By Rick Griffin
iMedia Communications, a trade publisher and event producer in the interactive media and marketing industries, has named John Hartman, president of Piston, a San Diego digital marketing firm, as its 2016 Agency Marketer of the Year.
“John has driven Piston to excel across all aspects of the digital ecosystem,” said iMedia. “He is equally able to lead a strategic branding engagement, website development project, programmatic media campaign or tag manager pixel tracking framework. John has helped drive early adoption of programmatic media across his clients and the industry.”
“iMedia has served as a great catalyst for our industry over the years and I am proud to be recognized by such fantastic colleagues and leaders,” said Hartman. iMedia said its Agency Marketer of the Year award recognizes exemplary leadership and innovative contributions to the field of marketing.
Piston’s clients include Skullcandy, HugoBoss, San Diego Chargers, Rubio’s, Intuit and AARP. The firm was a previous winner of iMedia’s Small Agency of the Year award in 2014 and 2015
Nielsen Releases November TV Sweeps Results
TV ratings company A.C. Nielsen Co. has reported results from the November 2016 sweeps period (Oct. 27-Nov. 23). Results from sweeps are typically used by TV stations to set advertising prices for the next quarter.
KFMB-TV/Channel 8 said audiences for its newscasts were higher than other stations in the San Diego market. In head-to-head, time-period comparisons, more homes were tuned to CBS News 8, the station said.
“It is quite an honor to be San Diego’s number one choice for local news,” said Dean Elwood, CBS News 8 news director. “It’s the result of a newsroom full of committed journalists with high standards. Together, we are always striving to produce compelling newscasts which are informative, enlightening, and resonate with San Diegans.”
Meanwhile, KSWB-TV/Channel 5 said it ranked highest in San Diego among adult viewers ages 25 to 54 watching its FOX 5 weekday morning newscasts from 4:30 and 10 a.m. and its weeknight late newscasts from 10 to 11:30 p.m.
“There are many ways to measure success ad we’re very happy to be number one in both morning news and late news,” said Scott Heath, president and GM, FOX 5.
Around Dec. 19, Nielsen is expected to release another report that will breakdown viewers in additional demographic groups. Some advertisers prefer advertising decisions based on demographics rather than number of households.
MAX Music Morning Show’s Gift Baskets Valued at $4K Apiece
Kim Morrison, morning host on XPRS-FM 105.7 MAX FM, will give away one holiday gift basket every day this week as part of the Max Music Morning Show’s “Kim’s Favorite Things, Paying It Forward” promotion. Each basket has amazing gifts and stuff from San Diego companies that are collectively valued at about $4,000, the station said.
Since early December, listeners have been nominating a friend, family member or co-worker they feel are deserving of something extra special this holiday season. Deadline for nominations is Thursday, Dec. 15. Morrison has been announcing additions to each basket consisting of some of her favorite things in various categories. It’s the second consecutive year for the promotion on MAX FM, one of three local radio stations operated by Broadcast Company of the Americas (BCA).
“The baskets are for someone who could really use a sparkle, whether it’s due to an illness, being overworked and underpaid, or just to show appreciation to someone you love,” said Morrison, who has worked at the station since 2011. “It’s our way of giving larger-than-life things to complete someone’s Christmas list and to bring back the spirit of giving and the feel-good in gifting. It’s very exciting to share with our listeners some of my favorite things.”
In addition to MAX FM, BCA operates XPRS-AM The Mighty 1090 and XEPE-AM ESPN 1700. BCA also holds the radio broadcast rights for the San Diego State University Aztecs football and basketball and San Diego Gulls hockey.
Health Care Communicators Donate to Ronald McDonald House
Health Care Communicators of San Diego recently donated $600 to the Ronald McDonald House of San Diego at Rady Children’s Hospital. The donation was made prior to HCCSD members serving dinner to the families with children being treated at the hospital.
According to Christina Campo, HCCSD president, members of the organizaiton volunteer four times annually at Ronald McDonald House and donate to the charity a portion of proceeds from HCCSD events held throughout the year.
“It feels good to give back to our health care community,” said Campo. “Our members not only achieve the networking and education offered by our events throughout the year, they are also giving back to the community. We are excited to announce that we will continue our partnership with Ronald McDonald House for the fourth year in a row in 2017.”
The Ronald McDonald House offers lodging and support to families caring for hospitalized children. HCCSD’s members represent the health care, wellness, biotech, medical device, health IT and pharmaceutical industries. For info on getting involved, visit www.hccsd.org.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.