Advertising Agencies Orange County

In an industry that calculates its annual billings by the millions, 27-year-old Sakol Mongkolkasetarin, a graphic designer who runs a one-person advertising agency from his Santa Ana apartment, figures that his billings for all of 1994 will probably total $200,000. But Thursday night, he competed with some of the big-money ad firms of Southern California and came away with four of the industry's Belding awards.

Welton Mansfield won't have an easy job for the next four months. He has to keep about 130 employees at the local office of Foote, Cone & Belding Advertising Inc. working on an account they all know they're losing at the end of the year. The ad agency must resign Mazda Motor of America Inc.'s $240-million advertising account because of a potential conflict with Bozell Worldwide, which its parent company is acquiring.

Firms Make the Finals: The Avery Division of Avery Dennison, the Pasadena-based maker of pressure-sensitive labels, tags and other office products, has selected Irvine-based dGWB and Los Angeles-based GBF/Ayer as finalists for its $1.5-million advertising account. Other contenders included Colby/L.A., Fotouhi Alonso, Horlick Levin, Stein Robaire Helm and the Savage Group. A decision is expected by mid-March.

Selling the Sizzler: Al Punto Publicidad--To the Point Advertising--has added Sizzler International to its roster of clients. The agency's client list already included The Broadway and the United Way of Orange County. Peggy Goff is president and director of strategic planning for the agency, which is based in Costa Mesa and specializes in Hispanic marketing programs. Eduardo Bottger is vice president and creative director.

Industry Notes: Lefebvre Advertising in Anaheim has created a four-page flyer for stationer Avery-Dennison, which was inserted in a recent issue of Home Office Computing magazine. . . . The Benjamin Group in Irvine has won the public relations account for San Jose-based Maxoptix Corp., which makes disk drives. . . . TH&M Advertising in Irvine has been tapped to handle advertising and public relations for the architectural firm Headrick, Chase & Associates in San Juan Capistrano. . . .

Entries for the annual Orange County Ad Club awards contest increased more than 50% this year, and organizers called it a sign of returning optimism. The number of companies represented also rose, from 125 last year to 175. "The two do show a resurgence of enthusiasm," said Linda Waters, a club board member. The club also lowered the cost of entering, she said, broadened its mailing list and met with many of the creative directors at local agencies to hear their suggestions for the contest.

Newport Beach Agency Expanding: Anne Morris Advertising & Design in Newport Beach is expanding. The company employed 10 people this fall and has opened seven positions since then. Morris said her clients are becoming more active. "I see it turning around," she said of the recession. "I attribute (the company's success) to getting out and hustling, to a positive attitude." Morris, who opened her agency a decade ago, represents Greystone Homes Inc.

Jim deYong, the "d" in dGWB, is heading into semi-retirement next week at the tender age of 45. The executive vice president of the award-winning Irvine ad agency will take on a role akin to permanent consultant and a tongue-in-cheek title of chairman emeritus. deYong said he plans to travel to Central America, build a home in Dana Point, learn to golf and chip away at a list of about 50 things he's always wanted to do.

John Good's timing was pretty bad. In May, 1989, the 27-year-old publisher founded a magazine to showcase the Orange County advertising industry. OC AdNews was a glossy, sophisticated publication aimed at promoting the county's creative talent to the many corporations headquartered locally. But Good hadn't planned on the recession, which has driven about 200 of the county's 420 ad agencies out of business and has put 4,000 people out of advertising-related jobs.

Mendoza, Dillon & Associates has been selected by Kraft General Foods Inc. to buy all of its advertising time on Hispanic television in the United States, beginning Jan. 1. The size of the Hispanic television budget was not disclosed. Andres Sullivan, executive vice president and executive creative director for Mendoza, Dillon, said the company expects to be able to handle the larger workload without doing much new hiring.

Karen Jones of the Jones Partnership advertising agency and Rick Andersen of Andersen & Johnson Advertising in Irvine said Monday they have merged their agencies to provide better service to their clients. The new company, Andersen Jones Partners Inc., is aimed at combining Andersen's marketing experience with Jones' graphic design capabilities. Andersen is the new agency's creative director of copy, and Jones is its creative director of art.

Client Count: Orange-based Greg Smith Communications has been awarded a contract from Albert C. Martin & Associates to manage communications for its Los Angeles City Hall seismic rehabilitation project. . . . Thomas Binnion Advertising & Creative Services of Manhattan Beach has been named as agency of record for Union Federal Bank in Brea. . . . InterCommunications in Newport Beach was selected by the Indonesia-based company Pt.

When one of the nation's largest cookie-makers decided to launch its first Spanish-language ad campaign, it turned to an Orange County agency to help it hablar espanol. Nabisco Biscuit Co., a division of Nabisco Foods Group, awarded the account, worth unspecified hundreds of thousands of dollars, to Mendoza Dillon & Associados, a 15-year-old Irvine firm that has created Spanish-language ad campaigns for corporations as diverse as Miller Brewing Co.

In step with a national trend, small agencies walked away with two of three top honors during Saturday night's 36th annual Orange County AdClub awards ceremony. One of three "Best of Show" awards went to Acme Advertising, a one-man operation run by Sakol Mongkolkasetarin of Fountain Valley. He won in the print advertising category for his work for Pacific Snax Corp., which makes rice snacks shaped like popcorn. The top honor in broadcast advertising was awarded to Smart Guy's Advertising Co.

In an industry that calculates its annual billings by the millions, 27-year-old Sakol Mongkolkasetarin, a graphic designer who runs a one-person advertising agency from his Santa Ana apartment, figures that his billings for all of 1994 will probably total $200,000. But Thursday night, he competed with some of the big-money ad firms of Southern California and came away with four of the industry's Belding awards.

Firms Make the Finals: The Avery Division of Avery Dennison, the Pasadena-based maker of pressure-sensitive labels, tags and other office products, has selected Irvine-based dGWB and Los Angeles-based GBF/Ayer as finalists for its $1.5-million advertising account. Other contenders included Colby/L.A., Fotouhi Alonso, Horlick Levin, Stein Robaire Helm and the Savage Group. A decision is expected by mid-March.