June 1 marks the 119th anniversary of Mark Twain’s well-known quote: “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

It seems an appropriate time then to report that any rumor suggesting that marketing is dead (and branding is meaningless) is also an exaggeration. Last month, SSRS, a full-service market and survey research firm (www.ssrs.com), completed 1,000 interviews with adults ages 18+ across the United States. The SSRS Omnibus Survey uses a dual-frame model (RDD and cell) with 60 percent of the sample cell-phone respondents. Two of the survey questions suggested by Aloysius Butler & Clark were related to consumers’ current opinions of marketing and branding.Read full post...

Have you updated your marketing plan lately?

I’m here to say, it’s 2016 and marketing has changed. A lot. Marketing is no longer centered around your product, but your customer.

Now’s a good time to update your marketing plan (you have a marketing plan, right?). Make it your road map for this year’s marketing initiatives. Use it to set goals that you can check on from time to time—and say, “Oh, yeah, lookin’ good” or “Oh, sh*t, we’re totally off.” If you Google “marketing plan template,” you’ll find a standard outline consisting of about ten things you could include—like a SWOT analysis, USP and pricing strategies.Read full post...

Wilmington, DE—Aloysius Butler & Clark has been named the agency of record for Stamford Health in Stamford, Connecticut. As a leading healthcare provider in southwestern Connecticut, Stamford Health will leverage AB&C’s experience to launch its new brand and the opening of its new hospital through comprehensive advertising and marketing programs.Read full post...

Three of AB&C’s healthcare clients were among the winners.

Wilmington, DE—Aloysius Butler & Clark won five awards at the 47^th annual Jersey Awards, hosted by the New Jersey Advertising Club. Ads for three of AB&C’s New Jersey healthcare clients—Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Holy Name Medical Center and Cooper University Health Care—were among the winners.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...

Four ways to see if a media vendor and their services are right for your campaign.

When I first started as a media intern here at AB&C, one of my most frequent tasks was analyzing different media vendors for plans. This included vendors servicing print and digital magazines, websites, outdoor media ventures, out of home media, social media vendors — you name it. I would research and analyze different organizations to determine whether they’re the right vendor to accomplish our clients’ goals and reach the target audience for media plans.Read full post...

Our Steve Merino joined Dan Levy on Bleacher Report Radio to discuss Super Bowl commercials and the creative process. What were his favorites? Hint: You’re not you when you’re hungry.

Someone’s excited for the Super Bowl commercials! Settle down, Steve.

Who’s ready for the Super Bowl … commercials? Our team has plenty to say about Sunday’s big ads. So our Steve Merino put on his best radio voice and joined Phil Feliceangeli on WDOV/WILM. From babies on roller skates to talking horses, here was Steve’s take:Read full post...

The campaign resulted in 72 new appointments with MedStar Health physicians.

WILMINGTON, DE—Aloysius Butler & Clark and MedStar Health won gold at the 2014 CardioVascular Advertising Awards (CVAA). AB&C’s work on the atrial fibrillation (a-fib) campaign for MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute earned the first-place award in the Total Advertising Campaigns category. The campaign included radio, transit, banner and print advertisements as well as patient podcasts. In less than one month, the multimedia campaign resulted in 72 new appointments with MedStar Health physicians.Read full post...

When the Department of Public Health asked us to promote HealthyDelaware.org — a resource to help Delawareans learn about cancer prevention, screening and treatment programs — we knew social media would play a key role.Read full post...

Working with a full-service agency brings a lot of benefits to clients.

The advertising industry has evolved since the days of the Mad Men. Full-service agencies have given way to specialty shops. These shops usually focus on one marketing tactic — PR, SEO, website design or maybe inbound marketing. And they tend to concentrate on only one or two industries.

I heard this line over and over at a recent conference:Read full post...

Are you spreading your marketing dollars too thin?

Each year it seems that marketing budgets get smaller. But your boss wants a higher return on everything you do, right? You have to be careful with your budget — and show how your marketing dollars lead directly to an increase in company revenue.

As a marketer, you may feel overwhelmed staying on top of all the new tricks of the trade and figuring out if they’re even relevant for your business. Read full post...

This reassuring advice was offered early in my career, as I sweated over every word of a telephone-banking ad. Fast-forward to Aloysius Butler & Clark. Since joining the agency, I’ve transitioned from a purely b2b writer to also being involved in healthcare and life science accounts.

SYSMEX hematology analyzer ad

I’ve gone from promoting electronics, trucks, doors, chemicals and building products to writing my first six-page insert for transcatheter aortic valve replacement — a procedure that surgeons performed, mind you, on an 87-year-old woman while her heart was still beating! Along the way, I’ve also worked on endoprostheses (devices that seal off abdominal aneurysms before they burst), hematology analyzers that spot blood conditions before they become life-threatening, and more.Read full post...

Taxicabs now offer digital advertising on their signature roof-mounted displays.

When it comes to media outlets our ever-increasing demand for interaction has forced certain traditional forms of advertising to evolve — or risk the fate of the eight-track player.

What comes to mind when you picture taxicab advertising — probably a small billboard atop a yellow car, right?

Well think again. Read full post...

Creating a brand promise and reaching out to new niche audiences with that promise is key to the growth of any business, including tourism.

Tourism advertising has changed with the times. Even though people still read magazines and news publications to “think” about where they might want to spend their hard-earned dollars, they do their actual booking and planning online.

Consumers today tune out TV commercials with their DVRs and TiVo’s, opting instead to listen to satellite or Pandora radio. Then they tune out those ads as well.

I’m not suggesting you completely abandon traditional ad venues. But maybe it’s time to reconsider the way you integrate digital and nontraditional advertising into your marketing strategy. Read full post...