D.C. Firm Has Something to Say in Los Angeles

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D.C. Firm Has Something to Say in Los Angeles
Billboard for Swami Kriyananda events.

Strauss Radio Strategies, an agency that books clients for radio interviews, has opened an office in downtown Los Angeles.

Jeff King, a longtime executive at Washington, D.C.-based Strauss, is heading up the new operation.

“We have worked with other large PR firms and entertainment companies, but you need to be out here in Los Angeles to get those projects,” King said. “This office is the natural evolution of our business.”

The agency’s main workload is booking interviews on radio talk shows. Strauss also creates audio news releases, distributes sound bites, and produces commercials and public service announcements.

King declined to name any clients because most of Strauss’ work comes from other agencies and requires confidentiality. The agency also works for corporations as well as government agencies, political campaigns and non-profit organizations. The company works with both English- and Spanish-language radio stations.

So far, the company’s biggest projects in Los Angeles have been radio interview tours for movies and TV shows, King said.

Billboard Yogi

The new face on billboards around Los Angeles is a swami who wants to spread his teachings.

Swami Kriyananda, 84, is the last active disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, the man who popularized yoga in the United States through his 1946 book “Autobiography of a Yogi.” Kriyananda is publicizing a series of live events in Los Angeles through billboards, radio and online marketing.

Alli Romano, the swami’s co-manager of marketing, said she selected the billboard medium because it combines photos of Yogananda and Kriyananda in one image.

“The photo of Yogananda is well-known to people in Los Angeles,” she said.

Also, Romano has hired PR consultant Jackie Lapin at Inter/Media Cos. in Encino to arrange radio interviews. Romano herself will handle marketing on Facebook and Twitter.

Kriyananda is not affiliated with the L.A. based Self-Realization Fellowship founded by Yogananda in 1920.

3-D PR

Rogers & Cowan is the new PR agency for GenAudio, a company that has developed software for “3-D sound” in films and video games.

GenAudio, based in Englewood, Colo., said it selected Rogers & Cowan because of the agency’s expertise in media relations and its connections in the entertainment business. The agency will introduce GenAudio executives to entertainment and consumer electronics companies, as well as potential software licensees in the video game sector.

Sallie Olmsted, R&C executive vice president, will lead the campaign from the firm’s West Hollywood office.

“After conducting a thorough agency search, Rogers & Cowan stood out among their competitors,” GenAudio Chief Executive Jerry Mahabub said in a statement.

GenAudio software adds dimensional cues to a soundtrack so the audio can be channeled to specific speakers. This creates the perception of sound resonating from all angles, including above and below the listener.

Agencies & Accounts

Blitz, a digital agency in Santa Monica, has opened an office in Seattle to handle its Microsoft account. Roxanne Okada, a former account manager at local agency Wexley School of Girls, was hired to direct the new office. … AvatarLabs, a Hollywood online marketing agency, has landed CBS as a client. The agency has produced online media campaigns for the new fall season, including shows “The Big Bang Theory” and “Undercover Boss.” The company has shifted people and resources from movies into the TV group to handle the CBS work. … After 10 years in Westwood, Beck Media & Marketing has moved to larger offices in Santa Monica. The PR agency’s new address is 1832 Franklin St. … Carl Terzian Associates has been retained for business networking and board building services for Barlow Respiratory Hospital, National Kidney Foundation, Jewish Vocational Services, Komen for the Cure and UCLA Alumni Association. … TBWAChiatDay Los Angeles has expanded its Nissan account team with the appointment of Glenn Sanders, Dylan Schwartz and Garman Yip as associate creative directors. Prior to joining TBWA, Sanders served as U.S. creative director at the agency Viral Factory. Schwartz previously worked at TBWA on the Nissan and Infiniti accounts. Yip was lead designer for Disney’s Wall-e.com, Sony’s PlayStation.com, and California Milk’s Happy Cows website. The trio recently helped launch Nissan’s Innovation for All campaign.

Staff reporter Joel Russell can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 237.

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