South Florida Advertising Agency - bfw Advertising + Interactive - Boca Raton, FL

If your toe could talk…bfw's new TV commercial

2010-04-09T12:06:00.000-04:00

What happens when a talking toe talks about toe fungus? You get the latest work from bfw Advertising. The new TV spot is a Nutrisystems-meets-Hair Club for Men parody—complete with before and after shots, outdoor thrills, even a last scene “love connection”. It was created for Fungi-Nail (Kramer Labs), the #1 pharmacist recommended treatment for toe fungus.

Watch the Fungi-Nail TV Commercial now on YouTube.

The TV commercial is airing in major television markets across the country. The commercial was produced by Epic Entertainment Group, directed by Lewis Roth and animated by Saygo Studios.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

bfw helps Nestlé make a splash at Carnaval Miami 2010 – Miami, FL

2010-03-25T15:43:00.007-04:00

Nestlé Healthcare Nutrition’s NUTRAMENT has been a staple in the energy drink market in the Caribbean for decades. Now the brand is working to gain acceptance with the Caribbean and Hispanic communities in South Florida and metro-NYC. bfw Advertising is helping Nestlé with awareness programs designed to re-introduce the product to the children and family members of its core customers.

In February and March, bfw Advertising assisted NUTRAMENT with its Carnaval Miami 2010 sponsorship. Events included an 8k Night Run Sponsorship in which over 1,000 runners and 5,000 spectators were treated to samples following the race. There was a 5-on-5 Youth Soccer Tournament Sponsorship that included over 100 teams aged 5 to 19 competing for “The NUTRAMENT Cup.” And at the 32nd Annual Carnaval on Little Havana’s Calle Ocho, over one million visitors sampled more than 1,000 cases of NUTRAMENT. The events were a blast, and helped reintroduce the brand in a fun, memorable way.

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Jack Chadam is Director of Market Development at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

bfw project for Exact Sciences appears in Times Square – New York, NY

2010-03-25T15:01:00.009-04:00

Exact Sciences Corporation is on a mission to save lives by launching an FDA-cleared, patient-friendly colorectal cancer screening test that detects both pre-cancer and cancer and, ultimately, promotes cancer prevention. They’re also a bfw Advertising client. In recent months, we’ve developed their logo, website, identity package and investor relations kit.

On March 10th (I know, I know, the blog is a little behind), Exact Sciences’ CEO Kevin Conroy and CFO Maneesh Arora rang the bell to open the NASDAQ markets. To boost their PR efforts surrounding the ceremony, bfw Advertising produced a short video that was featured exclusively for one hour on the NASDAQ Tower at Times Square in New York City.

Click here to check out the video.

It was a really exciting experience for everyone involved. There’s nothing like seeing your work on the big stage.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

bfw Advertising launches new website for 3Cinteractive

2010-01-21T16:41:00.003-05:00

bfw Advertising recently launched a new website for 3Cinteractive, an industry leading mobile technology company. 3Ci is making huge waves in the mobile world with their enterprise-class platform. This technology makes it possible for clients to access billions of mobile users worldwide — regardless of device or network. They work with some of the biggest and brightest companies in the world including AT&T, Disney, ESPN, Telemundo and AAA. The new website was designed, written and coded by bfw.

Check out the new website design at 3Cinteractive.com.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

bfw employees way too busy to update blog.

2009-11-09T15:04:00.010-05:00

So it’s been a while since we updated the old bfw Blog. It’s not that there’s nothing to talk about...in fact, it’s actually quite the opposite. We’ve been working our tails off over here (and feeling very fortunate to be able to say that these days). Couple new websites going live soon. New advertising campaigns launching shortly. Tradeshow booth designs appearing in Cologne, Germany, Bangkok, Thailand, Orlando and Vegas. Our creative director (hey wait, that’s me) even churned out a new book: Children’s Letters to Dog. More to come on all this stuff soon...stay tuned...or, better yet,give us a call and we’ll tell you about it.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

bfw Advertising on-set with Interim HealthCare

2009-08-27T14:40:00.010-04:00

Yesterday we checked out the new production studio at The Balancing Act, a morning show on Lifetime. We were there to film a segment about jobs in the healthcare industry for our client Interim HealthCare, the nation’s largest provider of home healthcare and medical staffing.

