Irvine-based Mazda North American Operations’ commercial featuring magicians Penn and Teller has amassed 14 million views on YouTube since it first aired on Super Bowl Sunday. The automaker’s ads usually get about 10,000 views.
“We are thrilled,” said Russell Wager, Mazda’s vice president of marketing. “This puts us as the No. 4 most-watched automotive ad (out of six that aired during 2015 Super Bowl)—even though we didn’t have an ad in-game. It confirms that we are on the right track with our digital strategy and advertising concept.”
The 30-second spot shows the duo sawing in half a bright red 2016 Mazda CX-5 crossover, exposing its “newly refined interior and sophisticated technology,” then sitting in the back seat as a female model takes it for a spin around Las Vegas.
The commercial was created by Garage Team Mazda in Costa Mesa, the automaker’s in-house ad agency. It spent about $300 million on media placements in 2014, according to New York-based Kantar Media.
Gaga for Burgers
Lady Gaga, who performed at this year’s Oscars ceremony, gave a nice shout-out to Irvine-based In-N-Out Burger Inc. during a post-event interview.
When asked about the Vanity Fair party she was attending, the singer said, “I’m just here for the free In-N-Out!”
The Middle Women
Advertising industry veterans Dory Shaw Ford and Penny Jo Welsch launched Hallway Talk, “a new service that can help improve business relationships by transcending the barrier of silence between clients and their agency partners.”
The Huntington Beach-based firm will use one-on-one interviews to assess agency-client relationships, as turnover seems to be getting worse. In 1984, the average client-agent relationship lasted 7.2 years. By 1997, that number had declined to 5.3 years, according to Hallway Talk.
Today, client-agency bonds last less than three years.
Hallway Talk also reviews employees’ “state of mind,” conducts franchise reviews, and checks in with sponsors.
“As a third party, we can confidentially explore the truth about an agency’s people, service, process and culture to uncover hesitations and issues, and even kudos, and help both sides improve the relationship,” Shaw said in a statement. “Long-term relationships lead to success on both sides of this equation, and the best way to maintain and grow that relationship is by understanding what is and isn’t being said.”
Bits & Pieces
Logomark Inc., a Tustin-based supplier of personalized gift and promotional products, won the 2015 Counselor Distributor Choice Awards in the clocks and watches, and picture frames categories. … NuGene International Inc., an Irvine-based company that specializes in skincare products, selected Capital Market Relations in Mission Viejo as its agency of record for strategic communications and investor relations. … The Center for Digital Transformation at University of California-Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business will host a conference, “Road to Reinvention: Leadership in the Digital Age,” on March 19 at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center. … Sage Hill, a private school in Newport Beach, selected Costa Mesa-based GearShift Advertising as its advertising agency of record. … Pipeline Digital Media produced a series of short videos for the city of Fullerton’s annual “State of the City” event hosted by the Fullerton Chamber of Commerce. … Digital agency AkinsParker in Santa Ana celebrated its 10th anniversary last month. … The OC American Advertising Federation awards will be held March 19 at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana.
