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Bringing the Internet to small businesses



Casanova Pendrill’s New Parent Helps It Add Business

At Taco Bell Corp., former Chief Operating Officer Tom Davin oversaw thousands of entrepreneurs who operate the Mexican fast-food chain’s 1,400 or so company-owned and franchised restaurants. So the move over to head up Entrepreneur.com six months ago was a way for him to continue helping small businesses.

“I was working with small-business people and the challenges the franchisees face were ones I felt could be addressed through the Internet,” said Davin, speaking from his new office that looks out on Taco Bell’s mirrored building.

“I decided at Taco Bell I wanted to do something more entrepreneurial and in the small-business space to leverage the power of the Internet,” Davin said. “The Internet levels the playing field. It gives access to world-class technology, tools and information without spending a lot of money or becoming a Fortune 500 business.”

Entrepreneur.com was founded a year ago as an outgrowth of Entrepreneur magazine. The unit’s sales are projected to be roughly $4 million this year, with Irvine-based Entrepreneur Media’s overall sales at $50 million.

According to Davin, small businesses account for 97% of the companies in the U.S. and half the gross domestic product, with $4 trillion in sales. It’s the largest economy in the world aside from the overall U.S. economy, he said.

The Internet site’s mission is to build an online community of business owners and provide them with services such as the recently launched “Ask the Experts” program, he said. Small-business owners can pose questions online to a network of experts who write about everything from starting a business, to sales and marketing and e-commerce.

Good Parenting

Since its acquisition a year ago by New York-based Interpublic Group of Cos., Inc., one of the world’s largest operators of advertising agencies, Casanova Pendrill Publicidad Inc., Irvine, has been picking up a lot of new business.

The agency expects its annual billings to grow from about $56 million in 1999 to $70 million this year.

The growth comes from existing clients such as General Mills and new clients stemming from its new parent. McCann-Erickson WorldGroup, another agency owned by Interpublic, has tapped Casanova for media placement assignments targeting the Hispanic market for clients including Johnson & Johnson and Ferrero Rocher.

The agency also picked up an assignment to handle corporate advertising for Johnson & Johnson in Spanish for the Hispanic market and in English for crossover markets. Although the commercials were shot for the Hispanic and general crossover English markets, the client liked its English spots enough to include them in its rotation for the Olympics, said Paul Casanova, president of the agency.

“The corporate campaign is about the importance of talking to your children,” Casanova said.

The two 60-second commercials show Hispanic people encouraging their children to follow their dreams, he said.

Why Not a ‘Gator?

Call it “gorilla” marketing on helium: giant beer-can blowups, inflatable food and those King Kong-size gorillas that roar over local freeways.

American Inflatables Inc., Costa Mesa, custom designer and maker of inflatable advertising products ranging from helium balloons to radio-controlled blimps, recently created a 30-foot long replica of a sports bottle for Gatorade. The orange inflatable sports bottle, which debuted at the recent Mexico City Marathon, will be used in a national marketing campaign by Gatorade. Other appearances are set for the X Games and FIFA sanctioned soccer matches.

Bits and Pieces:

Costa Mesa-based Pacific Communications will handle marketing duties for the re-launch of Efudex, a product of ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., Costa Mesa. The product treats skin lesions caused by sun exposure, which can turn into cancer if not treated. The agency will handle journal advertising, launch a direct-mail campaign, organize convention activities, and develop sales-support and patient-education materials Santa Ana-based Script-to-Screen recently created a new infomercial for client Trinity Golf and its driver the Stiletto II Beta Ti. The 30-minute spot, hosted by Bill Patrick, a commentator for USA Network Golf, was filmed at the Oak Valley Golf Club in the high desert. In addition, at the Access ERA 2000 Expo and Conference in Las Vegas, Script-to-Screen won awards for “Best Corporate Infomercial” and “Best Talk Show Infomercial” for work done for clients Skis Dynastar and Torso Track II, respectively. Also, actress Suzanne Somers won “Best Female Presenter” for her role in the Torso Track II Nan Johnson, director of diversified communications services for Newport Beach-based Mendoza, Dillon & Asociados Inc., has been named by the Promotion Marketing Association Inc. to chair its diversity marketing committee, co-chair the Southern California chapter and join the Reggie Awards Committee Next time you go to Rubio’s Baja Grill restaurants don’t forget to update your voter registration information. The Carlsbad-based restaurant chain is providing visitors to its stores voter registration forms at 19 Orange County locations through the Oct. 10 deadline. So far they have registered 11,000 voters company-wide.

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