NuVisions Blows Hot Air; Beard Boy Expands
When advertising and marketing budgets get pinched, Insync Media can feel the squeeze.
With offices in Tustin and Inglewood, Insync provides color, pre-press and printing services to marketing, publishing and advertising shops, including Santa Ana-based DGWB, Doner’s Newport Beach office and Pacific Communications in Costa Mesa.
Joe Ryan, vice president of business development, said Insync’s OC office is busier this quarter vs. the year-ago quarter. But he said he’s noticed a definite switch: clients are pressured to watch dollars.
“There have been budget cuts for several agencies’ clients,” Ryan said. “In turn, their vendors also have to take a hit.”
That has meant some changes at Insync. Many of the company’s clients have been forced to “triple bid most projects” and “are asking for rebates or volume discounts” due to the tight economy, Ryan said. Also, to save cash, some clients are keeping services such as retouching in-house, while other companies, which have cut staff, are finding it cheaper to outsource work, he said.
Consequently, Insync is adapting, according to Ryan. Ad shop layoffs and the burst of the dot-com bubble triggered some waves in the Inglewood office, which employs about 200 people. Ryan said the shop recently let go a “small” but undisclosed number of people and refocused some departments for efficiency.
The 2-year-old OC office, with 15 to 20 employees, so far has not made any layoffs or big changes. But Ryan said the air is thick with a now all-too-familiar theme.
“Layoffs, downsizing, mergers, etc.,these are the buzzwords we’ve heard lately instead of things like custom leopard-print pool tables, 200-gallon saltwater fish tanks and CEOs skipping down hallways hand in hand with vendors,” Ryan said.
For now, Ryan said Insync is holding steady but keeping a wary eye on the economy.
“Our third quarter looks good here; we’re quoting a lot right now,” he said. “I don’t want to go to Q4; that is way too far (off) to tell. The market is like a yo-yo. It’s hard to really forecast in this economy.”
That’s Not a Hair Dryer
Irvine-based NuVisions Inc. has been blowing a lot of hot air. The OC shop recently completed packaging and retail ads for client Long Beach-based Interactive Health Inc. and its new massage product, which blows warm air on the body as it works.
Dominic Symes, partner and creative director, said the agency used its digital photography studio to complete much of the work. NuVisions’ Web design division, NetZuppa, which launched last fall, handled Interactive Health’s Web site.
Symes, a native of South Africa who has worked at large industry players including Saatchi & Saatchi, moved to California and joined the year-old ad shop a few months ago.
Beard Boy Grows
Tustin-based Beard Boy Productions, which writes and produces commercials, corporate videos and radio spots, recently moved to bigger digs in Tustin and added two people to its staff of marketing strategists, scriptwriters, and producers, among others.
“We’re better prepared than ever before to offer our clients a full array of advertising solutions,” said Michael N. Smith, executive producer and creative director. Clients include Carl’s Jr., Blue Cross and the Anaheim Angels.
Save the Date
Orange Coast magazine in Newport Beach recently unveiled an interactive version of its Master Calendar of Events. More than 1,700 nonprofits can add, edit and change charity events by visiting www.Orangecoast-magazine.com and clicking the “Master Calendar” section. The publication also recently partnered with The Annual Guides for the Arts, which provides annual schedules of leading operas, symphonies, ballets, theaters and more throughout the country. As of Oct. 1, Orange Coast is set to publish an OC edition.
Bits and pieces:
Irvine-based El Pollo Loco and Hollywood Video have teamed up for a new promotion running through June 17. The flame-broiled chicken fast-food chain is giving customers a certificate for a free five-day video rental when they purchase an 8-, 10-, or 12-piece meal. The “Dinner and a Movie” campaign is being promoted in general and Hispanic markets via TV and radio commercials in select West Coast markets Irvine-based Kelston International, a marketing, graphic design and promotions agency, recently moved from its 3,000-square-foot location at Sky Park Circle to bigger digs on McDurmott West. The agency grew from seven employees in the past two years to 12 employees in 2001,the result of new business wins, including work from GT Bicycles and Shimano Fishing … Costa Mesa-based public relations agency Roxburgh recently was tapped by Brookfield Homes to develop marketing programs for five new residential communities in Orange County. In the next seven months, campaigns are set to be launched for: Farralon Ridge in San Clemente, Aubergine in Newport Coast, Cassis in Newport Coast, Arden Square in Irvine and Cantabria in Talega. The agency also won business from MBK Homes to promote two other new single-family home communities in Brea and South Corona.
