Bob's Big Blue Blog

2007-08-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

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I interviewed the man who coined the term "Waverunner."

2007-08-15T07:47:00.000-07:00

Yes, it’s true. Tom Thiede, President of Blue Horse, is the man who authored the name “Waverunner.” He also came up with the name “Blue Horse.” Of course, not every name stuck. Some of his less successful lobs were “Guzzler” for an SUV and “Pits” for a man’s cologne. But he’s still working, so someone must want to hear what he has to say.

I certainly do, so I invited him to wade in with some blog topics. In typical Tom Thiede form, he had a slew of suggestions. Rather than put a muzzle on his creativity, I thought I would simply share them, and invite your comments and reactions.

So here we go.

1. Given the world of podcasting, Web sites and blogs, what new avenues of social marketing can we foresee? Could we, Tom asks, set up curbside monitors with a thought for the day to which people can respond? Does anyone out there have some other forms to share?

2. Tom wonders why there is not a National Advertising Agency Day. Oh, sure there are parties in New York. There are always parties in New York. But what about a way to celebrate the true pioneers of our industry? Like the guys who invented “Limited Time Offer” and “Member, FDIC.”

3. How small is small? Everyone wants information in sound bites and video clips. :60’s became :30’s became :15’s became :10’s became product placements. How small can we crawl? Can we advertise on molecules?

4. In a world where all radio stations sound alike, how come there are more of them?

5. What’s the over/under on the death of the home phone?

6. Whatever happened to the anti-monopoly attitude of the government? AT&T was broken up. Now they’re back together! And even bigger! It used to be that no company could own more than seven TV and seven radio stations. Take a look at what Clear Channel now owns. Are we better off as a society? As a culture? As a former member of the League of Nations?

7. What do we have to do to end reality TV? Huh? What?

Tom was ready to continue, but clearly we have enough to engender some thoughtful debate, if not medication. I invite your comments.

Are you teetering on the brink of the abyss?

2007-07-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

The deep, dark bottomless nothing? The dark side? The seductive, addicting evil?

I’m speaking of course, of e-mail.

During our merger discussions, we gave a lot of thought to how the Blue Horse and MMT cultures would blend. Anytime you take two companies with a plan to build a third, whether they are ad agencies or airlines, you have to spend a lot of time mulling cultural consequences.

One of the key factors we considered was that both companies, MMT and Blue Horse, are very employee-friendly places to work. Part of that is just the nature of the people who populate them. But an equal (if not larger) part is a very real belief that our cultures encourage productivity and quality. They reward emotional participation. We want to foster pride in one’s performance.

To do that, we need honesty (not every performance is a good one) and open communication (not every management decision is a smart one). And when “stuff happens,” we want everyone to lend a hand and to do it in a very professional way.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

All of us have gotten e-mails from bosses or co-workers that read like a single spaced letter from a law firm with designs on our property. Sometimes the tone was unintentional, but given the medium, it still reads like a grand jury indictment.

But sometimes the writer uses e-mail to “put in writing” the most outlandish and unsubstantiated versions of the “facts” in order to reinforce their own opinions and to try to establish a pecking order.

And sometimes the whole thing borders on the psychotic. Someday, somewhere, someone will write a book entitled “E-Mails From Hell” and I’ll bet we all have a few saved in a file that we could contribute. I have a couple from a previous life that are truly hilarious now. But at the time, they did a lot of damage and in a very cowardly manner. They’re clearly more demeaning to the sender than to the recipient.

One of the things we’ve done at Blue Horse and which we’ll continue at Blue Horse/MMT is to outlaw nasty e-mails. Yup, just outlaw them. Like smoking, bringing in firearms and leaving your lunch in the refrigerator for two weeks. Around here, it’s a spoken rule that if you need to spend a couple of hours writing and sending a nasty e-mail (and you all know one when you get one), you need to have a face-to-face meeting with the intended recipient.

To go one step further, we make it a practice to use e-mails to positively reinforce, applaud and encourage people. To us, that’s the kind of communication that should be in writing for all to see.

E-mail is a wonderful way to communicate. If communication is, in fact, your goal. But if you have a beef, or you don’t understand, or you just think something ought to be handled a different way, e-mails can be gasoline on a candle. Anytime these start to fly, everyone – management and employees – needs to put an end to it.

“We just don’t do that around here,” can and should be said by anyone. “Now, let’s talk about this.”

Talking, especially about tough subjects, is harder than hiding behind a computer screen. And sometimes talking isn’t going to settle the issue either. But for a company to truly be a group of individuals who share a common goal, talking should be the place to start rather than the last resort.

So the next time you feel like leaping into the abyss, I hope this causes you to take a deep breath and perhaps get up off your chair to go see someone instead.

Besides, we can all use the exercise.

Announcing Blue Horse/MMT. Now the truth can be told!

2007-06-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

They couldn’t stop us. Oh, they tried, but it was inevitable. Agency X has happened.

Blue Horse and Marx McClellan Thrun have joined forces. And what a force we’ll be!

Here’s the story. Last year, I renewed an old friendship with Rick Thrun. He and I worked together on a number of projects here in Milwaukee. A few awards were won and lots of fun was had. But we went our separate ways. Rick, an amazing illustrator, opted to stay in Milwaukee. I headed south to the wilds of Leo Burnett. Eventually Rick teamed up with Jeff McClellan. Rick and Jeff, together with Laura Marx, created and grew a terrific shop that consistently turned out wonderful break-through work for a select group of very smart clients.

Both organizations, Blue Horse and MMT, were casting about for new partners who could add to our respective talents. The more the two groups talked, the more we liked what was developing. We worked on a number of projects together. We talked, we examined, we strategized, and we plotted.

The business model at Blue Horse has been to become an architect or general contractor for our clients. We offered up some key core expertise, such as creative, media, client service and public relations. What we don’t have in-house, we have created partnerships to address. For example, we partner with LayerOne for e-commerce.

Our thinking is to deliver best-in-category talent on a very cost effective basis. The result is that we can match any agency our size and most who are considerably bigger, in terms of ability and experience. But we can customize the team for any assignment. So our clients don’t pay for overhead. They pay for results.

That business model will continue for Blue Horse/MMT. But our core creative product is now considerably stronger. It has more people, more depth and more experience than ever. And of course, we continue to offer depth in media as well as terrific people in public relations and client service.

Our mission is a simple one. We describe it as “Create. Collaborate. Integrate.” It means the best thinking coming from a team of great talent applied across all media. We continue to acknowledge the reality that consumers own brands, that they are the boss. And because of that, we’re here to make our clients look good with the boss.

We’re not the stars of the show. Our clients are. We are dedicated to making them a success.

Create. Collaborate. Integrate.

Sounds like a plan.

What is this "agency X" thing all about?

2007-06-11T07:22:00.000-07:00

Obviously, something is going on. Rumors have reached our offices of clandestine meetings, groups of renegade executives, student intern unrest, dogs brought into offices and all sorts of unexplained and sinister goings on.

Faced with these events, I feel I must make some statement about what we know and what we don’t. But let me first say that I will do so only under strict federal guidelines and procedures. That is to say, only some of this will be the truth.

AgencyX is indeed real. And yes, it does represent a movement toward some sort of unified effort to dramatically change the status quo. It’s been created and nurtured by key individuals who had been competitors but who have come to realize the immense power they can wield if they join together.

