Newport Coast Investments LLC has agreed to purchase NextMedium, an L.A. company that sells software to manage advertising product placements in TV, film and online video. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Founded in 2004, NextMedium has spent more than $12 million in investment funds to develop Embed, its flagship program. The company has deals with NBC Universal, MTV Networks and BET Networks to handle product placement on their shows.
“Despite the challenging market conditions, we believe that investment in new and innovative advertising platforms and technologies is essential,” Chad Steelberg, managing director of Newport Coast, said in a press release.
Brothers Chad and Ryan Steelberg, principals at Newport Coast, will operate NextMedium as a unit of their company Brand Affinity Technologies in Irvine. The Steelbergs previously founded and sold several tech companies, including AdForce, 2Can Media and dMarc Broadcasting.
Azteca Drops Rep Firm
Spanish-language TV network Azteca America has created an in-house rep firm to sell its own advertising time. Previously Azteca contracted with Interep to sell its ads, but that company filed for bankruptcy and liquidated in late 2008. The trustee in the case awarded the Azteca contract to Cross Media, but Azteca management chose not to sign with the rep firm.
Adrian Steckel, chief executive of L.A.-based Azteca America, said in a statement he made the decision because Cross Media “does not possess the history or background that we have in the Hispanic market.”
Azteca America will sell ad time on the network’s flagship station, KAZA (Channel 54). Bob Turner, the network’s president of network sales, will oversee the newly created Azteca America Spot TV Sales division.
If the Shoe Fits
When George McQuade, vice-president at PR agency Mayo Communications, heard a Web TV anchor’s proposal for a shoe-throwing contest inspired by a famous toss at President Bush, he tried to end the conversation quickly. But then he became intrigued and decided to sign on.
The client, Dubai.TV, is a video Web site that wants to develop cross-cultural exchange with Hollywood. Anchor Janeen Mansour saw an opportunity for the site to capitalize on the Dec. 15 news stories about an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush.
McQuade organized the contest on the driving range at the Rancho Park Golf Course. He invited celebrities to toss their shoes, and encouraged participation by promising the footwear would be donated to the Salvation Army. The Jan. 10 event attracted celebutante Kim Kardashian, Disney Channel star Adrienne Bailon, and Katharine Gill of “CSI: Miami.”
The Salvation Army received 75 pairs of donated shoes many designer brands still in the box and Dubai.TV garnered contacts and celeb video. The success has inspired McQuade and Mansour to begin work on another shoe-based promotion sometime in July.
“It speaks to what the entertainment business should have done a long time ago namely, bring back the gimmicks,” said McQuade. “So many of these events seem to be cookie-cutter planned, just grabbing a celebrity and calling it an event. We were trying to remind the community that in this economy, you can help just by cleaning out your closet and donating the shoes.”
Agencies & Accounts
L.A.-based PR firm Bragman Nyman Cafarelli will be hard at work on its Village at the Yard event in Park City, Utah, this week in conjunction with the Sundance Film Festival. The project involves taking a local lumber yard and turning it into a temporary “village” where brands set up booths or shops to market their wares to visiting festival-goers. Participating clients include Fred Segal Fun store, the T-1 Mobile diner, a Nickelodeon gift shop, the Gatorade gym and a Living Proof hair salon. The village runs Jan. 16-20. L.A-based Farmers Insurance Group has selected Muse Communications as its agency of record for the African-American market. L.A.-based Muse will develop a broadcast, digital and event campaign. The agency will support the Farmers Insurance Group Angel City Classic in Los Angeles, an event for students and historically black colleges and universities. RPA Inc., a Santa Monica-based ad agency, has launched a new campaign that features three short documentary films about Honda’s innovation and high-tech engineering. The films are posted on Honda’s Web site as a sort of “infotainment.” AdlhochCreative has added Lalati Resort in Fiji to its client roster. The L.A. agency will design and publish brochures for the U.S. and international markets. PR agency Levine Communications Office has signed designer Susie Coelho as a client. She hosts the HGTV series “Outer Spaces” and has three lines of fashion and home d & #233;cor products.
Staff reporter Joel Russell can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 237.
