St. Margaret of Cortona School

While Maureen Wall Bentley and I were roughly the same age (she was younger, which gave me pause as I confronted the news of her death), I looked up to her.

We lived parallel lives that brought us to a similar place: Aartrijk, a branding and public relations firm formed by our shared business colleague, Peter van Aartrijk, in 1999. I joined in 2001 as a consultant after a 17-year career in corporate communications; I had known and respected Peter from my early career days as an editor at A.M. Best Company. Maureen joined Aartrijk a year later from Independent Agent magazine and the Big I (Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America), where she had worked with Peter, after starting in magazine publishing.

I realized this connection when I walked by Maureen’s grammar school, St. Margaret of Cortona School in Bronx, N.Y. on the way to her funeral Mass. The paved schoolyard, the well-built school building, the flag flying high — these were similar to my grammar school, St. Paul School in Princeton, N.J., 90 miles south of Maureen’s on Riverdale Avenue.

Maureen and I never discussed our grammar school days. But in retrospect, I imagine, we had similar roots through our Catholic school lives:

• We had to deal with order and authority while still trying to get things done and have fun at recess.
• We had to learn readily under pressure, and turn things in on time.
• We had to deal with family, friends and classmates (some of whom were easier than others).

My parents allowed me to choose to leave Catholic school after sixth grade; I was drawn to a brand-new public school with grades 7-12 in one building, much closer to home where all the neighborhood kids went to school.

Soon after I got there, I realized I was different than many other students: Writing thrilled me and so did reading. Books held my interest. I thrived with the freewriting techniques and other instruction from Mr. Rabuck, Miss Blumenthal and other teachers.

Fast forward to the recent past. Maureen was the same: She loved reading and she loved writing. She also had a great depth of knowledge in the strategies and tactics of branding, and she loved applying all of it to the business of insurance.

After her funeral, a friend remarked about Maureen: “She taught her children well.” While not having had biological children, Maureen Wall Bentley had many offspring: her children were her family, her friends, her colleagues at Aartrijk, and her clients and industry peers. They were children in the sense that she looked out for them, saw their potential, and pointed them to it.

I’m grateful for her life and her teaching. Rest in peace, Maureen. Your brand lives on.

Maureen Wall Bentley, Aartrijk’s executive vice president of Brand Strategy, passed away a few days ago at the age of 47.

Words can’t possibly describe how we all are feeling for her friends and family. Our sympathies go to her husband, Mark; her mom, Betty; and the many close relatives of Meaux’s extended family who she loved so much. And it is a loss to the family here at Aartrijk—our employees, our consultants, our clients, our friends.

Speaking of words, that was Maureen’s original true love. When I first met her 20 years ago, she was editor of IA magazine, which to this day is still an Aartrijk client.

She was meant to be an editor, and she was outstanding. Editors take a written word—individually and in groups that create sentences and paragraphs—and work some magic on them. Whatever her pen touched just got better. It wasn’t only a matter of correcting mistakes. Meaux saw what was missing in the words, ultimately shaping them, improving them, providing context and meaning, and enhancing and enriching them.

She also would typically add a nice little twist of humor—Maureen style. That was her Bronx Irish. She had panache, charm, smarts, wit and quick sarcasm all rolled into that wonderful smile and devious laugh we just loved.

You’ve heard that phrase, “It’s not the years in your life; it’s the life in your years.” She gave us so much life by leading by example. She made our company what it is today. She pushed us to do new things, including the reinvention of the entire process of which we approach branding as well as in launching Aartrijk Brand Camp. She gave us confidence to try new things to benefit clients.

Obviously, I’ve been thinking about Maureen so much lately. I truly so appreciated her. I realize now that she had been editing much more than copy on a page. She edited my life. She always was improving on my mistakes, providing context to my life—shaping it, adding meaning and purpose to it, and enhancing and enriching it.

Maybe you too were fortunate that Maureen edited your life.

On behalf of the Aartrijk team, we are forever grateful. Whenever I think of Maureen, I’ll smile.

Springfield, Va. (July 11, 2011)—Maureen Wall Bentley, executive vice president, brand strategy of Aartrijk, died peacefully on July 9, 2011, after a recurrence of cancer.

A native of Bronx, N.Y. and a graduate of Cardinal Spellman High School and Boston College, Wall Bentley is survived by her husband, Mark Bentley of Baltimore, Maryland. She was 47.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday July 13, 2011 at 10:45 a.m. at St Margaret of Cortona Church, 6000 Riverdale Avenue, Bronx, N.Y.

Wall Bentley began her career as an editor at Murdoch Magazines and then Condé Nast Publications. She went on to broader communications and branding roles at the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, where she was publisher of IA magazine. Maureen’s led the research, development and introduction of the Trusted Choice brand.

At Aartrijk, she co-created Aartrijk Brand Camp as an industry conference, and recently led the redevelopment of brand identities for several prominent insurance associations and organizations. She focused on brand assessments, identity development and marketing-communications strategy and was the editor of Zoom, a step-by-step branding guide for independent insurance agents.

