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Idea man in Temecula put Vizio on top [The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif.](Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) June 20--Most people would have seen a plain brown box and thought nothing else of it. Dave Korinek saw an empty billboard for the largely unknown Vizio television contained inside. Korinek refashioned the Vizio's ho-hum boxes into a four-color advertisement catching the eyes of club store shoppers scanning the shelves for flat-screen HD televisions who may not have recognized the new brand otherwise. And when Korinek left the San Diego advertising agency he was with to start a small firm in Temecula called Magnetic Creative, the growing television brand stayed with him. Magnetic Creative is, "very much in line with the rebellious tone we seek," said Jason Maciel, director of media for Vizio. Thinking "on the box" was just the kind of outside-the-box thinking Korinek said he wanted to foster at his "idea company" that designs packaging, websites and marketing campaigns. "I want to do things that are relevant, that make sense," he said, shying away from the "Mad Men" depiction of advertising agencies that have companies throwing money at large-scale campaigns that may not prove to be in the best interest of the client. The box as a billboard-like marketing strategy has since become standard for most television purveyors and Vizio bolstered its box campaign with commercials, industry trade show appearances and viral online outreach. Last year, the company's flat-screen television sales accounted for 18.4 percent of the entire market, second only to Samsung but besting Sony, Sharp and Panasonic, according to research from iSuppli. It sold nearly 2.9 million of the televisions nationwide in just the last three months of 2010. