NCG Porter Novelli Launches Local
High-Tech Effort
A 2000 Volkswagen Beetle with a yolk-yellow interior and an eggshell-white exterior. If it sounds like the center of a campaign for a certain dairy product, you’re right. A $300,000-plus statewide push , dubbed “The Incredible Drivable Egg” , is planned to land in San Diego on Oct. 2. It was created to increase the reportedly low egg consumption among Latinos. The promotion has the beetle touring California’s four largest Hispanic markets. The others are Los Angeles, San Francisco and Fresno. The Beetle will visit each city’s retailers, radio and TV studios and festivals.
The campaign, sponsored by Miami-based Radio Unica and the California Egg Commission, began in June. Throughout the promotion, entry forms will be collected, and the car will be given away in November.
– – –
Local Convergence: It’s been eight months since Nelson Communications Group was acquired by national public relations firm Porter Novelli. Now called NCG Porter Novelli, the local office launched a branch of Novelli’s high-tech convergence company in San Diego earlier this month, with hopes of luring more tekkie clients. Current clients include Qualcomm Inc., Airfiber, SCS Corp., Hewlett-Packard and Enosus. The office’s new manager, Laura Lee Brennan, is moving to San Diego from Barcelona, Spain, where she was the European marketing communications manager for SMC Networks Europe, Ltd.
Other NCG news: The firm just hired Adam Day from fellow San Diego agency The Flannery Group. Day, who will be a vice president, is expected to start at the end of this month or next month, said Karen Hutchens, managing partner of the local NCG office. At Flannery, Michael Magee was hired as the firm’s new executive vice president. Magee was previously with the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, where he was senior vice president for public policy.
Status Chart: Drasnin Communications in Hillcrest will launch an advertising campaign for Myriad Software in Rancho Bernardo. Jack In The Box, Inc.’s 1999 annual report won an award in this year’s International Annual Report Competition. Local agency ThinkTank is creating a new identity for locally based Entropia, Inc. Laura Coe Design Associates will be the official designer for San Diego Print Week 2001. Marston + Marston, Inc. will work with San Diego State University on a five-year community information campaign for students, faculty and other people about the Mission Valley East trolley expansion to the SDSU campus. Stoorza Communications, Inc. signed iMammogram.com for its launch. IMammogram is based in Westlake Village, Calif.
– – –
Sound Bites: Marc Corsi, new owner of the rechristened Corsi Chapman Warwick, was recently elected chairman of the Western Region of the American Advertising Federation and was elected to sit on the national AAF’s board of directors. In his new position, Corsi will be overseeing activities of AAF’s 48 ad clubs in 13 states on the West Coast. Stoorza promoted Chris Orlando to vice president of its San Diego office. Orlando will also be supervising the company’s corporate and brand marketing department. Former Phillips-Ramsey media buyer and planner Janene Liles recently formed her own company for media services. She’s named it Popcorn Press & Media. Scripps Ranch-based Eesoo Productions has launched its first major project , an audio dramatization of a science fiction adventure novel, “Eesoo.” The novel was written by local author Kathleen S. Boettcher. The advertising and marketing campaign that DiZinno-Thompson Integrated Marketing Solutions designed for the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau continues to win awards. The latest accolades come from industry magazine Black Meetings & Tourism’s second annual awards, recognizing sensitivity and diversity. The DiZinno/ConVis campaign, which included a multicultural tourism brochure, won a first place in a major destinations category.
The deadline for the next Media & Marketing column is Aug. 24. Rodrigues can be reached at (858) 277-6359, ext. 107, or via E-mail at trodrigues@sdbj.com.
