Active International
Active / Grubb & Ellis
Active International, a world leader in Corporate Trading, sought to enhance the positioning of its highly successful, yet relatively unknown, Real Estate Division. DeBow Communications created the “Active International Real Estate Index – An Assessment by Real Estate Professionals of Current Commercial Real Estate Market Conditions and Trends” as the primary marketing communications vehicle for Active’s market awareness campaign.
The study – joint ventured with Grubb & Ellis, a global leader in real estate transaction, management and consulting services – polled more than 1,780 real estate professionals throughout the United States on current and future market conditions, trends and various factors that impact commercial real estate values.
Within 12 months, the awareness of Active’s Real Estate Division within the U.S. commercial real estate industry rose more than 85%.
A pdf copy of a typical study report can be found by clicking here.
DeBow Communications is privileged to have served as strategic planning and direct marketing consultants to the Advice Company (Formerly Advice and Council, Incorporated) since its founding in 1991, and its expansion into the Internet in 1995.
Among the major Advice Company Internet initiatives that we have helped launch and market are:
FreeAdvice.com seeks to provide the most useful, easy-to-understand, comprehensive and balanced legal information to consumers and small businesses, and to help them find answers to their legal questions and solutions to their legal problems.
The current FreeAdvice website can be seen here.
AttorneyPages provide an easy-to-use national directory of qualified attorneys, lawyers and law firms for consumers and small business.
The current AttorneyPages website can be seen here.
ExpertPages is the Original and Leading Internet directory of expert witnesses and consultants, which has been repeatedly recognized as "best in class” by leading website reviewers.
The current ExpertPages website can be seen here.
The current SeniorCareAdvice website can be seen here.
Aurix
Aurix -- the world’s leading company in phonetic speech technology -- based in Malvern, England, was launching a major sales effort in the U.S. commercial market for its phonetic speech recognition software. Of critical need was a comprehensive Website and Pitch Book.
Working closely with the Product Marketing professionals at Aurix, DeBow Communications created and produced a global oriented comprehensive site and Market Specific collateral for their broad array of product applications and in less than 3-months.
DeBowsReview.com is a creation of DeBow Communications, developed by us to provide a convenient place to test and demonstrate websites that we are developing for our clients prior to their public launch.
Over the years, we kept adding content as clients, friends and family would ask our option on various aspects of using the web.
The current DeBow's Review website can be seen here.
Dow Jones & Company
Our relationship with Dow Jones & Company began with the founding of our company in 1976. Over the years we have been privileged to create and implement a wide variety of marketing communications projects for not only its flagship – The Wall Street Journal, the world’s leading business publications – its international editions, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Asian Wall Street Journal, and for many of the other publications within Dow Jones, including Barron’s and the Far East Economic Review.
The Wall Street Journal
CFOrum
In an effort to increase it’s share of IPO “Tombstone” Advertising in its flagship publication – The Wall Street Journal – Dow Jones & Company chose DeBow Communications to create and implement a special advertising campaign that would feature Chief Financial Officers of newly public companies talking about their experiences in taking a company public, and why they chose The Wall Street Journal for their announcement advertising. In short … a testimonial.
DeBow Communications was provided with a list of all of the IPO’s that had used the Journal as their primary publication. We researched each of the companies, and selected those that we felt would make an interesting ad. We then sent a letter to the selected CFO’s on Dow Jones letterhead -- signed by the Journal’s VP Advertising -- that explained the program and told them that they would be hearing from DeBow Communications.
We followed up each letter by phone. Once the CFO agreed to participate, we arranged for a convenient time and interviewed them by phone. From a transcript of the interview we created an ad, and submitted it to Dow Jones for their internal review and comments. Once any changes had been made we submitted the ad to the subject company for their review and comments.
Once the ad was finalized it went into the Journal ad bank for publication on a space available basis. A typical Ad in the series featuring Michael Deitch, CFO of Providence Service Corporation (PRSC) can be found here.
Howard P. Hoffman Associates
Widely known as the creator of the concept of Adaptive Re-Use for surplus corporate owned real estate, Howard P. Hoffman has employed, mentored and/or influenced the senior management of almost every major real estate consultancy in America.
We were privileged to be retained by Howard at Howard P. Hoffman Associates (then a part of Lehman Brothers) as their first marketing communications agency. Our relationship with Howard continued when Howard moved to Security Pacific Bank, and continues to this day.