Some of these individuals can be likened to “sleeper” agents. They have not seen nor communicated with each other for twenty or even thirty years! During that time, they have recruited others into their philosophies and organizations. And now they have re-connected and drawn up their insidious plans.

Why now? Good question. It could’ve been some sort of innocuous signal such as the rise of the Milwaukee Brewers. But their record of late tends to lessen that possibility. It could be the cicadas. Then again, what’s with all those flavored vodkas? Something out there – something so obvious yet so subtle – has triggered these Agency X agents to
come together.

We can only watch and wait.

And keep the champagne on ice.

Congratulations are in order.

2007-04-30T14:08:00.000-07:00

When I first met Steve Johnstone, I couldn’t help but notice some of the very interesting photographs on his office wall. One showed some Brewers answering questions in the locker room after a game and if you looked hard enough, there was a young Steve Johnstone looking on.

And over there a picture of Jimmy Carter and with him – Steve Johnstone.

And over there was a wall full of Kentucky Derby photos – pictures of the winners’ circle and in all of them, a smiling Steve Johnstone.
Wait a minute. I didn’t know Steve owned horses. And that they all won the Kentucky Derby!

Little did I know that standing there in Steve’s office, I was standing in the shadow of greatness. No, Steve wasn’t a horse owner (who would be dumb enough to do that?).

Steve was a party crasher.

A four-star, big-time, your-face-goes-in-the-guest-photo-here uninvited interloper, able to appear and disappear at will. Never caught, never shown the door. And never having paid an entry fee. (Here he is pictured at the Blue Horse holiday party -- which he was invited to. He's second from the left.)

Steve was obviously a man of wit, charm and looks. And these talents serve him well in his current above-board occupation, that of Executive Vice President and Director of Public Relations here at Blue Horse. His job is to get his clients up front and he does an even better job with them than he has done with himself.

In fact, Steve’s done so well, there’s now a party being held that he won’t have to crash. Because he’s the guest of honor.

Steve has been named recipient of the 2007 Dorothy Thomas Black Award, sponsored by the Public Relations Society of America – Southeastern Wisconsin Chapter. This wonderful award will be presented during PRSA’s Paragon Awards dinner on May 17th.

The Dorothy Thomas Black Memorial Award is given to an individual who has demonstrated sustained superior performance in creating public relations understanding of issues through sound application of public relations.

In a career that spans more than 38 years, Steve has fostered exceptional PR practices on behalf of a wide variety of businesses, ranging from modest start-ups to the world’s largest corporations. He holds an APR from the Public Relations Society of America. He’s a member of the counselors Academy and has been a delegate to several national PRSA conventions. What’s more, Steve has been a founding member of the SE Wisconsin Cultural Diversity Committee, a program organized to help promote public relations careers for minorities.

Today, Steve serves as a director of the Black Public Relations Society of America’s local chapter. A fellow director, Jacqueline Crymes, said this about Steve: “…Steve has been quietly leading a diversity initiative for public relations as long as I have known him. He is genuine in his desire and concern to help young (and not so young) multi-cultural prospects pursue a career in public relations. The richness of talent our local public relations community enjoys today was made possible in part by leaders such as Steve.”

Kathy Gaillard of Mosaic Communications, Inc. puts it this way: “With Steve, diversity within the industry is not an afterthought; it’s good business and makes good business sense. I believe that Steve has undoubtedly had the most influence on the increased number of individuals of color who working within the PR industry in Milwaukee.”

Steve is much loved by his clients. He is also much loved here at Blue Horse. And not just for his snappy ties. For who he is, what he’s done and what he continues to do. We’re very proud of him and happy for him. He is smart, savvy, genuine and works his tail off.

And while it may sound strange for a party-crasher, he’s one of the most ethical people you’ll ever meet.

So please join us in offering him congratulations. Oh, and ask to see his latest Derby picture – the one from Sports Illustrated no less. Steve, being the mentor that he is, showed his niece how to crash the winner’s circle. That’s her just off to the left in her beautiful Derby bonnet.

So, how many minority employees are at your company?

2007-04-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

If you’re in the ad industry, not enough. In New York, certainly not enough to avoid legal action.

Not that there haven’t been attempts. I can recall many years ago in Chicago when efforts were made to include minority-owned companies when bidding commercial shoots. The reluctance to hire such companies always came under the guise of “I’m all for it, but not on my job.” That was because every job was the one job that no one could afford to do less than his or her best on. So anything risky was unacceptable.

At least that was the party line.

Somewhere along the way however, the bigger risk began to be producing work that didn’t work with minorities. Customers began to take ownership of brands. And customers weren’t the same white, upper-middle class types who historically populated ad agencies.

So, it’s no surprise to see the pressure build (See Alfred Lawson’s principles of Pressure and Suction – they pretty much explain the universe).

Now one would think that given the need for minority talent and experience, agencies would throw the doors open. And some have. But many who have done so have witnessed a puzzling response.

Not too many minority employees are strolling through the open door. (That includes the door to the PR shop, too. Check out Tannette Johnson-Elie's column in the April 4, 2007 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=586268

Yes, there are more Black and Hispanic radio stations, more publications, and more minority agencies. But attracting minorities to mainline agencies remains problematic. And while much of the blame falls on those who might not want to share the wealth (see New York, but also see right here), a great deal of the non-response comes from minorities themselves.

Last year, we visited with a dean at a local university to discuss minority talent recruitment. Surprisingly, we heard that even the university itself was having problems recruiting minorities into the journalism and marketing programs. “If you find a way to get the ‘help wanted’ message out," said the perplexed dean, “please let me know what it is.”

We knew that in advertising, as in journalism, changing economics (read “profit squeeze”) have left fewer dollars to spend on bench strength. Budgets for interns and learning programs have dropped. Clients don’t want to pay for “unnecessary” personnel. So, ironically, in the face of a greater need, there’s a smaller spend.

This, in turn, contributes to minorities not being able to see any role models in our industry. They simply don’t know that there are careers to be made and jobs to be had.
They see it in sports, sure. They see it in entertainment. But unless it’s demonstrated, shown and exhibited, how are they to know?

Clearly, this is a circle that needs to be broken. And there are people trying.

Case in point: Here in Milwaukee, Strive Media Institute is currently raising funds to build a new high school. Strive offers high school students the preparation needed to excel in media-based careers. After their high school day is over, Strive students come to “work” as editors, writers, producers and designers in print, video and broadcast. For more than 17 years, Strive has done an outstanding job in teaching and showing young people what our business is all about. It offers guidance and training before college - and that goes a long way toward enabling minorities and marketing to meet at the pass.

Or more specifically, at a job.

If you’d like to know more about Strive Media and hopefully help in their capital campaign to launch a high school focused on Communication Arts, contact Matthew Johnson, Executive Director at (414) 374-3511, or Strive’s Board President Susie Falk, a VP here at Blue Horse (414) 291-7620. Or visit Strive’s website at http://www.strivemedia.com/

And if you have even more ideas, let’s hear ‘em.

We welcome a new client-partner: Connecture!

2007-02-22T07:47:00.000-08:00

Everyone at Blue Horse is very excited about our newest client, Connecture.

