Firm Has Strong Feelings About Good Commercials

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Are you emotional or rational?

Ad professionals attended the BrainJuicer Invention Fest recently to learn the answer. The event was sponsored by the L.A. agency Deutsch and London market research firm BrainJuicer at Deutsch’s offices.

Ari Popper, president of BrainJuicer North America, explained that humans are mostly emotional, and so are good commercials.

“Emotional campaigns are far more effective than combined rational-emotional or rational-only ones,” he said. “The most effective ad isn’t about message communication, it’s about pure emotional delivery. You don’t even need a message in your advertising.”

In another presentation, Bud Caddell, vice president of invention strategy at Deutsch, said that it takes about 3,000 raw ideas to produce one money-making product. However, companies can both increase their success rate and generate more ideas by having their customers do the thinking.

“Turn complaints into solutions,” Caddell advised. “You can do it on your Facebook page. Starbucks has turned more than 150 customer suggestions into new products.”

Arbitron Settlement

A lawsuit alleging that Arbitron’s radio audience measurement system discriminated against stations with predominantly African-American and Latino listeners was settled after the company agreed to change its methodology. Arbitron’s ratings are used to set prices for ratio advertising.

The suit was filed jointly by Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, California Attorney General Kamala Harris and San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera. It alleged that Arbitron’s Portable People Meter system undercounted minority audiences. According to the suit, of the 18 radio stations serving minority audiences in Los Angeles, 16 experienced ratings decreases in excess of 30 percent, and a former No. 1 Spanish-language station had its ratings cut by more than 50 percent when the system was introduced in September 2008.

The settlement mandates that Arbitron recruit more minorities to carry the electronic meter that measures radio listening. Also, the Columbia, Md.-based company will pay the city of Los Angeles $150,000.

“Arbitron has agreed to take important steps to ensure that minority radio stations are reasonably treated in order that they may fairly compete,” Trutanich said in a statement.

Power PR

When Carroll & Co., a 62-year-old clothier in Beverly Hills, asked Levine Communications Office to enhance its reputation, the Beverly Hills PR agency decided to stage a series of high-concept cocktail parties inside the store with the title Thought Leaders of 2012.

The first event was last month, and it featured Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel, who’s running for mayor. About 120 people attended. Although Greuel discussed her candidacy, the event wasn’t an endorsement of the store or the candidate, said Michael Levine, chief executive of the PR firm.

“The success of this is not measured in sales, although I’m sure it will result in sales over time because it’s smart business,” Levine said. “But the first rule of being a leader is to lead.”

Levine will hold the get-togethers quarterly and plans to invite one candidate or community leader each time.

Crenshaw L.A.

New York-based PR firm Crenshaw Communications has opened an L.A. office and hired George Drucker to run it.

Crenshaw clients with an L.A. presence include Starbucks, Verizon Wireless and Sharp. The agency specializes in product launches and social media campaigns.

Drucker previously worked as chief marketing officer for RF Binder Partners, a PR agency in New York. Before that, he spent two decades at Edelman Worldwide in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

The Crenshaw office is at 1516 S. Bundy Ave. in West Los Angeles.

Agencies & Accounts

JMPR is the new PR agency for Omix-ADA, a manufacturer of Jeep parts and accessories. The Woodland Hills agency, which specializes in automotive clients, will handle relations with both consumer and trade media. … Brand consultancy Siegal & Gale has appointed Philipp Reker group director of strategy in the L.A. office. Reker joins Siegal from DDB Worldwide, where he supervised the ad agency’s entertainment practices in Berlin and Los Angeles. … “Tony n Tina’s Wedding,” the longest running off-Broadway musical, has hired PR shop Levine Communications Office in Beverly Hills to promote the Las Vegas version of the show. … Paolucci Communication Arts, a marketing agency in Palos Verdes Estates that focuses on real estate clients, has won media relations assignments for the Ritz-Carlton Residences at LA Live, Beverly West condo development and the Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA. The agency will also promote tourism for the city of Redondo Beach. … Amy Levy Public Relations in Los Angeles has two new clients: Beerathon, a bar-crawling marathon event, and LadyFortunes.com, a cookie and candy site based in Canoga Park. Levy will manage media relations for both clients. … Mogreet, a mobile marketing agency in Los Angeles, has hired Serena Ehrlich as director of marketing and Anthony Ward as director of sales.

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

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