LaughlinOutLoud

Precious Medals

We’re proud to announce that Laughlin Constable recently won four Gold Awards in the International Graphis Awards for advertising. Regarded by many in the industry as one of the most prestigious competitions, LC bested many shops from all over the world to be featured in this gorgeous hard-cover book. Our best showing to date was three golds last year, which we surpassed this year, winning four golds.

The winning work was produced for: Kimberly-Clark (Cottonelle), St. Paul’s Fish Market, The Hank Aaron Trail and the Eisner American Museum of Advertising & Design.

Big credit goes out to Chad Nauta, Kirk Ruhnke, David Hanneken and Gina Ferise.

Our very own Dan LaVigne is also featured in the book for a campaign he did last year while working at Freight Train.  Great work, Dan!

Check out the winners:

Laughlin Constable Naughty or Nice Holiday Card

Have you been nice this year? Take our Holiday Naughty or Nice quiz and have your list checked twice.  Every person who participates in the quiz will get a personalized Naughty or Nice certificate and a donation to the Boys & Girls Club in their name.

So, check it out and don’t forget to spread the cheer! http://holiday.laughlin.com/

Happy Holidays from your friends at Laughlin Constable.

Laughlin Constable had a strong showing last Thursday during the 2009 Milwaukee 99 Advertising Awards show.

LC walked away with 13 merits and four metals during the presentation which honored the best 99 pieces of communication produced last year.  The Milwaukee 99 showcases the most outstanding work by various ad agencies, design firms, digital houses and in-house departments from around Southeastern Wisconsin.  In all there were over 500 entries and the 99 finalists were chosen this past July by a panel of five creative directors who came into town from such cities as Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Chicago.

The metal winners were:

GOLD:
Kimberly-Clark’s Kleenex Anti-Viral Tissue “Sleepy Baby Webisode” in the Interactive Viral category

SILVER:
Red Cross T-Shirt “Band-Aid” in the Guerrilla/Ambient category

BRONZE:
Kimberly-Clark’s Kleenex Anti-Viral Tissue “Sleepy Baby“, “Rodeo“, & “Ice Skater“ Webisodes in the Interactive Viral Campaign category
Kimberly-Clark’s Kleenex Anti-Viral Tissue in the Integrated Campaign

Congratulations to all our clients and the many staffers who worked on these projects.  Now let’s get going on more great work for next year!

It’s been on the minds of many lately.  How can I become more “green?”

Scores of people talk about it and show a sincere interest in improving the environment around them.  They want to be a part of the solution and reduce their carbon footprint.

We are no different.

In order to keep in step with reducing one’s carbon-footprint, we recently studied our own behavior and found our “green-ness” needed a bit of sprucing up.  Sure, we were recycling paper and soda cans but most companies and people have taken those steps.  How could we do more?

After taking a closer look at ourselves, we came up with some solutions.

Let me share a few examples of how we “greened” things up at Laughlin Constable.  In return, we’d love to hear what you’ve done too.  Here are some of our recent efforts:

• Applied sun and heat deflective window shades to most windows to maintain a consistent temperature in our offices.
• Installed a revolving door in our lobby to retain a constant temperature and airflow in our lobby and adjacent areas.
• Instructed our cleaning crew to purchase bulk items (such as liquid hand soap) to refill and reuse the smaller plastic containers already in place.
• Purchased office supplies made from recycled materials whenever possible.
• We have been recycling plastic and paper, but also started disposing of electronic equipment, printer cartridges and more in a proper, eco-friendly fashion.
• Replaced many light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs, including LED lighting.
• Installed low-flow toilets to reduce water consumption.
• Encouraged not printing unnecessary documents reduce our paper consumption.
• Eliminated all packing peanuts. Good riddance.

The measures mentioned above show a pro-active approach and significant progress in the agency’s effort to become more environmentally friendly.  But by no means does it stop there.  Our business is all about creating ideas.  And we’ll continue to look at new ideas to improve our carbon footprint, not because it is the current trend, but the right thing to do.

