The 40 biggest public relations firms based in Orange County are doing more with more—additional services, bigger budgets, new hires.
The firms expanded their ranks for a total of 448 employees as of July/August, a 12% year-over-year increase. That’s well past the 3.1% job gain the county as a whole saw during the same time period last year, according to the State of California’s Employment Development Department.
Nineteen of the companies on this week’s Business Journal list added workers in the past 12 months, 13 kept their number of employees steady, and three cut jobs. Employee counts for another five firms are Business Journal estimates.
Several agencies said they diversified the portfolio of services they offer to clients and added employees to support the effort.
n Idea Hall in Costa Mesa, No. 2 on the list, added the most staffers—10—for a total of 33 for the agency. Key hires include Creative Director Cynthia Murnane, who previously worked on the Porsche North America, BP, FedEx, Motorola and Jaguar accounts for San Francisco-based Landor Associates and Auracle Brands in Long Beach.
“She has a great branding background,” said Rebecca Hall, the firm’s founder and chief executive. “To be able to attract talent like her is a significant boost to our clients.”
Hall also added Senior Creative Producer Jeff Cole, who along with four part-time staffers is heading the agency’s new video department. They produce spots for social media, client testimonials, and commercial real estate videos, among others.
“Historically there has always been that silo approach as the specialist,” Hall said. “Ad agencies did just ads, and PR agencies specialized in community and media relations—kind of like choosing to play a guitar over drums. … I was part of the era that started to say, ‘I don’t want to play just one instrument; I want to play all instruments and find people who are great, and let’s make a big band.’ ”
Dave MacLeod—formerly of O’Leary and Partners, MOST Brand Development + Advertising and Team One—started at Idea Hall this month as account director. He joins three recent hires in the agency’s design and creative department.
It appears there will be plenty to do for all. Chapman University just selected the team to work on branding, marketing, website development and public relations for its Musco Center for the Arts.
Its other clients include Sunwest Bank, Irvine Company, Sabal Financial Group LP and Bixby Land Co.
The Brand Amp
• The Brand Amp, No. 1 on the list, recently moved its headquarters to Newport Beach from Seal Beach and added five employees for a total of 35. The team worked on Irvine-based consumer electronics brand Vizio Inc.’s “hospitality efforts” for the company’s Fiesta Bowl sponsorship, according to the agency’s co-founder, Charley Fitzwilliam. It also created the “$1,000,000 mophie Overtime Sweepstakes” for the Tustin-based smartphone case maker and first-time Super Bowl advertiser. This month it replaced Santa Ana-based Trivalle Communications LLC as the PR agency of record for Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc. in Cypress.
Hilary Kaye, owner of HKA Inc. Marketing Communications in Tustin, said her agency is doing inbound marketing for some of its clients, such as search-engine-optimized content for blogs, videos, podcasts and social media posts.
“This goes along with the realization that there really is no such thing as a ‘pure PR’ agency anymore,” Kaye said. “PR is one important subset of marketing communications and given the media/marketing landscape today, we believe it’s important to offer our clients more comprehensive offerings—adding other services to PR. Our newest staff members have continued our growth in this area.”
HKA, No. 11 on the list, saw “a couple people leave, but a couple others joined us, so we’ve stayed constant,” she said.
Beach House PR
• Beach House PR Inc., in business since 2005, also moved into new space, on Birch and Bristol in Newport Beach.
“The entire office has been created with digital media in mind,” said Amy Denoon, the agency’s founder. “Every nook and cranny serves as a social media backdrop.”
There’s even a green room of sorts, according to Denoon, with a “fully functioning beauty bar, complete with studio lights and mirrors.”
The agency added two employees for a total of 12, good for the No. 12 spot.
Its client list includes Voluspa Candles, Schwarzkopf Professional, Urban Decay, Fisher & Paykel, ViX by Paula Hermanny and Casey’s Cupcakes, among others.
“What started as a straightforward PR agency has evolved into a multiservice hub with white glove service,” Denoon said. “Today, we provide PR, social media, digital media management, events, branding, and marketing. This fall, we are launching our influencer management division, online and real-life education, as well as a comprehensive lifestyle blog.”
Morgan
• Morgan Marketing & Public Relations LLC retained the same number of employees as it had a year ago—12—but job descriptions at the Irvine-based agency “have evolved over the past few years,” according to the firm’s owner, Melinda Morgan Kartsonis.
“Although media relations and account management experience is a must for our mid- to senior-level hires, today we place a greater emphasis on creative abilities and actively seek professionals who can add new skill sets to the agency’s overall capabilities,” Morgan Kartsonis said.
‘Solid Relationships’
The agency has also developed “solid relationships with a variety of talented, trusted creative agencies that we consult with frequently,” she said, adding that, “this takes the pressure off of our clients, as we’re able to support and even lead projects, that don’t necessarily fall within our PR or social media scope of work.”
The agency marked its 20th anniversary as the public relations agency of record for Irvine-based hot dog chain Wienerschnitzel. It also works with Lugano Diamonds, Del Taco, Pieology and Juice It Up, among others.
n Kitchen Table Marketing + PR in Newport Beach, among five newcomers to the list, debuted at No. 27. It posted a 75% increase in staffing levels, for a total of seven.
