Advertising veteran and author Linda Kaplan Thaler “had always been Jewish here,” she said, pointing to her head. But after a trip to Israel, “I became Jewish here,” she said, pointing to her heart.
“I came back and said, ‘I have to do something.’” And so began her involvement with the United Jewish Communities, the umbrella organization of North American Jewish Federations.
Kaplan Thaler discusssed her ideas about how to get a message across effectively with a group of some 170 at the annual meeting of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Women’s Division on Thursday, April 29.
She illustrated these ideas with clips from her most memorable commercials — among them, the quacking duck campaign for AFLAC insurance and Clairol’s Herbal Essences “Yes! Yes! Yes!” shower experience.
“What you need to create and what our book is about is to create a big bang,” she said. “A big bang cuts through the clutter and gets people to take notice,” according to the book, “Bang: Getting Your Message Across in a Noisy World” (Currency, 2003) by Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval with Delia Marshall.
Connecting her Jewish involvement with her “big bang” theory of marketing, Kaplan Thaler said, “Now more than ever the UJC needs to be heard in a loud voice.”
Kaplan Thaler created four of the UJC’s last five campaign videos, “the ones that always make us cry,” said Andrea Schneider, meeting co-chair with Cheryl Moser.
That work, Kaplan Thaler said, “is what being a Jew is all about — tzedakah and making the world a better place.”
Leadership, loyalty, commitment
That sense of mission was evident as the chair of the 2004 Women’s Campaign, Sue Strait, announced that the Women’s Division’s campaign raised $2,050,000 — 31 percent of the $7,309,087 raised to date for Community Campaign 2004.
Division president Marlene Lauwasser shared her reflections from the last year, her first in a two-year term. “I am filled with a sense of awe having witnessed true leadership, loyalty and commitment by our volunteers, professional staff and members of the Jewish community.
“Because of this collective support, the Women’s Division has continued its work of enabling Jewish women to serve the needs of our local, national and overseas communities through participation in campaign, educational opportunities, leadership development and community involvement,” she said.
On receiving the organization’s 2004 Ann Agulnick Young Leadership Award, Laura Eder emphasized the power of involvement. “By volunteering and through our philanthropy, we make possible [things] not only for our family but for the community [in the United States, Israel and around the world],” she said.
Eder applauded the effect of local philanthropy on education programs by pointing to a parenting education program funded by the Jewish Women’s Endowment Fund and to the Milwaukee Jewish Day School.
Eder is an officer and member of the executive committee of the Women’s Division and board member of the federation. She is also a charter member of the Jewish Women’s Endowment Fund and serves on the UJC’s national Young Leadership Cabinet.
She also served as the first chair of the federation’s marketing committee and as an advisor to MJDS, the Jewish Home and Care Center and Jewish Family Services.
A mother of five, Eder also is a professor of marketing at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She holds a Ph.D. in marketing from Northwestern University.
In other business, a slate of officers was approved. They include: Marlene Lauwasser, president; Idy Goodman, vice president, campaign; Bea Strick, vice president, Presidents’ Conference; plus Audrey Bernstein, Laura Eder, Cindy Kazan, Cheryl Moser, Ali Ruvin, Stephanie Wagner and Ruth Wallace.
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