The O'Neill Communications Blog

Summer Issue of Making a Difference Inspires and Informs

Making a Difference, Summer 2010 edition

The Summer edition of Making a Difference, a quarterly publication of the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD), has just wrapped up. In addition to it’s stellar design (hey, a designer should be able to toot their own horn) the magazine is full of inspiring articles and information.

The summer edition features the Children’s Freedom Initiative, which aims to move children with disabilities under the age of 22 out of state-run facilities and closer to home. The initiative was formed in 2005 after advocates with the Georgia Advocacy Office (GAO) discovered 141 children under the age of 22 living in state-run facilities and other nursing facilities. Mathew Harp, featured on the cover with his mom and sisters, gives an inspiring message about what it meant to him to return home after having to live in a nursing home when he was 21. Continue Reading »

Etowah Landscape Group’s New Website, Designed, Developed and Written By O’Neill Communications

Etwoah Landscape Homepage, Designed by O'Neill CommunicationsWe just launched one of our latest websites for Etowah Landscape Group. O’Neill Communications was responsible for the design, development and writing of the site. The site was built on the WordPress platform with a custom built theme and a lot of specialized functionality. Check out some of the great features after the jump! Continue Reading »

Don’t Just Sit There – Plan for Your New Reality!

Today’s markets and business environment is both challenging and confusing.  So, as CEO or CMO, you can’t just sit there worrying about today’s new reality – you have to plan your own new reality.  With all you are facing, there has never been a more critical time to develop the best, most comprehensive marketing plan in your company’s history.

Why?  A good marketing plan focuses resources and efforts. Continue Reading »

They call it Pre-tailing.

I just returned from Food Marketing Institute where they commonly talk about Pre-tailing.  It is when consumers use the Internet to shop and compare retail and online products or use social media to ask their friends for advice when making a buying decision. Continue Reading »

Classic marketing. Brilliant execution.

I just finished reading “Game Change” by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. It’s a great read for anyone interested in national politics. It’s also an intriguing read for those involved in marketing as the authors describe in great detail the well-crafted presidential marketing campaign executed by Barack Obama. Regardless of your political preferences, the Obama campaign will long be considered a case history on brand marketing. After all, politics, for the most part, is marketing. As a newcomer to the American stage, this unlikely candidate first defeated the well established Clinton machine, then went on to beat the well known, well respected war hero, John McCain.

Putting politics aside, marketers would do well to take a few pages out of Obama’s marketing playbook.  Why? It’s classic marketing with a flourish. Here are a few of the keys to Obama’s election marketing success; each can be related to your own business. Continue Reading »

Smith Gilbert Gardens Brochures Arrive

Examples of the printed brochuresWe just completed two printed brochures for one of our new clients, Smith-Gilbert Gardens. As you might remember, we recently designed their new logo. The two new brochures feature that logo along with the new branding for the gardens and celebrate the culturally rich gardens that frame interesting sculpture with lush, vibrant plant life. The first brochure is a General Overview piece to raise awareness, the second is the Garden Tour brochure which is given to visitors to aid in their tour of the gardens. See the brochures and learn more after the jump. Continue Reading »

Top Five Tips for the Successful Launch of a Website.

Creating a website from scratch can be a very complicated and confusing undertaking. There’s a lot to do and a lot to forget.  Luckily there are certain things that can enable you and/or your team to launch a new website with minimal complications. Of course, nothing is foolproof, but hopefully these things can help! Continue Reading »

2009 Milestones Celebrated in GCDD Annual Report

2009 GCDD Annual Report

The 2009 Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) annual report has just been published. The report highlights the council’s five “real initiatives” which include: real learning, real supports, real careers, real influence and real homes. It also details the main events from the past year including:

1. Changing name to Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities
2. Discovery Day
3. Disability Day
4. 10-year anniversary of Olmstead

Designed to also be a pocket folder, the publication is
able to be used year-round by the Council as a promotional piece.

To view the entire annual report, click here.

Reaching Out to Your Targeted Customer

In earlier blogs, I illustrated that business people in their 50s and 60s are using the Internet – on average – nine hours a week.  In my last blog, we shared an article from Forbes that clearly states “C-suite” executives use the Internet to do research – and about half of those executives do their own research.  This led me to conclude that, “combining relevant web content and search engine optimization is the very essence of a strong Internet presence today.” Continue Reading »

Ten Benefits of Timely and Thoughtful Website Upgrades

Websites should be looked at as living, breathing entities. They should evolve and change over time, adapting to their environments – especially their users behaviors. The method of change can vary from frequent, minor adjustments or larger, more sweeping changes and upgrades less frequently. Recently we made some major changes to one of our client’s websites and I’d like to walk you through some of the benefits of this web redesign and how a commitment to keeping your website evolving can benefit your business and its presence on the web. Continue Reading »

New Brochures are Designed for Smith-Gilbert GardensGCDD Publishes their Annual ReportGAPA Launches a Website RedesignRead Gordon's Latest CEO'Briefing Now!