Milwaukee (July 20, 2010) — Laughlin Constable has been named one of the Top Milwaukee Workplaces in 2010 by The Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee. The agency is one of 29 Milwaukee-area organizations with 1–100 employees to be given the title this year. Laughlin Constable, along with other 2010 Top Milwaukee Workplace winners, will be honored at a luncheon Friday, August 20 at the Pfister Hotel.

The Top Milwaukee Workplace Awards are determined solely by the employees of the nominated organizations. Employees are asked to complete confidential surveys that gauge employees’ satisfaction in the following areas: work/life balance, company morale, benefits, training, employee development, and employee voice.

“These kinds of awards are as important to us as anything we do,” said Steve Laughlin, partner. “Ideally, we want everyone who works here to feel valued and respected.  Let’s face it, if you’re not happy how can you rise to the challenges and do your best work?”

Independent Laughlin Constable bests 68 international advertising agencies

Milwaukee, WI (March 10, 2010) — Laughlin Constable has won four Graphis Advertising Annual 2010 Gold Awards. Graphis serves as an international platform for outstanding work in design, advertising and photography. As one of only 14 advertising agencies out of the 82 agencies to take home four or more awards, Laughlin Constable bested many shops from all over the world that entered the 2010 competition.

The winning advertising work, which is featured in the hardcover Graphis Advertising Annual 2010 book, was produced for: Kimberly-Clark / Cottonelle toilet paper, St. Paul’s Fish Market, Hank Aaron State Trail and The Eisner American Museum of Advertising & Design. The winning ads all demonstrate a deep understanding of the clients’ brands along with a touch of humor.

“As an independent advertising agency, being mentioned in the same breadth as some of these other great international agencies is an exciting accomplishment,” said Steve Laughlin, partner at Laughlin Constable. “Our objective is to continue to play at this level, and higher.”

About Graphis
Currently located in New York City, Graphis began and was first published in 1944 in Switzerland as “The International Journal of Visual Communication.” Graphis recognized fine artists as well as the early history of design, advertising, illustration and photography. The founders chose selectively what they felt to be the best talent of the time. This philosophy remains the same today, as Graphis is now known as “The Best of International Visual Communications.”

About Laughlin Constable
Laughlin Constable, an integrated advertising agency with offices in Chicago, Milwaukee and New York, has been providing best-in-class marketing services to its clients for over 30 years. The agency’s Full Circle Branding suite includes brand strategy development, digital marketing, design, advertising, public relations, social marketing and media. Its annual billings are in excess of $200 million. Some of the agency’s clients include: Associated Bank, Bon-Ton Stores, Bridgestone/Firestone, Harley-Davidson Museum, Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB), Master Lock, Skin Cancer Foundation, Terlato Wines International and the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.

For more information about Laughlin Constable find us online at:

Web site: http://www.laughlin.com
Blog: http://blog.laughlin.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CoolJobsAtLC
Twitter: http://twitter.com/laughlinoutloud
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/laughlinconstable
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/laughlinconstable

The state Department of Tourism wants to keep the magic in Old Man Winter, the bearded, buff body-builder being used this season to promote Wisconsin tourism.

So, Tourism doesn’t publicize the name of Gary D. Nagel, the 60-year-old hair products manufacturer from Greenfield who won the hearts and minds of the Milwaukee ad agency that wanted Old Man Winter to be hot and hip.

Nagel says he spends six days a week in the gym, maintaining his health and physique, and he’s into nutrition. He skis cross-country, many times on the John Muir Trail near La Grange, and he scuba dives in Mexico. For the last 20 years, he’s owned and promoted a hair color products company.

Dave Hanneken, executive creative director at Laughlin Constable, the Milwaukee ad agency who last year won the state’s multi-million-dollar tourism marketing contract, saw Nagel at the gym they both frequent. Hanneken asked Nagel if he’d like to compete in the state’s talent search for Old Man Winter.

Nagel tried out and landed the $11,000 seasonal gig. “I was elated,’ he said. “I would have done a backflip, but I probably would have killed myself.”

Shooting on the complex media campaign started back in November, with ads featuring snowmobiles, glitz and a St. Bernard.

But the pooches — they used two for the photo shoot — were almost a problem. The script called for a dog to lick Nagel’s furry face-the ad agency had built a mock snowbank behind the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee to film the scene.

“But the dog absolutely refused to lick my face,’ Nagel said Thursday. “They were rubbing liver on my face to try to get the dog to lick me, but the dog doesn’t know me and wouldn’t do it.”

Nagel spent some time warming up to the dogs after the unsuccessful session, and the next day, he schmoozed the St. Bernards some more. Somebody remembered the dogs liked peanut butter.

“So they smeared peanut butter on my face,’ Nagel said. “The dogs started licking it. It still took an hour and 15 minutes to shoot it.”

Janet DesChenes, Tourism’s marketing and communications director, said she didn’t know how old Nagel is. “He’s amazingly buff for however old he is,’ DesChenes said. “He loves doing this. He is having so much fun.”

In Wisconsin, Old Man Winter is so cool, he’s hot.

That’s the idea the state’s Department of Tourism is pushing, anyway, as it launches a new ad campaign featuring that freeze-friendly fictional fellow.

Officials are hoping a hip-ified OMW — with his own blog and, coming soon, Facebook page — will draw visitors’ attention to the state and all it has to offer for the season.

