april 2015


Greetings! 

Earlier this month, marlo marketing celebrated its 11th anniversary. To say it's been a wild ride would be an understatement. I made an unlikely publicist -- a lawyer licensed in New York & Massachusetts who threw it all away to take a job in an industry I knew next to nothing about. At that first job, a ridiculously envious learning opportunity fell in my lap; I got to lead the Starbucks Coffee account as they integrated into the New England market. Although I had no idea what I was doing (#truth) and no real boss to oversee my work, I had a great client and have always been pretty good at faking it 'til I make it. Taking full advantage of every opportunity I was given, I worked my ass off and turned that first client into the foundation for my own company a mere 4.5 years later. 

 

Today, as we enter our second decade, marlo marketing is a very different company than we were in 2004. We recently introduced a new look for our brand based on a shortened version of our original moniker and we moved into a -- if I do say so myself -- gorgeous new office designed for continued growth. And because the process of finding, building out (from the studs, natch) and moving into brand new space wasn't enough to keep me on my toes, I decided it made sense to launch a brand-new website as well (read: sarcasm, dripping)! Many months in the making, we think it clearly communicates the depth and breadth of our practice areas and offerings in a way that speaks directly to the various audiences we seek to reach...we hope you agree!

 

As loyal marlo monthly readers, you know that our clients typically take center stage, as they have every month since the first issue was published in January 2005. In a marlo monthly first -- in honor of all of these changes and growth -- this issue of marlo monthly is dedicated to all things us. As always...


 

 
new office
If you don't know we've moved by this point, please don't take this the wrong way...but you seriously must be living under a rock. Even folks who don't know they know, know...to wit, an email I received yesterday: "Did you move offices or did I make that up?" Ah, the wonders of social media!

We've had quite a few guests since we moved in November and the place is (finally!) nearly fully furnished. So please consider this your personal invite to pop by, have a glass of kombucha and check it out for yourself. Or stay under your rock and check out our office pics on Facebook instead!
website

A good website clearly and concisely sheds light on what a business does. But as a marketing professional, I'm the first to admit that it's hard to keep the suckers up to date (and I don't just say that to convince clients to redesign perfectly good sites!).

 

Our last website, built in 2009, was great...for a while. While it was never a case of the cobbler with no shoes, especially over the past few years it simply no longer did a solid job of communicating the nuances of all that marlo marketing offers. "Are you a PR firm?" "Wait, no, you're a website designer?" "Damn, you guys developed this killer brand from scratch?!" "You guys focus exclusively on restaurants, right?" "I love 'Gansett...do you only rep booze?" are just a sampling of things we heard time and again...and the questions we sought to proactively answer when we sat down to design our new website.

 

Not only does the site explain who we are, what people think of us and offer significant examples of our work, but we designed it in such a way that the user can see all of that in relation to their specific industry by dividing our consumer and B2B work into eight areas of expertise. Run an assisted living facility? You'll find examples in the Corporate & Business section. Got a new product that's going to change the way Americans take care of themselves? Our Health & Wellness practice will show you how we've created awareness for others in a similar space. Launching the next consumer packaged good? Check out our Food & Beverage practice. And if you've got a restaurant? Yea, we're the ones you want to know.

 

Or throw it all to the wind and go straight to our case studies and our design portfolio, where you'll see that we do everything there is to do around helping a company build and maintain their brand...and we're pretty damn good at it, too!

 
social channels

Want to hear what we're up to, 24/7? Follow @marlomarketing on:

 

 
m.blog
For years, people tried to get me to start a blog. I had no interest; keeping

marlo monthly going each month was more than enough. Plus, I didn't feel that I had anything to contribute that wasn't already being said. I was right...I didn't, but when I had an epiphany that my TEAM of young, in-the-know staff did, well that's when the game officially changed.

 

m.blog launched in conjunction with website #2. Because, as we tell our clients, if you're gonna do a blog, you've got to do it with consistency, m.blog has been published 5x/week, 52 weeks/year, since Monday, January 1, 2009. For those of you who read it on the reg, you know I speak the truth when I say the topics have absolutely nothing to do with PR, advertising or anything vaguely marketing-related. It's also far from boring, like the majority of company blogs that try to position themselves as thought leaders in their area of expertise. Yep, we keep the blog populated with content such as how teens are getting drunk these days (vodka-soaked tampons, Purell and Burt's Bees; I swear, what I've learned from this blog seriously scares me for the next generation...).  

 

In addition to discovering creative ways to get loaded, you'll learn about the hottest new trends in fashion, design, art, pop culture, celebrity and cool apps, to name but a few, as evidenced by past blogs such as...

So if you haven't been a regular reader up 'til now,  sign up here to get it delivered to your mail box every AM. Trust me, if you want to know what those crazy kids are up to these days, there's no resource better!
win $600 to Clio or Uni!

Ok, so if you're reading this right now, it's probably safe to say that you're already a fan of marlo monthly. That you're aware that, each month, we bring you news about the coolest new products, hottest restaurants, unusual services and worthy charities. You probably realize that producing one of these suckers takes time, but the accolades and kudos make it worth every minute (if I had a dime for every time I met someone new and heard "wait, are you the marlo of marlo monthly?" I'd be able to close up shop and travel the world!). So we figured if we're already doing all that work, we may as well have it reach as many people as possible -- and that's where you come in!

 

You may be asking yourself, umm, why should I put any time into this? Well, we thought you might say that (hey, we're all busy, nothing wrong with a little tit-for-tat!), so we came up with the Top 5 Reasons To Encourage Your Friends To Sign Up For marlo monthly:

 

5. It's won a lot of awards (everyone loves a winner, duh!).

 

4. It's driven sales for various clients who have been featured over the years. ("Your December newsletter was the best one ever! In just 10 minutes, I purchased family and friends gifts along with a hostess gift (I had no idea what I was going to get for her) from your clients. A total win, win. Thank you and happy holidays!")

 

3. It's driven editorial placements for a number of clients. ("Interested in the Modern Rotisserie for a roundup/slideshow I'm working on, entitled "Medieval Feasts." Basically over-the-top family-style spreads, especially featuring whole roast animals. Is there a fit here?")

 

2. It's done good for the non-profits we feature each month. ("I haven't seen an up-tick in campers just yet, but there are 21 people signed up for the March 6 volunteer training ... a good group. I would venture to guess it's because of Marlo's newsletter!")

 

1. One lucky winner will receive a $600 gift card to be used at either Clio or Uni (because we know $$ talks!).

 

$600 bucks to dine like a king for doing nothing other than encouraging your friends to sign up for marlo monthly?! In the ROI department, this one seems like a win-win-win to us!


How it works: Get your friends to sign up at www.marlomonthly.com 

and have them put your name/email in the "who turned you onto marlo monthly" box. The winner is the person whose name we see most frequently before June 1, 2015. We'll be in touch via email to get your mailing address and pop the gift card in the mail. Once received, all you have left to do is enjoy one of the best meals of your life. Just be sure to post about it and let us know so we can give you the continued social props you will so richly deserve!

 
upcoming may events

May 9:    Zootopia

May 11:  Restaurant Trends Seminar

May 13:  Party in the Park

May 15:  90+ Cellars Rose

May 16:  Paint Nite's 3 Year Anniversary Bash 

May 19:  Governor Charlie Baker at marlo marketing - pop me an email to learn more and get a personal invite