Interim’s CEO, Kathleen Gilmartin, is an absolute natural in front of the camera - to the point where one of the hosts actually high fived her after the producer called, “Cut!” Lucky for us she’s got a great gig going on at Interim, because I think they were ready to sign her up.

Registered Nurse Janet Kondziela made her television debut in front of the cameras, and also knocked it out of the park. We wrapped the shoot in record time and look forward to seeing the final product air on The Balancing Act on Lifetime this fall.

Top Photo: Interim CEO Kathleen Gilmartin and RN Janet Kondziela on the set of The Balancing Act. Bottom Photo: From left to right: Kim Swain, bfw; Christian Boswell, bfw; Meredith Troy, Interim HealthCare; Kat Davis, bfw; Linda Shaub, Interim HealthCare in the Green Room.

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Kat Davis is Senior Copywriter at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

Live strong and wear cool t-shirts

2009-07-13T09:25:00.008-04:00

Every once in a while, I come across a piece of advertising that is truly original—an inspiring reminder that, in this business, anything is possible. Last week, I saw an advertising execution from Wieden + Kennedy, Nike and Lance Armstrong's Livestrong foundation. They created a robot that lets people from anywhere in the world chalk messages of inspiration, hope and encouragement directly on the course of the Tour de France.

Users can submit messages via text message, the advertising campaign website, online advertising banners or Twitter for the chance to be printed on the Tour roads by a street-painting robot, Chalkbot. Once submitted, messages were queued and reviewed, and up to 100,000 were inscribed on the roads that make up the course. The person who originally submitted the message received a link to a robot-captured photo of the chalk design along with its GPS coordinates. Super cool stuff and congrats to the all the creative brains behind it.

Speaking of cycling, bfw’s Juan Carlos Agosto, an art director and avid cyclist, just launched Share the Road Apparel featuring a collection of original t-shirt designs. The mission of ShareTheRoadApparel.com is to spread the word to motorists about the rules of the road when it comes to cyclists. The shirts have a cool, raw design feel and help spread the message of safety with a wearable piece of art. Check it out when you get a chance. Share the Road Apparel donates a portion of its proceeds to the Livestrong Foundation.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

7 hints on how to make your local spot not look local

2009-06-09T12:27:00.004-04:00

(1) Just say “no” to the Beta Cam - It doesn’t matter who you’re using for production, the bottom line is that they’re going to try to sell you on using their one remaining, 700 pound beta camera from the mid 80’s, because all of their brand new HD cams are already spoken for on the day you’re shooting. And that Beta is sitting in a closet somewhere, just waiting for the right client. Don’t be that client.

(2) There is no such thing as a “cool” transition in a :30 spot. Well, there is, but it’s basically a 10 frame cross fade that’s so fast you can’t really see it anyway. If you think you need a transition somewhere, what you actually need is a better edit point. You’ve got 30 seconds - don’t waste it on a bunch of concentric circles closing in on someone’s face.

(3) Turn the V/O down. Trust me. It’s too loud. To illustrate this, turn on any prime time broadcast program, and when the first slate of commercials comes on, close your eyes. Rather than watch them, just listen to them. You’ll be able to distinguish the local spot simply by the way the sound is mixed. Specifically, how out-in-front the voice over is. It doesn’t need to be that loud. Your audience will hear it just fine, even if you back it into the mix a little more.

(4) Hide the lav. The sound guy will tell you that if he hides it, it won’t pick up well. Not true. It’s just that hiding a lav mic is a hassle and requires a little trial and error to get the rustles and odd noises worked out. The alternative is that your spokesman looks like a news anchor. Not good. Imagine for a moment, Alec Baldwin walking into frame on a Hulu spot with a lavaliere mic strapped to his tie. Not cool.

