It’s the stuff dreams are made of in the latest campaign for Irvine-based Mazda North American Operations.
The automaker debuted its “Dream Bigger” commercial during the college basketball finals in early April to officially launch its 2019 Mazda3 collection, a core line of cars.
The 60-second spot shows a woman ready to unlock her Mazda when the key turns into a red balloon that carries her across various landscapes, from a densely populated downtown to snow-covered mountains where she enters a tunnel and comes out driving inside her Mazda3.
Costa Mesa-based agency Garage Team Mazda helped create the campaign in collaboration with director and filmmaker John Hillcoat, known for his Apple spots and films like “Lawless” (2012) and “The Road” (2009).
It also featured music by Haley Reinhardt, who covered the song “Dreams” by The Cranberries.
Chief Marketing Officer Dino Bernacchi said the new spot will help Mazda drivers feel a deeper connection to its latest model.
By “transcending the conventional rubber-to-the-road experience, the ad connects with our consumers’ desire to push their limits—to go beyond the ordinary,” he said in a statement.
“Dream Bigger” ushers in the next phase of Mazda’s new brand strategy, dubbed Feel Alive, which launched last year as an effort to target a new consumer that’s “creative, ambitious and imaginative.”
Bernacchi said it knew its brand message needed to evolve and “Dream Bigger” is the automaker’s way of showing customers how it can help achieve their goals.
The campaign also aims to reverse declining sales trends for the Mazda3; industry reports indicate the line sold about 65,000 vehicles last year, a 14% year-over-year decline.
The new collection, which includes sedans and hatchbacks, starts around $21,000.
Garage Team, the in-house agency for Mazda, is No. 13 on the Business Journal’s ranking of ad agencies by revenue. The list ran last week.
HKA, QooQoo Add Staff
Two firms beefed up their teams.
• HKA Marketing Communications in Tustin named Mike Kilroy group director of technology. Kilroy returns to the firm after more than 20 years; he was previously vice president of 10Fold Communications in Dana Point.
HKA Chief Executive Hilary Kaye said Kilroy will be part of the agency’s effort to recharge its tech practice.
The agency also relaunched its resource website EmergingTechPR.com, which like Kilroy was part of the agency two decades ago. The blog provides public relations and marketing strategies for emerging tech companies.
• Irvine-based healthcare marketing firm QooQoo added several employees following large client wins earlier this year and last year including Vertos Medical Inc., Ivantis Inc. and Equinox Ophthalmic Inc.
“We feel very good about the partnerships we have secured through our business development efforts, traditional brand work, and interest in utilizing the unique platforms we have created at QooQoo,” said President and Chief Operating Officer Clay Daniells.
The agency added graphic designer John Valdez, copywriter Dawn Hylton, and account execs Ralf Bennett and Malinee Chum.
Bits & Pieces
Irvine-based retail data and consumer analytics firm PriceSpider named Sean Reiter vice president of marketing. Reiter was previously in the same position at Healthx, an Indiana-based software provider of healthcare technologies. … California Faucets in Huntington Beach took home a gold award at that AVA Digital Awards in March for their in-house produced CGI and live action video “Bath Time,” featuring singing faucets.
