WestGroup Opens OC Office; New Director at Y & R; Unit
Irvine-based DisplayWorks, a designer and builder of tradeshow exhibits, earned the “Best of Show” award at the World Shoe Association Convention earlier this month in Las Vegas. The show is put on by the Newport Beach-based World Shoe Association.
DisplayWorks took the prize for an 8,300-square-foot booth it created for Dr. Martens shoes, part of Britain’s R. Griggs Group Ltd. The exhibit showcased 5,500 pairs of industrial-chic Dr. Martens. The exhibit took DisplayWorks seven weeks to create and build from its 200,000-square-foot Irvine facility.
Meanwhile, the company also designed the interior and fixtures for a new Dr. Martens store in Portland, Ore., which opened Aug. 15. DisplayWorks, which has 200 employees, used its 100,000-square-foot plant in Portland to complete the retail project. Plans are under way to incorporate similar designs in future stores, according to DisplayWorks.
“In both projects, presenting the company brand in a strong, consistent graphic message in all environments is critical,” said Dan Hones, leader designer at DisplayWorks.
Heading West
WestGroup Marketing Communications Inc., a Vail, Colo.-based marketing firm specializing in media relations, is hanging out its shingle in Newport Beach.
The firmed first leased space in Orange County in December, but hasn’t done any marketing or publicity about the move until now.
“In August, we positioned our firm to serve this market and have pushed the go button,” said principal Nancy Wilhelms, who served as press secretary for Robert List, Nevada’s former governor, and now heads the Newport office.
The firm provides services to energy, software and e-commerce companies, including DillonGage Inc., a Dallas-based financial services company, ShowTracks, a San Diego streaming audio provider, and SkyPark in Orange, which operates automated parking systems.
Wilhelms said the firm, founded in 1982 in Colorado, is looking to fill gaps for companies seeking to weather the economic downturn.
Many businesses have “simply laid off all or most of their marketing communications departments,” according to Wilhelms. But she said they still have an “urgent need to communicate with customers, shareholders, employees, etc.”
In Colorado, Hewlett-Packard Co. tapped WestGroup after it had downsized its marketing communications department, Wilhelms said. WestGroup started handling press and product releases and eventually began working with five HP divisions.
Wilhelms said she sees unnamed companies in OC taking similiar steps these days. She said most of these businesses want to work with WestGroup on a project basis, vs. developing two- to three-year plans.
“We’re kind of watching the market refocus,” Wilhelms said. “Companies are just focusing on getting to the next step.”
WestGroup’s OC team includes five employees (most are former journalists), but Wilhelms said she’s looking for that number to grow.
The staff has trained a range of clients, including chief executives, university presidents and a football team, on how to deal with the media, according to the company. The firm also offers worldwide news coverage through its affiliation with International Communications and Marketing.
Y & R; Promotion
Wunderman, a division of Young & Rubicam Inc. in Irvine, recently tapped Laurie Null as managing director.
Null, former president of the Y & R; Group in Detroit, will lead Wunderman’s services including direct mail, interactive, events and promotions. She will report to David Murphy, chief executive of Y & R;, who oversees all of Y & R;’s brand teams.
“This is an exciting move for me, as the Irvine office is growing so quickly with brands such as Lincoln Mercury, Jaguar, Mattel and Sony,” Null said.
Null has been with Y & R; for 17 years. Along with her role at Y & R; Group in Detroit, she also was managing director of Wunderman Detroit and account managing director for the Ford Motor Co./Wunderman business in North America.
She replaces Michael Hughes, the division’s former president who left several months ago, just around the time Wunderman changed its name from Impiric.
The Ad’s in the Mail
The OCT Group, a 15-year-old marketing firm in Irvine, was tapped by Brea-based American Suzuki Motor Corp. to create a $200,000 direct mail campaign for dealers in greater Los Angeles.
The OC firm came up with the mailer, which gives more than 500,000 Southland residents a chance to win $100,000 at one of 12 participating Suzuki dealers. OCT expects the program to generate traffic and “transform prospects into buyers,” according to Chief Executive Grant Dunning. The firm plans to follow up the mailer with telephone messages to help increase the response rate, he said.
