Advertising Archives | The BLÜ Group | Advertising | Marketing | Design | La Crosse

Dec 2016

Tony is a strategy-driven, brand-focused 19 year veteran of the advertising industry. Prior to founding The BLÜ Group in 2004 he served as a senior account executive for a variety of large, national brands including Hickory Farms, NEBS, and Betty Crocker. Since BLÜ’s inception, Tony has dedicated his time to helping small-mid size businesses and organizations build strong brands while volunteering for a variety of civic and professional organizations, including serving on multiple boards and chairing a variety of committees.

Why Do So Many New Small Businesses Fail?

For the past 13 ½ years The BLÜ Group – Advertising and Marketing has been helping small and medium sized businesses in various industries throughout the country grow their business. During this time we have learned a lot about how they operate, what makes them successful, and strategies to help them grow. We have also…

Jun 2016

Amanda Maurer

Enhance Your Small Business Brand

Your company already has a brand. And it’s not your logo. It’s your image to the world, based on what they see, hear and experience about you. Even though your brand is ultimately determined by public perception, you can still influence feelings about your small business with the right strategy, visuals and messaging in place.…

May 2016

Tony Roberts

Get Billboard Design Tips for Advertising and Marketing

Why Do Most Billboards Suck?

While driving on a short stretch of Highway 16 in Wisconsin from Onalaska to La Crosse and on the return trip, you can count upwards of 80 billboards. The average person would be hard pressed to remember any of them. It’s not because they don’t see them, but rather almost all of them are horribly…

Apr 2016

Tim Burkhalter

Tim oversees all aspects of the creative process for our client’s work. He has over 18 years experience in print and online design and uses the professional skills gained through this experience to deliver superior creative for each project.

Tim has worked for large, national accounts including State Farm, Betty Crocker, and Anheuser Busch as well as numerous local companies such as Coulee Bank, ABEE Inc., U-Bake, Welshire Capital, String Swing, and Simmons Innovations. Tim has a BA in Commercial Art from Grand View University in Des Moines, IA and continually educates himself in design trends and design techniques.

9 Tips for Designers Entering the Field

Every so often, The BLÜ Group invites students to come visit our office and talk with us about working in the industry. A few weeks ago several students from Western Technical College joined our creative team to talk about what it’s like to work at BLÜ. This inspired me to write these 9 tips for…

May 2015

Tony Roberts

3 Words To Remember To Grow Your Business

My wife and I live in a small Midwestern town and have for the past 20 years. During this time I have gotten to know a little bit about the “natives”. They are good people. Many of whom grew up in the same town or at the least, the same area. They love attending Friday…

May 2015

Tony Roberts

5 Lessons to Help You Achieve Personal and Professional Success

As The BLÜ Group – Advertising and Marketing enters its 12th year in business I wanted to look back and contemplate everything I have learned as a manager, boss, board member, professional ad executive, mentor, human resources director, and all the other titles I hold being a small business owner. As I did that I…

Dec 2014

Tony Roberts

The Importance of Being Loyal to Your Clients

Many years ago when I was a young Account Executive working at Ovation Marketing, the agency President, Ralph Heath, made a point to remind everyone that we should be eating Betty Crocker, Smucker’s, and Hickory Farms, drinking Budweiser and all their associated beverages, purchasing our supplies from NEBS, and our insurance from State Farm. His…

Jan 2012

The BLU Group

Super Bowl May Return to Days of Spectacular ‘1984’ Ad

Often accustomed to making a short handoff in 30 seconds, some Super Bowl advertisers are considering a longer pass. Perhaps inspired by the two-minute 2011 Super Bowl ad from Chrysler, in which the automaker boasted that its vehicle were “Imported from Detroit” while rapper Eminem toasted in the background, a handful of the sponsors for…

Dec 2011

The BLU Group

An Ad Agency Intern’s Perspective

My First Few Months at The BLU Group – Advertising & Marketing My name is Melissa Hubanks and I am currently a senior at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse pursuing a Major in Marketing and a Minor in Professional and Organizational Communication. I am expected to graduate in December of 2012 with a…

Dec 2011

The BLU Group

7 Things Every Employee Must Know About Marketing

Most companies invest in employee handbooks. These valuable resources detail rules, regulations, mission statements, policies and expected conduct. But they often ignore what might be the most important company knowledge—marketing. Any employee that comes into contact with a customer or client is performing a marketing function. Do they know how to represent the organization accurately…