Newport Beach-based Pacific Life Insurance Co. has hired San Francisco-based Engine Company 1 as its creative agency of record after an advertising review.
Pacific Life, which offers life insurance and investments, worked with Santa Monica-based Select Resources International earlier this year to review agencies.
Pacific Life, part of Newport Beach-based Pacific Mutual Holding Co., used to rely on Kovel/Fuller LLC in Culver City for creative advertising.
Media buying remains with Corona del Mar-based Mediaspot Inc.
With 2009 revenue of $5.4 billion, Pacific Life is the county’s largest private company. It’s a staple advertiser for college sports teams and has focused much of its marketing on TV.
“Television still remains a core element of our advertising,” said Milda Goodman, vice president of advertising and public relations for Pacific Life.
The company has pulled back on its sports sponsorships in the past year.
It dropped out as title sponsor of the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl after nearly eight years of backing the college bowl game. San Diego’s Bridgepoint Education Inc. earlier this year took Pacific Life’s place and signed a three-year deal to become title sponsor.
Pacific Life plans to continue hosting the Pacific Life Pac-10 Men’s Basketball Tournament next March.
The company has expanded its marketing to target news channels, sports events and some primetime programming. A campaign by Engine Company 1 is set to start later this fall on network and cable TV.
Pacific Life’s iconic humpback whales will remain in its advertising, according to the company.
Pacific Life doesn’t disclose its yearly advertising spending. As the company dealt with investment losses in 2008 and early 2009, it reduced ad spending by re-editing and airing old commercials.
Garage Push
La Habra-based Garage Style Magazine is working with a San Diego Web site operator to reach more auto collectors who want to show off their garages.
The magazine is working with San Diego-based CheckOutMyGarage.net, a site for garage enthusiasts.
“They will print some of our articles in the magazine as well as some of our images,” said Don Weberg, editor and publisher of Garage Style.
The quarterly magazine—started in 2006—features automobile collectors and the garages they store their expensive hobbies in.
The partnership with CheckoutMyGarage.net is part of a bid to increase awareness about the magazine and its advertisers.
“CheckoutMyGarage.net is going to introduce us to a lot of people who’ve never heard about us and that should be helpful,” Weberg said.
The magazine, which has limited circulation, saw a big bump in subscribers after late night talk show host and car collector Jay Leno was featured in the magazine.
Leno—now a subscriber—passed the feature around to a number of people he’s worked with and fellow car buffs.
“When you get these heavy hitter celebrities like Jay Leno saying he likes this, the world kind of rushes in,” Weberg said.
The magazine caters to a different type of reader than most auto magazines by going after established businessmen.
“Most people who are buying Motor Trend are young and dreaming about the cars between the covers,” Weberg said. “Garage Style’s readers are mostly older men with high incomes looking to improve their garages for their expensive or classic cars.”
On the Move
Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America’s former marketing guru Joel Ewanick—who left the South Korean automaker for Franklin, Tenn.-based Nissan North America Inc. in March—has jumped ship again.
Ewanick left Nissan for General Motors Co. where he’s slated to become the U.S. marketing chief for all of General Motors’ brands.
He left Hyundai in March to take over at Nissan as its vice president of marketing and lead the Japanese automaker’s latest advertising campaigns, including upcoming ads for the electric Nissan Leaf.
PR Shop Moves
Professional Image Inc. has moved from Newport Beach to Irvine.
The public relations firm, which does work with plastic surgeons, fertility specialists and others in the elective surgery field, made the move last month after 22 years in Newport Beach.
“I joke that it was time to get serious,” said Angela O’Mara, president. “But honestly, we had outgrown our space and are looking to do some new things.”
After a long 2009, the shop has seen business pick up with clients suddenly seeing a chance to get into the market.
The shop picked up business with an urgent care clinic near Los Angeles International Airport for public relations on various travel-related illnesses.
