Two San Diego marketing entities, Courageous, a creative consultancy co-founded by Ryan Berman, and Do Not Disturb, an creative agency co-founded by Daniel Andreani, recently worked together on a social media video campaign for Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
The “Your Palace Awaits” campaign, launched in January, features eight, 12-to-15-second spots with an actor named Caesar living his best life in the hotel’s villa and casino. Caesar uses valet service for his horse and invites a minotaur to a pool party. Other spots shows Caesar ordering room service that includes lobster arriving via a drone and a Chihuahua dog bringing good luck to a gambling table.
Berman said some of the videos will be combined into 30-second spots for a future national TV campaign.
“The campaign highlights the escapism, joy and amenities that come with staying at Caesars Palace,” said Jared Rapier, regional VP of hospitality marketing for Caesars Palace. “And it does so in a uniquely fun way. Whether you prefer to party or relax like a Caesar, your Palace awaits.”
Andreani and Berman previously worked in 2017 on a Caesars Palace campaign called “Like a Caesar.” Andreani, who co-founded Do Not Disturb with Sophie Mason in 2017, said about the latest campaign, “Where most of the hospitality world focuses on just showing amenities, we wanted to make sure that we told a compelling story with fun videos happening throughout the resort.”
Berman co-founded Courageous in January 2019 with Billy Collins, former chief marketing officer at Soapbox Soaps, and Sean McGrath, who previously worked at FCB Global and Element 79. Berman launched the creative shop around the same time as he published his book, “Return on Courage,” which challenges clients to step up and be brave.
“Courageous gets us,” said Rapier, “There’s trust with Ryan, his team and the partners they’ve brought in to bring this campaign to life. We ask a lot of them, from 2:30 a.m. call times to reviewing the work with Facebook in pre-production. They’ve been great partners.”
Andreani and Berman also recently worked on a joint project for Gibson Guitars.
GDX Studios Names Cathy Garcia Director of Business Development
San Diego-based GDX Studios, which is positioned as a full-service, experiential marketing studio, has named Cathy Garcia, with 25 years of marketing experience, as West Coast director of business development.
In 2011, Garcia founded CG Activation, an event marketing agency, which will now become a joint venture partner with GDX Studios, according to the announcement. CG Activation’s previous clients have included Syfy, USA Network, Warner Media, AMC Networks and San Diego Comic-Con.
“Cathy’s extraordinary breadth of experience in business development and entrepreneurship, ability to execute activations flawlessly and connections with the entertainment industry makes her the perfect fit for our new type of agency,” said Aaron Gaeir, founder of GDX Studios. “Experiential marketing is an ever-dynamic industry and it takes the creative and entrepreneurial intellect to keep up. Cathy fits the bill and we’re lucky to have her and a partner in CG Activation.”
Earlier this year, Grandesign Experiential, a company Gaeir founded in 2009, was renamed to GDX Studios. It offers tracking capabilities, content capture, consumer touch points, public relations and social media services. GDX Studios, headquartered in the former Wonder Bread factory building in San Diego’s East Village, also operates offices in New York City and Los Angeles.
IABC Looking for ‘Communicator of the Year’ Nominees
The International Association of Business Communicators’ San Diego chapter is accepting nominations for two awards, including “Communicator of the Year” and “Junior Communicator of the Year.” The deadline is Friday, March 13.
IABC said COTY nominees must be IABC San Diego chapter members and exemplify the role of a leader in communication with proficiency in internal and external communications. Nominees also must implement a strategic communication plan that addresses the vision, objectives and priorities of the organization and participate in new and innovative methods of communication to diverse audiences. IABC said the criterion is the same for the Junior COTY award except the junior recipient must have less than five years of experience in the communications field.
This is the IABC chapter’s seventh year for its COTY awards program and third year for the Junior COTY award. Previous COTY winners have included: Mike Godfrey, Scripps Health (2019); Margie Newman, Intesa Communications Group (2018); Lisa Hunter, Booz Allen Hamilton (2017); Anna Davison, Bridgepoint Education (2016); Marilyn Olson, PPR North America (2015); and Cason Lane, Cason Lane Strategic Communications (2014). Honorees will be recognized at an event in May.
San Diego AMA Explores Tomorrow’s Marketing Technology
The American Marketing Association’s San Diego chapter will host “Marketing Technology, Tomorrow and the Next Decade” from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, at the offices of Mindgruve, a creative agency located at 627 8th Avenue in downtown San Diego. Admission is $35 for members, $45 for nonmembers.
Speakers will include: Julie Yamamoto, director of content marketing at Qualcomm; J. David Green, VP of marketing at Lead Crunch; and Joey Bridges, media director at Mindgruve. Each speaker will present for 15 minutes, followed by audience questions. Speaker topics will include: cool-hunting, using AI to improve demand, and the evolution of search.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.