FCB Launches New Ad for Kawasaki; Register’s New Look Debuts
The publishers of glitzy lifestyle magazine Orange Coast hope to soon tap into the growing Hispanic population in Orange County.
Ruth Ko and Skip Johnson, publisher and executive publisher of Orange Coast, respectively, recently announced that by year’s end they will launch a new monthly magazine aimed at the “movers and shakers” in the Latino community.
“This is not a start-up. It’s just an extension of what we’ve been doing for 25 years,” said Johnson, who will be the new title’s publisher. A name hasn’t been announced.
The magazine will have a staff of six to eight bilingual editors and sales reps. It will have the same upscale flair as Orange Coast, but will focus on the top 4% to 10% of the Hispanic population, including leaders in business, government and education. According to Johnson, there are more than 800,000 Latinos in OC and the community is “socially powerful, politically connected and sophisticated.”
Initially, about 40,000 copies will be distributed at newstands, hotels and targeted OC homes.
“We’re just at the tip of the iceberg as far as distribution of the magazine goes,” Johnson said.
An anticipated draw: the magazine will run a master calendar of charitable events for the Latino community, similar to what Orange Coast offers its readers. The first issue will be about 68 pages, including the list.
Johnson says he hopes to tap Orange Coast advertisers, as well as other Hispanic businesses and organizations, which so far have welcomed the pub “with open arms.”
Shock Value
FCB Southern California in Costa Mesa went for the silent but shocking approach in its new 30-second spot dubbed “Clear” for client Kawasaki Motors Corp. USA.
No dialogue is heard during the commercial. It just focuses on a guy waiting in a doctor’s office for an appointment. He plucks a nose hair with large medical tweezers, wraps a blood-pressure cuff around his neck and pumps, and then goes for the defibrillator, which jolts him so hard he flies across the room.
The spot ends with a shot of Kawasaki’s Ninja ZX-6R sport bike and the voiceover: “Try all you want, but nothing can replace the rush you get from a Kawasaki Ninja.”
FCB is airing the spot on Speedvision, ESPN, Fox Sports Net and soon it will also be on ABC and Fox. Media spending for the television spot was about $1 million.
The New-Look Register
The Orange County Register unveiled a revamped look last week, complete with design and content changes.
Chris Anderson, the Register’s publisher and chief executive, said the paper took its lead from readers, who wanted an easier-to-read paper. In response, the Register implemented a slew of changes, including limiting the number of stories that continue off the front page. Now, there will only be two, and they always jump to page 4 of that section.
“Like all newspapers, we have been struggling for years with readership churn. We’re able to sell a lot of newspapers but it is more difficult to convert those sales into long-term subscriptions,” Anderson explained. “This is absolutely all about increasing readership.”
And, if the numbers go up the Register will also appeal to more advertisers, Anderson added.
Schraff Adds Internet Veteran
Newport Beach-based The Schraff Group Inc. recently named David M. Wood director of its 2-year-old Internet division.
Wood, a technology veteran who was most recently partner at MarchFIRST, an Internet professional services firm in Chicago, will set the direction for the division, which totals about 11 employees (six of which are shared with the Schraff Group).
The team recently completed the first phase of an ongoing project for client Long Beach-based Paciolan, a ticketing software provider that tapped the Schraff Group for public relations, marketing and advertising, as well as a Web site redesign.
Angels Sign Beard Boy
Beard Boy Productions, Laguna Hills, was recently tapped to produce an advertising campaign for the Anaheim Angels.
The OC shop won the work for an undisclosed amount through Korobkin + Associates, a marketing communications company in Anaheim, which works for the Angels.
The first of six 30-second television spots, featuring outfielder Darin Erstad, was recently completed and is set to air on KCAL-TV Channel 9 and Fox Sports Net. The other television spots, each featuring a different player, and six 60-second radio spots still are in production and will air soon.
Bits and pieces:
The Marketing Department in Garden Grove,not to be confused with The Marketing Group in Orange,recently launched a new do-it-yourself division called ADZexpress. In a previous column, the agencies’ names were accidentally interchanged (sorry!) to the delight of the Group, which rang its competitor to gloat and point out the blooper.
