One-Man Operations Drive Trio of Companies to Unite

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Kahn Media in Reseda has formed a triple alliance to fend off competition from wannabes in the niche of automotive marketing.

Dan Kahn, president of the PR agency, has hooked up with Brentwood Communications International, a video production company in Northridge, and FM3 Performance Marketing, an event organizer in Grafton, Wis. The alliance isn’t a partnership, but an agreement to share clients and projects when appropriate among the companies.

Kahn said the arrangement came about when the companies crossed paths at automotive events and realized they shared the same challenge. In the economic downturn, all three find they are competing against one-person shops that offer a single service at a lowball price. Former automotive journalists seek work writing press releases in competition with Kahn Media; unemployed videographers try to take jobs away from Brentwood; and former corporate marketers with event experience go up against FM3.

“If we combine forces, we can offer larger companies more services,” Kahn said. “That solidifies our position as premium providers and makes it hard to compete against us if you’re a one-man show.”

The first project involving all three companies will be the Spectre 341 Challenge, an annual race in Virginia City, Nev., scheduled this year for June 15-17. Kahn Media will promote attendance, FM3 will run the event and Brentwood will film it. Kahn Media will put the video on YouTube and TV to promote next year’s race.

Pitch Man

Pitch, an advertising agency in Culver City, has hired Eric Springer away from Deutsch LA. Springer’s new title is chief creative officer.

At Deutsch, Springer created the Volkswagen TV spot “The Force,” which aired during last year’s Super Bowl and went on to tally 47 million views on YouTube. “The Force” later won AdWeek’s Ad of the Year award.

In his new job, Springer will be leading Pitch’s strategic and creative teams as well as bringing in new clients. Also, he will work to recruit talent to the 40-person agency, which was founded in 2007.

“Pitch is exactly the type of creative think tank that I’ve longed for and have been looking to help build,” Springer said in a statement.

Pitch clients include Burger King and Nickelodeon.

Costumed ‘Do Devils’

Culver City-based advertising shop Woo Agency put its client Lenovo on top of the heap – literally – at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 10-12.

During the confab, Lenovo’s Do Devils – a team of Power Ranger-like heroes – rode atop taxis and limos along Las Vegas Boulevard. While cruising the Strip, the daredevils worked on their Lenovo IdeaPad U300 notebook computers.

Woo created the stunt for Lenovo’s new global “For Those Who Do” campaign. Its message is that consumers can have access to a Lenovo computer no matter what they’re doing – including sightseeing from the roof of a swerving cab.

The Vegas stunt featured car coverings promoting Lenovo and Intel processors, plus a photo contest. CES attendees who took cell-phone photos of the devils in action could win a free IdeaPad or a stay in Vegas.

Political Footage

Public affairs firm Goddard Gunster, based in Washington, D.C., has opened a Santa Monica office with the shop’s longtime producer Aaron Goddard at the helm.

The office, at 1522 Cloverfield Blvd., will have the dual function of providing broadcast production services for issues commercials as well as serve GG clients on the West Coast, including Americans Against Food Taxes and the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Until the beginning of the year, the firm was known as Goddard Claussen Public Affairs. In the 1990s, it created the characters Harry and Louise to oppose the Clinton administration’s health care reform. In 2005, it produced the HBO film “Last Best Chance” for the federal government’s Nuclear Threat Initiative.

Agencies & Accounts

Hill & Knowlton Strategies has named Bill Coletti general manager for the L.A. and Irvine offices. He will expand the agency’s offerings by strengthening research and digital capabilities. Previously, Coletti spent 11 years as a strategist in the Austin, Texas, office of Public Strategies, a subsidiary of H&K Strategies. Earlier in his career, he served as a senior adviser to the Council of Ministers in Bulgaria and adviser to the Democratic Party of Albania. H&K is a unit of Dublin, Ireland-based WPP. … Revenue Frontier, a direct-response ad-buying agency in Santa Monica, has three new radio clients for 2012: Ten Minute Trainer, 3 Day Blinds and Miracle Skin Transformer. All three campaigns will launch during the first quarter. … Commercial production house Motion Theory in Marina Del Rey has signed Swedish directors Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein to its roster. The team directed the new thriller feature film “Underworld Awakening.” While in Stockholm, they directed commercials for Nike, Ikea and Toyota. … PR firm Carl Terzian Associates has acquired five new clients: Los Angeles County Public Library, University of La Verne, New West Symphony, law firm Fox Rothschild LLP and Chicago School of Professional Psychology. The agency will recruit donors, board members or new business prospects for these clients. … Katy Thomas has joined consumer PR firm Mile 9 Agency as an account executive. Previously, Thomas worked at KSL Media and Rogers & Cowan. Mile 9 clients include K-Swiss and SoyJoy.

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

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