The Orange County Register plans to debut a redesigned Web site later this summer that will allow users to personalize the news they see from around the county.
The move is part of the Register’s effort to become “hyper local” in its coverage of cities and neighborhoods around the county, said Hal Brice, co-chief executive of Irvine ad agency HeilBrice, which the Register hired last year to work on the redesign.
The new Web site will allow users to customize what is displayed on the front page, including with news from their neighborhoods.
“Local news matters to people who live in the town where the news is happening,” Brice said. “You will be able to personalize the site in such a way that no matter who you are or what your interests are, you’ll be able to create an experience that speaks to you.”
The Register, part of Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc., hopes to better sell ads on the site with the redesign.
“Advertisers are looking for a more segmented market,” Brice said. “Advertisers still need to reach local people, because the Internet has not solved the whole issue of how do I find great services and products in my town.”
The Web redesign is part of the Register’s ongoing Internet push as its deals with an epic slump in newspaper advertising.
“Newspapers have become less relevant to
the consumers who only use the Internet,” Brice said.
Even before the Web redesign, the Register adopted what executives at the paper call a “Web-first philosophy” of putting stories online before they appear in print. It also launched a series of blogs on the housing market, shopping, fast food and other topics.
“The Register has been committed to the Internet from early on with their blogs that are already out there and working,” Brice said.
Earlier this month, the Register said it is working with Sunnyvale-based Yahoo Inc.’s Newspaper Consortium to distribute its stories more widely on the Internet.
The Register was one of five newspapers recently joining the consortium, which was founded in 2006 and has about 815 papers in all.
The other new members are the Gazette in Colorado Springs, also owned by Freedom, The San Diego Union-Tribune, and The Record and Herald News, both part of the New Jersey-based North Jersey Media Group Inc.
Station Ads Joint Venture
Irvine-based AdtekMedia Inc.’s PumpTop TV, which operates the screens seen on gas station pumps, has formed a venture with gas station TV operator Outcast, which is based out of Santa Monica.
The venture creates a national network of more than 12,600 gas pump screens in areas such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas. The network could reach 20 million viewers a month, according to reports.
Advertising sales on gas pump TVs have been growing, since viewers can’t fast-forward through commercials and don’t have much else to look at while they are pumping gas.
Under the partnership, Outcast, whose clients include Royal Dutch Shell PLC and ConocoPhillips, will be responsible for advertising sales and marketing.
PumpTop’s marketing and sales force will remain PumpTop employees, but they will report to Nathan Gill, chief media officer at Outcast.
PumpTop will help develop software, products and technology.
The company has a longstanding relationship with Santa Fe Springs-based Westinghouse Digital Electronics LLC, which produces the gas station liquid crystal display screens.
There has been talk about the need for consolidation in the station pump screen business for some time.
“There are several issues that have been hampering our industry, including lack of reach, lack of market coverage and fragmentation leading to market confusion,” said Matthew Stoudt, chief executive at Outcast.
The company has about 60 workers locally and account managers in its top markets.
Advertisers who are already using Outcast and PumpTop TV include McDonald’s Corp., MasterCard Inc., Audi AG, Jack in the Box Inc., Best Buy Co. and Honda North America Inc.
The partnership is expected to streamline media buying for their customers.
“We don’t want two people following the same account,” Stoudt said. “The goal is to have one invoice to simplify the process for advertisers.”
Outcast appears prepared to replace their gas pump displays with the PumpTop TV displays.
“We’re going to run through our existing inventory and then look at the possibility of new units through this venture,” Stoudt said.
Outcast is the result of Los Angeles-based Fuelcast Media Network Inc. acquiring smaller Los Angeles-based Bhootan last year.
Financial details of the venture weren’t disclosed.
Bits and Pieces
Costa Mesa-based Casanova Pendrill Inc. has been hired by Los Angeles-based Saber es Poder (translated knowledge is power), which distributes educational videos in Spanish, after a two-month agency search. The Hispanic ad shop, part of New York-based Interpublic Group of Cos., will be handling the rebranding of the multimedia company Irvine-based RFaxis Inc., a wireless chip company, has hired Irvine-based Lages & Associates Inc. as its public relations agency of record. The public relations company that specializes in technology clients already has helped launch two of RFaxis’s chips at the Computex International Information technology show in Taiwan Irvine-based Blizzard Entertainment Inc., part of Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard Inc., has launched a commercial with Mountain Dew, part of PepsiCo Inc. The commercial features two female shoppers who morph into “World of Warcraft” characters and battle over Mountain Dew’s new game fuel flavors: Horde Red and Alliance Blue, based on “World of Warcraft’s” two warring factions. The spot is expected to run in all major markets as well as online.
