Santa Ana hired North Star Destination Strategies in Nashville, Tenn., to develop a “community brand” for the city to market itself to residents, businesses and visitors.
“Branding the city is an important step to strengthening our community’s sense of place and creates a positive message for attracting investment, people and capital,” Mayor Miguel Pulido said in a statement.
North Star solicited responses to an online survey from people who live or work in the city “to figure out what Santa Ana’s existing reputation is,” what’s its “greatest strength,” and “what makes our city special and unique.” It plans to use the results to “come up with creative tools, strategies and advocacy programs that help close the gap between the two, including a new logo and slogan.
“The hope is that this brand will market our rich culture, history, lifestyle, and diversity,” said Councilmember Sal Tinajero.
Santa Ana has more than 342,000 residents and about 29,000 businesses. It’s “Education First” slogan was updated in 2003 to “Santa Ana. The Spirit of Change.” The contract with North Star totaled $148,500.
ASICS in Play
ASICS Corp. in Japan, parent company of Irvine-based ASICS America Corp., which oversees markets in North America and Brazil, replaced adidas AG as the official partner of the International Association of Athletics Federations, a world governing and rule-making body for “track and field, race walking, road, cross country, mountain and ultra-running.”
ASICS will provide footwear and apparel to officials and volunteers at all IAAF World Athletics Series events. The partnership will allow it “a strategic expansion of its brand recognition internationally by association with the world’s top athletics events that are viewed by significant global audiences,” the company said.
Adidas’ 11-year sponsorship deal with IAAF, which was scheduled to expire in 2019, was estimated at $33 million.
Abbate to Hall of Fame
Ryan Abbate, retired founder of Irvine-based Pacific Communications, will be inducted into the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame on Feb. 9 at a black-tie dinner at the Pierre Hotel in New York City.
Pacific Communications is a subsidiary of Allergan plc, which accounts for the majority of its business. It has grown to become one of the largest advertising agencies in Orange County, employing 265 and notching about $60 million in revenue last year.
Taco Madness
Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. created a weekly YouTube series called “Taco Tales” about “the crazy, unexpected things fans” may have done “in pursuit of Taco Bell.”
The first 3-minute webisode shows fast-food restaurant employee Jamie dropping off her car at the repair shop, only to see the mechanics in her car at the Taco Bell drive-thru later in the day.
The sources of the “probably true” anecdotes the company bills as recreations are Twitter and Reddit.
Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum Brands Inc. in Louisville, Ky. It employs 2,000, has 79 restaurants in OC, operates 7,000 stores systemwide, and had $9 billion in sales last year. The chain recently refreshed its logo, replacing the four-color one released in 1995 with a white bell on a purple background with the company name in black letters. The new design allows it to customize the bell or background with different colors, patterns or photos. Creative consultancy Lippincott in New York and internal Taco Bell design group TBD worked on the logo.
Urban Decay Kudo
Women’s Wear Daily’s companion publication Beauty Inc., which owner Penske Media Corp. calls “the insider’s guide to the global beauty community,” honored the Industry’s Best for 2016 at its 15th annual awards ceremony this month at Manhattan’s Rainbow Room. Brands recognized at the event included Newport Beach-based Urban Decay Cosmetics LLC, which was named Brand of the Year.
