Hank Blank, owner of Hank Blank Inc. in Laguna Niguel, knows that Orange County ad shops want work.
But he says many “shoot themselves in the foot” during competitive reviews and “may not even know it.”
Blank should know. His company handles new business reviews for advertising accounts.
“I see a lot of the simple mistakes that agencies make,” Blank said.
Take the review he just conducted for Carlsbad-based Jenny Craig Inc.
There were some 35 different agencies on the West Coast involved in the initial pitches. The estimated $60 million ad account was awarded to Irvine-based Young & Rubicam.
When Blank was trying to find shops to pitch the work, one guy told him: “Oh, our new business guy doesn’t return phone calls,” Blank said.
“That happens all the time,” he said. “Shops make themselves hard to find.”
The OC shop started doing agency reviews about three years ago, Blank said.
He’s done reviews for Dana Capital, Sage Credit Co., HKS Automotive and others.
“I love doing agency reviews because it exposes me to all the great agency talent that is out there and I expand my network,” Blank said.
Plus, the process keeps him “abreast of innovation,” he said.
Blank said he gets to go to different ad shops and watch creative pitches.
With 30-plus agencies submitting work at times, it “takes a lot of organization,” he said.
The process isn’t anything new for Blank.
He’s spent years working for agencies before going it alone.
His career includes a stint as executive vice president at ad shop O’Leary & Partners in Irvine when it was called Townsend & O’Leary.
“I think agencies like working with me because I have been in their shoes and keep everything short and straightforward,” Blank said.
Blank’s company also does business consulting, advertising and public relations.
Juxt Another Client
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Jenny Craig: Hank Blank conducted ad shop reviews, account awarded to Y & R; |
Newport Beach-based Juxt Interactive just nabbed a client.
The OC shop, which handles Web work and more, was tapped by Fountain Valley-based SureFire LLC, which makes flashlights, sound suppressors, laser sights and other equipment, to create several interactive marketing campaigns in 2008.
Juxt said it plans to launch the first campaign early next year.
In other news, Juxt recently released its first Web site for LucasArts, a San Francisco-based game publisher founded by famous filmmaker George Lucas.
The site promotes “Thrillville: Off the Rails,” a new game designed for Nintendo’s Wii and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 game consoles.
Juxt also launched a Web site for General Mills Inc.’s Fizzix carbonated yogurt. The OC shop worked with Publicis Dialog in New York on the marketing.
More Details
Last week, I broke the news that White Barn Group moved to San Juan Capistrano.
I’ve since gotten more details.
Tim Hackbardt, who started the branding and advertising shop, said another big reason for the move is White Barn Group recently combined with FrontGate Creative in Laguna Hills, which handles graphics, Web development and other creative.
“We have been working together on each others’ projects since December of last year,” Hackbardt said. “Over the last year, our alliance helped both of us grow rapidly.”
The two now are housed at the new 2,900-square-foot offices in San Juan Capistrano, with FrontGate taking on White Barn’s name, Hackbardt said.
“The new company will now be a true full service strategic marketing agency with classic brand marketing, advertising and new media solutions all under one roof,” Hackbardt said.
The shop has 13 workers, including four principals, two of whom ran FrontGate,Scott Shuford and Keith Pape.
Hackbardt said he expects to “continue to grow and hire additional staff” in the next year since the shop has “a number of agreements out for signatures at this time.”
“With those new agreements, we will most likely be increasing staff in account services, production coordination, graphic design and programming,” he said.
White Barn Group has about $2 million in billings and expects to “double that next year with agreements” that are in the pipelines, Hackbardt said.
Launch Party
Costa Mesa-based IPW Experience is helping client Verizon Wireless promote its new phone.
The OC marketing shop recently organized a party at Crevier BMW in Santa Ana for Verizon that celebrated the launch of the company’s Blackberry Pearl 8130 Smartphone, which has a global positioning system, e-mail, camera, among other features.
4G Wireless, which sells the phone, co-sponsored the event, which also included food, drinks, music a chance to test drive BMW cars and Blackberry Pearls on display.
E-mail Blasts
Torrance-based Becker Surfboards, with local stores in Mission Viejo and Huntington Beach, sent out some e-mail blasts promoting free shipping to lure online surfers.
Orange County Ad Club is offering a $1,000 Academic Achievement Award to students enrolled in advertising related disciplines at community colleges and universities throughout the area. Applications are due by Feb. 29 to qualify. Recipients of the award will be notified and then acknowledged at the Orange County Ad Club Annual ADDY Awards Presentation in March. More information at ocadclub.org.
