In my experience as a hospital chief marketing officer (CMO) and in working at AB&C with healthcare CMOs, I’ve found a number of attributes that serve a person well in this role. On Innovation Enterprise, which provides leading-edge ideas and information on a variety of key business channels, Rose Johnstone identifies a number of these […]

We know a few things to be true about popular brands. They exist. They tend to offer a product or service. They have a physical space or online presence. They have identifiable brand attributes. And they are vetted over time through consumer experiences and perception. Based on these truths, it seems safe to assume that […]

By Maria Antonelli, Andrea Ferrino, Elizabeth Gluck, Jennifer Harris, Lauren Bentley, Amanda Kalbrosky and Elizabeth Howarth Earlier this month, the Philly Ad Club hosted its annual Women in Advertising event, where a panel of women in advertising and communications imparted their knowledge to a room of marketers (men and women). The panelists—each with a different […]

If you are a company that values collaboration, innovation and teamwork, then you might want to consider replacing the staff coffee break with something a little more mentally stimulating for your employees. The creators of Vine released a new game that is the perfect midday brain-break. HQ is a trending trivia app that users can […]

The holidays always elicit a flashback to the one thing that wasn’t so “joyous” for me as a kid: the thank-you notes. Many of us had parents who made us write to everyone who gave us presents—and not just during the holidays either. For us kids, it was a chore. In retrospect, I now see […]

By Megan Egan and Samantha Mueller There’s something uniquely empowering about sharing a room with 12,000 women (and a few brave men) at the largest annual gathering of women in the country. It was a day where the world’s most influential women—among them former First Lady Michelle Obama and writer, executive producer and creator of […]

Recently, I was reacquainted with The Art of Client Service, a must-read for any aspiring account executive eager to set his or her agency (and the ad world) on fire. Flipping through the pages, I wondered why there was never a companion piece, The Art of Being a Great Client. Looking back on the countless […]

So, your business needs a marketing communications agency. Where do you start? Common sense tells you to ask for recommendations, look up agencies that you’ve heard have a good reputation and do lots of internet research. Even if my intention for this blog was to offer you advice on starting an agency search, I couldn’t—not […]

After more than a decade of managing a marketing communications agency as a partner and chief creative director, making the step up to CEO shouldn’t be that big of a deal, right? I believed this as I prepared to step into the shoes of our retiring CEO, John Hawkins, the agency’s founder and my friend […]

One of the most important drivers of business for any organization — of any size — is referrals from satisfied customers. Meeting or exceeding customers’ expectations creates a long-term relationship and loyalty, which leads to referrals. And loyalty can pay off — loyal customers are worth up to 10 times their initial purchase value. Measuring satisfaction to […]

What Is Mindfulness? The word itself is straightforward. Mindfulness suggests that the mind is full with what is happening around us, inside our bodies or with the task at hand. Yet finding that intensely present and aware mind is hardly an easy task. It seems that when we are doing one thing, our mind is […]

By Megan Egan, Dayna Hawco, Elizabeth Howarth, Paige Miller and Caity Smith Earlier this month, the Philly Ad Club hosted its annual “Women in Advertising” event at the Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown. A panel composed of six successful women in advertising and communications imparted their knowledge to the female (and male) marketers in the room. The […]

Twenty-four hours later, the dust is finally settling. This Super Bowl will, without a doubt, go down in the history books as one of the greatest games of all time. The dust is also settling on the Monday morning quarterback blitz of advertisers and creatives dissecting and ranking all our favorite ads. This year—and maybe […]

In the end, designating an advertising Agency of Record (AOR) for your organization should be a decision based on the strategic, long-term marketing and communication needs of your stakeholders in your marketplace. I know what you’re thinking. My conclusion may sound biased, since I am employed by a full-service ad agency, I can also offer […]

The New Year gives us a clean slate and an opportunity to make resolutions to improve our lives. Typical goals and resolutions include losing weight, exercising more, improving finances, getting a new job or procrastinating less. Which, I’m sure we’ll all fully accomplish this year. Yeah, right. According to recent research published in the University […]

If you scour our website and blog, you’ll see the words “brand” and “branding” popping up all over the place. It’s at the very core of what we do, so naturally we like to talk about it. What makes our jobs more fun is when our clients adopt that same love and appreciation for branding […]

While business owners keep the doors open, change agents do that and more. They constantly challenge the status quo and find new ways to achieve greater success—and then work tirelessly to ensure that success. These driven people share four traits: They invest in good people. Success hinges upon the people you surround yourself with. Change […]