Located in Atlanta and Waukesha, Connecture is the industry leader in sales and service automation solutions for health insurance. This is, in fact, their sole focus. The company has automated elements of the insurance sales and service process for over 70 health plans and insurers. Their clients include 10 of the 20 largest health plans in the country.

Connecture is a client with a tremendous reputation. Their industry-proven solutions encompass the entire spectrum of multi-channel insurance sales and services for small group, large group and individual markets. They offer an end-to end business process transaction platform consisting of focused modular applications that fully integrate with existing legacy systems. The results for their clients include increased sales, enhanced broker loyalty, improved back-office efficiencies, lower customer acquisition costs and lower overall operating expenses.

Just recently, Connecture announced they have signed a four-year agreement with Network Health Plan of Menasha to provide its InsureConnect EZ solution to automate Network Health Plan’s small group administration.

The future is very bright for this innovative organization. Their 200+ employees are working hard to keep their industry position – and to increase their lead. We’re very proud that they have chosen Blue Horse to help them in this effort. We’ll be looking at a lot of traditional (and very non-traditional) ways to position them for continued growth.

If you want to learn more about this great company, just go to www.connecture.com.

Welcome to Blue Horse, Connecture!

Coming up next! How a woman's faith saved her from a 5-lb tumor!

2007-02-08T13:38:00.000-08:00

Or did it?

Okay, we’ve vented before on the media and what used to be known as journalism. But on the 7th of this month, WTMJ-TV (sorry guys, but you did it) ran a piece so egregious in its attempt to mislead and so worthless in its content that we simply have to call it out.

Here’s how the promo audio went, word for word, as best as I could TIVO:

AVO: Coming up next, the power of prayer! She had a 5-pound tumor!

WOMAN: I decided to conquer it.

AVO: Now it’s gone!

WOMAN: I really turned to God.

AVO: How her faith saved her life!

Maybe some of you are old enough to remember when the State Fair featured a sideshow with carnival barkers calling you over to see the woman change into an ape. You knew it couldn’t be true, but you put your money down, went in and sure enough. Fake.

Welcome to the 10 o’clock news, circa 2007.

Following a story about how prostitutes are being found on Craig’s List on the net, on comes Shelley Walcott doing a Special Assignment on a very nice lady who basically a) was afraid of doctors, b) had her friends in her prayer group encourage her to go to the doctor, and c) went. Sure enough, she had a tumor.

So guess what? SHE HAD SURGERY TO REMOVE IT!!

And we actually see some footage of a medical treatment and interview the doctor who did it. But the word “surgery” is used exactly ONE TIME in the middle of a sentence: “Carolyn’s surgery was a success.”

But of course, “she maintains faith is still the greatest healer.”

So let’s rewrite the promo to represent what really happened:

AVO: Coming up next, maybe you should have a check-up!

WOMAN: I was afraid to go to the doctor. But my friends got me to go.

AVO: They found something wrong!

WOMAN: So I had surgery.

AVO: Maybe you should do that!

Obviously, this was a piece about overcoming fear. This lady’s prayer group – and her faith in God – did indeed help her to overcome that fear. But the tv “journalism” message – “I decided to conquer it” and “Now it’s gone” – refer not to any miraculous cure, but simply to being afraid of going to the doctor.

All of which makes for a very nice p.s.a. But a complete waste of misled time on the 10’clock news.

Hey, do I really care about this particular story? Probably no more than Rosie vs the Donald or new findings about Roswell. But this was not only bait ‘n switch, it really was a disservice to the people who prayed for and helped this woman.

What worries me is that our news people are supposed to be bringing us the truth about what’s going on in the Middle East.

These are the same guys running the promos saying “I trust so-and-so.”

Trust them to do what? Be the first to tell us about a talking dog?

Think of the Future

2007-01-26T09:23:00.000-08:00

We continue to hear a lot of discussion about a commuter rail connection between Milwaukee and Chicago. From our perspective, it can’t happen fast enough.

There are a lot of reasons why this is a value in spite of the costs. But we’d like to dwell on two. One is local and one is global.

Locally, we’ve written before about the future of the Chicago/Milwaukee/Madison triangle. We can no longer think only of Milwaukee when we plan on economic growth. These three communities are literally and figuratively building toward one another. One very evident sign is the number of Chicago residents who are fueling the 3rd ward revitalization by purchasing condos up here.

If you consider this in terms of companies working together or simply in terms of “let’s go shopping in Milwaukee” or “let’s go the Goodman in Chicago,” we need fast, easy, convenient transportation. We need not simply to provide transportation, we need to encourage travel. Whether it’s Summerfest or the Milwaukee Rep, our city has a lot to offer to the Chicago shopper and vacationer. Commuter rail can make that happen.
It means dollars. It means growth.

Now let’s talk about that second reason, the global one.

It’s become clear that this country’s continued addiction to oil is leading to problems way beyond the price at the pump. If you ever drive to and from Chicago, you know that you can literally spend hours stuck in traffic on the Edens. And it isn’t any better coming in from O’Hare. Driving has become almost prohibitive. It’s a waste of gas and time. It contributes to pollution. Throw in parking and wear and tear on your car and you have a system that actually discourages economic cooperation and growth.

What’s more, it’s become clear that our oil “habit” is propping up governments that need to face reformation. While we send our troops on the one hand, with the other, we inhibit reform with a stream of our dollars.

Whether you consider the issue economically or politically, it’s obvious we cannot continue on our same course. If you’re just thinking green, you know that sooner or later, whether our politicians take the lead or follow the crowd, growth for us is not going to be gas powered.

So here we are. Faced with the question, “how do we better connect the three metropolitan areas to fulfill the promise of a triangle of prosperity and growth?”

We do it first by physically connecting us with mass transit. We do it by making commerce and travel easy and cost-effective. We do it by taking traffic off the road and putting people on the train.

I rode the commuter rail for many years in Chicago. The service was great. Today, people at Blue Horse often have business in Chicago and we use Amtrak when the schedule is suitable. But to really open the floodgates to moving people back and forth, the Metro commuter rail system would be ideal.

Life is not worth living.

2006-12-06T09:19:00.000-08:00

It’s no big revelation that our news media like to make themselves the topic of the news (does anyone know how Katie Curic is doing these days?). But I wonder if you share my observation that along the way, they seem to have lost the ability to actually tell us what the news is.

This morning there was a major explosion at the Falk Corporation. As I left my home to drive to work, I could only get quick glances of the story on the TV, so I turned on the radio to find out what was going on.

I won’t name the particular station I was listening to but suffice to say they make their bones on news. For 15 minutes, I heard callers talking about the force of the explosion, reporters talking about their on-site locations being moved further away and about every ambulance in town being commandeered. I also heard various statements about propane tanks, some “170,000” pounds and others “10,000” gallons all with the implication that more explosions could happen soon.

At 9:00 am, the “top of the hour” newscast came on and I thought I’d finally hear what my college journalism professor told me a news report was supposed to do and that is to report the facts. “Who, what, when, where and why,” was what he asked for.

No such luck.

More stories about where the reporters were being moved, more call-ins about the force of the blast. By now I knew the “who,” and “where” which was the Falk Corporation in the Menomonee River Valley, but nothing any more particular than that in terms of which structure it might have been. As for “what,” well, duh, it was an explosion. Nothing factual about why. And no “when.”

