Ford Turns to OC for Service Spots; Y & R; Buys in Austin
The Los Angeles office of Ketchum has been tapped to handle Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America’s national public relations account.
The firm beat out 11 undisclosed shops in a competitive review that opened in January. It survived two rounds of cuts before winning the account at the end of March, said Sean Fitzgerald, a Ketchum senior vice president.
The size of the business wasn’t disclosed (Hyundai reportedly still is determining the scope of work). But Fitzgerald said, “It will be one of the largest, if not the largest account, in the Los Angeles office.”
The firm, which reported 2000 Los Angeles office billings of about $20 million, plans to do a variety of PR services for Hyundai focused on automotive trade and brand building.
“With sales up 160% in the last two years, we needed an agency that would continue the momentum. We’ve found that in Ketchum,” said Chris Hosford, Hyundai’s director of communications said in a statement.
Ketchum mainly will serve the automaker from Los Angeles, with support from its Irvine office, which opened a few months back to service OC clients such as HomeBase Inc. and Lantronix Inc., both of Irvine.
Fitzgerald said having an office close to Hyundai’s OC headquarters was one of the reasons the automaker chose Ketchum.
“We can still handle (the account) out of LA. But obviously a drive from Irvine to Fountain Valley is a lot faster, which is why we’re going to have a couple of people from our LA Hyundai team located in the Irvine office,” he said.
Polishing the Blue Oval
Two Orange County residents are in documentary-style TV spots launched by Ford Motor Co. last week as part of a new ad campaign.
Ford customer Manuel Mejia of Lake Forest and Ceaser Grijalva of Rancho Santa Margarita, a Ford employee, talk about Ford’s Blue Oval Certified customer service program. The campaign, which includes TV, print, interactive and public service spots, pushes customer satisfaction in a bid to bring in more business.
Dianne Craig, Ford’s Blue Oval Certified manager, says the program,developed prior to the Firestone tire recall,has shown signs of changing perceptions. It started in April.
“Ford’s customer viewpoint surveys show customer satisfaction for 2000 is up 3%, purchase satisfaction has increased more than 12% and overall service satisfaction is up 2% compared to 1999,” she said.
Developed by agency-of-record J. Walter Thompson USA, the campaign includes a public service ad featuring Jamie Lee Curtis in which she urges parents to bring their kids to Blue Oval Certified Ford dealers to get pictures and fingerprints taken for safety.
The size of the campaign wasn’t disclosed. Print ads will appear in weekly and monthly publications.
Y & R; Austin Deal
Young & Rubicam Advertising just reached out and bought Austin, Texas-based SicolaMartin, a technology marketing agency. The buy reportedly lets SicolaMartin expand its reach and gives Young & Rubicam’s offices more resources in technology. SicolaMartin’s current clients include Novell Inc., Compaq Computer Corp. and Vignette Corp.
Advice for Tough Times
No path went unexplored,not even chief executive horror stories,at a recent workshop put on by the OC chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. Ruth Doering, senior vice president and general manager of Ketchum Los Angeles, led the event.
Deoring offered a room full of communications professionals suggestions on how to sell marketing programs to top executives (CEOs, CFOs, CIOs) in a bear market.
It’s a hot topic, particularly as OC agencies are watching clients count dollars and, in some cases, pinch marketing budgets as they face a tighter economic environment.
“In recessionary times, the retention of the customer is critical,” Doering said.
And so is being articulate and well researched, two other tips Doering offered up. Others included: nailing the basics of marketing plans, demonstrating industry expertise and being well-versed about a companies’,and its competitors,sales.
Bits and pieces:
Lake Forest-based MyOC.com, partner to ocregister.com and The Orange County Register, has undergone its facelift. The site has made several changes aimed at making it easier to navigate. There’s now more local coverage of sports and news; banner ads are tucked in the bottom right corner; photos from the Register change each time you load the site. There is also a membership sign-in and a chance to win prizes Irvine-based Entrepreneur Magazine is about to unveil a redesign. The business publication is promoting the change through teaser e-mails featuring music and an animated chicken. They end with the words: “New look, new attitude hatching 2001 issue” The Boys and Girls Club of Santa Ana recently won the nonprofit’s top honor for marketing and communications,the only club in Southern California to walk away with the award. The club competed with 2,800 others nationwide Irvine-based El Pollo Loco recently broke new Hispanic TV spots and launched a separate English and Spanish language campaign in San Antonio to extend its reach into the Hispanic market. The campaign was created by Los Angeles-based cruz/kravetz:IDEAS.