After merging with Partners & Jeary, Laughlin/Constable will have Steve Laughlin, left, as partner and Michael Jeary as president of the New York office.

Today the partners and jeary agency is merging with Laughlin Constable to become Laughlin Constable NY. I thought you might like to know why.

About 11 years ago, Steve Laughlin and I met at an annual meeting of the 4A’s. Over the years a strong friendship emerged based on mutual respect, a shared value system and common approach to the business.

Unlike Steve, however, I was a late-blooming entrepreneur having traded in my CEO stripes at Saatchi & Saatchi for an agency with my name on the door only a short time earlier.

Laughlin became my mentor and ideal. That’s why when we first discussed the idea of merging our firms last year and working together to leverage the considerable resources of Laughlin Constable for all our clients’ benefit, it seemed to me to be a natural progression in our business relationship.

Our merger expands the geographic footprint of the Laughlin Constable brand in a cost-effective manner and adds talent and revenue to its strong employee base. It also brings to our business here in NY, additional Laughlin Constable “Full Circle” branding capabilities (interactive, PR, promotion and planning) so necessary in meeting the needs of our clients and new business prospects today.

A long time ago I learned two key lessons in business 1) we succeed when our clients succeed so we better anticipate their needs and 2) change fuels everything, so we better embrace it. Today, I‘m glad I stayed awake during that class.

Click here to read The New York Times article covering the merger.

The Great Taste Challenge is in full swing for one of our major clients, Santa Margherita. Wine and food lovers finally have the opportunity to show off their culinary expertise and pairing skills.  Contestants can get creative by producing and starring in their homemade videos that promote their favorite original recipes complemented with one of the Santa Margherita varietals (Pinot Grigio, Prosecco, Chianti Classico).  The sky is the limit with where food fans take this and we have a feeling they’ll take it far, because the Grand Prize and Finalist Winners will receive a round-trip vacation and the chance to meet Top Chef fan favorite, restaurant owner, and cookbook author, Fabio Viviani.

Online video contests are increasing in popularity. This year alone, major category leaders, such as Microsoft, Coca-Cola, P&G, Sony, and Chipotle ran contests asking users to submit online content. Now, Terlato Wines International has been added to the ranks. Users love time in the spotlight and the ability to speak their mind! And the brands? Well they get a little something in return as well…

• Brands get the inside scoop straight from the consumer – Why do they love their product(s)? How do they use them?
• User-generated content encourages a viral reaction as a result of consumer interaction. Naturally, consumers want to show off their video, promote themselves, and get votes. This ultimately advertises the contest, promotes the brand, and increases traffic to the site.
• Brands can employ these user-generated videos as a brand-advocating vehicle.  After all, what is better than unpaid – and unsolicited – endorsement?

Want your chance in the spotlight? Visit www.SantaMargherita.us/Contest to enter the contest. Unfortunately, LC employees and close family members cannot enter, but you can still get in on the action by watching, voting, and commenting on the contestants’ videos!

Since 1977, the McDonald’s All American High School Basketball Game has featured more than 900 of the best high school basketball players in the nation.  Names like Magic…MJ…Shaq…and LeBron are only a few of the alumni that have gone on to greatness.  So, when Milwaukee got the nod to host the game in 2008 you can imagine my excitement – not only as a sports fan but to be a part of the planning and execution of one of the largest all-star events in the country.  This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Game week in Milwaukee did not disappoint.  As Dick Vitale would say, “dipsy-doo dunkeroo diddle dop slam-jam-bam, pudding-pop baby!”  That pretty much sums up the event.  However, what you don’t see on the surface makes the event even better – the event’s beneficiary Ronald McDonald House Charities.  The House is a home-away-from-home for families whose lives have been disrupted as a result of their child’s illness or injury.  The real “stars” are the thousands of seriously ill children that rely on the House while undergoing treatment.