If you’re not a millennial, you probably have a mental image of how we behave—we can’t put our phones down, we can’t pay attention to anything for more than a few seconds, we aren’t following the traditional 9–5 workday and we can be kind of difficult. It’s all true. But we’re also an important demographic—and […]

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 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 […]

Whether you’re the old pro bringing in a new client or you’re the newbie at your agency, you quickly realize how important relationships are. How do you build trust quickly? And how do you sustain and strengthen the client/agency relationship? Who better to ask than AB&C’s CEO John Hawkins and Director of Client Services Mike […]

Budgets. There, I said it. I’ve never been a fan of surprises. There’s a silly little dance that takes place in most client-agency relationships around the subject of budgets. I call it the budget tango. Clients want to know what the plan is for the year and how much it’s going to cost. Agencies want […]

I finally hit my one-year anniversary at AB&C — and every day I still wake up as excited as I was on my first day of work here. I know, sounds totally cheesy — but whatever. I refuse to get into a rut. Because once things get stagnant, I quit pushing myself to become better. […]

Great — now that I have your attention, it’s time for the ol’ bait-and-switch. Instead of offering 10 ways to stop scope creep, I’ll describe the five things you need to prevent and adapt to scope creep. If you’re a project or account manager who has worked in an agency, you’re very familiar with scope […]

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 […]

This has always been a pet peeve of mine. When someone utters this phrase, I think, “You should try harder.” I could care less vs. I couldn’t care less The point of the statement is that the speaker doesn’t care at all. But to say s/he could care less literally means that there is potential […]

I’m writing this blog post on Monday, April 21 — Boston Marathon Monday. Last year, the marathon was held on my birthday. As a runner who couldn’t be there, I took that as a kind of consolation prize. But that particular birthday — April 15, 2013 — will be etched in my heart and mind […]

We write stuff to give information or opinions or feelings or whatever to someone else. We need that someone to understand what we’re putting out. So it’s important to be clear. Now, you may say, it’s tough to be clear, because English is a language with a lot of tricky rules. And they’re always changing. […]

My wife and I are expecting our third child in about a month and the pressure is on to pick a name for “baby girl.” When we tell people we don’t have a name yet, some of them think we’re just trying to keep it a secret so no one else picks the name. If […]

When it comes to St. Patrick’s Day, I’m somewhat out of the loop (mostly by heritage). But I was curious: Why do so many people love to participate in this celebration? Ask anyone, “What’s the first thing that comes to your mind about St. Patrick’s Day?” and you get a lot of different answers. Some […]

I’m about to place a national brand in a positive light. But in the interest of full disclosure, our agency has not, and never has had, any relationship with this brand. In other words, we have nothing to gain by pumping up this brand within the hallowed halls of the AB&C blog-a-teria. So now that […]

I had the TV on Sunday morning as I sat down to write about an Advertising Age article claiming that 80% of Super Bowl ads flop. In the background I hear Charles Osgood, host of CBS Sunday Morning, mention that this week marks the 30th anniversary of Apple’s famous “1984” Super Bowl commercial. A commercial that […]

It’s so easy to fall into certain work habits. Some can help us be very productive, while others merely turn into … well, bad habits. As a young account executive sitting at metallic desk in a not-so-semi-private cubicle, I aspired to one day have my own office, with a wooden desk and a fine leather […]

Numbers. Lots and lots of numbers. Sometimes facts and data can be really intimidating. That’s why infographics are so valuable: When we see complex data represented visually, we’re better able to decipher and retain it, and therefore better able to share it with others. In this video, designer Francesco Franchi explains what he calls “infographic […]

Starting with the 2014 NBA season, teams will be allowed to sell advertising space on their home courts and backboards. No values have been set yet, but, according to Business Insider, the NBA believes this could be a $100+ million income-generator. Just think, the next time Kobe’s sitting on the bench with a towel over […]

In a world where advertisements hawking everything from cars to cleaning products bombard our oversaturated brains at every waking hour, a little shock can go a long way towards driving a company’s message home. Witness Kmart’s most recent YouTube ads entitled “Big Gas Savings” and “Ship My Pants.” If you say the names of the […]

“If journalists are gloomy about the outlook of their industry, printers are despondent.” That was a 2013 keynote speaker’s headline for his topic, “The Future of Printers.” Subtitle? “Printers Sink.” In the U.S. in 2001 there were 50,000 traditional commercial printing companies (not including phone book and newspaper and magazine publishers). Today there are fewer […]

I’ve been to all kinds of conferences and trade shows — big and small, East Coast and West. They provide an ideal opportunity to stay abreast of trends in rapidly changing industries. They’re also a great place to network and attract new clients, if you make the most of your time. These tips will help: […]