(5) Graphics are there to be read. Not to delight. Dancing words, swirling phone numbers – they all look like WordArt in a PowerPoint, and point to a certain fascination with software packages. They are the video equivalent of scrap booking. Avoid them. They’re distracting.

(6) If you’re Gary Woo...and you’re advertising Gary Woo’s China Bistro, make sure you clean the fish tank before you feature it as the centerpiece of your “special events” room. Okay, that one’s personal, but jeez – every time I see that ad, I lose my appetite.

(7) If you’re advertising a funeral home...it really is not a good idea to run a “Stimulus Package Special”. I wish I were making this up, but I’m not. (This ad actually scored a “Local Don’ts” hat trick – the ad is shot on beta and features a guy wearing a lav mike on his vest. Sweet.)

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Christian Boswell is President & Executive Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit http://www.gobfw.com/ on the web.

bfw launches new website for Micell. -- Raleigh, NC

2009-04-22T09:27:00.003-04:00

bfw just launched a new website for Micell Technologies, a privately held biomedical company. Right now, Micell is focused on developing an advanced method for vascular drug delivery. Their approach could have a huge impact on the field of interventional cardiology by providing patients and doctors with better safety outcomes.

Check out the new website design at micell.com.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

bfw wins big in south Florida at 2009 ADDY Awards -- Palm Beach

2009-03-09T12:32:00.007-04:00

A crew from bfw Advertising in Boca Raton attended the Palm Beach Advertising Federation’s annual ADDY Gala on Saturday night. The event hosted creative talent from Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton to West Palm Beach and Jupiter, and honored the best in consumer advertising, web design, b-to-b advertising, print, radio, television and more.

bfw rocked out with a live performance by Superstuff featuring bfw’s own Christian Boswell as front man. And they racked up the awards—winning two Gold ADDY Awards for an Allied Power Group print campaign (see above) and a Winner’s Video for the Palm Beach Ad Fed for last year’s ADDY gala.

bfw Advertising also took home a Judges Choice award for a Voices for Children brochure design as well as Silver ADDY Awards for an advertising campaign for PSM, package design for Indige, and a multimedia advertising campaign for the Advanta Platinum BusinessCard. To see some of the award-winning work, click here.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

New TV Commercials for Gilman Ciocia -- New York

2009-02-16T17:02:00.008-05:00

Well, tax season is upon us and there’s no need to fear…well, as long as you have Gilman Ciocia in your corner. The tax team at Gilman Ciocia can help you lower your taxes this year and help you plan for the years ahead. It's the best way to take control of your money, and keep more cash in your pocket. Check out www.gtax.com for the office near you.

These are a few of the new TV spots we have running in New York, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

bfw Creative Director (and his dog) on CBS News

2009-02-06T09:37:00.004-05:00

As “mad men” (and “mad women”) we spend the bulk of our days brainstorming ad campaigns, working with clients and devising strategies to take over the world. But we also do lots of creative stuff outside of the office. Things like playing guitar in a rock band, designing theatre sets for local productions, and shooting homemade movies…mostly about our kids, our friends and each other.

Personally, I like to write. And a while back I had my first book published. The Da Vinci Dog is a comical satire on contemporary art told through the eyes of my dog, Brinks. I adopted him from the Humane Society of Broward County and, to thank them, Brinks and I dontate 25 percent of our profits to local and national animal shelters.

CBS News heard about our story and came by the house (aka Brinks’ studio) for an interview. Click here to see the video.

The Da Vinci Dog is available everywhere books are sold. Places like BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com, or your favorite neighborhood bookstore. To see more about the book and the four-legged "artist", check out www.thedavincidog.com.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

bfw client and friend Randy Luth wins “Man of the Year” -- St. Cloud, MN

2009-01-30T12:32:00.003-05:00

Last week I met up with Randy Luth, a current client and long time friend, at the SHOT Show in Orlando, FL. Randy was being awarded Outdoor Life’s Reader’s Choice “Man of the Year”. He founded his company, DPMS/Panther Arms, in 1986. Under his leadership the company has become the second largest manufacturer of AR-15 rifles. He holds several patents and his rifles are used today by law enforcement agencies, military personnel, competitive shooters and big game hunters alike. bfw partnered with Randy and his team to create the DPMS website that you see today.

