In 2012 alone, 3,328 people were killed in distracted driving crashes.

Every day on my way to work I witness an amazing number of people who put their lives and the lives of others in jeopardy. People eating, reading the newspaper, smoking, putting on makeup, talking on their cell phones and — worst of all — texting. For what?

They swerve, drive too slow, run off the road, cut you off and stop abruptly. They piss off everyone around them. And most of the time they’re oblivious to the potential danger they’re causing. For what?

I’ve tried every way I know to deal with this, including ignoring them. But it’s impossible. It doesn’t seem to matter to them that using their cell phone while driving is illegal. It’s a dangerous epidemic on America’s roadways. And the statistics don’t lie: In 2012 alone, 3,328 people were killed in distracted driving crashes. For what?Read full post...

No longer just for boys and girls

On February 13, social media giant Facebook took a courageous step forward by improving its gender identity feature. Previously it only offered “male” or “female” as a user’s choices. It now lists over 50 possibilities, along with pronouns the user can choose to let friends know how they would like to be referred to publicly. Facebook’s message is forward thinking and clear—it wants its users to know that it recognizes the large spectrum of gender identity. It also wants users to feel comfortable and included, no matter where they identify on that spectrum.

There were many reactions to this change, from positive to ambivalent to negative; but the LGBTQ community certainly has reason to celebrate. Surely there will be people for whom this change means nothing—but for the users this does impact, it could mean everything.Read full post...

WILMINGTON, DE — Aloysius Butler & Clark, a full-service marketing communications agency, and four of its clients won a combined seven awards at the 35^th annual Telly Awards. With silver as the highest award given, the agency took home seven total awards: one silver and one bronze with Delaware Office of Highway Safety; one silver and one bronze with Delaware Division of Public Health; one silver for its Choose Health Delaware campaign; and two bronzes with MedStar Health — the largest healthcare provider in the Maryland/D.C. region.Read full post...

Though we all know about color — the ones we like and the ones we don’t like — color is often misunderstood. In certain combinations, colors can scream or whisper. This is because colors are influenced by adjacent colors. In our industry, designers understand how important color choices are. To the untrained eye, color choice — when not dictated by corporate graphic standards — may appear random. Far from it. We put a lot of thought into our decisions. Certain color combinations create harmony. Contrasting colors ensure the legibility of the message we’re trying to communicate. Colors are all relative — to each other. The difference between a message that’s screaming for attention and one that should be softer in tone can be achieved by which colors are used in the design.Read full post...

Agile is pretty new in relation to other methodologies.

Agile marketing is a relatively new term being thrown around by marketers and project managers to help us adapt to the ever-changing landscape of marketing. In the late 1990s, software developers created agile methodology, which focuses on iterative and incremental goals when developing large programs, to help streamline the development process. Agile is pretty new in relation to other methodologies such as waterfall, which is what most project managers use on a daily basis.

OK, now that you have some background, let’s jump in with both feet. Read full post...

Five observations on getting the most out of the people you depend on for breakthrough marketing communications, or what 10 years on the client side and 35 years on the agency side has taught me. Among other things.

Give your agency team regular “seats at the table.”

1. Creativity isn’t a commodity. And you won’t get it out of your agency team by saying, “This project is really important…” like you expect someone will hit F7 on his or her keyboard and good things will happen. Creativity is an art, and great art takes time. Give your agency team the time to give you their best.Read full post...

Dale Jr. joins Twitter.

Yesterday’s six-hour rain delay of the Daytona 500 could have been a huge letdown for NASCAR fans. Instead, they spent the afternoon joking with their favorite drivers, getting updates on track conditions from race officials, and having a “fireside chat” with at least one driver (Clint Bowyer), who told track reporters that he was having “a lot of fun” with his Twitter followers until his PR team “shut him down” (Hey, sometimes we have to be the party poopers!). After the race, fans celebrated the long-awaited launch of race winner Dale Earnhardt  Jr.’s Twitter account, which he promised he would do if he won. Nine hours later, he already had 355,000 followers (and growing).

Read full post...

Now at AB&C we are blessed with some of the most talented employees in the industry, but this weather makes our job harder.

Breaking news: This has been one horrible winter for any one living in the eastern third of the country. Let’s be honest, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois — even parts of Ohio and New York — you expect to get hit like this. But the South is wholly unprepared (according to my friends in Atlanta), and those of us in the mid-Atlantic region have been … caught off guard. Just talk to any school-aged kid who is losing most of spring break to make up for snow days!

Beyond the emotional frustration caused by this endless onslaught of nasty weather, there’s also the devastating impact on business. Don’t worry; I’m not going to bulldoze you with a lengthy lecture about market trends and impacts — although if you read this blog to its conclusion, you should get one marketing tip. But rather I’d like to focus on one very specific business segment — mine. Advertising and public relations.Read full post...

Craig Brown, Account Supervisor (left); Paul Pomeroy, Managing Partner (center); and Steve Yarrow, Senior Director (right) visit To-Jo Mushrooms in Avondale.