“I spoke with Maureen nearly every workday for more than 20 years, first at the Big I and then when she joined Aartrijk,” said Peter van Aartrijk, founder and CEO of Aartrijk. “She was invariably smart, sharp-witted, creative, and always looking out for the challenges and interests of clients. She was a colleague and confidant many people could trust both personally and professionally, turn to for sage insight, and count on for quality work. She prided herself on excellent writing and set high standards for our work.”

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Note: In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations in honor of Maureen Wall Bentley be made to St. Margaret of Cortona School, 6000 Riverdale Ave., Bronx 10471.

Maureen Wall Bentley VA Service Details:
Date: Saturday, July 30, 2011
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church
http://www.mountvernonumc.com

Reception: Immediately following service – Location TBD

The organizers are in need of a count for number of attendees to determine exact location for reception to follow the service. Thus if you could pass this email along to anyone we may have forgotten who you know would like to attend/be informed we’d be grateful. We are in need of your RSVP by next week so that we may reserve the appropriate size reception location. Thank you so much, and we’ll have the gathering/reception location & directions available at the church service on Saturday July 30th.

Please RSVP the number of attendees who will be coming in your party to the service/gathering after the service – thank you.

Many thanks,

Hosts:
Michelle Gillen
Jill Calabria

After sending out good mental vibes to Maria and the kids, who deserve way better than this, I got to thinking about the corporate fallout from this. While Schwarzenegger is not currently a spokesman for anyone (that I know of), he has been busy reviving his film career, including the announcement of an animated children’s program called The Governator. Which means that somewhere there is a PR office (other than his own) madly constructing spin and corporate lawyers reviewing the morals clause of his contract to determine if, indeed, Schwarzenegger has “committed any act that offends the community or any segment thereof and/or public morals and decency.”

Now, you and I may consider this a fairly cut-and-dried case for terminating a relationship with a celebrity spokesperson, but if the situation is not about right or wrong but merely right for us or wrong for us? What if the spokesperson’s private life simply veers from the brand it is representing?  What if, for example, we saw photos of Sam Waterston gambling in Vegas—instead of conservatively investing his money with TD Ameritrade?  Or if Raymond Burr had declared his homosexuality while he was representing the traditionally conservative Big I, instead of being outed after his death? Today it wouldn’t be be a big deal (nor should it), but in the 1980s? Good luck with that.

The world is too complicated, and the news/blog/social media coverage too overwhelming to hang your brand on one person any more—or at least one real person. For every Dennis Haysbert or Wilfred Brimley, unfortunately, there’s a Charlie Sheen or Miley Cyrus. And while some spokesperson bets are predictable, others are not. Tiger, OJ and Martha Stewart all caught us by surprise, no?

It is for all these reasons that so many big brands have moved to imaginary people, talking animals and celebrity voiceovers. While the actress who plays Flo is a real human being with flaws and secrets, most of us don’t know her name and wouldn’t recognize her if she fell off a stool in a bar. And given her quirky persona, we don’t expect her to be perfect. But Aflac learned recently that this too is no guarantee against trouble: Gilbert Gottfried, voice of their infamous duck, tweeted callous jokes after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan—and lost his gig.

Now, most of us don’t have the marketing budgets to have such concerns about celebrity spokespeople. But the lesson extends to our other, less renown brand ambassadors—business partners, employees and, yes, even customers. And while a misstep from one of them probably won’t land your firm on TMZ, you can be damaged by what’s said in your local newspaper, at the next Chamber lunch or on your receptionist’s Twitter feed.

To wit: A friend recently held a charity event at which a guest behaved badly, prompting another guest to whisper, “It’s just bad for their brand.”

Indeed.

At a time when people are skittish on the economy, it’s great to hang out with folks who are bullish.

One of my favorites is Charlie McShane, and his company is State Auto, based out of Columbus, Ohio.

Recently Maureen Wall Bentley, our executive vice president of brand strategy, and I attended Charlie’s grand opening of State Auto’s new Hunt Valley, Maryland offices, just north of Baltimore. Charlie is the company’s eastern regional president—he actually founded the region for State Auto and was the only employee there a few years ago. (In case you don’t recognize Charlie, he’s the big man on campus in the center of the photo.)

Charlie and staff were joined at the opening by State Auto’s senior leadership team, including CEO Bob Restrepo. The firm is an Aartrijk client, and this beautiful new office is yet another sign of how this super-regional company is optimistically positioning for growth.

Office openings are a milestone, sure. But for me, this one is more about people than real estate. I’ve known Charlie for 20 years. He has moved around in that time as P-C carriers consolidated and evolved. When I first met him, he evoked the quintessential “company field man,” working with independent agents on their local level. As I got to know him, I saw all his qualities—honesty, professionalism, knowledgeable, caring, and a great sense of humor—are why folks such as Charlie are not only incredibly valuable in leadership roles, they are rare people, period.

On behalf of Aartrijk, I’d like to extend my congratulations and best wishes to my friend Charlie, the folks working in the new eastern regional offices, and all our friends at State Auto. Good luck, guys!

Peter van Aartrijk