Randy is a strong advocate and educator in the area of firearms and 1st amendment rights. He’s also a great friend. So often in business, we forget about the importance of relationships and how they impact true partnerships. Last week I was reminded of that. I can truly say it has been a great joy to watch Randy succeed, and participate in that success—not only as his agency partner, but also as his friend.

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Brad Partridge is Senior Vice President at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit http://www.gobfw.com/ on the web.

Yep. That’s our Work. -- Menlo Park, CA

2009-01-23T12:06:00.008-05:00

A couple of years ago, I was invited by the smart guys at Russo Partners to meet with the management of Geron, at their offices in Menlo Park, CA. Geron was, at the time, a brilliant but relatively unknown biopharmaceutical company focused on big diseases and big treatments. My visit was timed to coincide with an analyst presentation at the company headquarters.

I have never been more impressed - or more out of my depth – than I was over those two days.

Whether it was the proximity to Stanford, the sheer intellectual firepower in the room (including the analysts, who were mostly MDs) or the breadth of vision Geron brought to the table, it was obvious that big, important stuff was going on – the kind of stuff that changes the world.

For Geron, the taproot of that change was - and remains - hESC based therapy. Better known as stem cells. From cancer to degenerative diseases and spinal injury, Geron has been focused on bringing first-in-class treatments to market.

We were sort of awed by these folks. I mean, these are big thinkers, focusing serious intellects on huge problems, and positing solutions that challenge even the most vivid of imaginations.

And then there were the political issues.

Nonetheless, we were stoked to have the opportunity to contribute, and actually got the chance to develop their website – the fruits of which you can see at geron.com.

We’re proud of the work we put into that project - of which more than half, I’d say, was learning. Understanding what exactly it was that Geron was doing, and where it was headed. For the first time in a long time, we called on the services of a medical writer – the subject matter was that specialized and detailed.

Every word of the project - down to the commas - was reviewed and critiqued by Geron’s senior scientists, including the CEO.

Because of the politics surrounding stem cells, we figured that traffic to the site would be pretty sparse – and limited to people with a highly evolved interest.

And then…well…things changed, didn’t they?

Geron receives FDA clearance to begin the world’s first human clinical trial of hESC -based therapy, and this brilliant – but unknown – company becomes news. From the New York Times to the Today show.

The smart guys at Russo are working overtime, and traffic to the site is cranking, and our work is out there for the world to see. And Geron is getting its much deserved, and long-overdue attention.

So, yep - that’s our work. And that’s our client, we’re proud to say.

Good for you, Geron. Now go make miracles happen.

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Christian Boswell is President & Executive Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

bfw's third launch of '09: Anadys Pharmaceuticals -- San Diego, CA

2009-01-21T09:03:00.006-05:00

Our third site launch of 2009 was for Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANDS). Anadys is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving patient care by developing novel medicines in the areas of hepatitis C and oncology. With new developments happening every day, Anadys is certainly a company to keep your eye on...and definitely one to root for.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

Russo Partners website goes live. -- New York, NY

2009-01-20T16:42:00.010-05:00

At Russo Partners, healthcare PR isn't a job. It's a way of life. The firm maintains a unique focus on biotech, pharma, medtech, diagnostics and healthcare services. From the biotechnology evolution to the launch of pharmaceutical marketing 2.0, Russo Partners has been there every step of the way. The firm's senior PR counselors - with PhDs and MBAs - roll up their sleeves right alongside their clients to connect with the audiences that matter most: investors, business partners, regulatory agencies, physicians and patients.

bfw Advertising built the Russo Partners site to incorporate the newest Facebook and Twitter functionality. The site also allows the company to showcase blog postings on its home page and update the latest news about their firm and their clients.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

Full speed ahead in 2009. First up: TMS Professional.