What I really wanted to hear was for the station to tell me what happened. And if they didn’t know certain facts at this point, to please state that. I don’t care where their reporters are being moved. And while, yes, I’d love to hear from the guy whose chair “rolled about three inches” when the blast occurred, I’d rather start by knowing some of the facts.

My partner, Tom Thiede, tells the story of his college journalism professor who tried to teach this to his students by climbing up on his desk (which he asked the students to believe was a 23-story building), shouting, “Life is not worth living!” and jumping to the floor. He then asked the students to write the story.

The students responded with various versions of love gone awry, building design, grisly effects and such. But the teacher pointed out that all they knew in terms of facts was that a man made a statement and jumped from a building at such-and-such a time.

Those elusive facts.

Ah, but there’s more. Just before entering the office, I stopped for coffee and a roll at my usual place, the Broadway Bistro. The nice young lady asked me if I had heard about the blast. “Sure,” I said. But then I asked her, “What do you know about it?”

She gave me the who, what, where and although she didn’t know the why, she did know the when. In other words, in twenty seconds, I got a better report from the lady who serves me coffee than I did from the local radio station in twenty minutes.

So of course, I said, “where did you learn all that?”

“Oh, the Internet,” she replied, “We have it on in the back.”

A Boy’s First Visit to Lambeau

2006-11-22T07:48:00.000-08:00

I grew up in Milwaukee so, of course, I was a Packer fan. However, I only got to see them in person a few times and all of those were at the old County Stadium. I never got the opportunity to go up to Lambeau.

Well, thanks to the largesse of our neighbors, Sean and Cathy Torinus, my lovely wife Malissa and I got to go to our first Lambeau Packer game this past Sunday.

I haven’t seen that kind of woodshed whippin’ since the M.U.H.S. Hilltoppers beat Messmer 73-0 at our homecoming. The score was 35-0 Patriots and it wasn’t that close. In fact, the high point of the day was the people behind us getting hauled away by the Green Bay police for allegedly having stolen tickets.

We’ll leave it to the sportswriters to pick through the remains. I just want to say that going to a game up at Lambeau is everything it’s cheese-headed to be. Fantastic stadium. Luckily, a beautiful sunny day. And the people are like nowhere else on earth (even if some of them do dabble in mail theft). Sean and Cathy hosted a wonderfully over-the-top tailgate party with every kind of food imaginable. By the time we got there, Sean and his brother-in-law had consumed seven brats between them. I’m sure this puts them only in the “average” category. As for me, I could only get two down before game time.

And everyone was so pleasantly quenched! Lewis Black hails Wisconsin as the drinkingest place on the face of the earth. “It’s cheaper to drink here,” he said, “than it is to drink in New York, including air fare.”

My wife, Malissa, is a Sooner born, Sooner bred Oklahoma football fan. So she’s seen a few football crazies in her time. By halftime, she had me down at the gear shop picking out her Packer Hat. She went with the classic green. It was too bad she didn’t get to see any Lambeau leaps, only Lambeau heaps – as in safeties sitting on the ground watching Patriot receivers galloping by. But she wanted to see Brett Favre in person before the era ends.

Wisconsin truly is a special place. Just ask someone who lives here. Or better yet, someone who moved away for a time and then returned. We might not be going back to the Super Bowl for a while, but it still beats drinking in New York.

Something old turned into something new -- and exciting

2006-10-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

September 14th was the start date for a whole new campaign for American Family Insurance that included TV, radio, newspaper and magazines.

After a long run of policyholder testimonial advertising, the Blue Horse/American Family Insurance team turned to something radically new to be the cornerstone of our message:

The American Family Insurance logo.

We now pause to listen to the sound of thousands of foreheads being slapped by the open palms of struggling copywriters and art directors as they moan in unison, “why didn’t I think of that?”

Well, if you ever worked on Nike or Coca Cola or McDonalds, maybe you have.

Some brands are blessed with (or to put it another way, have earned) a high level of credibility which is expressed in the design of their logo. After a certain time, no words need to be spoken. It’s there. Whether it’s performance or refreshment or in this case, a 75-year tradition of service, a simple graphic element can play a starring role in the communication process.

The red roofline that promises “all your protection under one roof” seemed to us to be a very quick and memorable device to connect with consumers. Both the shape and the color are bold and positive and we’ve used them in pictures and language. The end result is a campaign that significantly strengthens the branding message. Additionally, we stressed the importance of having the personal attention of an agent – again a strength of American Family Insurance.

Another aspect that influenced our thinking was the increasing amount of comedy routines and low rate claims that have come to dominate the advertising in the category. No question these have been effective. But there are times when insurance is important on a personal and emotional level. Especially when families are concerned.

Sometimes, when others zig…

The new television was produced by Michael Rafayko. Direction was by Paul Hopkins. A new music treatment came from Yessian Music. Still photography was done by Jeff Salzer. And the marvelous visual effects were done by Digital Kitchen.

So far, response has been overwhelmingly positive. We'd welcome your comments.

"Murder, He Spoke!"

2006-09-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

We’ve been quoted in the media about our criticism of Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner’s statement that Milwaukee is "becoming the murder capital of the United States.” We said that statement was wrong-headed and that Rep. Sensenbrenner should issue an apology.

Let’s talk about this a bit more because there are some lessons here concerning the way we’re communicating with one another – or not.

It’s no great revelation to state that American politics has become less about doing a job (never mind doing what’s right) and more about getting elected and holding on to power.

This isn’t a Republican or a Democratic issue. It’s not “right” or “left.” It’s the way the system now works for everybody.

So when we hear or read statements from our elected officials, we have to evaluate them through the filter of self-preservation. Are they saying things because it’s a true belief, or because it’ll generate a big round of applause?

In this case, the issue is not whether there is a crime problem in Milwaukee. There is. In fact, we’ve talked about it on this blog. But this problem is not unique to Milwaukee. It is factually wrong to state that Milwaukee is rapidly becoming the national leader in homicides.

But is it philosophically wrong to make such a statement?

Yes, for a number a reasons.

First, this is coming from an elected official from this area. The fact that his constituency does not encompass the city itself is no excuse. His responsibility does not stop at the border of his district. Issues of crime, like the environment, education and a hundred other things that are important to all of us are things we have a right to expect our officials to address in cooperation with one another, not with finger pointing and hyperbole.

To that point, these kinds of statements are certainly not helpful to those of us who want to attract and hold new business and new talent. Milwaukee (and the entire Chicago/Madison/Milwaukee triangle) is at a crossroads. Will we work together and develop our businesses, industry and culture to grow and prosper? Or will we lose out?

The last thing we need is one of our own elected officials opening his mouth and uttering false and slanderous statements that make the media rub their hands in glee.

Think of it this way. If this were your employee (and you did give him the job and we do pay his salary), what would you say to him if he made these kinds of statements about your company?

Here’s another reason why this is a wrong-headed thing to say. We’ve written before about the detrimental effect negative political advertising is having on our system.

While it can indeed get candidates elected, the long-term effect of accusations and innuendos on our government is proving to be very harmful. The media asked us if people would actually believe this kind of over-the-top statement. And we had to say that experience shows that people do tend to take this stuff with a grain of salt. It is, after all, election time.

