Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com February 15, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 11 Quality Construction + Butler Manufacturing = Repeat Customers www.borghesibuilding.com © 2011 BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. All rights reserved. Butler Manufacturing™ is a division of BlueScope Buildings North America, Inc. 2155 East Main Street • Torrington, Connecticut 06790 317–321 Federal Road, Brookfield, CT | 2005 | 31,000 sq ft 270–290 Federal Road, Brookfield, CT 2002 | 33,000 sq ft 227-235 Federal Road, Brookfield, CT 2014 | 25,000 sq ft Contact us at 1-855-BUILD-86 or visit us on the web. Q&A Like media industry, Maier evolves with time Q&A talks with Bill Maier, founder and president, and I. Todd Russell, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, of Farmington-based Maier True Communication, which is celebrating its 45th anniversary in 2016. Q: You've been in the advertising and marketing communica- tions field for 45 years. Is any- thing the same in your field as it was back in the early '70s? What's the big- gest change? A: Maier: We're still creating tra- ditional media, but what has truly evolved is mobile. People are using it daily as a communi- cation vehicle. That has hit very hard in the last 10 years. Although print is not going away, it's being overtaken by digital. The funda- mentals haven't d i s a p p e a r e d , but everything's leaning toward digital and instant communications. Russell: Print isn't going away but clients are getting much smarter on how to lever- age it. It's about being more timely and rel- evant. Offline marketing now involves print on demand. For example, we set up cam- paigns and when a certain trigger occurs, we can deploy a piece of personalized col- lateral to a targeted individual. Gone are the days of huge volume and people relying on a 1 to 3 percent response from a direct mail perspective. Results have improved through measurement and analytics. Q: On your firm's website, there's this line in the "About" section: "Mega- phone marketing has been replaced with dialogs — exchanges with custom- ers that offer targeted, useful, easy-to- obtain information." How true is that? Does all marketing have to be that tar- geted to be successful? A: Russell: Websites are clearly a man- datory component in business-to-business communications. We've recently evolved and reworked our site — but it's never fin- ished. That's one of the advantages with digital mediums. The ability to change and evolve is there. Being targeted is important — it's a huge part of what we do. And one aspect of targeting is measurability. If a cli- ent can't justify a spend, measure it, and report back, they should not be making that investment. That's how critical it's becom- ing. Just throwing things out there to see what happens is not a strategy. You have to be able to measure it. Q: Along the lines of dialogs, are influencers still a relevant aspect of marketing? Is social media where the message has to be? A: Russell: Influencers are still relevant. We create multi-tiered strategies and cam- paigns to reach and communicate to the various influencers touching our clients' businesses. While social media isn't a man- datory medium, our clients need to take a serious look at it. It's a very powerful medi- um and can be enormously effective. You might recall during a nationally broadcast NCAA championship football game a few years ago, announcer Brent Musburger made a comment about a woman in the stands. As soon as he did that, within 30 minutes, her Twitter followers increased from 5,000 to 100,000. You can't argue with those numbers. The recognition really catapulted her career. Social media can be used to extend conversations. Dol- lar Shave Club got their start in a Super Bowl spot. The real traction came when they started releasing vid- eos on YouTube and engaging people on Face- book. It blossomed into a household name. It's about storytelling. That's a term we hear a lot. We're now involved in marketing with people rather than at people. Q: Is your business always a march forward or do aspects of it come back full circle at times? Is your industry cyclical or a straight line? A: Russell: We're in a cyclical business, especially in the way we utilize digital market- ing. As mentioned, websites are never com- pletely finished. They're updated regularly with new content. If a web asset doesn't pro- vide a viewer reasons to return, there won't be "stickiness." We want to attract and engage people, acquire them as customers, and obviously retain them too. For that to happen, content needs to be constantly refreshed, regard- less of marketing channel. There has to be a reason for people to return to whatever medium in which you are broadcasting your message. Q: What's ahead in marketing commu- nications? Where is the industry going? A: Russell: Technology plays a huge role these days. Some of the tools are CRM — customer relationship management — mar- keting automation, and overall analytics that help with measurement and reporting. Most of our clients have these platforms. What's ahead is more effective messaging with mobile and wearable devices. I don't think people reflect on where we are — digital mar- keting is still in its infancy. My first email account was established about 20 years ago. Smartphones have been with us less than nine years. Now we have wearable devices. Eventually, we will have one device that will take care of all our needs. We have to craft our messages in different ways that will be effective. A digital billboard on I-84 will look a lot different than it will appear on someone's Apple Watch. n BILL MAIER Founder and president, Maier True Communication I. TODD RUSSELL Executive VP and chief marketing officer, Maier True Communication Officially Produced by: Now available are official PDF REPRINTS of your Article for your MARKETING usage All copyright fees included Share the excitement of being published! 