Nurture your PR campaigns and plans through to the end … even if that means risking frostbite.

Long before LeSean McCoy rushed into the record books in Sunday’s Eagles-Lions game in Philadelphia, the game itself was already a legend in the making. A surprise snowstorm and a second-half comeback by the home team made a captivating story for sports fans across the country.

Now that I have thawed out from hours spent in the icy stands of Lincoln Financial Field, I realized that Snow Bowl can offer some valuable public relations lessons. Think hypothermia has made me delirious? Consider:

1. Be prepared for anything. Even the most carefully crafted plans could change. This is true whether you’re planning to launch an ambitious PR campaign for a product that suddenly isn’t ready for market, or if you game-planned for a few snowflakes and not a swirling snowstorm.Read full post...

No one can say whether it will be able to monetize its social media platform, but the data suggests that TV broadcasters and cable networks have good reason to use Twitter.

It’s no wonder that broadcasters and some advertisers see Twitter as the ideal promotional partner. The Media Audit reports that nearly 15% of consumers who watch TV during prime time on a typical day have also used Twitter in the past 30 days. That’s an increase of more than 60% compared to 9.2% just two years ago. The latest figure represents more than 13.1 million consumers across The Media Audit’s 80 measured markets.

The way people watch TV is changing. More people are streaming video content and TV shows on mobile devices. Nielsen just announced that they’d be measuring phone and tablet TV viewing by mid-November. And there is a growing number of consumers who post and read tweets about popular TV shows and sporting events in real time, many of whom belong to the much-desired younger demographic. That helps to explain why advertisers and media are interested in Twitter. It lends itself to helping brands or media extend their reach to a desirable younger audience.Read full post...

Michael English, Senior Interactive Art Director

WILMINGTON, DE — Aloysius Butler & Clark has hired Michael English as its Senior Interactive Art Director. He will concentrate primarily on online animation and website design. English will work out of the agency’s Wilmington office.Read full post...

Popular? Maybe. Appalling? Absolutely!

Lack of diversity affects our lives personally and professionally. In this country, equality for everyone — minority, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender — seems like a simple concept. Sadly, I struggle every day to understand why it is not.

Challenges such as marriage equality and feeling safe in the workplace (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) are joined by a multitude of other forms of inequality, such as sexism, racial profiling and gender bias. These issues appear in abundance on the Internet and social media, and on sites you might not expect.

Recently Adweek published an article entitled “Powerful Ads Use Real Google Searches to Show the Scope of Sexism Worldwide.” The campaign, created by UN Women, uses Google’s autocomplete search feature to show how gender inequality is a worldwide epidemic. The study used search qualifiers like “women shouldn’t,” “women need to,” and “women cannot.” Read full post...

Have a clear plan in place for the changes your staff will go through over the next few years.

Welcome to the wildest of times in the history of American healthcare. Consumers, physicians and advanced practitioners, administrators, insurers, and government bureaucrats are caught up in a systematic change that’s as manageable as a tornado in a mailbox. Since 2010, we’ve all been loosely aware of the guidelines of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (or “Obamacare,” if you prefer). But today — only a couple months from full adoption — uncertainty and fear loom large. All parties are scrambling to make sense of this monumental change, let alone predict how it will affect their daily operations.

Here’s a clue: Unprepared health systems and hospitals throughout the country are facing mass layoffs or, worse, closing. Some even project that one-third of hospitals in America will close or completely reorganize by 2020. Healthcare is rapidly becoming the newest commodity in an open competitive market, and healthcare employers with brand names will prevail.Read full post...

ANCHORAGE, AK — Aloysius Butler & Clark has reached the final American frontier. The agency’s physician recruitment team will conduct an employment discovery program and develop brand creative for Southcentral Foundation (SCF), an Alaskan health system servicing 60,000 Alaska Native and American Indians. Through unique branding categories, AB&C not only reduces time-to-fill for hospitals’ physician vacancies, but also ensures candidates fit the organizations.

“SCF expands the reach of Aloysius Butler & Clark beyond ‘the lower 48,’” says John Hawkins, president and CEO. “The location presents both limitations and intrigue. More so than any client that we represent, SCF demands that we focus on understanding a native culture.”Read full post...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbygSoZkDtk&feature=youtu.be

Put on those sneakers and stretch those calves — Team AB&C is gearing up for the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Climb in Wilmington, Delaware, on November 9. The venue is 1201 North Market Street — at 331 feet, the state’s tallest building. Runners will start their 21-floor ascent at 8:30 a.m. And, if one time just isn’t enough, the boldest climbers have the option of running a second leg. Luckily, a nice elevator ride awaits them on the way down.

Each AB&C’er hopes to raise $100. Additionally, the AB&C team is aiming high with a $1,000 goal in the team category. Donations will support lung disease education, research and advocacy. Lung diseases include lung cancer, COPD, asthma and emphysema — diseases to which AB&C team members have very personal connections.Read full post...

If a potential customer reads a negative review, they’re more forgiving if you’re a part of the conversation.

Your online presence is bigger than you think. It’s certainly bigger than your website. People are talking about your business all over the Internet — whether you like it or not.

Maybe you’ve never visited a review or social media site, but guess what? They’ve probably visited you. Someone stopped in for a bite, bought a new car or was simply in the neighborhood and voila! Your online listing was born. And yes, it can happen without your blessing.

We’re not talking about angry customers who had a bad experience and spend their time venting in a blog post that six people will read. We’re talking about reputable, heavily trafficked sites where people go to check in, read reviews and sometimes offer up a piece of their own mind.

