Gestalt Brand Lab, a San Diego branding and marketing agency, has launched a new advertising campaign for its client Lumin, a premium men’s skincare brand with headquarters in Los Angeles.
The ad campaign, part of a brand makeover, includes the tagline of “Brilliant Men’s Skincare Solutions” and eye-catching artwork featuring models posting with live snakes and splattered paint.
An ad with a snake around a man’s neck asks the question, “Choked Up By Complicated Skincare? The copy also recommends to “ditch the snake oil.”
The ad with black paint splattered on a man’s face says, “Oily Skin, Dark Circles?” It promotes Lumin’s “No Baggage Trio” bundle featuring charcoal face wash, daily face moisturizer and dark circle defense balm.
Brian Munce, managing director of Gestalt Brand Lab, describes the campaign as “one part Mad Men, one part jackass. Customers will be drawn in by the new aesthetic and elevated visuals that truly represent men’s skincare challenges in a surprising and cutting-edge way,” he said.
A Gestalt statement said, “All creative highlights Lumin’s innovative and dynamic production solutions that breakthrough the status quo in men’s skincare.”
A Gestalt spokesperson told Times of San Diego that the campaign has been launched on social media and in New York City with street-level outdoor posters on walls, fences and sides of buildings, or “posting in the wild,” along with “taxi toppers,” which are two-sided displays placed on the top of taxi cabs.
“Men’s skincare has always been an underserved category, and as a brand that men already trust and turn to for easy-to-use and effective solutions, we saw an opportunity to push boundaries and innovate even more,” said Ingrid Jackel, CEO of Pangaea Holdings, parent company of Lumin.
Founded in 2019, Gestalt Brand Lab’s other clients include Luna Grill Restaurants, Chuze Fitness, Meridian, Best Day Brewing, Gemological Institute of America and Jamba.
Kathryn Gray Is New San Diego Press Club Executive Director
Kathryn Gray, a San Diego native, has been named executive director of the San Diego Press Club. She succeeds the retiring Terry Williams, who has served the Press Club for the past 20 years.
“I am thrilled to be back in my hometown and to have the opportunity to support and celebrate the work of fellow journalists and communication professionals through my work with the San Diego Press Club,” Gray told Times of San Diego.
Gray has 10 years of experience working with for-profit and non-profit organizations in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
In San Francisco, she worked for eight years in the corporate offices of The Gap and Sephora in merchandising and marketing roles.
In Washington, she was a fellow at ProInspire, a nonprofit that aims to activate social impact leaders to accelerate an equitable and just society that is free of systemic oppression, its website said.
In recent years, Gray has been enrolled in digital journalism and creative non-fiction classes at San Diego City College. From January 2022 to June 2023, she served as editor-in-chief at City Times Media, a digital-first news operation that includes a news website and radio-television operations.
Gray was a student of Nicole Vargas, 2023 Press Club president and assistant professor of digital journalism at City College.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside Kathryn for more than two years, and she is the perfect fit for this position,” said Vargas. “Not only is Kathryn a proven leader and an exceptional collaborator, but she also appreciates and respects the history of the Press Club and the tireless work Terry has done. She has the vision and skillset to carry our organization into the future.”
This summer, Gray has been serving as an intern at Voice of San Diego, an online news service.
An avid explorer, Gray has lived in Ecuador, Spain and Chile and traveled extensively throughout North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara in global studies and Spanish.
Williams will remain in an advisory capacity through the San Diego Press Club’s 50th Annual Excellence in Journalism Awards, scheduled for Oct. 3 in Balboa Park.
“It was a big decision and a huge step for me, deciding to retire,” said Williams. “Kathryn is the perfect choice, and the club is in excellent hands. I could not be more pleased.”
With nearly 400 members who work in the news and communications fields, the San Diego Press Club is one of the largest news media professional organizations in the U.S.
Crowe Public Relations Promotes Two Staff Members
San Diego-based Crowe Public Relations has announced the promotions of Natalia Barclay to senior director of integrated public relations and Haley Walker to director of integrated marketing.
The agency said Barclay will oversee Crowe’s client services, and Walker will spearhead Crowe’s consumer goods business unit.
Barclay, who joined Crowe PR in early 2019 as a group manager, has played an instrumental role in developing the team and helping to scale the organization. In her new role, she will continue to counsel on integrated public relations and marketing strategies for clients across all of Crowe PR’s divisions, including consumer goods, healthcare and technology and hospitality. Additionally, Barclay will focus on optimizing client-focused operations and support new business initiatives.
Walker, who started at Crowe in 2021 as an integrated marketing strategist, has helped with Crowe’s influencer community and spearhead ROI-focused integrated PR strategies. In her new role, Walker will continue to support spirits, technology and apparel clients.
“We take great pride in recognizing and developing exceptional talent within our team,” said Anna Crowe, founder and CEO of Crowe PR. “The recent promotions of Natalia and Haley reflect our commitment to investing in our people and creating growth opportunities across the agency. I’m thrilled to celebrate their success.”
Founded in 2014, Crowe PR specializes in public relations, thought leadership, social amplification, crisis communications, influencer marketing and content creation services for healthcare technology, consumer goods and hospitality brands. Offices are located in San Diego and New York City.
SOCi Selected by Kona Ice for Online Listings
SOCi, a San Diego-based developer of social media and marketing platforms for multi-location brands, has been selected by Kona Ice to manage its extensive local online listings and ensure local visibility.
The move is designed to ensure that Kona Ice remains visible to its customers on multiple platforms, including Google, Facebook and Yelp, a SOCi statement said.
Since its founding in 2007, Kona Ice, one of the top mobile food franchises in the U.S. has grown to more than 1,500 mobile units across 49 states.
“We don’t want our customers to ever struggle to find our trucks online,” said Tony Lamb, founder and CEO of Kona Ice. “With SOCi, we can effectively manage our online presence across dozens of platforms to ensure that doesn’t happen, especially as we continue to grow. We also want to enhance the digital strength of each franchise to improve local visibility and make our brand more accessible to our customers. SOCi will help us do that on all fronts.”
SOCi provides AI-powered tools to manage thousands of listings, reviews and social channels and automate the optimization of multi-location brands’ online listings. Customers include Ace Hardware, Jersey’s Mike, Kumon and Ford.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.