Jewish Journal Begins OC Trial; 76 Lubricants Picks PR Agency
Open Minds, Laguna Beach, and The Ponzi Group, Trabuco Canyon, teamed up to pursue Allied Domecq, USA’s Callaway wine account and won it, beating out such larger firms as Los Angeles-based Colby, Effler and Partners. The two agencies combined employ 18.
The team will launch a national print, cable, outdoor, trade and broadcast campaign for expansion of Callaway wines in the fall. The worth of the account is still to be determined.
“Our philosophies in business were perfectly in synch,” said Angelo Ponzi, president of The Ponzi Group. In addition, the two agencies complement each other. Open Minds is creative only and The Ponzi Group focuses on marketing, research and media, so the meshing of the two created a full-service bid, Ponzi said.
The team pitched in November and won the account in February.
“The campaign we presented is the one they’re going to use,” he said.
It’s unusual when the client selects the actual campaign, said Mark Choate, partner at Open Minds.
Choate and Ponzi say they will team up to pitch other accounts.
Jewish Journal Arrives
The Jewish Journal, a nonprofit general-interest tabloid published in Los Angeles, began distributing in OC last week for a six-month trial. Initially, it will distribute about 15,500 copies, which includes a 12-page OC section. It was founded in LA in 1986 and has a distribution there of approximately 58,000. Gene Lichtenstein, editor in chief, said it chose OC because of the proximity to LA and the growing Jewish population here. Stanley Hirsh, chairman of the board of the nonprofit group, is the publisher. Operating surpluses are donated to Jewish charities. Last year it contributed $125,000 to various charitable organizations.
76 Hires Agency
Costa Mesa’s 76 Lubricants has retained San Diego-based [formula] PR for its national public relations. 76 is a subsidiary of Tosco Corp., the parent of 76 Gasoline, Circle K, Brown Bear Car Wash, Express Lube, Pro Wash and others.
Bits and Pieces
JRA Interactive Inc. won a Silver award in the 2000 Summit Creative Awards competition for its work with FileNet Corp., Costa Mesa. The Summit Awards competition recognizes multimedia firms and agencies with less than $15 million in annual billings … Inspired by Silicon Valley, California license plates may soon advertise dot-com businesses. AB 2072, introduced by Assemblymen Jim Cunneen, R-San Jose, and Rod Pacheco, R-Riverside, would permit the DMV to issue dot-com plates with up to seven characters. A portion of the $50 fees would go to fund an Internet Educational Account, which would be used to help boost “poor-performing” school districts … FMJ Adcomm, a Venice-based healthcare marketing firm, has added an Irvine office. Mandy Harvey will head up the office as senior account executive. FMJ’s OC clients include UCI’s Medical Center and Safety 1st Medical, Laguna Niguel, a distributor of disposable syringes. FMJ’s office is at 19800 MacArthur Blvd., Suite 546 … Laguna Hills’ Del Taco signed three new agencies for its $10 million ad budget: G & M; Plumbing, Santa Monica; Red Monkey Ads and Ideas, Portland, Ore.; and Paradise Media, Eugene, Ore. The three companies replace WongDoody of Santa Monica and Seattle. A new Del Taco campaign is scheduled to begin in mid-April Newspapers 2000 is scheduled for June 15-20 in San Francisco. The convention focuses on newspaper marketing, advertising and classified. Topics will include: “Redefining Newspaper Marketing to Maximize Readership,” “Customer Service Is King,” “Building Effective Relationships With Agencies and Advertisers” and, of course, newspapers in the new economy. For more information, visit www.naa.org/newspapers2000 The Surf Industry Manufacturers Association will host its Third Annual Surf Summit, May 4-7 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Quiksilver CEO Bob McKnight will keynote the event, which will include seminars on e-commerce and changing demographics Corporate sponsors of the Newport Beach Film Festival include Land Rover Orange County, Earthlink, Jamba Juice, Los Angeles Times Orange County, E-Billboards, Starbucks, 95.9 The Mix, Deluxe Color Printers and the Hard Rock Caf & #233;. The festival will continue through April 6 at Edwards Fashion Island and Big Newport Cinemas in Newport Beach The California Restaurant Association’s OC chapter will host its third annual President’s Panel on April 4, 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., at the Hyatt Regency Irvine Conference Theater. Presenters include Peggy Tsiang Cherng, president and CEO of Panda Management Co.; Roger Glickman, president and CEO of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts; Mingo Lee, co-founder and CEO of Wahoo’s Fish Tacos; and Craig Nickoloff, founder and president of Claim Jumper Restaurants. Discussions will include attracting new customers, branding and e-commerce.
Sherri Cruz is temporarily filling in for Susan Schaben, who is on medical leave. Contact her at cruz@ocbj.com