So what, you ask? Well, you may be losing clients and sales without even knowing it. It’s pretty simple: Online reviews pack a punch. According to Inc.com, 89 percent of consumers trust online product and service reviews. Whether it’s spot-on or wildly out of whack, your online reputation may be a customer’s first touchpoint with your business.Read full post...

WILMINGTON, DE — Aloysius Butler & Clark, a full-service marketing communications agency, received high praise from Ad Week, the leading industry publication for marketing, media and advertising professionals. In a recent article titled The United States of Advertising Agencies, AB&C was named Delaware’s “Top Shop.”

“Our selection speaks to the strong partnerships we’ve forged with clients from Delaware to Alaska,” says John Hawkins, president and CEO. “We’ve invested in the entire process — research and strategy all the way through execution and measurement. It makes our creative stronger and our clients more successful.”

Read full post...

Spending time with family and friends is the greatest perk of all.

Not so long ago, a company would lure a potential employee with a competitive salary and medical benefits. These days, companies have new ammunition — perks. Perks represent the “value” employers put on their employees. But they also have a potentially darker side.

Salary.com recently posted an article about 14 companies that offer incredible employee perks. At first blush, they all sounded amazing and of course my employer should adopt all of them immediately. But it became clear that these perks were about keeping the employee onsite. Free lunches and dinners, yoga, a playroom, childcare, on-site gyms, on-site concierges to handle life’s chores — everything a working stiff might need to get through the day, right outside his or her office door.Read full post...

Think of social media as a piece of the brand engagement puzzle. To be effective, it needs to fit into a strategy aimed at the right audience.

Well, you can — if you don’t mind it ending or taking on an entirely different tone when the next semester starts.

Social media has become the latest stepchild in the world of digital marketing campaigns. At least it has good company. When Quark and Pagemaker came out in the ’90s, everyone was an instant print designer. With the dot-com bubble, everyone’s nephew was a web developer. Digital cameras turned the world into professional photographers. Now, interns can manage social media campaigns. Why not? They spend their whole day on those sites anyway.

It’s easy to think of social communities as the realm of kids hanging out with their friends and boomers sharing cat videos. In reality, the social networks are one piece of what has become the omni-channel. Read full post...

Once again, a study has confirmed that there are significantly more risks associated with not vaccinating children than there are with vaccinating them. The study — published on September 30 in Pediatrics — looked at rates of pertussis (whooping cough) in California, and compared them to rates in areas where parents withheld vaccines from their children. The findings? People who weren’t vaccinated were 2½ times more likely than the norm to live in an area with high levels of whooping cough.

Why is this important? Because as the study states in its background, “In 2010, 9120 cases of pertussis were reported in California, more than any year since 1947.” How could this happen in the United States in the 21^st century? Why would parents withhold one of the most effective preventers of communicable diseases in the world?Read full post...

Color Blocks

So, I’m driving along an unfamiliar country road enjoying the scenery when I approach a crossroads with a red octagonal sign but no words. What’s a guy to do? Instinct tells me to take my foot off the gas and come to a stop. This may seem like a no-brainer but there’s a reason for my actions. Is it the sign’s octagonal shape? Maybe. But more than likely it’s the sign’s color. Since prehistoric times, red has been associated with blood and fire. So, naturally, this guy decided to stop.

In marketing

Colors affect each of us in so many ways. Colors can even reveal your personality or mood, and yet most of us are unaware of their influence in our lives — or of the subtle ways we use them. In marketing, for example, it’s valuable to know how colors resonate with your target audience. As a marketing communications designer, I’m constantly involved with color and color decisions: How do we make this poster “edgy”? Can this brochure be more “corporate?” What will make you look at this billboard and grasp its message — all in 2.3 seconds? Just as the red of the unmarked sign alerts us to the possibility of imminent danger, there are other colors that can influence in other ways, even physiologically.Read full post...

We’re proud to be partnering with our friends from MedStar Health and Scripps Health to present an Idea Workshop at SHSMD’s Annual Conference. Our workshop will tackle seven of the most common healthcare marketing challenges faced by our colleagues around the country. We identified these challenges through a brainstorming session with MedStar and Scripps, a poll of all AB&C healthcare partners and a survey of SHSMD Annual Conference attendees. Here’s a quick look at three of the challenges that we’ll be discussing at the conference.

Challenge #1: How do I choose what to market?

Plan, plan and plan some more. Your marketing plan is one element of your organization’s planning cycle, and you should take cues from the other elements: your strategic plan, facilities plan, operating plan, financial plan, business plan and communications plan. From those plans, identify the organization’s priority service lines. Then determine if they’re ready to be marketed:

• Do you have clinical strength in this area?
• Do you have positioning power?
• Is it profitable?
• Is there competitor vulnerability?
• Is there spin-off revenue?
• Is there a product champion?
• Can they deliver on patient experience?

If you plan properly and can answer these questions, you’ll have an easier time prioritizing your marketing efforts.Read full post...

Dr. Jenni Buckley (far right) of the University of Delaware shows off an adapted tricycle designed by her mechanical engineering students.

WILMINGTON, DE — U.S. Paralympic swimmer Mallory Weggemann, who holds 34 American and 15 world records, will headline the second annual Gift of Movement Celebration on October 24 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at White Clay Creek Country Club. In 2008, complications from an epidural injection left Mallory paralyzed from the waist down. In spite of her disability, Mallory went on to become one of the most decorated American swimmers.

The evening will feature hors d’oeuvres, dinner, a silent auction and an address from Carla Markell, Delaware’s First Lady. The benefit is hosted by Yes U Can USA, an organization for people who are disabled or have limited mobility. The nonprofit identifies and overcomes barriers, then gets people with disabilities moving through exercise and activities.Read full post...