Santa Monica Firm Looks To Refine Spin for DVDs

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Hill & Knowlton, a PR agency that won the Fox Home Entertainment account last week, wants to discover the next big way to sell movie discs.

The account involves between 200 and 300 releases every year, ranging from recent feature films to TV series to old classics and direct-to-DVD movies. Hope Boonshaft, general manager at Hill & Knowlton in Santa Monica, said the sheer number of titles has led studios to take a cookie-cutter approach by sending out a formulaic press release for each one, a method she wants to change.

H&K will use research from a movie’s theatrical release or a TV show’s ratings to target a specific demographic group that would buy each release. One group Boonshaft will target is moms; she thinks they have been neglected by studios.

“Whether it’s for young children or spouses, moms make a lot of entertainment purchase decisions,” Boonshaft said. “To reach them, we know mom bloggers are big.”

Other groups Boonshaft plans to connect with are young adult males and teens.

E-mails and events will be the mainstays of the ongoing campaign. Boonshaft wants a bigger presence at established events such as San Diego’s Comic-Con as well as staging events at the Fox lot in Century City for media. The e-mails will go to bloggers, traditional media outlets and fans.

Boonshaft estimated that eight to 10 people will work on the account full time.

She downplayed the idea that online movie streaming will replace discs anytime soon, saying, “It sounds hot and sexy, but it’s not a great experience to stream a movie.”

Between mail-order house Netflix, kiosks and retailers Wal-Mart and Best Buy, Fox still has plenty of channels to reach consumers, she said.

Jack’s Secret Weapon

Secret Weapon Marketing in West Los Angeles has launched a Facebook campaign for longtime client Jack-in-the-Box as a follow-up to last year’s “Hang in There Jack” campaign.

The fictional character Jack became a conversation piece for social networkers last year when a TV commercial during the Super Bowl showed him getting hit by a bus. As Jack lay in a coma, his online friends made get-well videos and debated conspiracy theories about the accident. Since Jack’s reawakening last year, he has Tweeted and sent Facebook updates to his fans.

The new campaign, “Be a Rich Fan,” encourages people to become Jack’s friend. For every person who “likes” Jack on Facebook, he’ll put a nickel donation into a money jar, displayed in real time on his page. At the end of October, one fan will win the money. The promotion is designed to enlist people through word of mouth because the more friends recruited into the contest, the bigger the prize.

Park Politics

The ad industry has a special motivation to support Proposition 21, a November ballot measure that would add a fee to auto registration to fund state parks, according to the Yes on 21 campaign.

During 2008 and 2009, the parks hosted more than 400 TV and print advertisement shoots, but chronic underfunding has led to park deterioration and part-time hours. An $18 fee collected for each vehicle registration will ensure the parks remain accessible to public and commercial users, supporters say.

“California’s state parks grace the pages of many magazine ads and some very popular television commercials,” Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the California State Parks Foundation and a Proposition 21 supporter, said in a statement. “Without Proposition 21, the business community may not have access to these beautiful locations for their advertising campaigns.”

Agencies & Accounts

Inter/Media Cos. in Encino has signed game show host Chuck Woolery to star in an infomercial for Alteril, a natural sleep medicine. Woolery was the original host of “Wheel of Fortune” and, later, “Love Connection.” The 30-minute infomercial will air on History Channel, Hallmark, Lifetime, TV Land and Discovery. … Cristina Rose, co-founder of lobbying and political PR agency Rose & Kindel, has announced her retirement. The 23-year-old downtown L.A. agency was purchased by London-based Huntsworth last year. “Having successfully transitioned to new leadership over the past year, I can comfortably take my leave,” she wrote in her farewell letter. … Doobie White, a commercial editor at Therapy Studios in West Los Angeles, has co-directed a series of TV spots for the Alabama District Attorneys Association’s “Zero Meth” campaign. The public service announcements use jarring visuals and sound to show the effects of the drug. … Show biz PR agency Rogers & Cowan has hired Tej Herring to expand its representation of celebrities. Herring, founder of boutique agency THPR, brings with her clients such as Mark Moses, who plays Duck Herman in “Mad Men,” and Kevin Sorbo, who played the title role in TV’s “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.” … VPE, a Hispanic PR agency in Pasadena, has won the Latism Best Social Media Campaign of the Year award for its work with bloggers on behalf of client Nestle. The award is presented by the organization Latinos in Social Media. … Amy Levy Public Relations in West Los Angeles has signed three new clients: New Media Vision, a TV programming consultancy based in London; Skybuilt Accessories, an upscale bathroom accessory manufacturer in Culver City; and Vitamina Jeans, an Italian fashion house. … Phelps Group in Santa Monica has hired Myles Watling as vice president of finance. Prior to joining Phelps, he was controller at Ground Zero Advertising for nine years.

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

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