Mazda North American Operations’ biggest advertising campaign since Zoom-Zoom’s debut in 2000 kicks off this month.
The Irvine-based automaker’s “Game Changers” campaign will be in TV and movie theater spots, print ads, digital media and motion-sensitive billboards. The company wouldn’t say how much it’s spending on the campaign but did say the Zoom-Zoom tagline will continue to be a part of its ads.
Garage Team Mazda in Costa Mesa created the ads.
Hill+Knowlton Strategies of Irvine is in charge of promoting the campaign, which compares Mazda’s 2013 CX-5 and 2014 Mazda 6 vehicles equipped with SkyActiv technology to the real-life “game changers.”
One ad features Dick Fosbury, a high jumper who pioneered the back-first way of clearing the bar—the Fosbury Flop—at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico. Another points up surfer Laird Hamilton, the first to use a Jet Ski to get closer to waves away from shore.
The spots say Mazda is changing the game by manufacturing safety-oriented, fuel-efficient vehicles with “stellar driving dynamics.” Its Mazda6 features “i-ACTIVSENSE,” a series of safety technologies designed to help drivers recognize hazards, avoid collisions and reduce the severity of accidents.
Fuel economy is improved with “i-stop,” an idling stop system, and “i-ELOOP,” the first brake energy regeneration system in a passenger vehicle to use a capacitor to store electricity, according to Mazda. The newly developed SkyActiv G 2.5 gasoline engine “satisfies both ample torque and a superbly quiet cabin.”
Mazda announced the campaign on the same day it released its financial results for fiscal year 2013, which ended March 31. Mazda earned $364.7 million in global profits, a swing from a loss of $1.14 billion last year. The Irvine-based North American operations continued to be a sore spot, with a loss of $519.1 million, up from $427.8 million in red ink the year before.
U.S. operations saw a bright spot with a 2% gain on sales, an increase analysts credit to last year’s debut of the CX-5. Mazda sold 200,000 of the crossovers globally, exceeding the initial sales forecast of 160,000 units, according to the company’s financial statement.
Allergan Taps Ad Agency
Irvine-based healthcare company Allergan Inc. tapped Pacific Communications to be its agency of record for the company’s Latisse direct-to-consumer business. The Costa Mesa ad shop already represents the company’s professional business, which advertises its prescription treatment for eyelashes to healthcare professionals.
“Awarding the consumer account to Pacific Communications is a real vote of confidence from the Latisse clients, reflecting the outstanding work the agency has done on the professional side of the business,” said Linda Jackson, the agency’s senior vice president.
Pacific Communications will manage consumer communications, including television, print and interactive. The healthcare company is the agency’s prime client—it represents other Allergan brands, such as the Botox wrinkle remover and Natrelle 410 breast implants.
New Faces
• Pacific Communications of Costa Mesa added art supervisor B.J. Bateman, who was previously with New York-based Digitas Health. B.J. joins the Botox Therapeutic creative team.
• Jill Purzycki has been hired by RiechesBaird in Irvine as marketing manager. She was a senior account manager at Irvine-based IT Problem Solvers Inc. before coming on board.
• Randy Lopez, director of accounts at Irvine-based Johnson Gray Advertising, has joined Marketing Informatics of Indianapolis to lead its national business and brand development efforts. Lopez previously held executive marketing roles at Del Taco, Buca di Beppo and Ruby’s Diner.
• Chintan Talati is now senior director of public relations for Irvine-based Kelley Blue Book. Her predecessor, Robyn Eckard Eagles, was hired at American Honda as the company’s national public relations manager.
