Heil-Brice Retail Advertising in Newport Beach got the holidays off to a festive start with its annual Ralphs Hispanic Vendor Program.
The three-week affair included festivals and radio promotions at 55 Ralphs stores in Orange and Los Angeles counties. The program highlights Mexico’s contribution to California’s culture. It ran from mid-November to Dec. 5.
This year’s celebration included an all-day mariachi festival in L.A. that drew 20,000. A second festival called Festival Navidano in Boyle Heights attracted about 30,000 and raised funds for the Mothers of East L.A. community group.
Each of the two-hour radio broadcasts at area stores drew about 1,000 people.
“Response this year was phenomenal,” said Sandra Munroe, Heil-Brice’s director of new business development.
The ad shop has been handling the vendor program for three years.
Participating companies included Coca-Cola Co., Kraft Foods Inc., Gillette Co.’s Duracell unit, Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Kellogg Co. Attendees received samples of products from the vendors.
Batteries were particularly popular given the time of year, Munroe said.
The promotion provides vendors with feedback about their products in the Hispanic market. That market is estimated to include about 6.5 million people in L.A. and OC.
Heil-Brice ranked No. 7 on the most recent Business Journal list of advertising agencies, with $88.3 million in 2003 OC capitalized billings.
In other news, Heil-Brice won work for Baton Rouge, La.-based Piccadilly Restaurants LLC. The shop will manage Piccadilly’s advertising, media buys and promotions for the 132-restaurant chain.
Heads in Beds
The Costa Mesa Conference & Visitor Bureau’s “Drive or Fly & Dine on Us” campaign netted 2,270 booked hotel nights for the city.
Visitors from 33 states outside California used the promotion for the five months it was in effect. Travelers from Mexico, Japan and Sweden also took advantage. About a third of those using the deal came from Los Angeles County; 17% came from the Palm Springs area.
In all, the promotion brought in revenue of $234,000.
Meanwhile, 1,603 restaurant certificates were redeemed, with an average check value (after the $30 discount) of $57.
Guests were required to book a minimum of two nights at an area hotel; those who flew received checks of $30 toward their airfare.
Cheers to Concierges
Bowers Museum of Cultural Art and Guest Informant, a national publisher of upscale visitor guides, last month teamed to present the first awards presentation for the Orange County Concierge Association.
The event included a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum’s new exhibit, Queen of Sheba. The top award,Best Friend 2004,went to Bobbi Hirschbein, concierge at the Anaheim/Orange County Convention & Visitor Bureau’s restaurant desk at the Anaheim Convention Center.
“Our company understands the value of the concierge to the visitor experience,” said Guest Informant publisher Connie Hamilton.
Bits and Pieces:
Santa Ana-based Ivysport Clothing Co., a maker of Ivy League college clothing, signed on with S3, an Irvine ad shop with headquarters in Boonton, N.J. S3 also represents Orange-based Johnston + Associates Inc., a tenant improvement contractor. Along with its New Jersey office, S3 does work for Volvo, Jaguar North America and BMW Roxburgh Agency, Costa Mesa, is spearheading the marketing campaign for Woodbury, a new residential neighborhood in Irvine. Work includes promotions and an interactive Web site for the development The Skiver Group, Irvine, recently bought a 5,000-square-foot building at the Irvine Spectrum from Panattoni Development Co. The firm, which counts clients in residential real estate and resort markets, recently added clients in the financial services and wireless communications sectors. Seal Beach-based Maricich Advertising + Comm-
unications received an award from the Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Association for its work on behalf of Huntington Beach-based MemorialCare Medical Centers. The Orange County Tourism Council announced its 2005 Service Excellence Awards for April 6 at the Hyatt Regency Orange County with Where Magazine and American Express Co. as co-presenters Blue C Communications, Newport Beach, received two Gold Advocate awards from the Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Association. One win was for its ad campaign for Universal Care Inc. in Signal Hill; the other was for marketing materials for Experea HealthCare LLC in Lake Forest.
