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Heil Brice Works Ketel One, L.A. Visitor Ad Accounts

Hal Brice, chief executive of Newport Beach-based Heil Brice Retail Advertising Inc., is seeing a change of attitude that has him bullish about 2006.

“Marketers are realizing that, in spite of outward signs of health in the economy, they have to be more discerning and more aggressive than ever if they want to succeed in this fragmented, over-messaged world,” Brice said. “Smart clients these days have a grasp of technical detail that you never would have imagined five or seven years ago.”

Nimble ad shops that bring “great business-building ideas to the table every day” will benefit, Brice said.

Heil Brice picked up at least four new clients in the past year. Big wins included the Los Angeles Visitors and Convention Bureau, Ketel One Vodka in Aliso Viejo, Roth Capital Partners LLC in Newport Beach and Carpet One in Manchester, N.H.

Brice said the shop is putting together a celebrity-based TV campaign for the visitor’s bureau. The firm plans to start shooting the spots in the next 30 to 45 days, once the celebrities have committed, he said.

Heil Brice also is working with the visitor’s bureau to line up promotional partners, such as airlines, hotels and rental car companies, which will help fund the media campaign, Brice said.

The ad shop recently beat out as many as seven firms to nab work from Ketel One. Heil Brice was named agency of record for Ketel One’s sign program, which includes bars and stores, among other places.

Meanwhile, Heil Brice just started work for Pathmark Stores Inc., a New Jersey-based supermarket chain. The shop’s first assignment: strategic positioning for all of Pathmark’s communications, which it will roll out in advertising and in-store promotions, Brice said.

Heil Brice’s Hispanic division, Vision Latina, recently wrapped up a Spanish-language campaign for Carpet One, which included print and radio commercials and in-store signs.

Heil Brice has ramped up to handle the new work.

Last year, the shop, which has some 40 workers, hired a few people for account services and creative departments, Brice said.

Among them: Joni Parenti, who is associate creative director; Steve Patterson, formerly of Young & Rubicam Brands in Irvine, who is vice president of account services; and Anna Allega, who heads the shop’s public relations practice.

Heil Brice has been working with longtime client Ralphs Grocery Co. The shop recently broke a campaign with nearly 330 different commercials to run in 47 weeks, Brice said. Each spot focuses on a different day of the week, he said.

“The idea is to enhance the perishable perception of the stores by focusing on individual items or services or events that wouldn’t ordinarily get exposure,” Brice said. “So far, sales response has been good.”

And the ad shop is getting ready to launch a new campaign for client Los Angeles Times and is revamping its recruitment materials.

It’s also ramping up for big exposure for client the Los Angeles Clippers. The basketball team is going to the playoffs, a first since Heil Brice won work from the team five years ago.


Poultry Play

Irvine-based Johnson-Ukropina Creative Marketing bested several shops to pick up work from Charo Chicken Systems Inc.

The OC shop will handle marketing and advertising for the Huntington Beach-based restaurant chain. The chicken eatery has 24 restaurants and plans to open an additional 50 by the end of 2007, according to Joyce Ukropina, agency president.

Johnson-Ukropina posted some $20 million in 2005 billings.

Ray Perry, Charo Chicken president and chief executive, said the company tapped Johnson-Ukropina because it has “an impressive track record for helping to grow restaurant chains.”

Charo Chicken is looking to step up its branding and advertising efforts to promote its growth push.

It expects to get a boost from the shop’s strategic planning, merchandising, franchise relations and creative advertising, Perry said.

Charo Chicken was founded in 1984 and started with one restaurant in Seal Beach.

It’s opening restaurants in Yorba Linda, Orange, Buena Park, Redlands, Carson and Torrance. Later this year, Charo Chicken plans to open in Plano, Texas, and Las Vegas.


Security

Irvine-based Lages & Associates Inc. was tapped by Beyond Security to be its public relations agency of record.

The shop plans to help Beyond Security, which is based in Israel with offices in Northern California, Virginia and South Africa, promote its latest software, beSTORM. The software helps uncover unknown security flaws in software products, the shop said.

Beyond Security is targeting software developers and security workers that want to prevent hackers, worms and viruses, the shop said.

Lages & Associates put together a public relations and communications program that includes speaking engagements, an awards program, analyst relations and media exposure.

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