Young & Rubicam Brands in Irvine is building its creative team.
The ad agency hired Miles Turpin as senior vice president and creative director.
Turpin, who had been group creative director for Energy BBDO, is expected to help with several of Y & R;’s clients, including Ford Motor Co.’s Land Rover North America in Irvine, Hilton Hotels Corp. and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox.
Y & R; has spent the past year going after work under new head, Rick Eiserman, who replaced David Murphy and started earlier this year.
Last winter, the shop won three accounts in three months including BabyFirst TV, a new TV channel from News Corp.’s Regency Entertainment, Portland-based Knowledge Learning Corp. and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
More ASR
Last week, I talked about some of the goings on at the Action Sports Retailer show held in early September in San Diego.
The show was full of clothing brands with news.
Newport Beach-based Atwater was busy promoting the arrival of its first clothing line to stores.
The upstart brand said it signed up several retailers, including Jack’s Surfboards in Huntington Beach, The Closet in Costa Mesa, Hobie in Laguna Beach, Active in Mission Viejo and Surfside Sports in Newport Beach.
Atwater, started in December by two former designers from Costa Mesa-based Hurley International, a unit of Nike Inc., has been getting a lot of buzz.
Sanuk, a line of sandals made under license by Irvine’s C & C; Cos., is pushing a new line of shoes called Sidewalk Surfers.
Jeff Kelley, Sanuk founder, said the shoes have an upper made of canvas or suede that is attached to a comfy sandal bottom, making them flexible and lightweight.
The shoes are popular with outdoor stores, such as REI, Kelley said.
“This is right up their alley,” he said.
Seven-year-old Sanuk has seen competition spike, not only from other shoemakers such as San Clemente-based Rainbow Sandals, but from surfwear companies that are making their own shoe plays, including Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc., Hurley and Costa Mesa-based Volcom Inc.
Stores have been narrowing their shoe selection, which has made it tough on startup and smaller companies.
Speaking of Quiksilver, the company recently revamped its men’s shoes and streamlined its offering.
Quiksilver spokesman Josh Katz said the company realized that to “compete we needed to capitalize on what our brand stands for: casual, fun and young.”
Some of the shoes are funky, like a pair of green suede slip-ons with a watermelon graphic on the inside.
Hurley made its own changes.
More than a year ago, the company teamed with Nike’s Converse unit to revamp its shoe selection. Previously, Hurley tried to go it alone and had some misses.
Dan Levine, Hurley’s vice president of new business development, said Converse has a staff at Hurley’s Costa Mesa headquarters to work with Hurley’s designers.
“They’re in touch with everything we do,” Levine said. “There are no surprises.”
Reality TV Tourists
Reality shows have made Orange County a “chic place to come and tour,” said Janice Arrington, the county’s film commissioner.
A prime example: People watch girls getting their nails done at a local salon on MTV’s “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County” and they want to go, Arrington said.
“I know consumerism has picked up in those locations,” she said.
But OC’s film industry still has its challenges.
The number of TV commercials and reality TV shows shot here has spiked, but Arrington said some feature films have gone elsewhere.
“We’ve lost movies of the week,” she said.
The biggest reason: money.
“The state of California has lost some features to Louisiana, New York and New Mexico,” Arrington said. “All are offering large rebates and tax credits. In some cases, (film producers) can make 25% of their budgets back.”
The California Film Commission offers its own breaks.
Film producers can apply to use certain “unused, distinctive state-owned properties,” such as vacant office structures or prisons, for a “nominal fee or at no charge.”
Other incentives include no state hotel tax on stays and 5% sales tax exemption on the purchase or lease of post-production equipment.
Dedica NY
Irvine-based Dedica Group opened an office in New York.
The shop, which does marketing as well as design work for theme parks and other clients, said the office should better serve East Coast clients such as Coca-Cola Co.’s food service and hospitality division.
Dedica’s senior program director and partner, Gioia Francella, is heading the office.
“Our new location provides the local presence and availability that customers require in today’s fast-paced market,” Francella said.
