Dan Weikel’s public relations agency promotes some of the most expensive products in the world. Most people will never hear about them, much less buy them.
Insignia Brand Partners, Weikel’s agency in Woodland Hills, recently won the account to promote the Scorpion, a hydrogen-powered car built by Ronn Motors Co. in Austin, Texas. Price: $150,000.
The agency’s clients also include Italian motorcycle manufacturer Agusta MV. Its limited-edition F4CC model sells for $130,000. Another client is Stockinger, a German safe company. Its prices start at $48,000. Then there’s Tibaldi, which makes a special-edition fountain pen featuring designs based on the Bentley automobile that sells for about $2,500.
“The wealthy are often very careful about where they get their advice, and it is important to understand how many people are trying to take liberty of them at any given second,” Weikel said. “Wealthy consumers need to be protected and given honest, educated information. Insignia strives to help the media in this process.”
To reach the uberwealthy, Insignia targets outlets that speak to them with authority, such as the Malibu-based Robb Report, Town & Country magazine and the show “High Net Worth” on the CNBC cable TV channel.
Greg Anderson, automotive writer for Robb Report, said his readers seek brand names not yet recognized by the average person and Insignia delivers those kinds of stories.
“They’ve got a whole list of clients that are exclusive and select,” Anderson said. “Which is why I’ve heard of them.”
In the case of the hydrogen-powered Scorpion, Weikel hopes to use the high price to get people’s attention and then educate them about technology that could trickle down to the mass market one day.
The high-performance car with top speeds near 200 miles per hour features an electrolysis machine that draws hydrogen from water. The carburetor mixes the hydrogen with gasoline, resulting in low emissions and an average fuel efficiency of 40 miles per gallon of gasoline. That’s not spectacular for your average sedan, but very impressive for a souped-up sports car.
“The Scorpion is going to be a flashpoint for changing how the world thinks about cars,” Weikel predicted. “The technology utilized in the car has very broad implications due to high gas prices and the environmental concerns confronting the world today.”
Insignia plans to launch the Scorpion in early November at a specialty auto expo in Las Vegas.
Insignia has six full-time employees and about 20 steady free-lancers. Weikel started the company in 2006, after working in several PR agencies for upscale auto clients such as Bentley and Ducati.
