Great Yoga Teachers Inc. recently moved to Newport Beach.
No, it’s not a new yoga place. Great Yoga Teachers is a 3-year-old production company, formerly based in Los Angeles. The company has five workers.
Chief executive Lou Volpano said he was looking “for better opportunity for growth.”
“Los Angeles is so saturated,” he said. “All the signals pointed to Orange County.”
Great Yoga produces a 30-minute cable TV series called “Great Yoga Teachers” on the Wisdom TV Network, which is distributed by Comcast Cable Communications Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corp.’s Dish Network to about 8 million cable and satellite subscribers.
The TV series, which launched last year, has 14 shows that feature 40 top yoga teachers. Each 30-minute show has four teachers.
“Our time on Wisdom gave us valuable feedback and told us the average person sees yoga as elaborate chanting led by skinny-minny contortionists,” Volpano said. “Our teachers remove that identity.”
The show’s goal is to help beginners get started in yoga without being nervous, he said.
Great Yoga Teachers uses two Los Angeles firms to edit the show. But Volpano said he’s on the hunt for local studios.
“We’re interested in finding video and audio production teams that can help with the next 16 episodes,” he said.
He’s looking for a title sponsor for the show, Volpano said.
Great Yoga Teachers also is building a referral service. It has a database of about 2,000 yoga instructors and refers them to interested spas worldwide for a fee, he said.
The company also is looking to build its brand by helping other companies and yoga teachers market their DVDs, Volpano said.
Copier Humor
DGWB Advertising and Communications went with humor in its latest spots for Irvine-based Toshiba American Business Solutions Inc.
“Our goal was to stand out in a category that is typically not very exciting,” said Jon Gothold, DGWB executive creative director.
The campaign, dubbed “I Love My Copier,” was developed to support dealers’ sales efforts and started running in June, according to the shop.
The work includes television spots, two print ads, bumper stickers and posters. The campaign uses the Toshiba tagline, “Don’t copy. Lead.”
The Santa Ana-based shop, which has worked with Toshiba for five years, uses a crooner who sings a sweet song about the copiers.
“We feel like this is the type of commercial that people will want to see over and over again,” Gothold said. “My hope is to get people singing about copiers.”
The copier industry isn’t an easy one. The products are tough to promote because no one thinks about a copier until it breaks, the shop said.
“Through research, we know that people hate copiers, especially when they break down,” said Enzo Cesario, DGWB creative director. “Research also tells us that people think of Toshiba as a reliable company, the one that doesn’t break down.”
Because of that, the shop “thought we could get away with an idea like love,” Cesario said.
Magellan Does Promo Work
Costa Mesa-based Magellan Media LLC went behind the scenes of the reality show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” to make a promotional DVD and commercials.
Magellan had four crews shoot the making of the show, which features a volunteer homebuilder building, furnishing and landscaping a house for a needy family in five days and nine hours.
The OC shop worked around the clock to get the footage, which is set to be used in a DVD to help the show’s producers try and land more sponsors.
The footage also was used for 30-second TV commercials that air during the show.
Soft Sell
Irvine-based software maker Client Dynamics Inc. has something new for advertisers.
The company recently came out with AdSpark, an Internet-based program that gathers marketing and other data for advertising sales representatives and account executives so they have “thoughtful reasons” to pitch new clients and talk to existing ones, according to the company.
A person using AdSpark profiles their clients and prospects and the program continuously searches sources for information that matches those profiles, according to Client Dynamics. Sales reps can use the data to pitch new business.
New Senior VP
Doner’s Newport Beach office recently hired Jim Sieminski as senior vice president and account director. He’ll oversee several accounts, such as Black & Decker Corp. and Anaheim-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. Sieminski came from Bowes, Dentsu & Partners in Los Angeles, where he was general manager.