While a relationship of more than 30-years has many memorable accomplishments, here are just a few:
- Creation and implementation of a C-Suite Direct Mail Campaign and Personalized Presentation that increased fee income by more than 300%
- Development of the Hoffman Index – A Survey and Analysis of major industrial facility closings – (pdf) that led to a significant increase in company awareness throughout the real estate industry.
- Creation of the “FactPack”(pdf) concept, than fundamentally changed the ways in which surplus corporate properties were marketed throughout the United States.
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife)
Our relationship with MetLife spans more than 25 years. Among the more memorable projects with which we have been involved are the following:
Hispanic Project
In 1980 we were retained by the Strategic Planning group at MetLife to assist in the development of a comprehensive marketing program (advertising, sales promotion, agent training, etc.) focused on the Spanish speaking population in the U.S., the first – and perhaps most successful – ethnic marketing effort by a major U.S. Insurer.
Total Control Account
In 1983 we were retained by MetLife as marketing consultants on what was named the “Corporate Retention of Assets Project” to determine the feasibility of retaining some of the billions of dollars disbursed each year. From our research, the Total Control Account – was born. In addition to our research efforts, we developed the name and all of the initial marketing materials.
Our follow-on research in the early 1990’s was instrumental in convincing the Federal Government to make the Total Control Account automatic for all beneficiaries of the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) program.
MetLife Mass Merchandising
Mass Merchandising – or as it is more commonly called “Worksite or Voluntary Marketing” – is essentially the sale of individual insurance products at the worksite with the advantage of payroll deduction. Two issues inhibited the success of MetLife’s Mass Merchandising efforts. First, the Group Department (which controlled access to MetLife’s large corporate customers) had no interest in having the Individual insurance folks messing with their accounts. Second, the career agents at MetLife were primarily “kitchen table” sales people selling $25 to $50 thousand personal insurance policies; clearly these were not the folks to call on HR directors.
We worked with Mass Merchandising department to develop an independent distribution network, and provided them with the sales tools to effectively market MetLife individual insurance products, including whole and term life. Amongst our most notable achievements was the development of the first group decision script to be approved in all 50 States.
Texas Protects
The clearest example of our complete involvement in a project would be Texas Protects.
Working closely with the Mass Merchandising department, we helped develop the MetLife response to the RFP from the State of Texas for the creation of a program to offer payroll deducted non-participating Whole Life insurance to the more than 450,000 employees of the State of Texas and its Higher Education System. When MetLife was awarded the contract we opened a DeBow Communications office in Austin, Texas. We created all of the marketing communications tools, recruited and assisted in the training of more than 150 enrollers, and assisted in the co-ordination of the various State Agency HR departments as well as the more than 500 enrollment locations throughout the State.
MetLife Brokerage
Traditionally, MetLife individual insurance products were marketed through its captive sales organization. As life insurance products became more sophisticated the MetLife sales organization struggled to keep up. The need for an alternative distribution channel – especially one that could market effectively in the advanced underwriting marketplace – became more apparent. Through the Strategic Planning group at MetLife we were retained to develop and implement the marketing communications program for MetLife Brokerage that resulted in a new distribution channel that produced, in less than two years, a 250% increase in premiums in-force in the advanced underwriting marketplace.
NetSmartAmerica.com (NetSmart)
NetSmartAmerica.com was the first to provide advertisers and their agencies with an in-depth look at how consumers were reacting to – and interacting with -- the Internet. Its groundbreaking, exhaustive studies not only provided the facts on what consumers were actually doing online, but provided breakthrough insights and recommendations from its President Bernadette Tracy, a world renowned researcher.
For NetSmartAmerica.com, DeBow Communications provided consultative support on the design, development and implementation of the survey, conducted 1,000 half-hour telephone interviews, tabulated the data, provided some the interpretation of survey findings; the design and publication of the report; and marketing and sales strategies for the NetSmart brand.
A copy of the Executive Summary of NetSmart VI in pdf format can be found here.
National Football Foundation (NFF)
&
College Football Hall of Fame
With the death of its long time Chairman, Vin Draddy, and the recruitment of a new Executive Director, the National Football Foundation began a period of major changes and rapid growth in membership, staff, programs and revenue.
DeBow Communications was retained by the NFF to help develop and implement the marketing communications effort. Working closely with Michael Fallon, the overall corporate consultant and Robert Casciola (former head football coach at Princeton and UConn), the new Executive Director, our activities included:
- Development of new Chapter and Corporate Membership Programs.
- Creating & Producing “Footballetter” the Foundations quarterly newsletter.
- Serving as Executive Producer for the Foundations Annual Dinners at The Waldorf-Astoria, including the Induction Ceremonies for the new Classes of the College Football Hall of Fame.
