Rick Eiserman, head of Young & Rubicam Brands in Irvine, continues to hire at the advertising agency.
Y & R; recently added some 12 people, including in finance, account services and online.
Among the newbies: three senior account executives and supervisors to help out with Y & R;’s growing Irvine-based Land Rover North America account.
Late last year, the ad shop,one of the county’s largest,got more responsibility from the automaker, part of Ford Motor Co.’s Irvine-based Premier Automotive Group.
Y & R; used to solely handle Land Rover’s advertising in North America. Now it’s also responsible for some 12 markets, including Russia, China and India.
“We want to build this into a world-class agency, not just a local field office with a focus in Southern California,” Eiserman said in a past interview.
Y & R;, part of London’s WPP Group PLC, also has been busy with Carlsbad-based Callaway Golf Co. Last fall, Callaway expanded business with Y & R.;
|
|
Callaway site: Y & R;’s Wunderman did work |
The Irvine office recently did a Web page for Callaway, promoting the company’s FT-i driver. Y & R;’s Wunderman digital division, which does Web work and more, handled the task.
The site is designed to be easily updated for other markets, according to Y & R.;
There’s a section where you can “virtually” place the ball on the club and swing and judge performance of the club.
Y & R; also plans to hire more workers this year. No further details were disclosed.
Creative Changes
Big changes have played out at Lake Forest-based Creative Lab.
The advertising and marketing shop said it recently combined with a Philadelphia shop called 1st Team, and now goes by Agency 51.
“We will combine our culture, creative talents and client base to form a brand new marketing and advertising entity,” said Frank Lee, general manager of Agency 51.
The shop made the move to help with its “continued business growth,” Lee said.
Agency 51 plans to offer expanded services in print, outdoor and broadcast advertising, and give local clients more access to the East Coast with an office in Philadelphia, Lee said.
The shop can “respond to our clients’ marketing needs” in a timelier manner, he said.
Agency 51 expects to go after accounts in the financial, tourism and cable industries, Lee said.
Local Push
Irvine-based Local.com Corp., a once highflying Web advertising company formerly known as Interchange Corp., has expanded its services in a bid to boost sales from Orange County advertisers.
The company said it teamed with San Mateo-based Oodle Inc., a search engine for classifieds, to provide classified listings on Local.com, such as real estate, rentals, pets and tickets.
People can search by ZIP code or price, the company said.
This is the latest move by Local.com to beef up its content, including local businesses, maps, driving directions and user reviews.
In the past few months, Local.com added information on jobs and seasonal holiday shopping specials.
Businesses can advertise on Local.com by subscriptions, pay-per-click, banner and pay-per-call advertising services.
Last year, the company said it refocused its business on local advertising after seeing a drop in national searches.
Sales dropped 28% to $10.6 million for the nine months ended Sept. 30, with local searches accounting for a little more than half and national searches making up the rest.
The company posted a net loss of $10.1 million for the period, versus a $3.5 million loss a year earlier.
The decrease was due in part to national advertisers cutting back on their overall spending and a drop in “click-throughs” from national advertisers, the company said in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The losses were offset in part by a jump in advertising sales from local businesses, which is where the company expects to see growth, according to Local.com.
Last year, Local.com hired investment bank Merriman Curhan Ford & Co. to look at options on the company’s national search engine business, including a possible sale.
The investment bank no longer works with Local.com, which said it plans to continue with its national search business for now.
More Arena Changes
Anaheim Arena Management LLC, which manages Honda Center and the Anaheim Ducks hockey team, has made more changes to its lineup.
The company recently hired five workers, mostly in sales, and promoted two others. This is Anaheim Arena’s latest round of changes.
In the past year, the company has boosted staff and hooked a slew of sponsorship deals, including changing the arena’s name to Honda Center from Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.