But what do we really want from our elected officials? I don’t know about you, but I’d like the truth. I’d like the truth about the war in Iraq. About gas prices. About public transportation and the deficit. I find the truth to be shall we say, helpful, in making decisions.

The sad thing is that the consistent stream of name-calling and half-truths from both sides has obscured the real truth, at least in terms of looking to our own elected officials (and those running for office) as a legitimate source of truth. And so in turn, the integrity of our public officials drops another notch.

I’m sure there are those who would say that the good congressman was in fact advancing the cause of truth in making this statement. They would say there is a crime problem and if overstating the case gets action when little has worked to date, then say it. Show some passion. Stand up for what you believe.

We’re all for that. Just get your facts straight, consider the ramifications of what you’re about to say and take a deep breath before you say it.

Or you might end up saying things like “weapons of mass destruction.”

Blue Horse Captures 11 Industry Awards

2006-06-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to our crackerjack PR and creative teams for landing 11 awards in recent competitions hosted by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Southeastern Wisconsin chapter, the Association of Women in Communications, and the Milwaukee Business Association.

PRSA’s annual Paragon Awards program provided Awards of Excellence for the agency’s campaign to position and promote its new ownership team and name, as well as its Christmas card to clients, prospects and suppliers. The agency’s “Night at the Blue Horse Ranch” open house and its “Strike Out Cancer” program for Froedtert Hospital were honored with Awards of Merit.

In the Association of Women in Communications Clarion Awards program, merit awards presented to Blue Horse recognized the agency’s corporate public relations campaign on behalf of U.S. Cellular; as well as for Blue Horse’s open house and agency launch campaign.

The talents of Blue Horse's Karen Marcott, Lynn Schoenecker and John Lehnert helped to land 4 Awards of Excellence in the Milwaukee Business Marketing Association (BMA)–Bell Awards competition. The awards recognized advertising materials developed on behalf of our client AQS, a leading provider of commercial policy administration solutions to the property and casualty insurance industry.

Two of the awards were for single 4-color ads, the others were for a
4-color printed brochure and a dimensional direct mail campaign.

Way to go team. Keep those awards coming!

Shootings in the parks, sure. But by George, do obey the speed limit.

2006-06-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

Having moved back to Wisconsin after a twenty-some-year absence, I couldn’t help but notice that one thing sure hasn’t changed.

There are more police cars with radar guns on Wisconsin Highways than Brett Farve had interceptions last year. It’s not only gotten laughable, it’s gone beyond that. It’s gotten to be a problem. And the County Sheriff seems to agree.

When I first got my driver’s license back in the days when gas was 21 cents a gallon, we learned early on that speeding on the freeways was gonna cost ya money. This was all well and proper and good, of course. At 16, I had the brains of well, a 16-year old.

But these days, I couldn’t help but wonder why we have so much hardware and manpower out there on the highways while at the same time, we’re having so much firepower cutting loose in the city. Shooting, after beating after assault after shooting. Then I read in the Journal/Sentinel where the County Sheriff asked the Highway Patrol to take over some of his road duties so that he could bring some officers to bear on the problems in the parks.

Hallelujah!

Would it be so disastrous to our state if people drove 75 or so on the highways?
That is, by the way, the limit in some other states. After all, cars are better built to drive at this speed now then back when we rolled the windows down by hand. Couldn’t we put our tax dollars to better use trying to make us safe when we walk around the city?

Lest you think I’m lusting to play NASCAR on the road to Madison, please know that I haven’t gotten a speeding ticket in 20 years. And the last one was for going 29 in a 20 mph zone. And that was in Illinois.

I also know that as gas prices go up, we’d like everyone to take the speed down.
But you and I both know that the real reason for gas prices being what they are is not how fast you drive to Wausau.

Look, here’s the situation. We have some severe racial and public safety issues in the city of Milwaukee. We also have a financial crisis looming on the County Parks.The police – any police, be they City, County or State – are needed to address these issues. Yes, highway safety is important. But for some reason, Wisconsin is still of a mind to put out squadrons of officers in F-15 interceptors sitting at the top of the rise pointing radar guns at motorists.

Somehow, I really think we’ve managed to put a lid on highway carnage. Especially since most of that is caused by guys who bought fake Illinois licenses anyway.

Can we move on now to other problems?

The kind that are really taking lives?

Why we should get rid of political advertising

2006-05-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

Following the last presidential election, I wrote an article about the debris that resulted from the avalanche of distasteful political ads. Well, I can't say that it helped clear the air very much. But before the next mudball fight, we thought it a good idea to revisit the article. Just to get us all ready for what's coming. Here it is:

Now that I've been hanging around the human race for 50-plus years, I've come to some conclusions, beliefs if you will, which guide me as I head for the office or put out the cat. For instance, I believe that aliens have not yet landed, guns really do kill people and political advertising ought to be eradicated from our existence.

Obviously, there are many intelligent and highly regarded people who take the opposite view -- on all those issues. But that's why life is the rich fabric that it is. What's more, the good part about living here in the United States is that you don't get shot for disagreeing (most of the time).

The reason I feel the way I do about political advertising is that I've been making my living in advertising for nearly 40 years, and I know the damage it can do. There's an old, very old, adage that says, "nothing kills a bad product faster than good advertising." You get convinced to stop for a Bonzoburger, you don't like it, so hey, you don't eat there again. Ah, capitalism! But if you elect a candidate that doesn't work, you're stuck with him, pal. And before you get to not vote for him again, he gets to vote to send troops to Iraq, to build fences along the Mexican border and monkey with Medicare.

All this assumes that the only reason you vote for someone is their advertising. And there are those people who would say that they're not influenced by the ads. These, I suspect, are the same people who pay an extra $12,000 for an SUV because it has a first-aid kit. They say that while they may see the ads, they vote because of the issues and the platforms put forth by the candidates. This may well be true for a lot of folks. Or to put it another way, Oh, God, I hope so.

But the fact of the matter is that you get bombarded by a lot of advertising for one simple, proven-in-the-political-arena reason: It works. As Steven Kates wrote, "Political advertising is believed to work under certain conditions for certain types of voters and for certain types of purposes such as image development, agenda setting, or attacking opponents."

Even if you're not a "certain type of voter," ask yourself: Isn't this just a peachy way to elect people? It's image we want, so let's get ourselves a handsome guy -- he's much more qualified than Abe would ever be. And of course, we want the agenda set on TV, not by the needs of the voters, so let's make sure the election is about Dick Cheney's hunting skills, not about where the money is coming from for our schools.

But let's get to the real sirloin of this discussion, what we all know is poking us in the eye and giving us a national migraine: attack ads.

There is nothing wrong with attacking what an incumbent has or has not done. That's what debates are for. But in a debate, there is something called a rebuttal. It's the time when the attacked gets to respond to what's been said. At the same time and place, in front of the same audience. In other words, the attacker has to stand for what he's said. The same is true in a trial. An accusation is made, a defense is given.

But in a 30-second ad, anything can be alleged. By the time the respondent responds, days or even weeks have gone by. And of course, the natural reaction is to mount counter-attacks that are also immune to scrutiny. The net result for the viewer is an endless assault of shrill, demeaning finger-pointing. Congress on "Jerry Springer."

