Magazine publisher Hearst Corp. has acquired Scottsdale-based digital marketing agency iCrossing Inc., which has an office in Irvine.
ICrossing, bought for an estimated $325 million, does planning and development for Web, e-mail, mobile and social media marketing. It also manages bids, search engine optimization automation, display ad serving and mobile advertising.
The company was one of the largest independent search agencies with about $120 million in yearly sales, according to trade publication Advertising Age.
There are no plans to close the Irvine office, which has 15 workers and an estimated $10 million in capitalized billings.
The office is set to work with Hearst’s Los Angeles offices on projects.
“There are no plans to shift the business out of Irvine as it gives Hearst an opportunity into a new market,” said Don Scales, iCrossing’s chief executive.
The Irvine office recently designed the website of Fountain Valley-based automaker Hyundai Motor America Inc.
The acquisition comes after New York-based Hearst began courting the company in September, Scales said.
“Hearst needed us to be really big in order to move the needle,” said Scales, who’ll remain with the company along with other iCrossing executives.
ICrossing spent the next several months shopping around before deciding to go with Hearst, he said.
“They wanted to jump into marriage without dating,” Scales said. “We wanted to do some dating before we said ‘I do.’”
The digital shop is being folded into Hearst’s newest division—Hearst Marketing Services—and is overseen by Matthew Petersen, senior vice president of Hearst Magazines.
Plans are for iCrossing to run independently, working with existing clients and acquiring others. It’ll also work on projects coordinated with Hearst.
ICrossing does work with Bank of America Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., Travelocity.com LP and Coca-Cola Co.
New Gig
The local operation of Britain’s Experian Group Ltd. is shelving its quirky FreeCreditReport.com rock band and staging an “American Idol”-style search for a another one to promote FreeCreditScore.com.
Experian, which has offices in Costa Mesa and Irvine, is shifting focus from FreeCreditReport.com, which has been a marketing hit but has dealt with bad press and government regulators.
FreeCreditReport.com’s TV ads have featured band members working in crummy jobs because of their bad credit.
The commercials have became a bit of pop culture but raised eyebrows at the Federal Trade Commission since Experian’s “free” credit report came with a subscription to the company’s credit monitoring service.
With FreeCreditScore.com, Experian is offering a free credit score with its credit monitoring service in hopes of getting around the FTC’s concerns about credit reports.
The FTC offers one credit report a year and considers itself the only source of free reports with no strings attached.
The ads for FreeCreditScore.com—created by Virginia’s Martin Agency Inc., part of New York-based Interpublic Group of Cos.—focus on finding a band and promoting Experian’s credit score offering.
“We’re trying to tap into the potential of the social networks to create something similar to ‘American Idol’ in selecting what is one of the most seen bands in America,” said Chris Moloney, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Experian’s U.S. consumer direct unit.
Experian is working with guitar maker Gibson Guitars Corp., concert hall operator Live Nation Entertainment Inc., Major League Baseball and MTV Networks Co. to help promote the search.
Auditions were held in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to select bands to compete online for the grand prize.
Four finalists are set to be chosen and unveiled at baseball’s All-Star Game in Anaheim in July. The bands are slated to perform at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney. Each will get an “American Idol”-like TV spot during the game. Those ads will continue to run through early August with people voting on their favorite.
The winning band will be named in August.
Experian is estimated to be spending $10 million to $15 million on the initial launch effort. The consumer unit of Experian spends an estimated $300 million on advertising in print, network and cable TV spots.
The old FreeCreditReport.com three-member group is being disbanded.
“We aired about 75,000 ads between network and cable TV with the old band,” Moloney said. “So they had a good run.”
A farewell ad—expected to run during the summer—is a mashup of old FreeCreditReport.com commercials.
Barkley Back at Taco Bell
Basketball Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley is reprising his role as spokesman for Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp.
The Mexican-inspired fast food chain, part of Louisville, Ky.-based Yum Brands Inc., has started a series of TV and radio ads featuring Barkley for its $2 meal deal.
It’s the third ad Barkley has been in this year for Taco Bell.
The latest ad premiered during the NBA Finals and airs nationally through June.
This is the second ad campaign created to support the $2 meal deal.
The overall campaign is being promoted through a summer campaign that includes TV and radio advertising, store promotions and websites.