I’m proud to say the 2008 McDonald’s All American Game raised nearly $700,000 for the local Ronald McDonald House, $200,000 more than originally projected.  That’s awesome, baby!

To appreciate the story behind the story visit LC’s new landing page, a “Slam Dunk Effort.”  In addition, visit the “Rumble Heard Around the World” to learn how LC PR kick-started another successful event – the grand opening of the Harley Davidson Museum.

For more than 30 years Laughlin Constable has demonstrated that we know how to produce effective and innovative solutions for our clients. Just like the cobblers in that old saying “the cobblers kids have no shoes,” we’ve predominately focused our resources and talent on our clients.

Well, today we’re getting a new pair of shoes.

For the first time in LC history, we’re launching a digital media campaign for the agency.

The campaign highlights two of Milwaukee’s prominent events from 2008 that our public relations team played a major role in. From garnering more than 279 million impressions for the Harley-Davidson Museum® to helping raise $700,000 for Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Eastern Wisconsin by making one of the most successful McDonald’s All American® High School Basketball Games happen.

Banner ads and paid search touting our success stories are strategically placed online to reach key business leaders in southeastern Wisconsin. The banners and paid search will drive traffic to landing pages on Laughlin.com that showcase the exceptional results our public relations team produced while working on some of the biggest events in the area.

This is an opportunity for us to flaunt the measurable results and progressive solutions our agency can produce. It’s time to break those new shoes in.

As a PR consultant, it is my job to tell my clients’ stories and garner publicity by getting them in the news.  I enjoy it.  And I think my clients appreciate my work.

From time to time though, there are situations that require “tooting my own horn.”  This is one of those times.  But not just my horn.  I’m going to toot Laughlin Constable PR’s horn in this space.  A recent event calls for it.

Hey, if we do great PR work for clients shouldn’t we do it for ourselves, too?

Outstanding work done for Laughlin Constable clients Wolverine, McDonald’s and Café Manna has recently earned our agency three Paragon Awards from the Public Relations Society of America.  We feel pretty good about that.  So we thought we’d share.

So, how did we treat such good news?

• A: Snuck on to the Miller Park field after the awards ceremony and ran the bases before being tackled by the Brat, Polish and Italian.  Not sure what happened to the Chorizo and Hot Dog.  They were asleep at the wheel on security detail apparently.
• B: Took the red-eye to Vegas, checked-in at the Palms and gambled the day away.  All the while carrying our awards around everywhere we went.
• C: Went straight home and got the mandatory eight hours of sleep, and were up early the next day ready to work.
• D: Took the Amtrak Hiawatha to Chicago, hit Rush Street ‘til 4 a.m. and worked out of our Chicago office the following day.
• E: Drafted a press release touting our achievements and hit the local pubs (that’s short for publications).  Although we have been known to hit a pub or two.

The answer?  We’re not saying.  But if you chose “C” you don’t know us very well.

Now that I’m done tooting, you can read the release here.

I had the opportunity to participate in an interview with the Wall Street Journal recently that focused on how employers handle employees’ personal data – contacts, pictures, music, etc. – when separation from an organization occurs.

Whether it is a matter of convenience, longer hours, travel for work or the rise of laptops in organizations, more employees are storing personal data on work computers.

As you’ll see in the article, we try very hard to be accommodating with regards to giving back personal data to employees as long as it is not sensitive information. There are checks and balances to this process but more often than not we are able to accommodate the employee so they don’t lose all their valuable information.

This policy is one of many we have in place to be an accommodating organization to our employees and I believe they recognize and appreciate those policies.

Laughlin Constable has been the proud recipient of a number of workplace awards, including: the 2008 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility; MetroParent’s Family Friendly Workplace Award in 2006, 2007 and 2008; and numerous Best Places To Work and Beyond The Paycheck Awards 2000-2008.

We are proud of those recognitions and are constantly evaluating how we can make our organization better from a HR perspective.

I’m wondering though, are we in the minority? How do you handle your employees’ personal data?

You can read the article here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124105119428271155.html