Space150, a digital agency in Venice, has won a $1 million contract to supply content for a giant digital billboard in New York’s Times Square.
Forever 21, the fashion store chain based in downtown Los Angeles, is opening a 90,000-square-foot shop there in June. The Times Square site was formerly a Virgin Megastore and the sign is on the front of the building.
Space150 will produce four to six “episodes” that will play on the board, which will be constructed in a $4.5 million project by June. Some episodes will feature fashion shows or model photography sessions. Other episodes will include user-generated video or photos of people randomly selected on the street. The sign will also display Tweets or e-mails about Forever 21.
“We looked at the board as if it was a computer monitor with an Internet connection,” said Matthew Mogol, business development director at Space150. “We approached this project differently then other agencies. It is that thinking that won the business.”
Million-Dollar Pitch
72andSunny, the L.A.-based ad shop, will manage a contest with a prize of $1 million – the largest cash payout in the history of the video game industry.
The agency’s client, 2K Sports, released its “Major League Baseball 2K10” game March 2. The game is based on a series of pitcher-hitter duels. Under the contest, the first player to pitch a perfect game will win $1 million – the only prize in the contest.
Evan Longoria, the star third baseman from Downey who plays for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, will be the face of the game. He will appear in TV spots, and print and online ads promoting the contest.
Bryan Rowles, creative director at 72andSunny, believes the prize money will help gamers feel the same excitement as Major League pitchers whose careers are riding on their fastball.
“With the added stakes of the million-dollar reward, the player experiences similar performance pressure of standing on the mound, staring down a hitter in a clutch situation,” Rowles said in a statement.
Startup PR Program
Olmstead Williams Communications in West Los Angeles is launching a PR division to help technology startups get attention on a budget.
Starting at $999 a month, Olmstead Williams will provide services including a media contact list, story pitching to tech trade press and specific national media outlets, customized news release templates, and e-mail notification of story queries from reporters and editors seeking expert sources.
Called PRTechConnect, the new service has its first client in Cloudworks, a Thousand Oaks company that provides Web-based software to small businesses. Olmstead Williams is pitching the service to companies in the biotech, life sciences, clean tech, e-commerce, software and telecommunications sectors.
Bloggers Beware
A local attorney has a warning for new-media marketers: Beware the testimonial.
Melissa Sayer, partner at Nordman Cormany Hair & Compton in Oxnard, believes ad agencies and their clients need to protect themselves against liability under new Federal Trade Commission guidelines for endorsements and testimonials. The rules now apply to new media such as Facebook, YouTube, other Web sites and personal blogs.
The guidelines require any material connection between an endorser and advertiser be disclosed. So if an employee blogs about a company’s product, the blog must disclose the employment connection. If a company gives away products in exchange for reviews, the giveaway must be disclosed as well.
Sayer advises advertisers to establish procedures to tell endorsers and bloggers about the requirements and provide training to comply with the rules.
Agencies & Accounts
Siltanen & Partners Advertising in El Segundo has created a campaign for the new Kizashi sports sedan from American Suzuki Motor in Brea. The campaign features three print ads and a 30-second TV spot. Later this year, it will include a game on Facebook featuring a Kizashi driver who must get home while dodging potholes, lightning bolts and snowballs. … Scott Public Relations, a Canoga Park marketing firm that specializes in health care, insurance and technology clients, has joined Public Relations Boutiques International, a network of small PR firms. Chief Executive Joy Scott said in a statement that the association will help her agency land overseas clients. … Ignited, an El Segundo marketing agency, has promoted Dave Martin to senior vice president of media. The promotion follows Martin’s work buying media for clients such as Universal Pictures, Activision and Princess Cruises. … Carl Terzian Associates has been retained by law firm Munger Tolles & Olson in Los Angeles to put its partners into high-profile civic and philanthropic organizations. … Julian Hills has joined Eclipse Advertising, an online and TV ad agency in Burbank, as chief creative officer. Hills previously worked at the Ant Farm, which created print campaigns for the “Lord of the Rings” and “Shrek” films.
