Ex-Graphic Design Firm Takes Wing in Hollywood

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Bird Design, which specialized in graphics, has become an advertising agency. The firm is now known as Bird.

The Hollywood firm was doing design work for San Jose-based tech giant Cisco Systems, and was able to leverage that relationship into a full-service account for the company’s consumer products, a camcorder and a home wireless service.

Peter King Robbins, co-founder and chief creative officer, said that as Cisco gave the company more responsibilities in media-buying and online campaigns, he augmented his 12-person company with freelancers, consultants and contracting agencies.

“It’s surprising how productive it is to work that way,” he said. “We’ve found we could always find the resources to solve the client’s problem.”

Bird is now the official agency for Flip, a handheld camcorder manufactured by a Cisco subsidiary, and recently produced a series of TV commercials for Cisco’s home wireless service, Valet. The spots feature pro basketball player Carmelo Anthony and skateboarding star Tony Hawk.

Bird was founded by Robbins and Tabitha De La Torre in 1990 as a print design studio. It later moved into broadcast graphics for cable networks, TV shows and broadcast stations.

Robbins said his agency will continue to do design work for entertainment companies, but wants to find more consumer goods clients.

Burger Pitch

Pitch Agency has signed to handle Burger King’s youth and family marketing account, effective July 1.

The Culver City ad shop has managed the burger chain’s promotions for two years. The agency has supervised tie-ins for the movies “Twilight: New Moon,” “Twilight: Eclipse” and “Iron Man 2.”

Also, Burger King has scheduled a promotion for this fall on the launch of Kinect, a device that allows consumers to communicate with their Xbox 360 video game console through gestures and spoken commands instead of a hand-held controller. Pitch is planning the campaign.

The youth and family account is an expansion of the agency’s relationship with the fast-food chain.

“Pitch is an agency partner with fresh thinking that understands our brand and the goals we are trying to achieve with the youth and family market … and we look forward to this new chapter in our partnership,” Mike Kappitt, Burger King’s chief marketing officer for North America, said in a statement.

Bebe on TV American Groove, a Westwood-based consulting firm that specializes in apparel marketing, has arranged for a Bebe clothing line to guest-star on CW’s television show “90210.”

Under terms of the deal, the Bebe for 90210 label will debut this fall. The label features clothes that the show’s four main female characters will wear on screen. Bebe will sell the merchandise online and at its 214 retail stores.

Designers from both Bebe and the show will create the fashions.

Erica Zohar, chief executive of American Groove and a former fashion designer, put the deal together.

The show “90210” is produced by CBS Corp. and filmed at Torrance High School.

Strategic Ace

WPP PLC, an international conglomerate of ad agencies based in Dublin, Ireland, has invested in Ace Metrix, a West L.A. firm that conducts market research on the effectiveness of TV commercials.

Financial terms of WPP’s investment were not disclosed. Previous Ace Metrix investors include Leapfrog Ventures, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and Palomar Ventures.

Under the partnership, Ace Metrix will work with Kantar, a WPP-owned consulting firm that focuses on consumer research, to sell Ace Metrix software and services to corporate advertisers to help them plan ad budgets.

Agencies & Accounts

RPA in Santa Monica is the new ad agency for the Luxor Hotel and the Excalibur Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, both owned by MGM Resorts International. For the last two years, RPA has been the agency for Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, another MGM property. … Levine Communications Office in Hollywood has signed hard rock band Guns N’ Roses and will handle the group’s press relations. … Marketing consultancy Siegel+Gale has appointed Donna Thacher as research director in the agency’s West L.A. and San Francisco offices. She previously worked 20 years at Dailey & Associates Advertising in West Hollywood, where she managed research projects for Hilton Hotels, Princess Cruises, Lawry’s Foods, Nestle and HealthNet. … Ant Farm has promoted Matt Bretz to the position of executive creative director. He has worked five years at the Fairfax district agency on such accounts as Disney Parks, Xbox 360 and Discovery Channel. In his new position, he will focus on developing integrated campaigns that include various digital and broadcast media for entertainment brands. … Media-buying service KSL Media in Encino has won three new accounts: ConocoPhillips, United Way of Greater Los Angeles and Sizzler. “If the first part of 2010 is any indication, the rest of the year will see continued growth for KSL in Los Angeles,” Chief Executive Hank Cohen said in a statement. … Carl Terzian Associates has been retained by Pasadena-based Toledo Homes Inc. to provide public relations services. CTA also added Westmont College in Santa Barbara to its client roster.

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

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