Don't kid yourself. Even as we take great delight in getting rid of suits in the office, there is a feeling that the institutions that make up the steel girders of our society are cracking. We can live with the fact that our politicians are, after all, just human beings. But can we survive if we force them to mud-wrestle to keep their jobs?

(More on this in our next episode, so stay tuned!)

Women Really Do Wear the Pants

2006-05-11T08:02:00.000-07:00

The other day, we had the pleasure of speaking to a crowd at the Business and Technology Expo, hosted by the Small Business Times. Our presentation followed Blue Ocean Strategy author Renee Mauborgne's discussion on how to make the competition irrelevant. If you haven't already read her book, please do. It'll get you thinking.

Our topic was “How Advertisers Can Compete in an Era of Exploding Media Options ." Here are some excerpts. We welcome your comments and insights.

Whatever you are selling, be it business-to-business or business to consumer, be it deer rifles, off road vehicles, auto insurance, aluminum siding, beer in cans or industrial power transmission equipment, eventually and most assuredly, a woman is your target market. Well, maybe not for the industrial power transmission equipment. Yet.

In 1950, one-third of American women of working age had a paid job. Today, almost two-thirds do. Service jobs have particularly expanded, creating opportunities for women.

Using these new jobs and the revenue generated from them, women are taking on more importance as consumers, entrepreneurs and managers. And by the way, studies are showing them to be better than men as investors as well.

“Surveys suggest that women make perhaps 80% of consumers’ buying decisions – from health care and homes to furniture and food.” -- The Economist, April 15th, 2006

The future, in terms of productivity, prosperity and yes even in higher fertility rates, the more women work, the better off we are. If you’re an advertiser, best get on the bandwagon. Or, you can prepare for the future in another way, which is what my son chose to do. He’s going to cooking school.

To quote The Economist again, “it used to be said that women must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily that is not so difficult.”

Let me close with this idea.

As I dug into all the articles and books and blogs about “the future of advertising,” I developed a slight case of déjà vu. I saw a disturbing trend, perhaps a fundamental mistake repeating itself albeit in different verbiage:

“The world is awash in advertising clutter. For decades, marketers have been spending more and more to try to get their message out, only to find their pitches drowned in a sea of noise…”

David H. Freedman
Inc. Magazine, August 2005

Well, if you’re like me, you’ve been hearing this since Hank Aaron set a home run record honestly. Woe is us! We have been flooded with noise and no one will listen to our back-to-school specials! We’d better make the logo bigger. We’d better say the name again. We’d better buy the rights to “Sweet Home Alabama.”

As you face your media choices, I would ask you to consider this: Clutter doesn't matter. Content Matters.

I think the issue of too many messages is a non-issue.

This generation has grown up with marketing like Daniel Boone grew up with the sounds of the forest. The problem is not clutter. It doesn’t matter whether you’re videopodcasting or e-mailing. If you don’t have content which is based upon insight into your participant, you won’t make the right media choice. Because they’ll all be wrong.

Understand who you’re talking to. If you know what they need to hear, have no fear…they will hear you.

The big watch out: who not to believe in this brave new media world

2006-04-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

Every speech has to have a big finish. Here’s mine for the talk given to the Madison AdFed on March 22nd:

As every old man must, I issue a warning.

As I dug into all the articles and books and blogs about the “future of advertising,” I developed a slight case of déjà vu. I saw a disturbing trend, perhaps a fundamental mistake albeit in different verbiage:

“The world is awash in advertising clutter. For decades marketers have been spending more and more to try to get their message out, only to find their pitches drowned in a sea of noise…” This again from David H. Freedman in Inc. Magazine.

Well, here’s our watch out. If you recall what Bob Pittman had to say, you’ll remember that Generation Y, the Millenials, the Echo Boomers, like the Baby Boomers before them have learned how to play they game. They have grown up with ad messaging the way Daniel Boone grew up with the sounds of the forest. They know which “sounds” are important (to them) and which are not.

Frankly, we think the issue of “media saturation” and “ad clutter” is a non-issue.

What’s this mean for us? It means creating ads or choosing media just to “break thru the clutter” is a fool’s errand. Instead, understand who you’re talking to. If you know what they need to hear (remember what we said about insight?), have no fear. They will hear you. But if you miss that step, all the logos in the world won’t save you.

As diversity and technology feed upon one another, they every group and even every individual to see, hear, buy and be what he or she wants. But that same diversity and technology engine requires us to live together and tolerate each other’s freedom.

In order to fulfill ourselves as many, we must live together as one.

Is that an oxymoron? Or an opportunity?

Excerpts from our talk to the Madison Advertising Federation

2006-03-23T14:12:00.001-08:00

Last night, we had the privilege to address the Madison AdFed at their seminar. Our portion was during the dinner hour. Breakout speakers included Bruce Bendinger, creative guru of The Copy Workshop, Jeremy Cornfeldt, V.P., Search and Affiliate Marketing for Carat Fusion and Vicky Evans Stencel, Director of Strategy and External Development for Kraft Foods.

It was an honor to be a part. We want to thank Ben Sprague-Klepzig for extending the invitation.

Our topic was “Is Consumption a treatable disease? How media and advertisers are keeping up with the ever-expanding habits of today’s consumers." Here are some excerpts. We welcome your comments and insights.

Are we changing media? Or is media changing us? And as advertisers, what are we to make of all this?

“The real interesting dynamic is that marketers and advertisers are now dealing with the challenge of being focused and the realities of fragmentation. The tensions between the two are what can drive a person crazy.”

Bruce Humbert of Turner + Humbert

The single most important thing any advertiser can do, big or small, is to define his target market. Sequester, analyze, understand and know that segment which is most likely to respond.

Once you do narrow your taarget, change your focus from “product as hero” to “insight as hero.” This step is extremely difficult, but we believe that for every brand there is somewhere one word or phrase where consumer and advertiser can meet and agree to do business.

Take the time. Make the effort to find it. Because people aren’t looking for your product. They’re looking for themselves.

Moreover, the way they’re looking has changed. Their behavior has changed. It all started with the post-TV generation who stopped listening (and, one could infer reasoning their way to a decision) and started reacting to visuals practically instantaneously.

Bob Pittman, one of the founders of MTV, put it this way. He called them “TV Babies:”

“Because of TV perhaps, TV babies seem to perceive visual messages better; that is, through sense impressions. They can ‘read’ a picture or understand body language at a glance.”

Consider the implication. A generation that needs not to be told and doesn’t want to be led. They are with us today. They’re called AARP and they’re the biggest lobby in the country. And that ability to make a snap video decision has been passed down to Generation Y and all to follow.

Next time: TV Babies get their own technology and all hell breaks loose.

Boomers become broadcasters

2006-03-23T14:12:00.000-08:00

Continuing on the topics raised at the Madison AdFed earlier this month:

During the time of the VietNam war, when people acquired the ability to make “snap judgments” when listening to the news or looking for products, along came the Internet. As perspective, it took the telephone 38 years to get 10 million subscribers.

It took the Internet just 3 years.

Today, our ability to access and filter information means that the future is not about reach and frequency. It’s about the availability of online content, delivered across as many mediums as possible and available to those segments of consumers who truly care about it.