2009-01-20T15:05:00.006-05:00

Here at bfw, we’ve been running full speed since New Years Day. We’re in the process of launching three new websites. The first is a site for TMS Professional.

TMS Professional is a communications company that serves as an extension of their clients' sales departments. Every month, TMS agents sell and speak to more than 85,000 small and medium size businesses and over 52,000 independent retail locations. They provide ongoing account management for the world's largest retail office supplier and they call over 72,000 Pharmacy and Physicians offices monthly.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit http://www.gobfw.com/ on the web.

Cool work for West Palm Beach’s newest hot spot.

2008-12-16T09:59:00.005-05:00

Recently, we helped launch Clematis Social, the newest restaurant from Rapoport’s Restaurant Group, Inc. This hotspot hangout is located in the heart of West Palm Beach and features an upbeat, relaxed atmosphere with an array of internationally-inspired small plate dishes.

Burt Rapoport, a distinguished South Florida restaurateur, has operated successful, upscale restaurants for 25 years. He currently operates Opus 5 in Boca Raton, Bogart's Bar & Grille in Boca Raton, and Henry's at Addison Place in Delray Beach. Clematis Social was the group’s first foray into a younger, hipper restaurant concept, and they hired us to target this new demographic.

We started by developing http://www.clematissocial.com/, the online presence for the restaurant and bar. The site provides visitors with the atmosphere, feel and sounds of the establishment.

Check out the website now and definitely stop by Clematis Social when you’re in the area. It's a great place to meet up with friends, grab some lunch or dinner, and stick around for a great party.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit http://www.gobfw.com/ on the web.

Behind the Scenes: Gilman Ciocia TV Shoot

2008-12-09T15:54:00.004-05:00

We had a great shoot last week for our new Gilman Ciocia tax season campaign. We worked with Beverly Boy Productions in Miami and shot several spots. Jim Ciocia, chairman and founder of Gilman Ciocia, was a star, and his performance was on par with Hollywood’s finest.

The TV commercials are currently in post-production. We’ll post the finished product as they become available.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

Some things are better left unsaid…particularly in your subject line.

2008-11-26T10:57:00.003-05:00

At bfw Advertising, we often incorporate e-blasts into our direct marketing strategies. The most important creative element: the subject line. Why? Because no matter how strong your email mailing list, how great your creative concept or how compelling your offer, none of it matters if your e-blast gets trashed—or worse, banished to the spam filter.

The best way to do that? Avoid words and phrases that look suspicious to savvy readers and spam filters. At bfw Advertising, our senior manager of interactive media Bill Henkel worked with one of our partners to compile a list of 100 words and expressions that no one in their right mind should ever use. Some are pretty obvious, some are pretty surprising. Below you’ll find ten of them. To see the rest, well, you’ll need to become a bfw Advertising client. Interested in becoming one? Well then ACT NOW…because you might be a winner…plus you’ll get FREE v i a g r a as seen on Oprah and the winning numbers to the Nigerian lottery.

Ten Words You Never Should Never Use In An Email Subject Line
1) 100% free
2) 50% off
3) act now
4) any word that relates to sex or porn
5) any word that relates to medication or cures
6) amazing
7) anything that looks like you’re SHOUTING
8) apply now
9) as seen
10) as seen on Oprah

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

Lucy in the sky with broadband -- Amherst, NH

2008-11-20T09:17:00.006-05:00

The holidays are just around the corner and, despite the economy, many Americans will still be traveling. At bfw Advertising, we work with an interesting company that will be making your future flights way more enjoyable—and a lot more entertaining.

The company is called AeroSat. AeroSat designs and manufactures airborne antennas that provide always-on global broadband and television service. The company is truly on the leading edge of in-flight connectivity. They’ve developed an innovative Ku-band antenna system that is emerging as the industry standard. Their systems provide passengers and crew with affordable high-speed wireless Internet, television, cell-phone service and text messaging, whether in flight or at the gate, in every region of the world. Pretty amazing stuff.