This little city has its problems. But the biggest problem is that too many people have given up. Not everyone — there are plenty of people who are committed to making Wilmington vital and vibrant. They open small businesses and restaurants. They bend over backwards to nurture an arts scene. They need your support. Maybe […]

Since its inception, I have seen Facebook used in many ways: for self-expression, debating, celebration and, of course, connecting with friends and family. But I never imagined it as a way to remember a lost loved one or cope with death. I have dealt with a lot of death in my life. I have lost […]

I worked in an advertising agency back in the early ‘90s when a new business win mushroomed into half of our agency business—cell phone advertising. I still remember a creative director asking me what it would take to get me to purchase a cell phone. He was looking for ad concept ideas. The big selling […]

To anyone who’s faced with a cable bill in excess of $200 every month, news that Intel is planning on “blowing up the cable industry” with its own set-top box and unbundled cable service is big stuff. Instead of paying a fortune for 500 channels you rarely watch, Intel says they’ll allow you to subscribe […]

Waiting an entire week to watch the next episode of your favorite TV show is beginning to seem as outdated as watching a show in real time. The DVR liberated millions of people from having to be in front of the television at a certain time on a certain day of the week. And now […]

We like to think of ourselves as excellent communicators; we’re in the business, right? But, according to a recent article in Ragan’s Health Care Communication News, we as communicators are really in sales. To be successful, we have to “focus on what [we] can give to others, and not what [we] can get.” Author Susan […]

No doubt you — like millions of others — are an avid follower of my posts on this site. Cast your memory back about a year ago. In “Feeding the thing with two brains,” I blogged about the attraction to life sciences marketing, likening it to balancing the “needs” of the two sides of the […]

While on their way to the Super Bowl parade on Tuesday morning, Giants fans in New York City were being reminded of one of the most dangerous diseases of our time — diabetes. It is among the most common health conditions in the United States, with 20 million Americans diagnosed to date. The cost to […]

On February 5 NBC will broadcast the epic rematch between the Giants and Patriots. But maybe your team didn’t make it to the big game. Will you still watch Super Bowl XLVI? Of course you will. You’ll watch for the same reason about 54% of viewers do — the commercials. On one night each year […]

Like Alec Baldwin, I’m addicted to Words with Friends. I can’t help myself. When I see a row of jumbled letters I get a rush of excitement and a compulsion to create the best words I can out of those letters. I’ll challenge people on Facebook that I don’t normally talk to just so I […]

Full disclosure: I have worked on Tobacco Prevention and Control social marketing campaigns for more than 10 years. As you may have heard, beginning September 2012 the FDA will require cigarette companies to place very large and graphic warning labels on the packaging of their cigarette products. These labels will have to cover the top […]

This is the coolest advertising I’ve seen since the stunt for Lynx (we know it in the United States as Axe) with virtual angels falling from the sky into the London Victoria railway station. What Warner Bros. Pictures Canada did to promote its new movie “Contagion” could also be considered interactive, on a microscopic level. […]

Abercrombie & Fitch released a press statement two weeks ago entitled, “A Win-Win Situation,” in which they offered to pay Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino and his Jersey Shore castmates a “substantial” amount of money to stop wearing their clothes in public. A&F’s statement said, “We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino’s association with our brand […]

I remember when you first came out. You sent me unlimited DVDs in the mail each month, three at a time. Then you offered cheaper plans with fewer DVDs. Then came streaming videos — for free! — to compete with Redbox, free online streaming websites like Hulu and Fancast, On Demand content that comes with […]

I think Ke$ha’s pretty hot. And if my wife were to approve of it, I’m pretty sure Ke$ha and I would make a smokin’ couple. We’re both party-hearty rockers with a penchant for strong profanity. And we both brush our teeth nightly with top-shelf spirits (make mine Tanqueray 10 over Ke$ha’s Jack Daniels preference, though). […]

Genius marketing or genuine sympathy? Soap operas took their name from the cleaning products being advertised during commercial breaks. So it’s only fitting that Hoover take advantage of the opportunity to engage with one of the most loyal fan bases in television. ABC recently announced the cancellation of long-running daytime soaps, All My Children and […]

Advertising used to have one goal: to make you buy a product. But recent campaigns from big names like Miracle Whip and Domino’s are taking the opposite path. They are spending big chunks of time, space and money to tell us that lots of people hate them. Jay Sinha, a marketing professor at Temple University’s […]

