Costa Mesa-based Honest Mechanics Advertising and Brand Engineering has expanded its offices to accommodate its growing business, said Rick Thrasher, principal and account technician.
The advertising shop doubled its digs to 4,200 square feet and hired two workers. It now counts 15 employees.
Honest Mechanics is wrapping up a television commercial for Santa Monica-based Fatburger Corp. to help reposition the brand. Radio commercials for Fatburger also are being produced, and the agency created in-store marketing materials and print pieces that will be rolled out throughout the year.
Print Magazine recently featured Honest Mechanics’ work for the Screamfest Horror Film Festival on its Web site.
The shop won 19 awards, the most given, at the Inland Empire Ad Awards for its campaigns for Riverside-based Fleetwood Enterprises Inc.
Agencies Honored
Santa Ana-based DGWB Advertising came out on top with 21 awards at the Orange County Ad Club’s 2007 Addy Awards last month. Other top shops included Newport Beach-based O’Leary & Partners with 15 awards; Young & Rubicam Brands in Irvine with 14 awards; and Costa Mesa-based Marshall Advertising & Design with eight awards.
The Best in Show award went to Newport Beach-based Juxt Interactive for its flash-based Web site called “The Bridge” for thegluenetwork.com.
Tech Powered Up
PowerMark Group Inc., a San Juan Capistrano-based public relations firm, recently launched podcasts featuring interviews with local technology leaders. Called Power-Up Podcasts, the free discussions are available monthly.
In the first interview, PowerMark President Colleen Edwards talks with Michael Simmons, who led turnarounds of software companies such as Atlanta-based Aderant and PowerCerv Corp., now part of Tampa-based Verticent Inc.
“We’re offering the best part of success seminars,seasoned tech experts who will help keep listeners informed and at the top of their game, without any of the bad (parts),traffic, parking, crowds and shameless pitching of books,” Edwards said.
PowerMark represents technology companies, but isn’t just showcasing clients.
“Two of our first four experts are not clients,” Edwards said. “We’re interviewing proven leaders who are highly respected by their peers in the information technology and biotechnology industries.”
PowerMark spent $500 for the podcast equipment, including two recording microphones, a USB audio interface and headphones.
Future interviews include Ted Smith, founder and former chief executive of Costa Mesa’s FileNet Corp., which was bought by IBM Corp. for $1.6 billion in 2006, and George Kurtz, founder and former chief executive of Mission Viejo-based Foundstone, now a unit of McAfee Inc.
The 20-minute podcasts are available at www.thepowermarkgroup.com/powerup.html.
PowerMark has six employees and uses six subcontractors on a regular basis.
Branding With a Twist
Eight years after launching Brand Establishment in Irvine, Jim Hughes is adding a twist this year.
New for 2007: Training for marketing executives on the client side. Hughes is in discussions with several universities with online education and brand management programs.
Hughes, a principal in TH & M; Advertising before it was sold to Irvine-based RiechesBaird Inc. in 2003, created Brand Establishment to give midsize advertising agencies tools to become brand development experts.
Participants go through extensive training and become “certified brand strategists” after completing various assignments and passing an exam. Pennsylvania’s Second Wind Ltd., an education and consulting firm, supervises training.
Agencies that participate typically have companies with $50 million to $250 million in yearly revenue as clients. Those midsize companies need to develop their brand identities just as much as large ones, Hughes said.
The Brand Establishment program helps “bring legitimacy to the often oversold agency claims of being experts in brand development and branding,” Hughes said. “I have about 24 firms (18 are certified) in the group and we are adding about one new member a month.”
Agencies that join pay $32,500 for the certification process, with a $1,200 annual fee. In return, the agencies receive continual training and a protected geographical area.
Hughes, the founding director of Brand Establishment, is also the consulting managing director of TH & M;/RB, a consumer-focused division of RiechesBaird.
Waterman Honorees
The Surf Industry Manufacturers Association announced the honorees for the annual Waterman’s Weekend Aug. 23 and 24 at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa in Dana Point.
They are: surfer Lisa Andersen, waterman of the year; Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, environmentalist of the year; and surf contest organizer Randy Rarick, lifetime achievement award.
The weekend includes a golf tournament and a ball and auction, all of which raise money for environmental causes. Aliso Viejo-based Surf Industry Manufacturers Association is a trade association of more than 300 surf industry suppliers.
