Two former executives of Aliso Viejo-based Nolet Spirits USA Inc., importer of Ketel One vodka, have traded martinis for margaritas.
Kirk Gaither, former vice president of sales for Ketel One, and Jim Riley, former vice president of public relations and events for Ketel One, have started Newport Beach-based Intersect Beverage LLC, an importer of Azuñia Tequila from Mexico.
The two started the business after being laid off.
The pair left Nolet Spirits USA after the company’s Dutch vodka maker parent sold a 50% stake in 2008 to Britain’s Diageo PLC, which has taken over a lot of the vodka maker’s U.S. distribution and marketing work.
Gaither and Riley secured a deal with Sergio Partida Zuniga and Liliana Partida, two members of a tequila making family in the Mexican state of Jalisco. They had approached Riley weeks prior to the Diageo deal about doing business.
“It was kind of like fate since Kirk and I had always talked about doing a side project together,” said Riley, chief executive at Intersect.
The tequila importer brought on Newport Beach-based Blue C Advertising to handle advertising, including social media campaigns and store displays.
“They hired us to do their ongoing integration into social media and retail marketing in bars and out of them,” said Eric Morley, principal at Blue C.
Intersect is leaning on social media campaigns. The company has various campaigns including “Follow Jim Wednesdays,” where Riley offers to buy margaritas for anyone following him on Twitter, and “Margarita Mondays,” where the company posts a margarita recipe.
“Regular advertising doesn’t work for the spirits business when you’re trying to break into it,” Blue C’s Morley said. “You have to do something different.”
The ad shop is sending tequila to bloggers to taste and write about.
“The main objective is to get restaurants, night clubs and bars excited about carrying the brand,” Morley said.
Riley plans to race an Azuñia Tequila truck in this year’s Baja 1000 off-road race.
Intersect faces a crowded tequila market of more than 700 brands.
Agave, the plant tequila is made from, “was pretty cheap the last couple years so you have a lot of people who have flooded the market with tequila brands,” Riley said.
Tommy Bahama Win
Irvine-based Johnson Gray Advertising Inc. has picked up tropical-themed leisure clothes brand Tommy Bahama Group Inc. as a client.
Seattle-based Tommy Bahama, part of Atlanta apparel maker Oxford Industries Inc., has more than 70 stores and 12 restaurants. The company is trying to expand beyond its core market of older adults.
“We are trying to readjust to make it broader in appeal and more relevant to the younger scene,” said Will Johnson, president of the Irvine-based Johnson Gray.
The ad shop beat out 20 regional and national agencies to win branding and marketing duties for Tommy Bahama.
The shop’s first task: Tommy Bahama’s Island Grille, a restaurant chain with locations in Newport Beach, Hawaii and Florida.
The account win is part of the ad shop’s broader strategy to go after retailers and restaurants. The agency historically has worked in healthcare, financial services and tourism.
“We’re going after the restaurant category, which seems to be rebounding pretty well,” Johnson said.
The shop recently brought on Randy Lopez, who served as vice president of marketing at Lake Forest-based Del Taco LLC, and Joe Cladis, a 20-year veteran at Santa Ana-based DGWB Advertising and Communications.
The agency also has been working on projects for Tustin-based Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc., part of Japan’s Toshiba Corp., and Santa Ana-based Behr Process Corp., part of Michigan-based Masco Corp.
It also picked up Elliott Family Cellars, a Northern California winery.
Bits and Pieces
Irvine-based AdtekMedia Inc.’s PumpTop TV has worked out a deal with Canada’s MovieSet Inc. to provide behind-the-scenes clips from movie shoots for its display screens at gas stations. Movies that have been previewed so far include “The Irishman,” starring Val Kilmer and Vincent D’Onofrio, and “King of Fighters,” directed by Gordon Chan. In a venture with Santa Monica-based Outcast, PumpTop runs screens on 12,600 gas pumps in Southern California, Chicago and Dallas where advertisers buy marketing time … Miocean Foundation, an Irvine-based nonprofit dedicated to improving Orange County beaches by reducing urban runoff, is setting up waterproof, wireless flat-screens at two Newport Beach locations to spread its message about improving beaches. The nonprofit is enlisting four companies to advertise to the estimated 3 million beachgoers while it provides water condition data and tips about the beaches … Fountain Valley-based Fountain Valley Living Magazine, the free monthly publication featuring news and events in and around Fountain Valley, has launched a new Web site. The magazine launched last January to focus on the city, which Curt and Lynn Seeden, founders of the magazine and Web site, felt was underserved. The magazine is mailed to the entire city and local businesses … Buena Park-based Dr. Fresh Inc., a maker of toothbrushes, dental floss, mouthwashes, hand sanitizers and other products, has had its Infectiguard Hand Sanitizer enlisted by the military. The line of hand sanitizer will be offered at all Army and Air Force bases across the globe.
