L.A. Firm Steps Out With European ‘Anti-Shoe’

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The “Anti-Shoe” is on the march.


Kastner & Partners, a German ad agency with U.S. headquarters in L.A., has won the account for a brand unfamiliar to U.S. consumers MBT, a Swiss manufacturer of therapeutic athletic footwear that the agency will sell as the “Anti-Shoe.”


Kastner has a history of making European brands look good. The agency started in 1982 when two Austrians, Dietrich Mateschitz and Johannes Kastner, decided to launch Red Bull energy drink. Mateschitz founded a company to manufacture the drink and Kastner started one to market it.


Although the agency has landed smaller accounts, it has remained mostly a one-horse wagon until MBT. The campaign includes point-of-sale and magazine ads that imitate political rhetoric. Deliberately word-heavy, the ads position MBT as the “Anti-Shoe” and then lambaste the competition with titles such as “Shoes Are Weapons of Mass Destruction” and “Shoes Are Dead.”


The ads, already in stores that carry MBT, will appear May through December in the U.S. and international editions of Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, GQ, Esquire, Men’s Health, InStyle, More and Self. Kastner’s Los Angeles office will handle the global campaign for the Anti-Shoe.


In keeping with its European style, Kastner won the account quietly, without a formal review of other agencies. However, partner Thomas Grabner, who runs the L.A. office, prefers to let the numbers do the talking. Based on sales in stores with the new MBT signage, he said the Anti-Shoe is already stepping up.

“It’s changing the way consumers think and feel about their footwear,” he said.


TV Zoom

LegalZoom.com, an L.A.-based Web site that provides do-it-yourself legal documents, has launched a TV campaign from local agency Donat/Wald.


Until now, LegalZoom has relied mostly on radio and online advertising. For TV, it will showcase co-founder Robert Shapiro, the prominent L.A. attorney who helped defend O.J. Simpson in his 1995 murder trial.


The campaign includes four 30-second spots about real people who benefited from a LegalZoom document kit. For example, the “Daddy” spot tells about a couple in Pasadena who created a will to protect their 9-month-old daughter. Shapiro appears at the end with the tag line: “At LegalZoom.com, we put the law on your side.”


“The LegalZoom brand is about what happens to people’s lives when they have access to legal solutions that previously felt out of reach,” said Lucas Donat, chief executive of Donat/Wald in Santa Monica. “People don’t just get a will, they protect their families. Protecting a great idea, starting a business suddenly all those things are possible. We wanted to tap into the underlying human truth behind every transaction.”



Recalling Pentax

RPA Inc. in Santa Monica is the new advertising agency for Pentax Imaging Co., a brand with a great history but not much market share.


From the 1950s to the 1970s, Pentax pioneered camera technology by introducing single-lens reflex mechanisms, flash units and in-camera light meters. However, in the digital age competitors such as Canon, Nikon and Olympus have eclipsed Pentax in sales.


Last year Pentax completed a merger with another Japanese company, Hoya Corp. The new management announced its goal for “accelerating future growth” while acknowledging stiff competition in the sector.


RPA plans an integrated campaign of print, online, collateral and event marketing. The account has an estimated budget of $10 million.


“We believe RPA has the vision and resources to leverage the strong heritage of Pentax and re-establish our brand as a viable player in the U.S.,” said Ned Bunnell, president of Pentax.



Trust in Entertainment?

How to make money off entertainment on the Internet? It’ll be a tough sell.

Edelman, the world’s largest independent public relations agency, has produced a new study titled “Trust in Entertainment.” Although global in scope, the findings have particular significance for L.A. marketers, given the city’s status as the capital of film, television and music.


Unfortunately, only a third of global consumers trust entertainment companies.

Even worse, trust depends on “perceived value for money,” according to the study. And 39 percent of consumers flatly refuse to pay for entertainment downloaded from the Internet, apparently in the belief that such content should be free.


From a PR perspective, “it is crucial for entertainment companies to communicate the value they bring to those customers that download legally,” said Gail Becker, manager of the L.A. office and global head of Edelman’s digital entertainment practice. “The industry is exploring a number of business models to meet consumer needs, such as the advertising-funded models.”



Agencies & Accounts

Meyers Communications, an integrated public relations and branding agency in Los Angeles, has launched Sun Skinz, a line of children’s clothing that protects kids’ skin from ultraviolet exposure. Produced by Orange County-based manufacturer Sun Protective Zone, the knit apparel covers children from babies to adolescents.

Staff reporter Joel Russell can be reached at

[email protected]

or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 237.

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