Hawkins Hawking The Wine Club; GreenLight Adds Tech Account
Irvine-based Johnny Rockets recently awarded its creative account to an outside agency for the first time in its 14-year history.
Seattle-based WongDoody’s Los Angeles office won the $1 million to $2 million account, edging out Hendry, Lindman & Feltman in Irvine, Marketeam in Laguna Hills, and E Squared and The Woo Agency, both in LA. Big name clients in WongDoody’s portfolio include Alaska Airlines and adidas America.
The agency’s first assignment for Johnny Rockets, a holiday promotion estimated at $200,000 in annual capitalized billings, launched Monday and will run through the end of December. The agency’s goal is to increase gift certificate sales over the holidays while building the Johnny Rockets brand. WongDoody will produce all ads and in-store collateral and spearhead public relations efforts.
The promotion enables customers who buy five $5 gift certificates to create their own Johnny Rockets jukebox mix CD. To do so, customers log onto johnnyrockets.com and use their PIN numbers to pick songs.
But that’s not all Johnny Rockets has up its sleeve. To bring more customers in the door, the 1950s-style chain eatery will also run a special promotion on Dec. 14,the busiest mail day of the year,to pay tribute to U.S. Postal Service employees. Mail carriers and other postal workers must be dressed in uniform and show their work identification cards to receive a free hamburger at any of Johnny Rockets’ 128 U.S. locations. There are four in OC: Laguna Beach, Costa Mesa, Orange and Irvine.
Hawkins Takes to Radio for Wine Club
Newport Beach-based Hawkins Advertising & Public Relations last week launched a radio campaign for The Wine Club, a large independent wine retailer, on KNX-AM in Los Angeles and KCBS-AM in San Francisco. The campaign, dubbed “Looking for Answers,” consists of a series of three 60-second radio spots illustrating how difficult it can be to shop for the perfect bottle of wine. The campaign will run through New Year’s Day and again in April. Hawkins Advertising had pitched The Wine Club and won its creative and media accounts (for an undisclosed amount) in October, without a formal review. The agency, which last year reported $6.8 million in OC capitalized billings, also does work for Kellogg’s and Delimex, a San Diego-based manufacturer of Mexican frozen foods with annual sales of more than $100 million.
GreenLight Adds Intheairnet
Newport Beach-based GreenLight Communications’ public relations arm recently was tapped by Irvine-based Intheairnet, a provider of in-flight entertainment, Internet, e-mail and other Web-based information. GreenLight, which last year reported $1.5 million in fee revenue, will handle public relations for the start-up company. The agency will promote Intheairnet’s new network technology, which merges in-flight entertainment content with Internet access using digital technology. A prototype of the system will be available in the summer.
GreenLight also recently received two Helios Awards from the Orange County Chapter of IABC. The agency earned an award of merit in the design and advertising category and an award of excellence for press release writing.
Del Taco Launches New TV Ad
Laguna Hills-based Del Taco Inc. continues to challenge its rival, Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp., in the latest installment of its “Dan the product guy” ads. The new TV spot, created by G & M Plumbing in Santa Monica, kicked off Monday and focuses on Del Taco’s Macho Burrito line, which features more than a pound of food in each burrito, according to the company. In the commercial, Dan calls Taco Bell’s product development department to ask if that fast-food chain serves up a bigger burrito than Del Taco’s. The ad will run with a radio campaign and air in Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Las Vegas, Modesto, Sacramento, Palm Springs and Salt Lake City.
Bits and Pieces:
The Costa Mesa Tourism Council hopes to lure visitors with a new holiday shopping promotion called “Shop Like the Dickens.” The campaign features coupons for special values at the city’s shops, restaurants, hotels and entertainment centers. American Express co-produced the promotion and announced it in a mailer recently sent to about 60,000 gold and platinum cardholders in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and the Inland Empire. Featured specials include $79 rooms at the Hilton in Costa Mesa and Costa Mesa Marriott Suites. Upon check-in, guests receive a gift-certificate package valued at more than $450 Santa Ana-based Script to Screen recently completed a short-form direct-response TV campaign for Sears. The agency produced the two-minute spot featuring the Sears Life-Flex Gym with King World Direct, the direct-response TV agency for Sears.