Recently, AeroSat executives were making appearances at industry trade events, courting investors and promoting their company to the airline industry. The good news: they were having incredible success. The other news: the company's main source of information—its website—was out-of-date and poorly organized. AeroSat needed a new site quickly to capitalize on their newly-generated awareness.

bfw got right to work and, in just 30 days, we relaunched the AeroSat brand with a new website. The design gave the brand a modern, polished look to match the strategic direction of the company. The new content provided the AeroSat brand with a distinct voice and incorporated keywords to increase the website's search engine visibility. In addition, the site was coded for search engine optimization. Check it out when you get a chance at http://www.aerosat.com/.
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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

When a Snake Eats its Tail: Media, the Economy and Advertising in a Frightened World

2008-11-11T09:10:00.006-05:00

The following article was written by bfw President & ECD Christian Boswell, and appeared last week in The Butler Report.

4 November - Election Day
Someone – I think it was JM Keynes - once observed that a banking panic tends to end when every one involved is just too tired to keep it going. I get the sense that we’re getting tired.

Not just in our capacity to consume endless hours of brutally overblown and unlearned commentary about the state that we’re in economically, but in our ability to continually absorb the crap we’re fed by pundits, commentators, “experts”, wags, bloggers, panelists, talk show hosts, columnists, and every other assorted variety of talking head.

I am writing this on Election Day, and I feel very much like an alcoholic or a drug addict – sitting in my car in the parking lot of a rehab center, taking one last swig from a bottle of Cruzan and one more hit off a blunt – before I walk through the glass doors, check myself in, and settle back for a month of detox, and maybe a little silence.

Tonight, like most Americans, I’ll park myself in front of the television, and submit myself to one last media orgy. One last cable news bender.

Tomorrow, I’m deleting my bookmarks, un-Tivo’ing Rachel Maddow and buying a novel.

I wish it would end there – but it won’t. Because, as a red-blooded, card-carrying, tax-paying, car-leasing, mortgage owing, kid-raising, American consumer living on the grid, I cannot escape the white noise that passes for the American Experience these days. And neither can you. The elections will end, and the media will cycle into an interesting new phase in which it will attempt to un-do the mess that it has created for itself.

I make my living in advertising – my job is to sell stuff for my clients. And that’s pretty much what I was asked to write about - the state of advertising in this new and uncertain economic environment. The problem, as I see it, is that there’s no simple observation to be made; no grand critique that makes sense; no polemics to trot out. The fact is, the snake has eaten its tail. And it’s working its way up, with no end in sight.

Turbines Turn in a Circle
Since the end of the Second World War, the American economy has been built on a single idea – consumerism. Consumerism as both the cause and effect, consumerism as both the ends and the means. We make stuff. We sell stuff. And everything in between is focused on helping one of those things happen. My job included. Probably your job, too.

Theoretically, this concept is elegant, optimistic, productive, and provides an endlessly regenerating social benefit. It’s self-regulating, and relentlessly biased toward innovation and productivity. And because it’s self-regulating, it’s cyclical.

An economy’s forward movement depends on increasing consumer demand, which, in turn, requires a consumer that is either increasingly wealthier, or ever-willing to become poorer in the pursuit of consuming stuff. When consumers begin to shut demand down, a new phase of the cycle begins, and the turbine that is consumerism begins a new arc in its circle that reflects these new conditions. And that arc turns downward.

This down-cycle is referred to as a “recession” - and it’s normally expressed in terms of productivity – did our economy produce more this quarter than it did last quarter, or did it produce less? If it’s less, then we’re in a recession.

The fact is, what we’re actually doing is not consuming as much as we were. We, as consumers, are either not wealthy enough – or not willing enough to be less wealthy – to sustain more consumption. And, in this self-regulating economy, that decreased demand functions as feedback for the economy. It provides the impetus for innovation and efficiency; for new ideas and products, like fuel-efficient cars, cheaper computers, and cooler James Bond movies.

