Red Door Interactive, a San Diego marketing agency, has promoted Stephanie Ranson from VP of client services to chief client officer. She has worked at the agency for the past 14 years.
The agency said Ranson will enhance the agency’s strategies while helping strengthen long-standing relationships with current clients, including Shea Homes, Titleist, Northern Arizona University, Intuit and Children’s Hospital of Orange County. In addition, Ranson will continue to oversee Red Door’s client services team to deliver superior results for its clients and their businesses, the agency said.
“As chief client officer, my role is to represent our clients, their needs and help Red Door Interactive serve as the best partner possible,” Ranson told Times of San Diego. “A big part of that responsibility is offering them new and innovative solutions. My focus on productization informs how we shape and refine Red Door Interactive’s services and offerings so we’re providing the best possible value to our clients. This includes leveraging our savvy marketing experts, staying on top of trends and clearly communicating the potential impact of our services.”
Over the years, her titles at Red Door have included business manager (2010), senior business manager (2011-2012), business supervisor (2012-2013), director of client service (2013-2017), senior director of client service (2017-2018), and VP of client service (2018-2024).
“Stephanie’s exceptional leadership qualities align perfectly with our values at Red Door Interactive,” said Reid Carr, Red Door chief executive officer and executive creative director. “Stephanie’s dedication, know-how and innovative spirit have left an indelible mark on every facet of our business. She’s the ideal leader to drive our continued success in meeting and exceeding our clients’ evolving needs while maximizing our overall impact in the market.”
Ranson has more than 20 years of expertise in brand strategy, advertising and digital marketing. Prior to Red Door, she worked at Marketing Design Group as an account executive and at Greenhaus as an account supervisor.
“I look back fondly at my time at both agencies, as they helped form my fundamentals in branding, marketing, creative design and client service,” Ranson said. “I gained valuable experience in branding and destination marketing at Greenhaus and a strong foundation in marketing and strategic planning at MDG. Both firms are still going strong, and I feel that this experience early in my career helped solidify my love for agencies, as well as set me up for success at Red Door Interactive.”
Founded in 2002, Red Door Interactive currently has 90 full-time employees.
Former CA Governor Is ‘Agent State Farm’ in Super Bowl TV Spot
A new advertising campaign launched during the recent Super Bowl telecast features former Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as a new superhero named “Agent State Farm.”
However, in the TV spot, Schwarzenegger’s biggest problem isn’t saving the world. Instead, the bodybuilder-turned-actor-turned-politician is repeatedly chastised by a film director for his inability to correctly pronounce “neighbor” in the brand’s tagline, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.”
The humorous TV spot portrays Schwarzenegger performing heroic feat after feat, including rescuing puppies from a burning house, flying a helicopter and saving a pregnant woman while struggling with his script. “Neighbor” comes out as “neighbaa.” Not even spokesperson Jake can help him with the pronunciation.
The campaign includes a 30-second teaser and a 90-second spot, plus a minute-long version that was aired during the game’s broadcast.
A statement from the insurer said, “State Farm is back with a campaign made for the big screen that only the action-movie icon himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, could bring to life for the biggest moment in American culture and sports.”
“Only Arnold can bring together the State Farm ethos made for the big screen,” Kristyn Cook, chief agency, sales and marketing officer at State Farm told Ad Age, an advertising news outlet. “The flexibility by which we think about our brand and the incredible assets that we have, we felt this iconic slogan necessitated being on this big stage as a launching point to further cement it into pop culture.”
Fox 5 San Diego Airing U.S. Senate Candidate Debate
KSWB-TV, Fox 5 San Diego, a Nexstar Media Group-owned TV station, will participate in a multi-market, live telecast of a candidate debate for California’s open U.S. Senate seat from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 12.
Other Nexstar TV stations in California airing the debate include KTLA in Los Angeles, KTXL in Sacramento, KSEE in Fresno, KGET in Bakersfield and KRON in San Francisco. The debate originates from the KRON 4 News studios. Debate hosts include Frank Buckley and Nikki Laurenzo.
A Fox 5 San Diego spokesperson told Times of San Diego that San Diego’s KUSI, another station owned by Nexstar, will not televise the debate.
Nexstar said it used specific and transparent criteria to determine which candidates qualified to participate in the debates. Among the criteria, a candidate must have received at least 5 percent in the ballot test poll question that includes all party-aligned candidates, or at least 10 percent in a ballot test poll question that includes all candidates.
The four leading candidates expected to appear in the debate include Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), Rep. Katie Porter (D-Orange County), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) and leading Republican contender Steve Garvey, former baseball player with the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.
The top two vote-getters in the March 5 primary election, regardless of party, will advance to a runoff in the Nov. 5 general election to succeed Laphonza Butler, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s appointed replacement after Sen. Dianne Feinstein died in September.
Schiff, the liberal Democrat perhaps best known for his work in pressing the first impeachment case against then-President Donald Trump, has raised the most money of any candidate. It’s very likely that Schiff, who leads in the polls, will finish first for a spot on the November election.
According to news reports, Garvey has a chance to play spoiler. CalMatters said a December poll found that Schiff was the clear frontrunner at 28 percent of likely voters while Garvey was in second place at 19 percent, followed closely by Porter and Lee. In deep-blue California, Schiff would be the prohibitive favorite to win the Senate seat if he faces a Republican rival in November rather than a fellow Democrat.
TV Personality’s Foundation Paying for Valentine Day’s Weddings
The Larry Himmel Neighborhood Foundation, named after the late San Diego TV personality and humorist Larry Himmel, has announced it will pay the $129 marriage license fee for 20 wedding ceremonies on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, at the County Administration Center.
Miles Himmel, foundation founder and Larry’s son, told Times of San Diego, that it’s the second consecutive year the foundation is paying for the marriage license fee, plus providing roses, in partnership with the San Diego County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk, the county office that issues marriages, birth and death certificates.
“My dad loved Valentine’s Day and he was always looked for ways to spread joy on this special day,” said Himmel. “He would buy dozens of roses and hand-them-out to random people. In 2005, he even married a couple of Valentine’s Day, which became a story on the evening newscast. In keeping with my dad’s spirit, we want to continue the tradition by helping couples tie the knot and ease the cost burden on their special day.”
Jordan Marks, the county’s assessor-recorder-county clerk, said, “I am thrilled to partner again with the Larry Himmel Neighborhood Foundation to extend this tradition and offer 20 couples the opportunity to create cherished memories on their special day. The late Larry Himmel was a beloved figure renowned for his compassion and humor.”
Larry Himmel, a feature reporter for 35 years with KFMB-TV, passed away in November 2014 from pancreatic cancer. He was 68. After moving to San Diego in the 1970s, Larry bartended in Ocean Beach and did stand-up at the Comedy Store in La Jolla. In 1979, he was hired at KFMB-TV’s Channel 8 news to host “Larry Himmel At Large” commentaries.
The Foundation, established in 2015, is accepting donations to cover the Valentine’s Day weddings at larryhimmelfoundation.org. Himmel said the Foundation might marriage license fees for more than 20 couples depending on donation contributions. “Our donations are from individual donors, so that’s what makes it all happen,” he said.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.
