Four Orange County advertising agencies are competing Sept. 26 in AdJam: Battle of the Agency Bands, at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.
The social event is put on by Think LA, a nonprofit trade association that caters to people working in media, marketing and advertising.
Southern California agencies were invited to submit a video of employees performing a song from the 2000s, and online fans chose eight to compete. They will be joined by last year’s winner, Brighter Collective of Los Angeles.
Amber Burza, brand manager at Irvine-based INK Studios, which is one of the competing bands, conducted an office poll to learn which employees played instruments in school and was able to put together a band called Mixed Ink.
She and four colleagues will perform Brittney Spear’s “Toxic,” “Someone Like You” by Adele, and “Blow” by Kesha.
Costa Mesa-based Ymarketing LLC will compete as Y-snake, while Garage Team Mazda of Costa Mesa is bringing back The Garage Band, which failed to make the top eight last year.
Assembling the band was easy, as many “creative people” are also “musically talented,” said Mark Brown, Garage Team Mazda’s senior vice president of communications and planning. “It’s fun … to get on the stage and make a fool of ourselves.” Brian Betts, director of integrated planning at Huntington Beach-based Innocean USA, described participating in the show as a “rite of passage.” HB Riots, the agency’s six-member band, rehearsed “a medley of songs” once a week to prepare.
Hyundai Goes for the Gridiron
Hyundai Motor America is trying to entice football fans in multiple ways.
The Costa Mesa-based auto manufacturer will run two 30-second TV spots during the Super Bowl on Feb. 2.
“The Super Bowl is the ultimate stage for showcasing the Hyundai brand and our vehicles,” Steve Shannon, the company’s vice president of marketing, said in a news release. “We look forward to being a part of advertising’s biggest day again and we can’t wait to show off our new ads and industry-leading products.”
Hyundai’s ads during this year’s Super Bowl were created by its advertising agency of record, Innocean USA of Huntington Beach, and featured the 2013 models of the Hyundai Sonata Turbo and the Hyundai Santa Fe.
Hyundai, aside from TV ads, will set up a “Fieldhouse” at several college football stadiums across the country where fans can watch other games before kickoff time.
Hyundai also is holding a “Lens of Loyalty” student film contest that will feature football traditions at different colleges. Winning proposals will receive $10,000 each to produce the two- to five-minute films, which will be posted on Hyundai’s YouTube page.
Dealership Spotlighted in Ad
A Santa Ana car dealership bustled with action this month as crews descended on its 9,000-square-foot showroom to film an ad for the upcoming Chevrolet holiday campaign.
“There were Christmas trees everywhere,” said Bruce Hamlin, owner of Guaranty Chevrolet. “Fortunately, they came a day after the Labor Day sale.”
The dealership was open for business during the production, which took six days. The facility recently underwent a $3 million renovation to become “image compliant” per Chevrolet’s standards, which Hamlin said contributed to the car manufacturer’s decision to choose the location for the filming.
“It was exciting,” he said. “We watch TV, and we don’t think of all the work and people it takes to get the commercial to the final stage.”
Hamlin also had his 30 seconds in the limelight. He starred in the background, handing keys to a customer.
“I’m not sure if it will make the cut,” he said, “but it was a lot of fun.”
Yogurtland Gets Funny
Six Yogurtland locations in major U.S. cities—Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Boston, Miami and Dallas—are offering 13 frozen yogurt flavors inspired by various CBS Corp. comedy series.
They include “Penny’s Cheesecake,” based on CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory;” 2 Broke Graham Crackers, from the “2 Broke Girls” show; and How I Met Your Mocha from the “How I Met Your Mother” series.
The promotion coincided with the network’s series kickoff on Sept. 13 and will last through the end of the month.
The point-of-purchase advertising and other signage was created by CBS Marketing Agency with the help of OMD’s Los Angeles office.
DGWB Advertising and Communications in Santa Ana is Yogurtland’s creative agency of record, and Huntington Beach-based Caruso Communications is its public relations agency of record.