The Internet is the technology that is driving the new media changes. But there is a cultural change that is both a cause and an effect. And that is diversity. Diversity is gaining momentum because if you tolerate what I want to see and hear, I have to return the favor. Freedom is a two-way street. That’s because we’re capitalists. Diversity is profitable to all.

So what’s the lesson for us as marketers?

First, if you start with the question of “what medium do I use most effectively?” you’ve skipped the very crucial step of knowing who your target is and where to find them. ESPN, for example has developed content for a wide variety of media, not simply to lead the way in technology, but rather to fulfill their vision (remember that set of words we agree on about a brand?). Their stated strategy is to “serve sports fans in every way possible.”

Once you know your target, heed the words of Faith Popcorn: “Walk. Run. Go to her. You will secure her loyalty forever.” Challenge your media sources to show how they can deliver your audience effectively and economically.

The good news is found in these words from David H. Freedman, writing in Inc. Magazine, August 2005:

“The big advances in advertising technology once favored traditional giants like Procter & Gamble, which could afford to mass-market its message. The new techniques are affordable to smaller companies, too.”

Next time: a warning from a grisly old veteran of the advertising business.

Spring is in the air

2006-03-17T09:56:00.000-08:00

So we’re particularly proud to welcome our newest client, Johnson’s Nursery in Menomonee Falls.

Founded in 1959, Johnson’s is one of the premier landscapers in the region. With almost 500 acres, they grow much of their own stock. This gives them a number of key advantages including selection, guarantee and of course, knowledge of what will work the best in any situation.

But growing their own stock is only part of what makes Johnson’s such a terrific organization. They’re staffed with experienced horticulturalists and landscape architects who just plain love what they’re doing. In fact, Johnson’s has actually created several new varieties of plants and trees that are shipped all across the United States.

We got to know Chad Johnson, as well as Jackie Weisenberger, Bill Reichenbach and a number of other great folks at Johnson’s this past December. They were gracious enough to give us an assignment and together we created a giveaway of a 25-foot tall tree at the Home Builders EXPO in January of this year. 3 lucky winners were chosen from entries received both at the show and online. Johnson’s not only has many huge trees to choose from, but they also have the expertise to deliver and plant the giants.

Instrumental in making the connection with Johnson’s was our own senior Art Director, Lynn Schoenecker. Lynn had done some work for Johnson’s in the past, so they were familiar with her wonderful taste and attention to detail. Lynn is also an avid gardener herself and loves working with native plants. In fact, Lynn is currently at work on a pretty big project in the Village of Elm Grove. She observed that a 2-acre area along the Underwood Creek, which was the former location of the American Legion Post, would be an ideal place for an educational site for native plants. It could become, Lynn thought, a wonderful way to honor our nations’ veterans.

Lynn has developed drawings and specific plant lists which she has proposed to the Village. Her concept includes educational markers on the paths and a bronze sculpture. She envisions enrolling local boy and girl scouts as well as area schools to maintain the property and in so doing, come to appreciate our native habitat and our veterans.

We’ve already seen Lynn talking the project up at Johnson’s and they’re eager to help supply what’s needed. The goal is to have the project finished by Memorial Day of 2007.

If you’d like to hear more about the project or even help with Lynn’s fund-raising efforts, just contact her here at Blue Horse: lschoenecker@bluehorseinc.com.

Meanwhile, we’re hard at work for Johnson’s, putting our “retail” hats on and helping them with everything from signage to ads to newsletters and public relations. Retail marketing and advertising is something we have a lot of experience with. It presents its own set of challenges. Fortunately, when you have people and products as good as the ones at Johnson’s, your task becomes that much easier.

Speaking of which, now would be a good time to get the jump on the upcoming season. You can visit Johnson’s at W 180 N 6275 Marcy Road. That’s just a bit north of Silver Spring. Their phone number is 262-252-4988. Or take a tour at www.johnsonsnursery.com If you just want to pick up a few bushes, or would love to have a row of 25-foot oaks planted around the house, Johnson’s has them ready to go.

Just talk to the guys in the green shirts!

Retirement rumor denied.

2006-02-20T08:23:00.000-08:00

While our partner and public relations maven, Steve Johnstone, has been spotted at a retirement community recently, this is not to say he’s hanging up the press pass. Instead, Steve, along with Susie Falk and Jaime Buege, have solidified a relationship with yet another client for Blue Horse Public Relations.

Our new client is the Crossings at Tudor Oaks. Welcome!

The Crossings at Tudor Oaks is a new continuing care retirement community planned for Muskego and part of the overall redevelopment of the existing Tudor Oaks community.

It will be located on the existing 110-acre campus. The Crossings will offer seniors a variety of housing options, from independent living apartment homes and assisted living apartments to memory support care units. It will also offer a variety of expanded services and amenities.

Blue Horse has been tapped to develop and implement a comprehensive public relations program in partnership with American Baptist Homes of the Midwest (ABHM), the community owners; Greystone Communities, Inc., developers of the Crossings at Tudor Oaks; and GlynnDevins, the national advertising and public relations agency for Greystone Communities.

We are grateful to Randy Eilts, director of public relations for GlynnDevins, who was instrumental in cementing the relationship.

As for Steve Johnstone, make sure you attend his upcoming seminar, “Musings of a Public Relations Pro or What I Learned During the Harding Administration.” It’ll be the bees knees.

Spasmodic Torticollis. Don't know what it is? It's our latest assignment.

2006-02-07T12:02:00.000-08:00

Recently, Blue Horse vice president of public relations, Susie Falk, gathered us together for an announcement. “Good news!” she said, “The Spasmodic Torticollis Dystonia Association would like us to conduct an awareness campaign on their behalf.” After the clapping, Susie asked the assembled Blue Horse folks if anyone actually knew what Spasmodic Torticollis or Dystonia is.

Blank stares.

And that’s the problem. Spasmodic Torticollis is actually a debilitating disease that plagues more than one million people, many of them undiagnosed. It’s characterized by involuntary movements of the head as a result of muscle spasms in the neck and shoulders. The cause or causes are not well understood but the symptoms generally progress over time and the disease is unlikely to go away on its own.

But few people are aware of this condition. That means that fewer people will know enough to ask their doctors to test for it. And that’s unfortunate, because the more people are correctly diagnosed, the fewer people will suffer needlessly. Additionally, the more people diagnosed with Dystonia, the more the drug companies fund research, which in the end will lead to an effective treatment, perhaps even a cure.

So that’s the goal for us. Currently, our public relations staff is actively seeking out stories from Dystonia sufferers to tell the world about the economic and lifestyle issues they face. If you have such a story, simply respond to this blog and we’ll be in touch.

Or write to Howard Thiel at P.O. Box 28, Mukwonago, WI 53149. Howard is the Executive Director of ST/Dystonia.

Meanwhile, as Howard is known to say, “think positive! Smile – and laugh – a lot.”

Good advice.

Blue Horse welcomes TomoTherapy

2006-01-27T15:08:00.000-08:00

When we first heard the phrase “TomoTherapy,” some of us thought it might have something to do with recovering from working with Tom Thiede. But such is not the case.

TomoTherapy Incorporated is a Madison-based company that has developed a revolutionary new medical system combining on-board CT imaging with conformal radiation therapy to treat cancer patients. This new system provides unprecedented precision. It can target radiation treatment to the patient’s tumor while limiting damage to surrounding tissues.

