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Ex-Allergan Aesthetics
Unit Head Joins Evolus
This CTO
HEALTHCARE: Wants to
make drug big-brand contender
By SHERRY HSIEH
Enjoys
Wall Street is pleased with
Evolus Inc.’s (Nasdaq: EOLS)
new president and chief execu-
tive, David Moatazedi, as shares
Problems
of the company shot up more than
40% since the news broke on
Moatazedi: ‘mar-
May 7. No wonder, given the new ket is very much
chief’s resume—he was most re- about consumer
!Evolus 67 penetration’
THE LISTS
3 69
American Realty OC Leader Board:
Advisors pays record Third installment of CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
price for new Anaheim Great Recession
industrial site series, with Squar
See page 19
Milner’s Steve Mil- CHIPMAKERS
ner, Adam Bullock See page 21
5.14.18_Front.qxp_Layout 1 5/11/18 11:53 AM Page 3
Gigasavvy
interested brands has shown it can work.
One organization it signed on last month
was the Orangewood Foundation following a
! from page 1 conversation between Johnston and Orange-
Gigasavvy has been able to sign companies it wood Chief Executive Chris Simonsen.
would have previously turned away because Sara Bazant, Orangewood’s director of
of their smaller marketing budgets—a com- marketing, said it was the first time the non-
mon practice of large agencies preferring a profit partnered with an agency of Gi-
hefty minimum spend from clients. gasavvy’s size.
In one month, Gigasavvy closed more than “Honestly, we had not been seeking out a
$200,000 in new business by adding clients marketing agency. Our budgets are limited,
such as Santa Ana-based nonprofit Orange- but we worked with them on what a contract
wood Foundation and Costa Mesa-based in- might look like,” she said. “Our board was
terior design and merchandising firm Ver willing to make an investment, which is
Designs. It’s in talks to add clients in retail, something we hadn’t really done with mar-
professional services, and the lifestyle and keting for a number of years.”
restaurant industries. It declined to disclose Companies lacking the ability to invest
the financial terms of the merger. heavily in marketing campaigns will manage
Irvine-based Gigasavvy is ranked No. 18 on its advertising in-house or hire freelancers,
the Business Journal’s list of advertising agen- Johnston said.
cies, with $16.4 million in revenue last year, Johnston and Svoboda set their sights on building new approach to helping small businesses Svoboda, who also serves as president of
a 2% increase from 2016. Svoboda started her need a custom approach. in OC. the OC chapter of the American Advertising
agency last year in Huntington Beach. The 10-year-old creative agency, known “You talk about big agencies, small agen- Federation, added that Gigasavvy helps or-
Susan Franceschini, executive director of for its digital work, has 32 employees and cies, but ultimately it’s about building up the ganizations create a cohesive marketing strat-
ad industry trade group ThinkLA, said adver- built its business with high-profile clients, reputation that Orange County is a destina- egy that tells a consistent brand
tisers are increasingly asking for project-based such as Toshiba, Chapman University, tion market,” she said. “This is a hub for ad- story—something difficult to do when hiring
relationships, citing Procter & Gamble’s an- Wahoo’s Fish Taco and Molina Healthcare. vertising, and the conversation just hasn’t multiple, independent freelancers to work on
nouncement last month to hand out more proj- “You get a brand that is great for your port- been elevated yet to tell everybody that separate projects.
ects to a roster of agencies while keeping an folio or for the company in other ways but for there’s great talent here, there’s great work “They’re able to come to us and get a high-
agency-of-record on retainer for major cre- whatever reason just doesn’t meet your min- coming out of Orange County, and we want end solution to their business that really
ative work. imum threshold,” he said. “Agencies make to lead that charge.” makes a huge impact,” she said. “Not only do
She said the industry shift has many agen- exceptions, but sometimes it’s not the best But Franceschini warns that the key to sus- we want to help them grow their business, but
cies scrambling to reformulate a business move because you’re still trying to take the taining the model will depend on keeping we’re growing and supporting businesses in
model that’s traditionally been favorable to same people that are working on big brand X larger clients happy. Orange County—for it to grow here and
big agencies with Fortune 50 clients that often to then work on some of these smaller ac- “If you’ve got some agency-of-record thrive, which helps us retain our talent and
stick around for over 20 years. counts that need a very custom approach.” clients then overlay it by saying, ‘OK, 50% grow the economy here.”
“[Gigasavvy is] smart to say we can help Svoboda said the framework for the new is AOR and 50% is project-driven,’ then it And it keeps Gigasavvy healthy enough
small businesses, too, because they’re not division was modeled after her own firm, can likely happen, but that’s a luxury,” she to fend off a potential acquisition from large
turning away business,” Franceschini said. whose clients include Costa Mesa-based said. “If you don’t have a steady stream of holding companies like WPP, Johnston
“Being nimble is key, and it’s harder for large companies b.spoke and Creative Window cash flow how do you support employees and said.
shops to pivot like that.” Designs. benefits?” “When we sat down as leadership and
Sunday Brunch would custom-build talked about the end goal of the company, [it
Tailor-Made teams based on each client’s needs, and the All Aboard was] to build this up to be one of the larger
Johnston said budget and staffing con- work was typically project-based. It allowed Johnston admits that it took “lots of white- independent shops, which is definitely a chal-
straints make it difficult for agencies like Gi- the agency to swim in an ocean of clients, boarding” to figure out a way to make the di- lenge, but this [merger], in our mind, was one
gasavvy to help emerging brands that often and more importantly, help emerging brands vision sustainable, and quick demand from of the steps to get there.” ■