Historically, that’s the way it’s worked – the economy has gone through up cycles and down-cycles. Unfortunately, we seem to have moved into an era in which decreased consumption is something we’re less willing to tolerate. We use phrases like “stimulus” and “continuing access to consumer credit ”, but the fact is, the contemporary economy is built on the a priori acceptance of the idea of consumers consuming – all the time – and in an ever-increasing manner. It’s not built for a down cycle any more.

And the proof’s not just in the pudding – the proof is in the problem.
Whereas earlier downturns spawned innovation in what the economy produces, our last recession – the one that came on the heels of the dot.com melt down and 9/11 – spawned innovation in ways to convince consumers to consume more. We replaced wealth with something that felt a lot like it – liquidity. Liquidity in the form of easy access to credit, online commerce, exotic financing instruments and tax incentives to draw down equity on the single most important asset we own – our homes. And we rewarded people who screwed on risk – short term, long term, primary, derivative – it didn’t matter. Leverage and profit. Consume and consume more.

And it worked like a charm for awhile – in fact, this new idea of fake wealth actually created another level of fabulous wealth. And it went like gangbusters for almost half a decade. As long as the dude at Best Buy kept scoring commissions on plasma TV sales, he was fine tapping his home equity line for a brand new, tax-deductable turbo charger for his Mitsubishi Eclipse. It felt good. It felt rich. It felt American. It felt patriotic.

It was consumerism in motion. “Lloyd Dobbler” as an operating principle. And everything – everything – was driven by it. Even stuff you’d never heard of until a month ago, like credit default swaps, are based on the idea that money keeps moving - from a seller’s hand to a buyer’s; from a borrower’s to a lender’s. Once that stops, everything stops.

And stop it did. The snake had eaten its tail - and then some. Lacking the ability to borrow from ourselves anymore, we were no longer able to borrow from the market. And as consumers we began, for the first time in a long time, to feel…uneasy.

And since unease makes for a good story line, it became part of our collective media narrative. And time passes, and uneasiness becomes uncomfortable, and uncomfortable becomes troubled, and troubled becomes panic. And panic? Panic sells.

The snake began eating its new tail almost immediately.
This is where we find ourselves now. We’re pretty sure we’re in trouble, because that’s what we’re hearing every day. We’re brow beaten with our profligate spending habits. We’re keelhauled for our anemic savings rates and our dangerous debt load. We’re eviscerated for our crass commercialism, our addiction to $6.00 double mocha lattes, ninety-nine cent ring-tones, our inability to cook our own food in our own home and our propensity to use half a roll of paper towels to wipe up a spill.

And you know what? We’re starting to listen. We’re pulling back and hunkering down. We’re afraid to spend money. We’re afraid of the future and terrified of living in the moment. We’ve given our government unprecedented power in - and access to - our markets. We’re content to let ourselves be lulled into a stupor by an increasingly weird array of televised and online programs, many of which involve the ritualized humiliation of our citizens. In short, we’re becoming Japan. And that isn’t good for business.

What will happen next is – logically – the only thing that can happen: in a system built on consumerism, and driven by media, the disconnect between the current storyline and the system’s fundamental need to sell stuff will begin to close. Put another way – after a year of scaring the s**t out of the average American citizen (and getting record ratings in the process) the media is beginning to realize the corner they’ve painted themselves into. After all, they’re in the business of selling advertising. And advertisers will only invest if they see a potential return. And since people only consume when they feel secure, I suspect that in very short order, we are going to start hearing and seeing lots of reasons to feel great about our lot in life, and our super bright future.

In the next year, look for a shift in the overall tone of our media.
Instead of focusing on stories about working class families struggling to make ends meet, you’ll start to see heartwarming profiles of how communities are pulling together; how innovative housewives are launching lucrative home-based businesses, how growing families have been able to take advantage of the new affordability in the housing market, and move into that home of their dreams.

And the thing is - all of those stories will be true. They’ll reflect the other side of all of this - the narrative we haven’t been getting, because it hasn’t been interesting enough to sell in an environment where we can’t wait to see the next train wreck.

