Honda Center has found a new way to break the ice, literally—instead of brochures or blast emails, the entertainment and sports venue sent out Anaheim Ducks-branded hockey pucks frozen in ice blocks.
It hand-delivered each of the 300 packages to “hockey-loving business leaders” throughout Southern California. A “few lucky ones” were also greeted by Ducks mascot Wild Wing, said Allison Citino, communications manager with El Segundo-based Team One, the advertising agency that developed the idea.
The campaign focuses on promoting premium seating, or annual club seats and box suites that come with a set of perks that includes a private entrance, preferred parking, extra leg room and discounts on merchandise.
Team One is a division of Saatchi & Saatchi, North America Inc., a fully owned subsidiary of Publicis Groupe.
The city of Anaheim owns the Honda Center, and Anaheim Arena Management LLC manages it.
Car Turns Heads
Hyundai Motor America’s new TV spot for the 2014 Equus model debuted during the 2013 Open Championship in Scotland between July 18 and 21.
“Golf is the major passion point among the luxury car shoppers and owners, and the British Open gets a big audience, and we thought it was a very appropriate environment to launch [the ad],” said David Matathia, the Costa Mesa-based carmaker’s director of marketing communications.
The TV spot, produced by Huntington Beach-based Innocean USA, features a black sedan cruising by a golf course, a valet service at a luxury hotel, and a neighborhood lemonade stand, drawing attention from everyone who catches a glimpse of it—a baby, a mounted police officer, a lacrosse player.
“What kind of car is that?” they all say, with actor Jeff Bridges delivering a closing line: “There is no car like it, the new Equus from Hyundai.”
The idea behind the ad stems from consumer research, Matathia said.
“What we found with Equus is when people who just discovered the car … see how premium the features are and how high the finish is, they’re really surprised. It’s sort of an unexpected player in a category where you’ve got the (Mercedes-Benz) S-Class, Lexus LS, all expected established players. The Equus really gives them all a run for their money, so we really wanted to play up that phenomenon of people being really captivated by the car.”
The company officially launched the 2014 model, which starts at $61,000, in March at the New York International Auto Show. It features enhancements to the exterior and interior designs, vehicle dynamics, material selection, driver technology displays and advanced safety features.
The airing of the television ad, part of a larger media campaign on the model, continues this month across a wide range of networks, including the Golf Channel, TNT and TBS, Matathia said.
Accompanying print ads will appear in men’s lifestyle magazines such as GQ.
The carmaker will also harness consumer data gathered by TV set-top boxes from DISH Network and Direct TV to target specific demographic groups, with age and income as the key qualifiers.
“We’ve looked [for] affluent males, who generally make up the majority of the purchasing segment for Equus,” he said. “Using the data from those set-top boxes, we can serve … customized, unique offers for that market directly. The technology [is] relatively new to the market. We’re testing [it] and hoping to learn a lot from this program and hopefully roll it out to other vehicles in the future.”
Hyundai Motor America is a subsidiary of South Korea-based Hyundai Motor Co.
Bits and Pieces
The Singapore Tourism Board selected FleishmanHillard as its agency of record for the market of North America and South America. The Irvine-based public relations agency is tasked with supporting the board’s tourism growth in the areas of hospitality, attractions, dining, cruises and entertainment. FleishmanHillard will also handle meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions. The two-year contract includes “destination marketing communications, brand building and media and influencer relations, as well as facilitating new partnerships and integrations,” according to a news release. FleishmanHillard’s duties will be split between its New York and Southern California offices. … 29 Prime Inc. of Irvine, a provider of online marketing services and search engine optimization, has a new website with updated fonts, imagery and messaging. … RiechesBaird of Irvine hired Mike Randall as its new brand strategist, a new position at the agency. Randall’s prior assignments included brand development and innovation strategy for companies such as The Boeing Co., Weyerhauser Co. and John Deere. … Skiver Advertising of Newport Beach helped client Hooters of America LLC of Atlanta mark National Chicken Wing Day by creating a mock public service announcement promoting its $12.99 all-you-can-eat chicken wings deal. The video was posted on the chain’s YouTube channel and urges people to join in and beat the “chicken wing deficiency,” and help “devour 1,000,000 original Hooters wings.”
