Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. is using a contest for aspiring rock bands to go after people it doesn’t normally reach with its TV, radio and sports sponsorship advertising.
The Mexican fast food chain’s Feed the Beat campaign is a bid to appeal to younger people who follow music but may not be tuned into Taco Bell’s traditional advertising.
“It’s a real nontraditional approach by supporting these bands,” said Will Bortz, senior manager of public relations and sponsorships at Taco Bell. “It’s a more authentic way of reaching out to an audience that doesn’t want to be marketed at.”
Taco Bell, part of Louisville, Ky.-based Yum Brands Inc., is offering 100 qualifying bands $500 worth of food.
“We feed 100 bands a year with no strings attached and get them out on the road,” Bortz said.
Bands also get exposure. Past deals include an agreement with ESPN’s Winter X Games where bands were featured on the highlight reels.
“We continue to do things with all of our alumni bands,” Bortz said. “Once you’re in the fold, we’re buddies and we have a mutual interest in making sure (we follow) what opportunities arise.”
Taco Bell works with MTV, part of New York-based Viacom Inc., to promote the bands.
It hosted a recruitment event at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards hosted by past Feed the Beat bands. The event featured live performances and Taco Bell food.
Taco Bell plans to sponsor several Viacom events, such as the MTV Movie Awards, VH1 Hip-Hop Honors and others with several Feed the Beat bands.
Bands that have been selected in the past include Cobra Starship, Gaslight Anthem,
Manchester Orchestra, Underoath and Blitzen Trapper.
Reprographics Expansion
Costa Mesa-based C2 Reprographics has expanded into San Diego with its latest acquisition.
The document reproducer for the construction industry acquired San Diego-based Universal Reprographics and its Color World and other subsidiaries for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition was part of the company’s strategy to become a larger player in Southern California.
“San Diego was always a goal for us as many of our clients have offices in San Diego,” said Gary Crisp, chief executive.
C2 Reprographics is one of the few remaining independent reprographic companies in OC as most run under the Glendale-based American Reprographic Co. banner.
The company gained Universal’s two San Diego printing locations in Old Town and Sorrento Valley along with its 14 workers.
The company has been steadily growing in Southern California since its inception in 2002. C2 Reprographics has three offices in Orange County and opened a downtown Los Angeles office in 2007.
The company does a lot of document work for architects, engineers and construction businesses, which typically require plans and blueprints of unusual sizes and shapes.
A drop in construction has hurt the company’s sales to those businesses.
“We’ve weathered the storm remarkably well, even as the architects, engineers and construction work have been devastated by this economy,” Crisp said.
The company’s revenue is flat for 2009 compared to 2008 at about $15 million.
Truth Wins Parks Work
The Orange County Park System, the government agency responsible for maintaining the county’s public parks, hired Santa Ana-based ad shop Truth to get the word out about the 39,000 acres of park land in OC.
The ad shop won the account after a lengthy review against several other OC-based ad shops.
As with many government accounts, the review process was longer and required more steps than a typical advertising account.
“It was an exciting win for the agency, but it was not your normal review requiring us to go through the Orange County Board of Supervisors just to sign off on our approval,” said Wendy Buchs, account director at Truth.
Truth is looking to get the parks more attention and is working on online advertising.
The shop could potentially redesign the park system’s Web site as part of the win.
Yamaha Campaign
Costa Mesa-based Marshall Advertising is launching its latest advertising for Cypress-based Yamaha Motor Corp. USA, tapping into the childhood delight for motion.
The campaign for the U.S. division of Japan’s Yamaha Motor Corp. features TV, print and online ads promoting the 2010 line of products and financing.
The commercials show young children at play interspersed with shots of adults riding Yamaha sport bikes and all-terrain vehicles.
The print and online campaigns continue the “Y We Ride” campaign and go into further detail about financing offers.
“We’re tugging at riders’ heart strings to induce them to open their purse strings,” said Roger Feldman, co-creative director at Marshall.
