the season.

The Fall Incentive Plan. For team members who want to take on more during our peak season, Blake’s offers an optional program: work six-day, sixty-hour weeks through fall and earn additional PTO plus a cash bonus. Participation is entirely voluntary and has no bearing on performance reviews or standing. It exists for people who want to go all in during the season that matters most, and want to be paid for it. Full program details are shared during onboarding.

How You’re Rewarded: Compensation & Benefits

Competitive base salary, performance-based incentive, 401(k) with match, full health/dental/vision benefits, PTO, and all the perks of working at one of Michigan’s most beloved farms. Full details shared during the interview process.

What’s Next: How to Apply

Don’t just send a resume into a void. Send us something you wrote that you are proud of. Tell us how you used AI on it. Visit a location, try the cider, and show us you want in. We can’t wait to meet the right person.

Blake’s Orchard & Cider Mill is an equal opportunity employer.