Called the TomoTherapy Hi-Art System ®, it’s now being used in 50 cancer centers in North America, Europe and Asia. The technology was born out of collaboration with the University of Wisconsin.

Blue Horse is proud to add TomoTherapy Inc. to our list of public relations clients.

It’s a company with a terrific future. Their CEO, Dr. Frederick Robertson, has stated, “Our growth has been dramatic. Revenue increased almost 70% in 2005, while the number of orders for our system more than doubled. To keep up with this product demand, we have ramped up our hiring, growing from 171 employees at the end of 2004 to 327 employees on December 31, 2005.”

As recently as this past Friday, it was reported that TomoTherapy Inc was in line to have four of its systems installed in major German universities. “We have penetrated four key university sites in less than 10 months – a task that usually takes over two years,” noted Jack Reese, the company’s director of European sales. TomoTherapy expects half its orders to come from Europe and Asia this year.

Susie Falk and Steve Johnstone, our pr folks, have already rolled up their sleeves and gotten to work for the people at TomoTherapy. They’ve succeeded in securing a Wall Street Journal article about them and other cancer treatment options.

TomoTherapy is example of the kind of ingenuity and Wisconsin-progress that we referred to in our previous article. It’s this kind of creativity that has propelled the Madison area to the position of “first in its class” in the Creativity Index created by Richard Florida at George Mason University.

To find out more about this wonderful company, visit their website at www.tomotherapy.com.

What Florida thinks of Milwaukee

2006-01-19T12:34:00.000-08:00

Interesting article in Wednesday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Joel Dressing interviewed Richard Florida who is professor of public policy at George Mason University and a bestselling author. Mr. Florida “touts human capital as the driving force for economic development.”

In the article, Florida cites the problem for America of developing a “world-competitive creative class.” He refers to the “talent deficit, an inability to invest in our people when they’re young and when they’re older.”

One line in particular caught our eye: “We have to make a massive investment in early childhood education. We need to rebuild our school system for the creative age.”

If you’ve read any of our earlier comments, you know where we stand on this. Too many schools, especially at the early, graded level, are running on cruise control. Further, for every school that has the enlightened thinking and the funds to push itself up, more are being left in the educational dust. It’s very frustrating to see schools, especially inner city minority schools, struggling just to provide the basics, to simply survive, while the demands of the marketplace are in fact growing. Where we most need to teach creativity, we are least accomplishing the task.

There are bright spots. Recently, we had the opportunity to spend some time with Mathew Johnson and the people at Strive Media Institute here in Milwaukee. Strive, a non-profit mentoring and training program, is doing a terrific job of providing opportunities to students who have demonstrated talent and a willingness to work hard. If you haven’t seen what they’re up to, we invite you to visit their website at http://www.strivemedia.com
or read about Strive's recent plans to expand its facility and outreach: http://www.biztimes.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=currentissue.welcome&display=Special&num=1 Strive partners with media professionals to provide training and opportunity to students in print journalism, marketing, computer media, television and radio broadcast. Above is a photo of Mathew Johnson, taken at our Open House. Next to Mathew is Jim Locatelli, a CPA we know, and B. John Bisio, of Wal-Mart Stores.

Strive exists because people like Mathew Johnson saw the need and took steps to deal with it. But more is called for and it almost seems like a pretty massive “rethink” has to happen at the primary school level in order to keep pace. (We’d love to hear from people about similar stories to Strive or with other suggestions on how this “creative gap” can be closed).

By the way, Mr. Florida pointed out that Madison “measures first in (his) creativity index for regions in its size class and eighth among all 331 regions in the country. It is doing phenomenally well.” Meanwhile, Milwaukee ranks 124th. “Milwaukee has to figure out a way to connect itself to the creative age. And Milwaukee is one of the cities that have a great shot.” “With affordable housing, the great urban neighborhoods and the rebuilding around the river, it can attract people who are being priced out of the Chicago market.”

We have so much potential here. The question is, will we make it happen? And when we do, will we share it with one another?

The Legend of the Blue Horse

2006-01-03T08:41:00.000-08:00

Everyone asks, “Where did you come up with the name, Blue Horse?”

The answer of course lies somewhere in the imagination. And to help us make that point, we commissioned some of the most imaginative people on earth to help us tell “The Legend of the Blue Horse.”

We went to several area schools and offered up a writing and art assignment to their 2nd and 3rd graders. “Tell us,” we asked, “where the Blue Horse came from.” We thought a few of the kids might give us their very special perspective on the issue.

What we got was over a hundred and thirty versions. And every single one is marvelous. We’ve posted a couple of them here for you to enjoy. Many of them are up on the walls of our offices, as you can see from this picture taken during our Open House. We’re working now to preserve all of them and hopefully publish a volume containing as many as possible.

Our thanks go to Freiss Lake Elementary School, Elm Creative Arts School, and the Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School.

By the way, thanks as well go to columnist Lewis Lazare in the Chicago Sun Times who had some kind words to say about our Christmas card this year which featured some of the children’s art, www.suntimes.com/output/lazare/cst-fin-lew23.html

All this brings up a thought. A lot of companies spend their dollars on scholarships and endowments at the college level. This is a fine and noble thing to do. But we were wondering, how many companies might step up and offer their funding to America’s grade schools?

It seems like that money could go a long way toward uplifting the level of our primary education, to better prepare our kids for high school. It’s understandable why any business would want to solicit talent that is ready to join their ranks. But the need seems to be so pressing at the primary and high school levels, particularly the inner city schools or schools which primarily serve our minorities. The kids at these schools are in real danger of not getting the tools to compete. We simply can’t afford to create a society where the gulf between “haves” and “have-nots” is too big to surmount. That problem, it seems to us, starts at the neighborhood grade school level.

Fortunately, the schools we went to seem to be performing in a superlative way. But, if you’re like me, you’ve probably seen those schools that are well, frankly, being left behind. Along with their students.

Imagination begins so early. It’s a shame to see it shatter against reality.

Welcome to Bob's Big Blue Blog

2005-12-08T13:23:00.000-08:00

As we said on our party invitation, “And they’re off.” ESW/Blue Horse is now officially Blue Horse, a totally independent entity. You might have read about the event in Ad Week www.adweek.com or in Lewis Lazare’s Chicago Sun Times column www.suntimes.com/output/lazare/cst-fin-lew01.html
or in Rick Rommell’s nice story about us in the Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel. I’m proud to be in partnership with the team of Tom Thiede (President), Bill Sheahan (EVP and head of client service) and Steve Johnstone (EVP and head of public relations).

The party was held on December 2nd in our office in Milwaukee’s historic Third Ward. Designed to celebrate our “freedom,” it was a terrific event and if you were there, thanks for coming! We were pleased to be visited by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke and 3rd Ward Alderman, Bob Bauman. That’s me above with my lovely wife Malissa and Alderman Bauman. The guy next to the Mayor is Bill Sheahan.

There’s a great sense of honesty and teamwork here at Blue Horse that I find very refreshing. And some great creative thinking. We’ll show you an example of it next time around. Meanwhile, visit our website at www.bluehorseinc.com. It’s currently under construction, but soon it’ll tell you all about the new Blue Horse.