Wendy’s Orders Delphi for Drive-Through Displays
Fashion Frenzy at St. John Knits’ Show
Former Register Exec Editor Fills New Post
Marketing & Media by Jennifer Bellantonio
Costa Mesa-based Delphi Display Systems Inc. has landed a meaty deal.
The designer and maker of outdoor digital video displays for fast-food restaurants recently was tapped by Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy’s International Inc. to supply displays for its eateries.
A Delphi display lets drive-through customers see and check their orders, and Wendy’s to promote its food, according to Ken Neeld, Delphi’s chief executive.
Wendy’s plans to use the Delphi displays at 350 new restaurants, and some of the 3,500 eateries with older systems, Neeld said. Wendy’s has more than 6,000 restaurants worldwide.
Wendy’s initially tested Delphi’s system in its company stores in Columbus, Ohio, according to Mike Watson, Wendy’s vice president of operations administration.
“We believe that they will be a good fit when evaluating them on price, installation, support and service,” he said.
Delphi’s other clients include Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. and Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc.
Hot Couture
Droves of 40- and 50-somethings swarmed the St. John Knits International Corp. section at Nordstrom department store at South Coast Plaza for a trunk show featuring the Irvine-based company’s fall line of couture gowns and day dresses recently.
Marie Gray, co-founder and designer of the St. John label, shook hands, autographed St. John books and listened patiently as perfumed and well-coifed customers,most donning St. John clothes,thanked her for making the popular designs.
Talk about brand building.
Also on display was Kelly Gray, co-president and the company’s signature model, and her father, Robert, co-founder and chief executive. The two mingled with the crowd, as women sampled chocolate-covered strawberries, sipped champagne and checked out the elegantly dressed sleek models.
Register Fills New Post
Changes continue at The Orange County Register.
The Santa Ana-based paper recently promoted former Executive Editor Ken Brusic to a newly created position,head of content for Freedom Orange County Infor-mation, a division of the Register’s parent, Irvine-based Freedom Communications Inc.
Brusic will oversee content for all the division’s products, including the Register, Orange County Home, Coast Magazine, GolfExtra, and myOC.com.
Brusic also was named senior vice president of content and business at Freedom’s recently formed Metro Information division, which aligns Internet portals and the company’s biggest newspapers: the Register, The Gazette in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Arizona-based newspapers in Mesa, Yuma and Sun City, which Freedom acquired in 2000.
The properties now share information and sales and marketing functions.
Register Editor Tonnie Katz now reports to Brusic.
“They complement each other well and are creative thinkers about the future,” said Chris Anderson, Register publisher and president of the new Metro division and Freedom’s Orange County Information division, in an e-mail sent to workers.
Anderson said a shared travel section with the Register and other newspapers will launch next month, and “a shared food section will (follow).
“We’re already sharing other content, including movie reviews and Washington, D.C. coverage,” Anderson said.
The Register is expected to launch a revamped site soon.
Bits and Pieces:
The PR machine,a.k.a. Mannfolk Public Relations, has been on full-throttle promoting hairstylist Allen Edwards’ new salon at the Sports Club in Irvine. Edwards touts himself as a stylist to the stars, with clients that include Hollywood names like Robert Downey Jr., Courtney Thorne-Smith and Rene Zellweger. The salon’s prices are star quality as well, with women’s haircuts starting at $60, $75 or $95, depending on the stylist Irvine-based Hollywood South recently finished an instructional and promotional video for client Baltimore-based DeWalt Industrial Tool Co. The video instructs people how to compete in DeWalt’s contest, the Million Dollar Challenge National Tour, where contestants try to drill five screws into an oak board in record time Newport Beach-based Morris Advertising is at again with wacky marketing gimmicks. This time, the shop promoted National Garlic Day,April 19,by sending out red postcards that read in part: “Tastes just like heaven, but smells like H-E-Double Hockey sticks.” A tiny clothespin is attached for added effect Irvine-based Robertson & Schmidt recently created a campaign for the YMCA of Orange County to promote its various camps Newport Beach-based Zuckerman Public Relations & Marketing Inc. was tapped by interior design firm, Tracy Murdock Design Studio in Hidden Hills, Calif., for public relations and marketing work It’s here: Disneyland Resort now is featuring the wonder child invention of Manchester, NH-based Segway LLC, the “Segway Human Transporter.” The machine uses gyroscopes and tilt sensors to emulate human balance, and propel people forward or back, depending how they shift their weight. It’s found at Disney’s “Innoventions” attraction in Tomorrowland Costa Mesa-based neoBrands was hired by Claremont-based Wolfetech Development Corp., for public relations work. The agency will help launch Wolfetech’s new products.
