Boot Barn Inc. in Irvine recently hired country music star Kelsea Ballerini as the face of women’s apparel brand Shyanne, but the real buzz is coming from its employee who is competing on NBC’s “The Voice.”
Mary Sarah, who works at the company’s store in Brentwood, Tenn., got compliments for her April 18 performance from show judges Adam Levine, Pharrell Williams, Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera and host Carson Daly. The talk turned to Boot Barn when Williams asked if she’d ever imagined herself among the top 12 contestants while working at the retail chain, to which she replied that she has big dreams.
The name drop didn’t go unnoticed, however.
“The owner of Boot Barn is at home right now (saying), ‘Yes!’” Levine said, while Shelton chimed in, “Is Boot Barn going to send us some boots or a package or something?”
The retailer’s social media team pounced on the opportunity, posting a video of Chief Executive Jim Conroy picking up six pairs of boots to deliver to the show’s team in Los Angeles.
“I’m just so proud of Mary Sarah. This is fantastic,” Conroy said as he loaded his pickup truck.
Ad Vault
Costa Mesa-based Casanova Pendrill’s print and broadcast ads for VOTO, a pro bono nonpartisan campaign designed to increase Latino voter registration and participation during the 2000 presidential election, have been donated to The National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., for inclusion in the “American Enterprise” exhibition, featuring the advertising industry, among others.
The bilingual campaign, which also included work from the now-defunct Sanchez & Levitan, ran in TV Guide en Español, the New York Daily News, the Miami Herald and People en Español, while broadcast partners included MTV, Telemundo and Univision.
“The visionary goal and results of the VOTO campaign is an important historical milestone of [the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies],” Al Aguilar, the association’s president, said in a statement. “The VOTO Hispanic voter registration and participation campaign is a landmark initiative that helped set the path of today’s growing political power and influence of Hispanics in America.”
Brand Equity
Irvine-based Kelley Blue Book and In-N-Out Burger Inc. topped their respective categories on the 2016 Harris Poll EquiTrend Brands of the Year list.
The Harris Poll, conducted since 1989 and acquired by Nielsen in 2014, measures brands’ health over time and looks at three factors—consumers’ familiarity with the brand, perception of quality, and purchase consideration. About 97,120 U.S. consumers ages 15 and older assessed more than 3,800 companies in nearly 500 categories, including the media, travel, financial, automotive, entertainment, retail, restaurant and household industries.
Kelley Blue Book was named brand of the year for online auto shopping, and In-N-Out took the honors in the burger restaurant category.
“Consumers form impressions of brands long before they ever use them, based on their perceptions and what they may know from trusted sources,” Joan Sinopoli, Nielsen’s vice president of brand solutions, said in a statement. “This high level equity is the gateway to eventual purchase.”
Bits & Pieces
El Pollo Loco selected Harmelin Media in Philadelphia as its media agency of record. … Canvas Worldwide, a recently formed Playa Vista-based agency that handles more than $1 billion in U.S. media buying for Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America Inc. and Kia Motors America Inc. in Irvine, announced its senior leadership team: YS Seo as chief operating officer, Amy Ginsberg as chief investment officer, Greg Johns as chief digital officer, and Garage Team Mazda veteran Mark Brown as chief strategy officer overseeing all investment and strategy efforts for Hyundai and Kia. They all report to Chief Executive Paul Woolmington.
