Irvine-based Creamer Dickson Basford has been merged with the California offices of two new sister firms and renamed Magnet Communications.
The reorganization follows its New York-based parent’s acquisitions of New York-based Kratz & Jensen and Capstone Communications in Emeryville. The agencies are units of French-based Havas Advertising/Diversified Agencies Group/North America, the fourth-largest communications company in the world with $20 billion in billings.
Locally, Creamer Dickson Basford has 21 PR employees at its offices in Irvine and Corona. Clients include Coors Brewing Co., Allergan Inc., Caltrans and Sprint PCS. The firm ranked No. 13 on the Business Journal’s list of OC’s largest PR agencies.
Chris Perez, former co-owner of Irvine-based CSP Communications, will head up Magnet Communications in Southern California, which also will include the former Kratz & Jensen office in Los Angeles. That office has a staff of 11 and its clients include Jamba Juice, Il Fornaio and Levy Restaurants, owners of upscale sports arena restaurants such as the Diamond Club at Edison International Field in Anaheim.
The three offices that will make up Magnet’s Southern California unit had billings of $4.1 million last year.
Perez and his partner in CSP, Scott Smith, sold their PR firm to Creamer Dickson Basford in December.
“One of the areas we feel is a growth area is the OC market,” Perez said. “There’s a considerable amount of client interest here and our employee base lives in OC.”
Smith, who along with Perez had been co-managing director of the Irvine and Corona offices of Creamer Dickson Basford, has been named senior vice president and consumer practice manager for Magnet Communications’ five West Coast offices. Smith will oversee the three Southern California offices as well as the former Kratz & Jensen offices in San Francisco and the former Capstone Communications in Emeryville.
The California agencies together billed $7.3 million last year and are projected to grow to $8.3 million this year, Perez said. n