20 Hartford Business Journal • March 23, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com Best Places To Work In CT 2015 By Kathryn M. Roy Special to the Hartford Business Journal H ard work is rewarded at law firm Hinckley Allen. And for its 60 Hartford- based employees, the firm's focus on professional development provides a boost not only to staff, but clients as well. "We put a lot of time and effort into the development and training of our people," said Thomas S. Marrion, a partner at the law firm. "Within the last few years, we hired a director of professional development who was a partner at another law firm in Boston. He is devoted entire- ly to the professional development of our people here. It was a major commitment on our part to hire a full-time person in a firm of our size." Marrion said the role reflects the firm's dedication to having all staff properly trained so they can do the best work for their clients. The Hartford office, which has been open since 2008, is also known for its positive, team-based culture. "Everyone in every position at the firm is part of a team that is devoted to providing the best possible service to our clients," Marrion said. Rewarding good work is a priority at Hinckley Allen, which operates six offices and employs more than 300 people compa- nywide. The firm looks for opportunities for people to take on greater responsibilities, and they get greater rewards, Marrion said. "We always try to promote from within," Marrion said. "It doesn't matter what your job is here; if you work hard and work well with others and you're productive, you will be rec- ognized for that and you will succeed here." Megan McCormack, director of human resources, said being recognized as a good place to work helps lift office morale. "It helps support the goals that we have in human resources to create a good culture and good environment for people to work in," McCormack said. "It really is about creating a positive culture and one where people are sup- ported. They're rewarded for hard and qual- ity work. They support each other, they have respect for each other and they feel valued." As part of relationship development and team building, the firm organizes monthly wind downs or employee lunches, where staff can enjoy lunch and socialize with each other. The company hosts holiday parties and regular outside-of-work recreational outings. "People continue to develop strong personal relationships," McCormack said. "People are really proud of what they can accomplish. They prefer to work in teams; they're stronger collectively. It's just enjoy- able to work with people that you genuinely like and respect." A formal committee of staff members orga- nizes community service projects. Employees volunteer at a local soup kitchen, at Camp Courant to benefit underprivileged children, and at Connecticut Public Television. "No question, it makes my job easier because all of those positive feelings people have about their work is just an extension of what we try to do," McCormack said. "There are not nearly as many negative issues that you have to deal with." Legal secretary Jean McCarthy, who serves on the committee charged with orga- nizing outside community service events, said the events help with bonding. "It makes it like it's not just a workplace – you're more invested," McCarthy said. The firm also supports a work-life balance. "They're pretty family-oriented, and I think that's kind of different from other large firms," McCarthy said. "Just recently, I had to leave work to pick up my sick grand- daughter, and they really are very support- ive of that type of occurrence. They know things happen." There's nothing better than working with people who have a positive attitude, McCar- thy added. "I come to work and I like spending time with the people here," she said. ◆ ▶ " I had to leave work to pick up my sick granddaughter, and they really are very supportive of that type of occurrence. " – Jean McCarthy, legal secretary Hinckley Allen prioritizes teamwork Hinckley Allen employees (above) volunteer together at Camp Courant, celebrate special occasions together (below), and let loose at office socials (left). Large Company Category S A M P L E R e p r i n t & P l a q u e Connecticut Green Guide, Hartford Business Journal and HartfordBusiness.com content is copyrighted. Visit HartfordBusiness.com/reprints for more info on article usage and obtaining copyright permissions. ALL PDF LIST REPRINTS COME WITH ADDITIONAL Commemorative Plaque OPTION Plaques are Walnut Brown woodgrain finish with reprint mounted under beveled plexi-glass. Trimmed with metal corner nails. It's the perfect addition to your office or lobby — Ask for details and pricing. For article reprint info & pricing, contact: Jessica Baker jbaker@HartfordBusiness.com or 860.236.9998 ext. 122 or visit HartfordBusiness.com/ reprints

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