Barb and I spent an amazing weekend in New York last month. We saw a lot of shows, including one at Carnegie Hall. Later, while enjoying dinner across the street, we realized our camera had slipped out of Barb’s purse while we were watching the show. We called Carnegie Hall and they told us they’d […]

Have you seen the trailer for The Social Network, the movie about the founding of Facebook? Not only is the premise intriguing, the marketing prowess of the producers is awesome: This film is a three-hour product placement. And it made me a little nostalgic for some other product placement movies. If your favorite is missing […]

Some months ago, scientists sent samples of the same DNA to several direct-to- consumer (DTC) genetic testing services. When the reports came back the interpretations of the findings were wildly different. This has just been confirmed by the General Accounting Office and was reported on this week in Washington. So if you want to know […]

I have to admit — from the moment I saw the original commercial my inner geek shouted with joy. Not only was the original iPhone the answer to what I had been dreaming about for five years — since walking around with a Palm Pilot and a rather large, uncomfortable cell phone tucked into my […]

Ben Roethlisberger. Michael Phelps. Tiger Woods. When these sports celebrities submerged themselves in various depths of hot water, did the brands they endorse feel the heat? Not as much as you might suspect, according to a recent Adweek Media/Harris Poll. It left researchers wondering if survey respondents were understating the degree to which scandals grab […]

Another car brand is on the chopping block. Ford has announced that it intends to discontinue the venerable Mercury brand.  Mercury’s recent ad campaign—a bad one—didn’t help the cause.  My apologies to Jill Wagner…it really wasn’t your fault.  Instead, a weak value proposition and bad execution did in the campaign. You gotta put Mercury on […]

There I’ve said it. The fact that I have 20-plus years of writing experience and never learned to type with any more than two fingers is hardly a point of pride. To me, watching someone type with ten fingers (without looking down at the keyboard) is like witnessing someone spinning a basketball on a fingertip. […]

The week of May 10th was not a good one for Pathway Genomics. That’s when the FDA sent a letter saying it was looking into Pathway’s genetic test offering. And it’s not the only interested party. According to Genome Web, the House Energy and Commerce Committee wants more information about Pathway’s test,  and about similar […]

The strange story of drug store–based genetic tests. It was a quick trip on and off the shelves at several thousand Walgreens drug stores for Pathway Genomics direct-to-consumer genetic testing kit. Less than 48 hours after announcing the availability of the test kits, Walgreens pulled back due to an intervention by the Food and Drug […]

A while ago, my friend Eric and his family came for a visit. When he pulled into our driveway, he asked, “Hey, Shari, does every homeowner get a Subaru Outback with the house?” I looked around the cul de sac and up the street. As far as the eye could see, driveways hosted different-colored Subaru […]

You may have seen the latest campaign promoting the new compostable bag from Sun Chips. I myself started a compost bin last year, which literally cut our landfill contributions in half — not to mention the effect it had on my new garden. As an avid tree hugger I applaud this effort by our Frito-Lay […]

Remember the premise of what was arguably the grandaddy of all reality TV shows? “This is the true story… of seven strangers… picked to live in a house…work together and have their lives taped… to find out what happens… when people stop being polite… and start getting real…The Real World.” New web reality series If […]

Everyone wants to reach the top. Mountain climbers have always set their sights on conquering Mt. Everest. Baseball players have always aimed for the World Series. Big companies have always budgeted to advertise during the Super Bowl. Until now. Pepsi is ending its 23-year run as an advertising staple during the most watched television event […]

The holiday season may seem a little less jolly for some of us this year. Stress levels are high and there are plenty of reasons to feel a bit like a scrooge — lousy economy, job pressures, family needs, etc. It doesn’t help that we’re constantly receiving or sending electronic communications every minute of every […]

Authors: Kathleen Dunn and Peter Gordon Part V. Now is it a crane? It is if you can take each of your different edges and planes and decide that they meet at well-defined creases, and that the combination of folds results in a recognizable final offering and a structure to support it. This structure is […]

Authors: Kathleen Dunn and Peter Gordon Part IV. Is it a crane yet? Marketers need to keep in mind that each prospective audience comes to the party with its own set of contextual variables, as well as its own set of conceptions — and misconceptions. Obviously, you begin with a thorough analysis of the needs […]

Yeah, yeah — we know all about Facebook, Twitter and all the other types of social media. But where does that leave traditional media? Where does that leave the billboard? It’s hard not to feel bad for traditional media trying to keep up with all of the new technology. But you don’t have to worry […]

Authors: Kathleen Dunn and Peter Gordon Part III. Origami marketing – folding the messages It is not critical to understand how all of these scientific disciplines function. However, it is necessary to know where the hinges are — those areas of convergence that connect you with the disciplines that will further the efforts of all. […]

