Huntington Beach-based marketing and public relations firm MKM, which specializes in active-lifestyle clients, has signed Long Beach International City Bank Marathon and Half Marathon, produced by Run Racing, as a new client.
MKM will oversee promotional and publicity efforts for the event, to be held Oct. 5 through 7.
“Our goal is to build upon the local coverage that the event currently receives and expand to include regional and national exposure,” said Mike Kingsbury, owner of MKM.
MKM will focus primarily on publicizing the event locally, regionally and nationally through print, broadcast and social media. Advertising and creative will be done in-house by MKM.
The Long Beach marathon is part of the California Beach Cities Challenge racing series, an alliance that also includes Surf City USA Marathon in Huntington Beach and the OC Marathon, covering Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana.
All three races utilize a portion of Pacific Coast Highway, and all three events are publicized by MKM.
Participating runners who take part in the entire racing series are given a medal in the shape of a surfboard with symbols depicting each race they have completed in the series.
About 26,000 people are expected to take part in the Long Beach races, which began in 1982.
Music Marketing
Forty Orange County high school students recently spent a week at Irvine-based Concordia University to take part in the university’s first Teen Entrepreneur Academy, which tapped local entrepreneurs and business owners to serve as guest speakers.
A $1,000 prize was given to the student with the best business plan: Adam Brownell from San Clemente High School and his social media proposal JukeBox, a platform for up-and-coming musicians and independent studios to upload and market their work.
Waterproof Labels
Anaheim-based label-making company Labeltronix has released a new waterproof, chill-proof label called Arctic Classic Crest.
The label—which is Labeltronix’s first release of its kinds—has material that is designed specifically for wine bottles and is able to withstand wet and cold conditions in an ice bucket.
The label material is a white, uncoated paper that works equally well with either flexographic or digital offset printing, the company says.
Social Strategies
Recent examples of how OC companies are engaging with their customers through social media:
• Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc. is promoting a giveaway through its Facebook page. The action sports apparel company is giving away a surfboard signed by Stephanie Gilmore, a five-time World Surfing champ. Facebook directs customers to fill out a form on their website for a chance to win the surfboard.
• Costa Mesa-based Volcom Inc. asked its Twitter and Facebook followers to vote for them in Snowboard Magazine’s Battle of the Brands. Fans were asked to watch videos featuring Volcom and then vote. The company told its fans to post comments, and in return, would give away free Volcom merchandise to those with the best comments.
• Lake Forest-based Del Taco LLC is offering its customers free food through its Facebook page. Customers can “like” a specific free food coupon page and then print out the coupon.
Bits and Pieces
Irvine-based Philly’s Best is celebrating its 20th anniversary by launching new Philly Phresh Neighborhood Salads (fresh salads named after Philadelphia neighborhoods). The restaurant will also introduce a grilled pastrami sandwich in the coming weeks. … Automotive industry veteran Eric Booth has been hired as senior manager, public relations, a newly created position at Mazda North American Operations in Irvine. … Jackson Hewitt Tax Service has named Irvine native Michael Williams as its new chief marketing officer. Williams will be based out of Jackson Hewitt’s headquarters in Parsippany, N.J. Jackson Hewitt has 30 franchise locations throughout Orange County.