- Negotiating with United Press International for NFF to assume the responsibility for managing the UPI Top 25 Poll, and managing the voting for the Annual "MacArthur Bowl" recognizing the national college football champion.
- Creating the first ever Foundation Grant Program generating millions of dollars in Scholar-Athlete scholarships.
College Football Hall of Fame
In addition to our work at the National Football Foundation's Annual Induction ceremonies, we were intimately involved with the process that moved the College Football Hall of Fame from its location in Kings Island, Ohio, to its new and current home in South Bend, Indiana. Our efforts included the packaging of the RFP, seeking proposals, to meeting with the Mayor and various City and County officials in South Bend.
ABC's Brent Musberger's video for the Hall can be seen by clicking here.
PREMIER Home Health Care Services, a major regional provider of home health care was faced with a crippling strike that was caused by union demands that would bankrupt the company.
To force the company to capitulate, the union, and their allies, launched a massive negative public relations campaign; characterized by personal attacks on the company’s CEO … “these people are crooks.”
The company retained DeBow Communications as its Crisis Management consultants, and we launched a major multi-media counterattack that was targeted at all of the stakeholders impacted by the union’s irrational demands, clearly identified the “problem” and the “individual” that was the cause of the problem.
The campaign quickly brought the union back to the bargaining table and resulted in a realistic settlement that allowed the company to grow and prosper.A comprehensive review of the PREMIER Campaign in pdf format including the Campaign TV Commercial that appeared on NBC's " Today " Show can be found here.
To view the Campaign TV Commercial alone, click here.
Rockefeller Center Properties, Inc. (RCPI)
From its founding in 1985 as a public Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), DeBow Communications provided comprehensive financial communications support to RCPI.
Our efforts included working closely with the management of RCPI and its attorneys and accountants, as well as the creation and production of all financial communications including Annual & Quarterly Reports, Form 10K, and all other shareholder communications.
Several Annual Report covers in pdf format can be seen here.
Quantitative Analysis Service (QAS)
For this 30+ year old quantitative investment advisory service, DeBow Communications provides ongoing marketing communications across the full spectrum from business development (direct mail, website, presentations, strategy), to recruitment (advertising and consulting).
The current QAS website can be seen here.
Our current lead generation web ads are below.
United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program (FEGLI)
Open Enrollment
The United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) holds an Open Enrollment every few years for its Federal Employees Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program. More than 1,750,000 Federal and 750,000 United States Postal Service employees are eligible to participate.
DeBow Communications has been selected to create the marketing communications (Direct Mail, Brochures, Workbooks, Posters and Educational Videos) for the past three campaigns.
A comprehensive review of the 50th Anniversary Open Season Campaign in pdf format can be found here.
How well does the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program serve the needs of Federal Employees and their Families? And what possible changes, additions or improvements can or should be made to make the Program even better?
To answer these and other important questions the United States Office of Personnel Management contracted with DeBow Communications, Ltd. to conduct a global mail survey of Federal Employees, and produce a comprehensive report for Congressional review. Based on our report, significant changes were made in the program. A copy of our report
(in pdf format) can be found here.
Federal Employees Internet Access & Usage
To satisfy the informational needs of Federal & USPS employees in any Open Enrollment required the printing of millions of brochures and tens of thousands of posters, etc. The United States Office of Personnel Management sought to determine if they could substantially reduce the cost by posting all of the information on the Internet. As a first step, they retained DeBow Communications to produce a comprehensive report on Federal Employees Access To and Usage of the Internet.
To develop this report we utilized the findings from our Federal Employees Feedback Survey, the Gallup Study of the Federal Employees Health Plan as well as our work on NetSmart V and Vl. Based on this report, substantial savings were made possible in all future enrollments.
A pdf copy of the final report can be found here.
Spielman Koenigsberg & Parker, LLP (SKS)
The principals of Spielman, Koenigsberg & Parker – a New York City based mid-market CPA firm – had joined a global network and decided that they needed a tell-all to promote their firm. After interviewing several agencies they retained DeBow Communications. As a first step, we held one-on-one interviews with each of the principals. During the interviews it became abundantly clear to us that the principals at SKP provided a significantly broader array of services – to a much wider category of clients – than any of the individual principals had even imagined.
We explained to them that a tell-all brochure could not possibly do justice to the firm and its capabilities and convinced them that what was needed was a comprehensive website that would allow us the ability to truly properly position the firm, and provide a compelling story to their global partners, and others who may be interested in their firm.The current SKP website can be seen here.