We’ve all seen the Geico commercials with people being stalked by the little stack of money with eyes, reminding them of the money they could have saved by switching to Geico. Have you noticed a certain change in the reception that “Kash” has received from the person being followed? I have and, frankly, I’m not […]

Authors: Kathleen Dunn and Peter Gordon. Part II. From quantum leap to fold change. Diagnostic and genomic tests are now being applied to pharmaceutical decisions. Today, the use of genomic data can optimize the ability to identify discrete subpopulations in clinical trials, leading to the development of highly targeted drug therapies, such as Her-2/Neu measurements […]

Authors: Kathleen Dunn and Peter Gordon Part 1. A head-on collision. Over the last several years, marketing the Life Sciences has meant different things to different people, encompassing pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, molecular diagnostics, molecular imaging, medical devices, bioinformatics, genomics and proteomics, to name the major players. Ironically, as the disciplines named above have become more defined, […]

Of all the new media, texting has exploded in the last year and, together with its sibling, twittering, it may now come with a caution label attached. While many of us are accustomed to listening to the radio in the car, very few of us watch television in the driver’s seat. The logic is obvious, […]

Much of what you read here in AB&C Blogland relates to technology. We offer our thoughts on the latest developments, trends and leaps forward in the rapidly advancing world of web connectivity. Things have reached the point where you can’t go too many places without spotting someone staring down at some sort of handheld device. […]

Would you like a website that would guarantee you never run out of toilet paper? If so, then Alice.com is for you. It’s a new website that sells consumer packaged good (batteries, soap, shampoo, coffee, toilet paper and other common household items) directly to consumers. The site also has planning and budgeting features, smart reminders […]

The following paragraph may be lost on you — unless you are a former (or somehow current!) Boy Scout of America. Let me explain. I was in the dentist’s office this morning and spied a copy of Boys’ Life magazine in the rack. Seeing as this was a doctor’s waiting room, I fully expected this […]

Dunkin Donuts has just launched a new app called DunkinRun for computers and mobile devices (including an iPhone application). Using DunkinRun.com, you can make a run to Dunkin for your friends and yourself, using the site. 1. Invite friends by providing their email addresses or mobile phone numbers. 2. Order from the online menu. 3. […]

Sex. Duh. And it was proven yet again with the latest ad from the fast food chain Hardee’s. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should definitely check it out. It features Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi…umm…enjoying one of Hardee’s new hamburgers. I’m sure this phenomenon is not news to any of you. If it […]

First Flavor Inc. of Bala Cynwyd and US Ink, a Carlstadt, NJ–based company that provides ink for the newspaper industry, recently launched “Taste-it Notes” – newspaper front-page sticky notes that double as flavor strips. Now you can smell and taste a food or beverage product in your morning newspaper! So far, flavor strips have been […]

Think of any Caribbean cruise TV commercial you’ve ever seen. Most likely you’d envision endless “beautiful people” cavorting in sky-deck swimming pools, working out in floating fitness centers and toasting each other in seagoing gourmet restaurants. After spending a vacation day aboard a well-advertised cruise line ship, I’m here to tell you: Nothing could be […]

Ads specifically geared to your household! Yes, cable companies are finally going to be able to do what the direct mail business has been doing since the beginning of time. The New York Times reported that Cablevision Systems is planning to announce the largest project yet using targeted advertising on television. Cablevision will use targeting […]

Ken Block’s spirited gymkhana video finally made AdGabber today. For those of you not familiar with Subaru beyond taking your Labrador and 2.5 kids for an off-road picnic, the company has an amazing history of hooliganism thanks to the spirited Impreza line and the tunability of its turbo four and chuckability of AWD.The amazing performance […]

Next time you have a few free moments, check out Stuff White People Like. It’s a blog where this guy gently mocks, well, the random stuff white people like. It makes me laugh out loud, but what can I say, I’m that girl with the hummus and gluten free crackers. http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com I suggest heading straight […]

You remember Gordon Gecko and the whole greed thing? (Or maybe you’d rather forget.) Then we did a segue into Green. Environmental responsibility was the new Holy Grail. Remember those spots by Subaru about their plant in Ohio? And how recycling was the new “we are the world”? (Apologies to whoever that was who started […]

First of all, a modifier is a word or phrase that describes something or someone. So you have to ensure that the modifier is modifying the thing it’s supposed to be modifying. Let’s say you’ve been going to pogo-stick conventions for a number of years. You attend a really cool convention in Wisconsin and you […]