Marshall Does Motorcycle Karaoke; Lawrence Wins State Account
Like other marketing firms, the Irvine office of DWP//Bates Technology is vying for new business at a time when most technology companies are cutting back on marketing. But DWP//Bates, an Atlanta-based unit of Bates Worldwide, also faces the challenge of selling tech clients on the need for marketing.
In the past, tech companies have been able to “thrive and survive” based on product innovations and little in the way of marketing, according to agency president Ridge White. With a slowing economy, White said he’s betting things could change.
“In our experience, there comes a time in the life of every technology company where technology for technology’s sake won’t allow them to move to the next level,” White said. “Never is it more important to create demand than right now.”
When the economy slows and the “noise level is down,” White said it’s a prime opportunity for tech companies to “break through.”
DWP//Bates, with more than $100 million in billings, plans to launch another office in Dulles, Va., this month. Down the road, the firm is eyeing offices in San Francisco, New York and overseas. Clients include WorldCom Inc.’s UUNet, online business center BrightLane.com and Internet service company Interland Inc.
Frank Donino, chief executive of DWP//Bates, says the expansion is coming at just the right time.
“The shakeout’s made everyone very wary,” he said. “But time is a factor, and those companies with good technology and sound management committed to investing in strategic marketing that produces results will be the ones to survive and thrive.”
In Irvine, DWP//Bates recently hired Cita Walsh-Vincent as vice president and managing director. Walsh-Vincent said she spent a big chunk of her second day on the job at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel celebrating the marketing firm’s official launch.
Walsh-Vincent joined DWP//Bates from Web designer and interactive agency iexcel of Independence, Mo., where she was a top creative executive on big corporate and Internet accounts.
Prior to that, she was a creative and client executive at Quill Communications Inc. Altogether Walsh-Vincent counts 20 years of experience marketing biomedical and technology businesses.
In OC, Walsh-Vincent is readying services and building a database of prospective biomedical, telecommunications and tech clients to target. In the past, many companies have looked to places like San Francisco for marketing, or been turned off by both large and small agencies that didn’t understand their market and failed to yield a “return on their investment,” Walsh-Vincent said.
True Love
Costa Mesa-based Marshall Advertising & Design just unveiled three 30-second spots for client Yamaha Motor Corp. USA, Cypress, and three of its motorcycles: the Road Star, V Star and FZ1. Terms of the multimillion-dollar campaign weren’t disclosed.
The Road Star and V Star spots use real Yamaha owners who lip-synch Luther Ingram’s “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right” or the Spinners “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love” to the motorcycles.
The spots expand on last year’s theme, where Marshall also sought out hard-core Yamaha motorcycle owners to show the manufacturer,and viewers,who Yamaha customers are, according to Roger Feldman, associate creative director and writer on the spots.
The riders, described as “loyal” and “passionate” about their bikes, sent in audition tapes and were selected by the agency.
“You have to be real careful,” said agency president Diana Marshall, of selecting the right riders. “You have to be authentic. You don’t want to lose credibility.”
Yamaha is Marshall’s largest client. The agency reported billings of $31.2 million in 2000.
Bits and pieces
Word finally is in: Newport Beach-based Lawrence, Mayo & Ponder won a big chunk of business from the California Department of Health Services. The agency beat two Sacramento agencies and will handle the Cancer Prevention and Nutrition Section account worth $20 million over three years Irvine-based Gladstone International, a public relations and marketing firm, says it now has more services to offer clients, having recently been selected to join Pinnacle Worldwide, a network of independent public relations firms around the globe. Gladstone plans to partner with shops worldwide to provide media relations, strategic communications and public affairs among other services Greenlight Communications, Newport Beach, recently added Ray Tarquinio as its new creative director Speaking of anniversaries, Newport Beach-based Willis Advertising is celebrating its 25 years of business. Founded by Bud Wills in 1976, the shop is behind the orange crate logo for first client Irvine Savings & Loan. That logo inspired what was called the Orange Crate Derby, where kids competed in homemade orange crate racers until the mid-1980s Young & Rubicam’s Irvine office recently hired Robert Parker to lead broadcast production in its OC and Detroit offices. Speaking of Y & R;, the OC shop is also reportedly one of four finalists bidding for Universal Interactive Studios $10 million-plus account. Other shops reportedly in the review include AKQA in San Francisco and B.D. Fox & Friends in Santa Monica.
