By Rick Griffin
Raindrop Agency, a San Diego advertising and branding firm, reports its video produced for client Dr. Squatch Soap Company was recently No. 1 on YouTube’s True View for Action Leaderboard, a return-on-ad-spend ranking for direct-response videos.
The 4:52 video, which was filmed in San Diego, has received more than 116 million views to date.
A Raindrop spokesperson said the video uses humor and entertainment in pitching Dr. Squatch, a Los Angeles-based company that makes bar soap for men, as well as personal care products such as deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and shaving cream. Raindrop, which has served as Dr. Squatch’s creative partner since 2017, said its work has helped increase Dr. Squatch’s online annual revenue by 25 times.
Raindrop was founded in 2010 by Coronado native Jacques Spitzer, who still lives there. Clients include WORX, Omigo, Crossrope, HoneyBug, the San Diego Symphony and Ruggable.
Ally Welborn joins Reality Changers in Marketing Role
Ally Welborn has been named marketing and communications manager for Reality Changers, a City Heights nonprofit that helps area youth graduate from college. She previously spent the past four years as community engagement manager for The San Diego River Park Foundation.
Welborn is currently volunteering as board president for the Normal Heights Community Association. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in ecology, behavior and evolution from the University of California San Diego in 2010.
Reality Changers provides mentoring and tutoring programs that prepare youth to become first-generation college graduates and agents of change in their communities.
Mindgruve Named to AdWeek’s Fastest Growing Agencies List
Mindgruve, a San Diego creative marketing agency, reports it has been ranked No. 84 on the top 100 list of fastest-growing agencies by advertising industry publication AdWeek.
For consideration on AdWeeks’s list, agencies were required to provide three years (from 2017 to 2019) of earned revenue reports with at least $250,000 of annual revenue for 2017. Mindgruve said it has experienced 81 percent growth rate during that time period.
“An agile, iterative process and open collaboration with clients are two keys to our resilience in some very challenging times,” said Chad Robley, Mindgruve CEO and founder. “We’ve also stayed true to our core philosophy for more than 20 years. If we grow our clients’ businesses, we’ll grow our own. This remarkable honor is proof of that.”
PRSA Honors PR Firms at Bernays Awards
San Diego public relations firms Tracks Public Relations and Mixte Communications, both founded by Jamie Hampton, were the top winners at the 2020 Edward L Bernays Mark of Excellence Awards presented during an online ceremony in mid-December by the Public Relations Society of America’s San Diego-Imperial Counties chapter.
Tracks won 15 awards and Mixte won 13 awards. A total of 72 awards, including 27 Silver and 36 Bronze awards, were presented to 20 different San Diego PR and communications companies. Categories included community relations, integrated communications, issues management, public affairs, media relations, and research and evaluation.
Two entries were awarded Best of Show, recognizing the highest scores among Silver and Bronze award recipients. The Silver Best of Show Award went to the City of Oceanside and NV5 in the events and observances category for nonprofits and government agencies. Tracks and Scoop SD won the Bronze Best of Show Award in the social digital media category.
Seven special awards were presented including: Elizabeth Espinoza, communications and government relations office, Imperial Valley College, New Professional of the Year; James R. Floros, San Diego Food Bank, Eva Irving Community Service Award; Dr. Wilma Wooten, County of San Diego, Diogenes Award for candor in press relations; Lynne Friedmann, Otto Bos Hall of Fame Inductee; Paula Niederland, Student Bernays Award; Denise Scatena, Scatena Daniels Communications, Deborah Baker PR Professional of the Year for commitment to philanthropy; and University of California San Diego Health Team, PR Team of the Year, for timely and strategic COVID-19-related communications.
A complete list of winners is available at www.prsasdic.org. The theme for the 2020 awards program was “Resilience.”
“In a year that has been marked by numerous changes to our lives, both professionally and personally, it was important for the chapter to continue to recognize the hard work that was produced this year as well honor the PR and communications pros whose job it was to stay the course,” said Sarah Lemons, chapter board president.
The awards are named after Edward L. Bernays, the man who launched the field of public relations in the 1920s. Often called the “father of public relations,” Bernays’ history-making campaigns explain why people eat bacon with eggs, women smoke cigarettes and bank managers join civic groups. He died in 1995 at age 103.
Tracks Public Relations was founded in 2019 as a social enterprise PR agency to provide training jobs and refugees and immigrants and bring diversity to the PR profession, according to Hampton.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.