Pasadena headhunter Smooch Reynolds, who specializes in PR jobs, was asked to find the right candidate for a position. It turned out that the right candidate was Smooch Reynolds.
After 23 years as a headhunter for PR executives, she will leave her Pasadena-based placement firm, Repovich-Reynolds Group, to join the Irvine Co. in Orange County as senior vice president of communications.
“Executive search has been the most incredible career journey I could have imagined,” she said. “I’m taking my own advice: Always be challenged, open to all possibilities and willing to grow.”
After graduating from USC, Reynolds started as press deputy to Los Angeles City Councilwoman Pat Russell. Later she moved to Hill & Knowlton, where she established a talent search practice. That led to founding her own company, where she conducted searches for hundreds of companies, from startups to corporate giants.
In conjunction with her move to Irvine Co., the large Orange County developer, she will close her three-person company and shift her clients to global human resources firm Stanton Chase.
Reynolds, 53, was thinking about a career switch to corporate PR when Irvine Co. asked her to find a communications manager.
“It was very apparent in the first round of meetings that I got along very well with them,” she said. “They called a few weeks later and asked if I would be interested in the position.”
Hispanic Coverage
Acento, a Hispanic ad shop in West Los Angeles, is the new agency for Infinity Property & Casualty Corp. in Birmingham, Ala.
The mission for Acento is to increase name recognition for Infinity’s auto insurance among Hispanics. The assignment includes market research, ad creation, media buying, public relations and events. Also, Acento will create brochures for insurance brokers and agents.
“We are looking for extraordinary results that complement our rich history serving this segment,” Glen Godwin, Infinity’s chief marketing officer, said in a statement.
Acento, an agency founded by Roberto Orci in 1983, increased revenue 39 percent in 2009 and expects to grow another 50 percent this year. Its client list includes Wells Fargo, Staples, Southern California Edison and ServiceMaster.
Park Campaign
Government Solutions Group in Pasadena has launched a campaign designed to help parks in 13 states bring in some money in the face of cash-strapped government budgets.
The agency has created visitor’s guides supported by corporate advertisers who will donate to the parks for every sale they make through the program.
For example, for each new customer that DirecTV signs up through the program, the company will donate $50 to parks. Other advertisers include Coca-Cola, Geico, Sports Authority, Stater Bros. and Subaru.
Starting this month, more than 6 million guides will be distributed at parks in 13 states, including California.
“With state park budgets in such upheaval, consumers like to see companies that step in to support our natural resources, and make their buying decisions based on that,” Shari Boyer, Government Solutions chief executive, said in a statement.
Agencies & Accounts
Dailey has landed the advertising account for Aspen Dental Management, a group of 240 affiliated dentists headquartered in Syracuse, N.Y. The L.A.-based Dailey will handle digital and traditional ad creation, as well as media buying. … The Original Farmers Market at Third & Fairfax has won the California Travel & Tourism Commission’s top prize for its campaign highlighting the market’s 75th anniversary last year. The agencies that coordinated the campaign were Adlhoch Creative, Newsom Design and Weisman Hamlin Public Relations. … Local agencies that won Effie Awards at the June 8 ceremony in New York include: TBWAMedia Arts Lab for Apple’s “There’s an App for That;” TBWAChiatDay for Pepsico and Gatorade; Secret Weapon Marketing for two Jack-in-the-Box spots and Clearwire; Deutsch LA for an MLB video game and for WellPoint; OMD for its promotion of the CBS “Monday to the Max” lineup; Ogilvy & Mather for Cisco; Saatchi & Saatchi LA for Toyota; and Ignited for the U.S. Army. Hispanic agency La Agencia de Orci also won for Jack-in-the-Box. … The Westwood office of Atomic Public Relations is the new agency for Pioneer Electronics USA in Long Beach.
Atomic will provide media relations, social media and event production services. … In a switch from traditional lobbying to advertising, UCLA has bought radio time and billboards to promote the value of higher education. Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is spokesman for the radio spots.
Staff reporter Joel Russell can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 237.
