Blue Horse proudly welcomes our newest client: The Marcus Corporation.

All of us are happier people when treated to a movie, a spa experience, fine dining or an overnight stay at a luxury hotel. And so we at Blue Horse are delighted in the news that The Marcus Corporation, a leader in the lodging and entertainment industries, selected us for their marketing communications needs. Great company + cool product = fun work.

Marcus Theaters® currently owns or manages 608 screens at 50 locations in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, North Dakota and Iowa, and one family entertainment center in Wisconsin. Marcus Hotels and Resorts owns or manages 20 hotels, resorts and properties, with one additional hotel under development.

If you live around here, you’re very familiar with the Marcus name. It’s a company that has been a great example of steady, thoughtful growth in the communities in which it functions. The company believes in making quality, long-term investments.

For example, Marcus Theatres is developing a totally new theatre concept that will be a complete entertainment destination. The new theatre includes traditional auditoriums, their signature UltraScreens®, a multi-use venue and a restaurant, café and lounge. Marcus is also moving the industry toward digital cinema, testing hardware and software in selected theatres.

Marcus Hotels and Resorts has recently completed or is in the midst of several new projects under construction, including a condominium hotel project in Las Vegas, a historic hotel renovation in Oklahoma City and the major remodeling of the Wyndham Milwaukee Center, now known as the InterContinental Hotel.

We’re excited about getting to work with these fine people and on such wonderful projects. We are grateful to them for selecting us as marketing partners.

And we can’t deny the delight at the chance to dine at a few of those great restaurants, either!

I interviewed the man who coined the term "Waverunner."

Yes, it’s true. Tom Thiede, President of Blue Horse, is the man who authored the name “Waverunner.” He also came up with the name “Blue Horse.” Of course, not every name stuck. Some of his less successful lobs were “Guzzler” for an SUV and “Pits” for a man’s cologne. But he’s still working, so someone must want to hear what he has to say.

I certainly do, so I invited him to wade in with some blog topics. In typical Tom Thiede form, he had a slew of suggestions. Rather than put a muzzle on his creativity, I thought I would simply share them, and invite your comments and reactions.

So here we go.

1. Given the world of podcasting, Web sites and blogs, what new avenues of social marketing can we foresee? Could we, Tom asks, set up curbside monitors with a thought for the day to which people can respond? Does anyone out there have some other forms to share?

2. Tom wonders why there is not a National Advertising Agency Day. Oh, sure there are parties in New York. There are always parties in New York. But what about a way to celebrate the true pioneers of our industry? Like the guys who invented “Limited Time Offer” and “Member, FDIC.”

3. How small is small? Everyone wants information in sound bites and video clips. :60’s became :30’s became :15’s became :10’s became product placements. How small can we crawl? Can we advertise on molecules?

4. In a world where all radio stations sound alike, how come there are more of them?

5. What’s the over/under on the death of the home phone?

6. Whatever happened to the anti-monopoly attitude of the government? AT&T was broken up. Now they’re back together! And even bigger! It used to be that no company could own more than seven TV and seven radio stations. Take a look at what Clear Channel now owns. Are we better off as a society? As a culture? As a former member of the League of Nations?

7. What do we have to do to end reality TV? Huh? What?

Tom was ready to continue, but clearly we have enough to engender some thoughtful debate, if not medication. I invite your comments.