“Wisconsin’s a different kind of place in winter, and Old Man Winter really showcases our brand of originality and how we enjoy and celebrate winter,” said Kelli Trumble, the state’s secretary of tourism.

The $989,000 campaign, developed by tourism department staff and the Laughlin Constable ad agency in Milwaukee, was launched in December with Old Man Winter’s web debut at travelwisconsin.com.

Click on his link (he’s wearing what is his signature royal blue cape and riding a snowboard) and you’ll find OMW’s blog, tongue-in-cheek entries that direct attention to Wisconsin’s winter wonders: snowmobiling, skiing, ice fishing and more. There are links to indoor entertainment venues as well, and notes about how OMW spent his summer — mostly waiting for winter.

Trumble said drawing people to the travelwisconsin website will provide them information to “decide what to do with our winter.” The travel industry generated about $2.3 billion in spending in Wisconsin last winter, Trumble said.

In addition to the Old Man Winter Web presence, a series of television ads will begin airing early next week in Milwaukee, Chicago and the Twin Cities, Trumble said.

OMW — a Milwaukee-area resident found during a talent search whose identity is a closely guarded secret — also will appear in print advertising and in ads at Chicago parking garages and Minneapolis skywalk locations, Trumble said. And, on Monday, he’s set to start making friends on Facebook.

“He’s a guy who tells you to squeeze life into your day — not out of, but into your day,” Trumble said. “He does things his own way, and our message to travelers is you can, too, and here’s how you do it.”

In good economic times, and in bad, more and more employers are embracing workplace flexibility as a business strategy to contain labor, healthcare and operational costs, and to attract and retain top talent. For the second year in a row, Laughlin Constable has been recognized for doing so in an exemplary manner and has been named a recipient of the National Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility.

The Sloan Awards honor employers of all sizes and types that are using workplace flexibility as a strategy to increase workplace effectiveness, yield positive business results, and attract and retain top talent. The honor was awarded by FUEL Milwaukee–a talent attraction and retention initiative of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC)–that set out to unify area employers around a regional talent strategy that includes a focus on workplace flexibility.

FUEL is the local host for When Work Works (WWW)–the organization spearheading the national awards program on behalf of the Families and Work Institute and The Institute for a Competitive Workforce. There are 30 communities across the country participating in the program, which attracted nearly 1,000 employers applying to receive the award in 2009.

Laughlin Constable (LC), an integrated communications agency with offices in Milwaukee and Chicago, announced today a merger with New York-based Partners and Jeary. The combined firm will have billings of $220 MM and 155 employees in its three offices.

"We are two firms with a similar vision and creative process," said Steve Laughlin, partner. "For more than 30 years, LC has built our business on the belief that great ideas ignite business results across all media; Partners and Jeary was founded on the same principal."

Steve Laughlin will continue to run the Milwaukee and Chicago offices. Michael Jeary will be president, Laughlin Constable New York.

Merger Based on Geography and Talent
Laughlin and Jeary met through the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), serving on the "Emerald Forum" together for 10 years. Over that time, Laughlin Constable acquired a Chicago office and the success of that office led the agency to consider a New York office as well.

"This merger is certainly about geography but it’s also about adding talent to our roster," Laughlin said. "Jeary is a top-notch strategist and smart marketer. In three short years, his agency has established a reputation for innovative creative thinking and marketing solutions. They are exactly the kind of firepower we need to enter New York," Laughlin said.

Laughlin will pull on Jeary’s experience with the market. "With Jeary’s direction, LC will be poised to expand our client base and be competitive in the New York market. Unlike small agencies that aren’t integrated, LC is able to execute an idea across multiple touch points. And, unlike large conglomerate agencies, LC provides clients with unmatched client service," Laughlin said.

Faster Way to Grow
For Jeary, the merger provided a faster way to grow his agency. By joining the LC team, Jeary inherits an instant critical mass for his clients.

"This is win-win for both agencies," said Jeary. "Our clients will benefit from the new relationship immediately with shared digital marketing, public relations, and media buying services all under one roof." Partners and Jeary’s clients include: Sterling National Bank, The Skin Cancer Foundation, Jewish Home Lifecare, SpaFinder Inc. and the Community Foundation of New Jersey

Laughlin Constable has been providing high-quality marketing services to its clients for over 30 years. With offices in Chicago, Milwaukee and now New York, the agency provides Full Circle Branding solutions including brand strategy development, digital marketing, design, advertising, public relations and online and traditional media. Its annual billings are in excess of $200 million. In addition to Partners and Jeary’s, the agency's clients include: Bon-Ton Stores, Kimberly-Clark Corp., Bridgestone/Firestone, Master Lock, Steelcase, Associated Bank and the Harley-Davidson Museum.

Paul Brienza, senior vice president, LC Digital, has been named the 2010 chair of the Digital Production Committee of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's). The 12-person committee was formed in 2005 to address the educational needs for digital production of the 4As membership, assemble knowledge of new technologies and production techniques and help the 4As membership with benchmarking.

The committee represents all sizes of agencies nationwide. "Paul is a leader who will be a great asset to this committee just as he is to our agency," said Steve Laughlin. “He has both strong knowledge in the marketing as well as production end of the digital arena and will bring a great deal to the table in terms of best practices."

Founded in 1917, the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's) is the national trade association representing the advertising agency business in the United States. Its membership produces approximately 80 percent of the total advertising volume placed by agencies nationwide. The 4A's is a management-oriented association that offers its members the broadest possible services, expertise and information regarding the advertising agency business.