About

photologo200.jpgTodd And(rlik)
Really, all you need to know is that I’m passionate about marketing, media and PR. I constantly read, write and speak about the topics. For those who need more details about my credentials, read on…

The Name
I have a unique name. Andrlik. It’s pronounced And-er-leck. It’s Czech. To prevent confusion, I shortened the name of my website and blog to Todd And.

The Professional Experience
My expertise in PR and marketing incubated inside the heated walls of giant PR agencies. I spent several years working for global PR firms, including a four-year term at Weber Shandwick.

During my agency tenure, I grew to supervise many national accounts for clients in the financial and professional services arena – primarily commercial real estate companies and law firms. The creative campaigns and phenomenal results my teams generated on behalf of our clients were well-recognized by our PR peers as we took home numerous awards, including the coveted PRWeek Award for Campaign of the Year.

I then moved from an office overlooking Michigan Avenue to an office overlooking the Fox River in Chicago’s western suburbs where I directed tourism and economic development-related marketing efforts for seven municipalities, including Illinois’ second largest city. Honing the skills I learned from the agency world, I conceptualized and executed several new strategies and tactics that eventually led to record-breaking results and awards.

Today, I work as the director of marketing and PR for one of the nation’s largest construction firms. Our marketing department is creative, talented, and extremely ambitious. Continuing to draw on my original agency experience, I’m working to build a culture of exceptional client service – where the department acts as an agency treating all colleagues as clients and employing a can-do, make-it-happen approach. We take great pride in our work and the fact that we don’t outsource any piece of our integrated marketing program, which consists of web, video, PR, advertising, direct mail, collateral, events and more. We constantly strive to stay cutting-edge and apply new media tactics where appropriate, such as a YouTube video channel at www.youtube.com/leobuild.

Our innovative and internationally-recognized corporate newsroom was one of the first to be developed with a blog engine, which delivers built-in archiving, search functionality, search engine optimization, RSS, easy video embeds, tags/categories, reader stats and content management. In 2007, I spoke at the Ragan Communications Social Media Summit and MarketingProfs B2B Forum about our pioneering marketing efforts.

Based on of our aggressive PR and online marketing efforts, we realized a whopping 5200 percent increase in our search engine presence (over 12 months).

As a PR and marketing consultant, I’ve provided communication solutions to companies and individuals with tight budgets – often extremely tight budgets. I have guest lectured on numerous marketing and PR topics for organizations and universities, including Ragan Communications, MarketingProfs, Public Relations Society of America, Loyola University, Roosevelt University and Illinois State University.

Collectively, I’ve consulted over 100 companies and individuals, including many Fortune 500 firms and “rock star” executives/lawyers. I’ve written thousands of press releases and articles, and secured thousands of reporter interviews and media placements. My clients have enjoyed first-class media coverage in all the major outlets, including CNN, MSNBC, WSJ, NYT, etc. I’ve managed major crises, coached spokespeople, built brands and generated news.

Personally, my professional life has been very rewarding in that I help companies and individuals grow and connect.

The Honors and Awards
In addition to helping my clients and companies win dozens of prestigious honors and recognitions in their own industries, my body of work has been recognized with these honors and awards:

Hermes Creative Award - Platinum Winner (brochure category)
Ad Age Power 150 - The World’s Top Marketing & Media Blogs
Chicago Tribune - Chicago’s Best Blogs
New Employee of the Year (internal company award)
Building Design & Construction Best of the Best - Best of the Web
Illinois Governor’s Award – Best Website
Illinois Governor’s Award – Best Radio Ad
Illinois Governor’s Award – Best Visitor Guide
Illinois Governor’s Award – Best Group Tour Guide
Illinois Governor’s Award – Best Print Ad
Illinois Governor’s Award – Best PR Campaign
Illinois Governor’s Award – Best e-Marketing
PRWeek Award – Campaign of the Year
PRWeek Award – Best Business-to-Business Campaign
PRWeek Award – Best Use of Research
PRWeek Award – Student of the Year (Finalist/First Runner-Up)
Gold Sabre Award – Business-to-Business Marketing
Legal Marketing Association Honor Award – Public Relations
President’s MVP Award (internal agency award)

Books Mentioning Me
Meatball Sundae (2008) - acknowledged by author Seth Godin
Age of Conversation (2007) - one of 103 coauthors
The New Rules of Marketing and PR (2007) - acknowledged by author David M. Scott
Now is Gone (2007) - referenced by author Geoff Livingston
Thirty Seconds to Air (2007) - thanked by author Bob Arya (my brother-in-law)

The Speaking
Guest Speaker: Ragan Communications on Corporate Social Media
Co-Host and Panelist: AdAge Power150 Roundtable
Guest Speaker: Ragan Communications on Social Media and PR
Panelist: MarketingProfs on B2B New Media and Marketing
Guest Speaker: Roosevelt University on Social Media
Panelist: Illinois State University on Careers in Public Relations
Panelist: Loyola University on Careers in Public Relations

The Home and Hobbies
I’m married to a beautiful elementary school art teacher. We’re extremely proud parents of a gorgeous baby girl and a scrappy, eight-pound Silky Terrier named Wrigley. I enjoy European travel (15 countries visited to date) and improvisational comedy. In 2004, I retired from my own improv troupe after 14 years of performing. I get along well with technology and emerging media. I listen to podcasts. I read blogs. I know what RSS means. I’m always listening to iTunes or tuned into my video iPod. I started out a Mac guy, but now I’m PC. I cheer for three sports teams - the Chicago Bears, Bulls and Cubs. I’m a news junkie and collect historical newspapers dating as far back as the 17th century.

The Blog
In July 2006, I launched Todd And. As a guy who is passionate about PR and marketing, this blog is my outlet for random personal thoughts and discoveries about the very serious but often comical crossroads of marketing and media. Todd And is ranked in many global blog lists and, at its peak, was among the top 50 marketing blogs in the world, according to the Power 150. It also hit the top 4,000 blogs across all topics/sectors worldwide, according to Technorati, a search engine that indexes more than 100 million blogs. The blog does not reflect, in any way, the opinions of any individual or any company other than me, myself and I.

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As an extension of Todd And, I created the Power 150, a global ranking of marketing blogs. On July 23, 2007, the Power 150 joined forces with Advertising Age, the world’s leading marketing and media publication. Ad Age announced and launched its version of the ranking on August 6, 2007.

The Education
Roosevelt University (MBA)
Salzburg College (International Business and PR)
Illinois State University (Public Relations)