Pollack PR Marketing Group in Century City has won a major account by partnering with agencies in France and England.
President Stefan Pollack said Crucial.com, a website that sells computer memory products manufactured by its owner, Micron Technology in Boise, Idaho, will have three PR agencies: Pollack PR, Kaizo Ltd. in London and PhE Communication in Paris. The agencies won the business through a competitive review.
Pollack worked with Kaizo, an agency he’s partnered with previously, and together they recruited PhE. All three companies are members of the Worldcom partnership, a network of PR agencies in 110 countries.
“Without our partnership we could not have won the business,” Pollack said. “The fact that all three firms have direct consumer technology experience and have worked together in the past made it a natural fit.”
The goal of the alliance is to sell do-it-yourself computer users on the idea that it’s easy and cost-effective to upgrade memory by buying components on Crucial.com. The agencies will conduct consumer surveys, recruit spokespeople, and handle media relations with bloggers and traditional media outlets. Each agency will handle these duties in their respective countries, with Pollack PR acting as lead agency.
Pollack believes that landing a big name like Micron will help his agency get more business.
“They have a great understanding of the tech consumer and this entire process has opened new opportunities with the tech crowd,” he said.
Lifestyle Merger
Two L.A.-based PR firms have merged to create an agency called Pivotal Public Relations.
RFPR was an agency that specialized in luxury and lifestyle clients such as Levi Strauss and Mercedes-Benz USA. Live Loyal PR focused on aligning Hollywood stars and charitable foundations to promote fashion brands; clients included GQ and Haute Betts Jewels.
Pivotal will be co-managed by R.J. Rousso and Jennifer Betts, the former chief executives at RFPR and Live Loyal, respectively. Pivotal offices are at 544 S. San Vicente Blvd. in Los Angeles. Financial details of the merger were not disclosed.
“Our newly assembled team is an eclectic mix of experts and enthusiasts from a variety of cultural and entertainment fields, who will provide clients with unmatched creativity and results,” Rousso said in a statement.
Hunting Drinkers
Ad agency Mistress Creative in Venice has produced the first TV campaign for Jagermeister, the German herbal liquor, with a long list of celebrity manpower.
The ad includes appearances by Kerry King, guitarist for the rock band Slayer; Keyshawn Johnson, a former pro football player and now ESPN commentator; Mike Lingerfelt, a NASCAR pit crewman with a record number of wins; Rob Smets, five-time world champion bullfighter; and Freddie Roach, a boxing trainer who has worked with 31 world champs.
The commercial shows these macho celebrities meeting at a combination castle and hunting lodge to honor each other and drink some liquor. Jagermeister was original developed for hunters in Germany.
The ad debuted May 3 and will run on cable channels FX, Spike, Comedy Central, ESPN, Discovery and Fox Sports.
Agencies & Accounts
Hope Boonshaft, former manager of Hill & Knowlton’s L.A. office, has joined Gibraltar Associates to open an L.A. presence for the Washington, D.C.-based PR firm. … Search Agency, a digital marketing firm in West Los Angeles, has acquired Acquisition Agency in Toronto as an entrée into the Canadian market. The strategy is to bring expertise to the market for search engine optimization in Canada. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. … Deutsch LA has hired Brett Craig as group creative director for the Dr Pepper and Snapple accounts. Craig previously worked at TBWA/Chiat/Day, where he was group creative director for video game series “Call of Duty” and Pepsi. … Omelet, a creative advertising shop in Los Angeles, has launched division Omelet to Go, which will create and manage events. Omelet to Go has started developing campaigns for HBO and Microsoft. … Mark Netter has joined digital agency Blitz in Santa Monica as vice president of business development. Netter was formerly chief operating officer at Urgent Content in Santa Monica. … Mayo Communications in West Hills is the PR agency for Operation Blankets of Love, a non-profit that provides aid to animals in shelters and teaches humane behavior in schools. Mayo will bring animals to classrooms, promote OBOL at pet industry events and handle media relations. … Pitch Agency, an ad shop in Culver City, has hired John Davis, creative director, who was formerly at David & Goliath Europe working on the Kia Motors account; Marius Gedgaudas, design director, and Ritzelle Cayabyab, designer, who both came from Deutsch LA; Sheldon Melvin, senior art director, who hails from Goodby Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco and will work on the Burger King account; and Scott Hanson, senior copywriter, who was previously a freelancer at Innocean in Huntington Beach.
Staff reporter Joel Russell can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 237.
