Whether you have separate teams dedicated to marketing and new business development, or you have one person responsible for both, you need to start an inbound marketing program. What makes inbound so important?

Let’s start with something everyone (especially our b2b clients) realizes: The buyer’s journey has changed. There’s now this Zero Moment of Truth—the moment when a person identifies a problem and then heads to Google to research a solution. If you don’t come up on that first page, chances are your competitors do, and they will snag that lead and eventually that paying customer.Read full post...

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is stirring up conversations and sparking new ideas in the minds of advertising and business professionals. A breeding ground for networking opportunities and business partnerships, the weeklong advertising festival can be seen as “the SXSW for the international set,” complete with celebrity appearances and musical performances. According to the Cannes Lions website, “We believe creativity is the driving force for business, for change and for good. That’s why we are campaigners for creativity: we inspire creative bravery that changes the course of communications. Our awards set a global benchmark for what good creative looks like, and our annual Festival connects those with a similar vision.”Read full post...

F&M Trust is an independent community bank headquartered in Chambersburg, PA.

CHAMBERSBURG, PA—F&M Trust has selected Aloysius Butler & Clark, a full-service marketing communications agency, to develop social media and digital media campaigns. The campaigns will support the Central Pennsylvania–based financial services company in reaching its growing base of individual and business customers.Read full post...

Munsell color sphere

What is a color scheme?

As Dictionary.com defines it:

an arrangement or pattern of colors or colored objects conceived of as forming an integrated whole

As designers, we are trained to seek out color schemes to communicate an idea and to justify its use in our work, whether it’s a graphic logo, a painting or even an interior space.Read full post...

Media training will help ensure—if you land that interview with your dream outlet—that you are ready.

If you’re asking the question, the answer is probably yes. If you’re in a position to speak on behalf of your company or organization in front of the “fourth estate,” you should have some understanding of how the media operates and how to get your messages across effectively. Good media training can get you there.

As the spokesperson for a company, product or issue, you should be credible, comfortable and knowledgeable. With proper training, you’ll be able to develop effective messages and determine the best ways to communicate those messages. You’ll be prepared for interactions with the press: at a press conference or trade show, in a phone interview, or—the unthinkable horror—in an ambush interview. In training, you’ll participate in “mock” interviews that will force you to confront issues, tackle possible negative perceptions and explain your positions convincingly.Read full post...

I would be wealthy if I had a nickel for every time a member of the faculty, staff, administration or board said, “I didn’t realize you could help with that.”

Far too often, the marcom (marketing/communications) and public relations office is brought into a situation requiring communication to internal and external stakeholders late in the process. I have learned through experience that the more people understand what marcom professionals do, the better the outcome.Read full post...

Twenty years ago, I crammed into the Philadelphia Civic Center with more than 6,000 of my fellow Temple University classmates to receive my journalism degree. After a few years spent working for a newspaper, I came over to the “dark side” and joined the agency world. I’ve never looked back.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how different my job is today from when I was a junior account executive all those years ago. For starters, we now have Internet that doesn’t require one of those AOL CDs. But aside from that, I’ve also been thinking about all the great advice I’ve gotten over the course of my career. Here are a few of my favorite tips:Read full post...

“TheSkimm,” a free email newsletter skimming three to five top stories in the world geared toward female millennials, recently announced it would start pairing up with other companies to bring in advertising revenue. It will do this through strategic “partnerships” rather than typical ads. Approaching its third anniversary, theSkimm has grown exponentially in popularity and recently completed a fundraising push bringing in .25 million in capital from backers like RRE Ventures (Buzzfeed) and Chelsea Handler. While its main focus has been growing its readership, now at 1.5 million readers daily, founders Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg decided it was time to make theSkimm profitable.Read full post...

Celebrating AB&C’s 40th anniversary at a Mad Men themed party.

Many have heard me talk about how lucky I was to “fall into” the advertising business. Not sure it was pure luck—my dad owned an advertising/PR shop for many years that was located, coincidentally, about two blocks from my office today.

My entry into this business was pretty much accidental. I had given notice at my other job and told the agency I had been working with as a client that I was “talking to some folks.” To this day, I swear I had no appointments lined up, but the agency said, “Well, would you talk to us?” Three meetings later, I was in the advertising/PR world!Read full post...

David Brond, VP/Director of Account Services of AB&C

Wilmington, DE – Aloysius Butler & Clark, a full-service marketing communications firm, has named David Brond as its new Vice President/Director of Account Services, effective June 15. He succeeds Michael Gallagher, who retires this month after 27 years at the agency. In this post, Brond will be responsible for overseeing and strategically guiding all of AB&C’s client relationships.

Brond has more than 25 years of experience as a strategic communications and marketing leader in a variety of industries, most notably health care and higher education. His most recent appointment was as Vice President for Strategic Communications and External Relations at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.Read full post...

The software development training school in downtown Wilmington offers an apprenticeship program that launches new careers immediately upon graduation.

Wilmington, DE—Aloysius Butler & Clark, a full-service marketing communications agency, has partnered with Zip Code Wilmington to help launch its new computer coding school in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. With media relations and digital advertising among the key components, the campaign will utilize the agency’s public relations, media, and creative teams. The school will train students to become world-class computer software developers to fill a steadily growing need in the business community.Read full post...

Shawn Kessler talks recruitment strategy with ASPR 2015 attendees.

This year I attended my fifth ASPR (Association of Staff Physician Recruiters) conference. My biggest takeaway: The physician shortage has truly become a real, living, breathing thing that, understandably, has a lot of recruiters terrified.

Rewind to 2011. Chicago. The conference was smaller with fewer attendees and vendors.  You would hear “The physician shortage is coming” and “Take these steps so your health system is prepared” or “These are the recruiters you should be using.” The term “recruitment marketing” was hardly known at that point.Read full post...

Aloysius Butler & Clark is happy to welcome five new Aster Awards into our office. What do these wins mean to us? They mean we develop strong creative for our healthcare and public health clients’ advertising campaigns and websites. The Aster Awards program is an elite competition dedicated to recognizing the nation’s most talented healthcare marketing professionals for outstanding excellence in advertising, according to the award’s website.

Winning creative included two websites that won silver — the American Nurses Association site, promoting its quality improvement indicator tracking system, and the Delaware Department of Public Health (DDPH) site, promoting protecting your skin from the sun. The skin-saving campaign — “Save Yourself” — also took home a gold award for the print and digital creative pieces.Read full post...

As a staff recruiter, you have to target physicians precisely, and then differentiate yourself from your competition — and do it all on time and on budget. That budget may be tight. You may be a team of one. And the physician shortage sure doesn’t help. But you press on.

Because your bottom line relies on the income physicians bring into your organization.

In AB&C’s 10 + years of helping physician recruiters, we’ve seen the challenges you face. And we’ve helped healthcare organizations find and bring in the physicians they need to keep the bottom line in the black.

But even if you can’t hire an agency just yet, we can still help with your recruitment strategy. Here are four areas you should focus on:Read full post...

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Aloysius Butler & Clark is making the job application process a whole lot easier for busy physicians as VCU Medical Center becomes the first institution to include “Apply Using Doximity” functionality. AB&C recognized that most physicians were viewing recruitment-related emails and open positions on mobile devices. Thus, the agency designed VCU’s physician recruitment site – JoinVCUHealth.org – so candidates can click once and apply with Doximity, the largest professional networking tool for physicians and healthcare professionals.Read full post...