The Anaheim office of New York’s Euro RSCG Magnet plans to stick around despite big changes at its parent.
Christopher Perez, regional manager and executive vice president, said the public relations and marketing shop plans to keep a small operation in Orange County. It also has a Corona office.
Perez said he expects a “break even” year in 2006 amid lineup changes in New York, including the company getting a new chief executive, Lisa Sepulveda.
“Don’t ever let someone tell you that significant changes like this don’t have an impact on your day-to-day operations in an international corporation,” Perez said. “Here locally, we approached these changes with as much transparency as possible.”
The company set sales goals that were “intentionally conservative,” which “I think sent a good message to our staff that we could afford to be patient,” Perez said.
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Y & R; Dodgers ad: campaign included TV, promotions, “guerilla” marketing |
Euro RSCG picked up several clients last year, including Tate & Lyle PLC’s Splenda sweetner brand, diabetic products maker Lifescan Inc. and the Better Business Bureau of the Southland.
The wins didn’t entirely offset the loss of an undisclosed major client, work the shop decided to resign last year, Perez said.
Euro RSCG has a good outlook for 2007, according to Perez.
The shop has a “thriving” Latino practice and “strong expertise in consumer and business-to-business technology,” Perez said.
“This diversification has historically helped us ride out the ebb and flow that every industry experiences,” he said.
The company’s offices here and on the East Coast help draw clients such as Splenda, Perez said.
“The decision to hire us by Splenda was in large part to our bi-coastal presence even though we service the account primarily out of (the Corona) office,” Perez said.
RiechesBaird Goes Solar
Irvine-based RiechesBaird picked up a client.
The marketing and consulting firm was tapped by Sharp Solar Energy Solutions Group for marketing work, including market research, business strategy and brand development.
Sharp Solar Energy is part of Japan’s Sharp Corp. It provides solar energy products and services to homes and commercial buildings.
RiechesBaird said it was chosen for the job because of its experience with business-to-business marketing.
Dodger Blue
Irvine-based Young & Rubicam Brands couldn’t help the Los Angeles Dodgers out in the playoffs but said it got the baseball team out of the dugout this year with clever marketing.
The team made big changes this season, which recently ended with the Dodgers getting bumped from the playoffs with a loss to the New York Mets. Those changes included getting a new general manager and manager to revamp the team lineup and help turn around a losing streak.
Y & R; was tapped for a marketing campaign, which the shop said helped the team break its single-season attendance record this last season. Winning games no doubt also helped lure fans.
The work included a TV campaign, promotions at Team LA Universal City Walk and “guerilla” marketing to create buzz about the team and highlight $40 million in stadium upgrades, such as new seats. Some ads played up the seats.
Bits and Pieces:
I recently wrote about Irvine-based KDOC-TV and changes playing out at the station under its new parent, Atlanta-based Ellis Communications Inc. Just to clarify: the station’s new lineup doesn’t include any Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim games or college sports games, though KDOC had aired those in the past Irvine-based Merit/Andrew film and production studio just hired Michael Kedor as editor and graphic artist to help handle the shop’s work Michelle Cervantez, vice president of marketing at Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America Inc., recently left the automaker after about a year on the job. The move comes soon after the arrival of chief operating officer Steve Wilhite, a marketing and advertising veteran who previously was senior vice president of global marketing at Nissan Motor Corp. Newport Beach-based Juxt Interactive just wrapped up Web sites for Groupe Danone’s Dannon and its Spring! water and Nestea Ice brands. The shop is on the hunt for about seven hires, including a copywriter, art director, Web developer and Flash developer to help with new assignments Anaheim Arena Management LLC, which manages Honda Center in Anaheim, just hired four people to promote ticket sales for the stadium and Anaheim Ducks hockey team.
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