Gladstone Gives Back; New OC Media Directory Out
FCB Southern California, Costa Mesa, has picked up two new accounts worth a combined $15 million in annual billings.
The final shootout for one was a modern-day tale of David meets Goliath. In this case it was the Schraff Group Inc. meets FCB, without the biblical ending: Goliath,FCB,prevailed.
FCB won out for the launch of Los Angeles-based CreSenda Wireless. FCB was tapped from an original list of 30 agencies that then was narrowed down to five, said Mark Tullio, CreSenda’s director of marketing communications. The 6-month-old wireless company, whose annual billings are estimated at $3 million to $4 million, was looking for an agency with expertise in the industry, and FCB fit the bill, he said.
“FCB has the ability to scale up as we become a billion-dollar company,” Tullio said. “We wanted a worldwide agency.”
But why would CreSenda even consider Schraff, whose accounts total about $26.5 million in billings, with FCB, whose billings are about $403 million?
“The Schraff Group is a smaller boutique and this would be a big account for them, so they would jump right in and be a part of our team,” Tullio explained.
CreSenda, which has 50 employees, operates an e-commerce site, Handgear.com, that sells wireless phones and other equipment. The company expects to launch its CreSenda Wireless Professional Series this summer. The products, targeted at professionals in fields such as medicine and law, include handheld devices; Internet data, applications and services; unlimited connect time; and customer-care packages.
FCB’s initial work will include online and print advertising, direct marketing, trade shows, events and possibly outdoor work, including billboards, Tullio said.
The other recent win for FCB is the account of New York-based quibnunc.com, an electronic business e-solutions provider. Jim Harrington, president of FCB Southern California, said the agency plans to create a branding campaign for Quibnunc in the U.S., U.K. and Germany.
Gladstone Rewards PR Student
Gladstone International in Irvine recently awarded a $10,000 scholarship and a paid internship to Chapman University student Christine Nguyen, 21, a junior who holds a grade point average of 3.9. Joan Gladstone, the firm’s president, said she created the annual award because she wants to encourage the best and brightest students to consider a career in public relations. She said she chose Chapman because of its impressive program. Also, Gladstone is celebrating her 25th year in the PR industry and wanted to give something back to a student in the field.
The 11-year-old firm, which ranks No. 16 on the Business Journal’s list of largest OC PR firms, also picked up three new clients: Focus Real Estate LP in Irvine, Orange County’s United Way and former Boeing subsidiary MDTSC, a technical staffing firm in Long Beach.
New OC Media Directory Out
Speaking of news people, Newport Beach-based HalcyonPress has launched its 20th edition of the Orange County Media Directory, listing media contacts from the Orange County Register to the Korea Times. This year it also is available for the first time in a diskette version. The directory lists more than 400 print and broadcast media, including daily and weekly newspapers, national and local magazines, foreign-language media, special publications and TV and radio stations. Copies are $31 and can be purchased at Amazon.com, Borders Books in Costa Mesa or at orangecountymedia.com.
Morgan Goes to the Dogs
Morgan Marketing & Public Relations is planning a six-month PR campaign for its newest client, BrightHaven, a Trabuco Canyon-based animal retreat and rescue center that cares for senior and disabled animals. Taylor Woodrow Homes Inc. President Richard Pope and his wife, Gail, head up the organization and are planning an Aug. 19 auction and fundraiser in Orange called “A BrightHaven Gala for Animals” to raise money for the facility.
Bits and Pieces:
Lawrence, Mayo & Ponder, Newport Beach, recently picked up creative duties for California’s Women Infants and Children’s supplemental food program. Billings are estimated to be about $1 million annually and the ad shop is expected to break a multilingual TV and radio campaign for the new client in the fall. Runyon, Saltzman & Einhorn, Sacramento, will handle the client’s estimated $7 million media planning and buying Irvine-based Prandium Inc. has hired Colby Effler & Partners in Santa Monica to handle the $3 million to $5 million account for its Koo Koo Roo brand Do agencies outgrow their names? The spin doctors at 3-year-old Topspin Communications in Newport Beach think so. The ad shop and PR agency recently reinvented itself, adding interactive and development services under the new name Blue C Communications. Eventually it will drop the communications part and simply be Blue C. The company ranks No. 31 on the Business Journal’s list of largest OC ad agencies, with $11 million in billings. The agency recently added four employees, including Marc Rogers, who previously headed Bozell Worldwide’s Zygot Internet division in Costa Mesa. Rogers will oversee Blue C’s new business development Cycle World magazine, published by Newport Beach-based Hachette Filipacchi Magazines, recently produced its 25th-anniversary “Ten Best Bikes” issue.