WILMINGTON, DE — Following a national search, To-Jo Mushrooms selected Aloysius Butler & Clark as its new marketing agency. Among other services, AB&C will perform brand positioning, website redesign, retail customer engagement and public relations for the Avondale-based mushroom grower. AB&C and its business-to-business marketing team won the account despite being the only contending agency outside of the produce category.Read full post...

Most people, including those of us in the communications business, tend to picnic in the spring, summer or fall when the warm weather soothes the body and mind. Often, this includes family and friends, a cookout in a park, good food, and a bit of libation — with the objective of just plain fun and relaxation.

What you’ll need: boots, backpack, waterproof ground cloth… Oh, and don’t forget your brain!

Now, if I told you you might enjoy and actually benefit from a solo picnic in the winter snow, when it’s 28 degrees out and actually snowing, you might think me a bit off-kilter. However, over the years, I’ve found this kind of excursion quite enjoyable and “strategically beneficial,” particularly when I’m working on a tough problem for one of my clients or new business prospects.

Here’s what you’ll need:Read full post...

Good teamwork means cooperating and collaborating.

Growing up I remember every weekend watching ABC’s “The Wide World of Sports.” It was 1961 when Wimbledon was broadcast for the first time. I decided then tennis would be my sport. I’ve played since high school and have been playing competitive team tennis for the last 20-plus years. About a year ago I was given a book called “Tennis and the Meaning of Life.” It’s a literary anthology of the game, spanning many years, including short stories and poetry from the likes of Somerset Maugham and E.B. White. It got me thinking about what tennis has meant to me.Read full post...

A happy, relaxed workplace leads to better thinking and a better product.

Ding! New email comes in. Subject line: “Who needs a drink?!” You waver a little bit before responding. On the one hand, it’s been a long day and you really need to unwind. And there’s nothing important that you had to do after work. On the other hand, you just don’t know if you feel like going to happy hour.

Go.

A happy hour may be spontaneous, or it may be planned months in advance — but either way, it’s always a good idea. At Aloysius Butler & Clark, we try to plan a happy hour each month, hosted by one of the departments in the agency. We’ve had a creative department tailgate party in the parking lot, a public relations Halloween happy hour in our spooky garage, and a media team Oscars gathering complete with red carpet — just to name a few.

Don’t have the space or energy to plan a themed happy hour? No problem! Just grab a couple of colleagues and head down to the local brewpub to enjoy some of their happy hour specials. Do it. It’s good for you. It can actually be healthy. Read full post...

We all know that good advertising and branding are important parts of selling products. But did you ever wonder what that really fancy logo and packaging are hiding? I’m talking about the major brands we trust to feed ourselves and our children. They say they use all-natural ingredients: whole grains, organic vegetables — you know, the good-for-you stuff. But what most of us don’t know is that the main ingredients used in most foods are grown from genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which are now known to cause a slew of health problems and illnesses, including cancer — and that’s just the beginning.Read full post...

When it comes to social media, LinkedIn often gets overlooked. Think about it like siblings from TV’s most famous sitcoms. I’ll go with shows from three eras — The Brady Bunch, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Modern Family. Facebook is the pretty and popular older sibling (Marcia Brady, Hilary Banks, or Haley Dunphy). Twitter is the younger, lovable cutie pie (Cindy, Ashley, or Luke). And then we have LinkedIn — the middle child (Jan, Carlton, or Alex) — not as flashy, not as fun, definitely more nerdy.

If your website is indeed awesome, LinkedIn is an outstanding conduit to drive prospects there.

On “the world’s largest professional network,” your profile might suffer from inattention — only getting updates when you’re gearing up for a job search. But this modus operandi is outdated and you need to shake it off. Long known as the least-social social network, LinkedIn is slowly improving its social skills. Status updates, endorsements (love ’em or hate ’em), and now Pulse (news curation) make interacting with your connections — and, more important, prospective clients — both easier and more essential.Read full post...

For years we’ve been studying Millennials. We know their mindset, values and technographics. We know where to find them online and offline. We know the best ways marketing can gain their brand loyalty and how to entice them to become advocates for our brands.

Except, most Millennials are now 18 to 34 years old. Millennials are aging, and so is the way we market to them. A new marketing demographic is emerging: Post-Millennials.

Take a look at these facts from The Beloit Mindset List of the Class of 2017:

• Eminem and LL Cool J could show up at parents’ weekend.
• As they started to crawl, so did the news across the bottom of the television screen.
• Their parents have always bemoaned the passing of precocious little Calvin and sarcastic stuffy Hobbes.
• As they slept safely in their cribs, the Oklahoma City bomber and the Unabomber were doing their deadly work.
• Their parents’ car CD player is soooooo ancient and embarrassing.
• Bill Maher has always been politically incorrect.

As Post-Millennials emerge as the next big demographic, so do the online platforms we can find them on. Here are a few to keep on your radar.Read full post...