In the suddenly crowded space of social networking sites, backers of Stickam.com may have found a way to make it stand out. The L.A.-based site has teamed up with KLOS-FM (95.5) to video stream the radio station’s deejay duo “Mark & Brian Show.”
Stickam.com specializes in video chat, which makes for an easy transition to live video streaming of events. When Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps streamed their “Three Strangers and a Wedding” event from aboard the Queen Mary, the show attracted 350,000 online viewers.
Likewise another L.A. station, KLSX-FM (97.1), streamed the annual drinking show starring its hosts Frosty, Heidi and Frank. In the future, the station plans to stage a four-hour event, “The 97.1 Free FM Think Tank,” featuring deejays Adam Carolla and Tom Leykis.
Radio personalities and famous musicians also use Stickam’s video chat function to interact with thousands of fans without leaving the studio. Besides radio, the site has worked with Lions Gate, Fox Atomic, Warner Bros. and the Los Angeles Film Festival on cross-promotional events. It also has deals with radio stations in Seattle, New York and San Francisco.
“With both live video and chat rooms, we hope to give radio fans the ability to see and interact with deejays and guests like never before,” said Aaron Novak, marketing director at Stickam.com.
Lenovo’s LAX Exhibit
Lenovo Group LTD, the biggest personal computer company in China, has assembled a yearlong advertising campaign at Los Angeles International Airport.
Called “The Hollywood Network,” the campaign consists of nine large backlit exhibits in the arrival sections of LAX terminals. Each display has a 57-inch high-definition TV screen showing video about how Lenovo scientists create better PCs.
“Business audiences are becoming increasingly difficult to reach via traditional media, making airports a more highly considered medium for impacting this target,” said Jo Zmood, business development director at Aviator, the media agency for Lenovo. “The Hollywood Network is ideal for Lenovo as it demonstrates the same core values as the brand breakthrough innovation and design.”
The network will reach about 30 million incoming travelers per year to LAX. “While a household name in countries such as China and India, Lenovo is nonetheless the new guy on the block in the United States. Airport advertising will allow us to quickly establish our brand, especially among our principal target of business travelers,” said Glen Gilbert, vice-president of marketing at Lenovo.
Strategic Moves
L.A.-based Playboy TV International and Claxson Interactive, an Internet company in Argentina, have co-created LifeStyle TV for distribution via the Internet, mobile phones and cable. The channel launched Sept. 30 across Latin America with programming on food, fashion, sports, technology and entertainment. It marks the first lifestyle cable channel in the region as well as the first non-sex channel with the Playboy logo. Advanced Brain Technologies of Ogden, Utah, has hired Inter/Media Interactive in Encino to market BrainBuilder, a computer training system that improves attention and brain function. Deloitte & Touche USA has named online ad rep firm Gorilla Nation as a Rising Star in the Technology Fast 50 list for Los Angeles. Rubicon Project, an L.A company working to automate Internet advertising, has secured $4 million from Clearstone Venture Partners. It also secured $2 million in debt from Square1 Bank.
Audio Logo
DMI Music & Media Solutions in Pasadena has composed an audio logo for L.A. Office, a trade group for the brand marketing industry. The three-piece musical composition will brand the organization on its Web site and at events.
The audio logo includes music reminiscent of a television theme song, designed to underscore the group’s longtime presence in the Hollywood entertainment community.
“The L.A. Office has long been committed to providing companies with powerful tools that brand and market entertainment properties,” said Lynne Leger, DMI senior vice-president. “It was only fitting that the group itself have a strong branded identity, too. Along with its visual logos, The L.A. Office recognized a strong audio logo would further brand its organization.”
Ride Swap
Oscar-winner Jessica Yu of Hollywood is the director behind Ford’s “Swap Your Ride” TV campaign, which features people who believed they were part of a marketing research study. For the assignment, Yu and crew pretended to work for the market research firm, even wearing fake uniforms. The campaign, created by JWT Team Detroit, worked with recent car buyers in Los Angeles and three other cities.
Staff reporter Joel Russell can be reached at
[email protected]
, or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 237.