Even more important, the tone will change because we are reaching our saturation point. It’s like a broken fire alarm in a building. Your stomach may drop the first few times it rings, but if it rings all day, eventually you’ll begin to tune it out. And you’ll start shopping for a new fire alarm.

Then again, I’m in advertising. I’m an optimist.

5 November
The bender ran until 1:00 last night and started up again this morning about 6:00 am. My eyes are bleary, and my hands are shaky from too much coffee, but my ears work fine.

And, for the first time in a year, I don’t hear that f**king fire alarm. Maybe it finally ran out of juice. Maybe someone fixed it. Maybe I just can’t hear it this morning because I refuse to listen any more.
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Christian Boswell is President & Executive Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.

Some Holiday Retail Insight from bfw Advertising

2008-11-10T10:16:00.002-05:00

The other day Christian Boswell, President & Executive Creative Director here at bfw, got a call from Allison Ross at the Palm Beach Post. She was doing a story on trends in retail marketing in a down economy and wanted to get our thoughts. Christian and I got together with Pete Carrara, bfw Director of Design, and Kat Davis, bfw senior copywriter, and had an interesting discussion. Ms. Ross moderated via speakerphone.

Couple things we talked about: Thanksgiving comes late this year, so there are five fewer shopping days. To compensate, retailers are starting earlier this year with in-store advertising. Macy’s, Target and Costco all had their holiday displays set up well before Halloween. And here in South Florida, Sears in Town Center at Boca Raton already had its fake Christmas trees lit up, on display and ready to go.

Retailers will also be promoting their day-after-Thanksgiving sales earlier than usual to get consumers into the holiday shopping mindset early—here in South Florida and across America. But many retailers are also cutting back on advertising spending (or at the very least, keeping budgets the same as last year). Instead of spending more money, marketers are really looking to advertise more efficiently. In other words, they want to make a bigger impact with the same dollars.

That’s where great creative thinking is really coming into play. As an advertising agency, we’re continually trying to think differently about messaging and media choices, so we can connect with consumers more effectively for less money. It’s a challenge that all advertising agencies are facing. And, it seems, this holiday season many of them will be put to the test.

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Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit http://www.gobfw.com/ on the web.

Advance Your Dreams with Direct Mail

2008-11-03T17:26:00.001-05:00

Just had a great meeting with a new healthcare client. We were talking about an upcoming direct mail campaign and some interesting ways to reach people and convert them to action. One of my favorite examples is some work we did for the Advanta Platinum BusinessCard.

Advanta is one of America’s largest providers of small business credit cards. They compete with Capital One, American Express, etc. One big difference: Advanta’s entire marketing strategy is focused on direct mail. They came to us looking for new ideas for direct mail with one requirement: if it looks like a typical credit card offer, rip it up and start over. We liked that idea.

We developed the “Classic American Business” campaign around the idea that ‘no matter how unique your business is, we can help you succeed’. The campaign included 8 postcards and a microsite at https://www.advanta.com/ADV/ApplyLP/ClassicAmericanBusinesses.page?hn=www.advanceyourdream.com&app_area=569. On the microsite, visitors can create customized Advanta Platinum BusinessCards and get new business ideas with the ‘idea generator’. The microsite also allowed us to track the number of visitors and how long they were spending on the site.

The campaign received a ton of traffic at https://www.advanta.com/ADV/ApplyLP/ClassicAmericanBusinesses.page?hn=www.advanceyourdream.com&app_area=569 and visitors were spending close to 4 minutes a visit (a huge amount of time in the web world). The “sticky” gadgets we built were engaging prospects and connecting them with the Advanta brand. It’s always nice when you can create fun, creative work that gets the job done.

Paul Amelchenko is Creative Director at bfw Advertising in Boca Raton, Florida. bfw Advertising is a full service marketing and communications firm with strong competencies in new media. The South Florida advertising agency creates and builds client brands with strategic thinking and on-target creative executions. For more information call (561) 962-3300 or visit www.gobfw.com on the web.