Doner, FCB Among Finalists for Jenny Craig Account
Laguna Beach-based Fuse Interactive recently designed new Web sites for Hewlett-Packard, David E. Kelley Productions/Fox Television and EncrypTix, El Segundo.
David E. Kelley Productions and Fox Television picked Fuse to design and launch the Web site for the new fall TV show, “Boston Public.” The company was chosen in part for its experience with other high-profile entertainment sites like The HP Rocky & Bullwinkle Summer Adventure, “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune,” said Patrick Macke, Fuse’s creative director.
“We’re not focusing on hype, we’re creating a community where viewers can interact with each other and get the skinny on what’s happening with the show, its characters and the actors,” he said.
The “Boston Public” Web site is at www.fox.com/bostonpublic/. The show will premiere Oct. 23 at 8 p.m. on Fox.
Fuse also designed a Web site for EncrypTix, a company whose technology allows consumers to download tickets and any value-bearing documents to a desktop printer or a wireless device.
Fuse’s ongoing client Hewlett-Packard tapped the agency to redesign its Web site, Fuse officials said. Fuse Interactive ranks No. 68 on the Advertising Age Interactive 100 list.
Fabian Show Expands
Doug Fabian, president and editor of Huntington Beach-based Maverick Investing, formerly Fabian Investment Resources, has expanded his broadcast presence under a syndication agreement with Business Talk Radio. Fabian, who also publishes a monthly newsletter and Web site, has hosted the weekly Saturday morning investment talk show “Maverick Investing with Doug Fabian” since March 1999. The program airs on KLSX in Los Angeles and WCKG in Chicago.
Under the new syndication agreement, his show will reach some 70-plus new markets across the country in an expanded three-hour format, beginning Oct. 21. Also, Fabian is under contract with McGraw Hill to publish a Maverick-themed investment book scheduled to be released in September 2001.
The company is a subsidiary of Potomac, Md.-based Phillips International Inc., a publishing corporation with more than $350 million in yearly sales.
Doner, FCB Vie for Jenny Craig
Local advertising agencies Doner, Newport Beach, and FCB Southern California, Costa Mesa, are among seven agencies vying for Jenny Craig’s estimated $25 million advertising account, held by incumbent Suissa Miller in Los Angeles, which also is in the shootout. Others are BBDO West and Publicis Dialog, both in San Francisco; Siltanen/Keehn, Santa Monica; and Campbell-Ewald, Los Angeles. A decision is expected in November.
Phobo.com, Yahoo! in Deal
Irvine-based phobo.com, a network of interactive Web sites including ritzcamera.com, boatersworld.com and ritzPIX.com, recently entered into an advertising and marketing agreement with Yahoo! Inc. to feature its Ritz Camera Web site on the Internet company’s Yahoo! Shopping destination.
New Del Taco Spots
Laguna Hills-based Del Taco Inc. is launching a new ad campaign next week. The new spot, which broke last week, promotes the chain’s chicken quesadillas. The spot features the Mexican fast-food chain’s character Dan, who hides behind bushes and talks to passersby who are supposed to think a cow is speaking.
Elder-Care Book, Web Site Debut
Jacqueline Marcell recently released her first book “Elder Rage,or Take My Father Please! How To Survive Caring For Aging Parents” under her own publishing company Impressive Press in Irvine. Marcell, her pen name, was an executive in the television business for 15 years. The 368-page book, which sells for $19.95, recounts with humor Marcell’s personal story of her frustrations with and solutions to dealing with her elderly parents, who are both afflicted with dementia. Marcell will also be a guest on the Family Channel’s “Lifestyle Magazine” program scheduled to air some time in November or December.
Bits and Pieces:
Irvine-based NetScope, which has developed Web sites for local companies such as The Irvine Company, Aliso Viejo Golf Course and NCG Porter Novelli, recently began work on developing a new Web site for Ralphs grocery stores Shout Public Relations has a new home in Costa Mesa. The 4-year-old agency, founded by Erika Hamilton in Laguna Beach, has three employees and handles apparel industry clients such as Elleven, 3 Box Set, Earthpack, White Lies and Sutters Point B, Newport Beach, recently added Endurian Inc. (formerly Personal Choices: EOL, Inc.) to its list of clients. The Lake Mary, Fla.-based company provides a legally binding service called “Advanced Health Care Directive” to patients who are unable to speak for themselves or make decisions about their care after suffering an injury or illness. So far, the agency has helped develop the new company name and logo. The agency will develop the company’s corporate brand and launch its products Next time you go to Rubio’s Baja Grill restaurants don’t forget to update your voter registration information. The Carlsbad-based restaurant chain is providing visitors to its stores voter registration forms at 19 Orange County locations through the Oct. 10 deadline. So far they have registered 11,000 voters company-wide.
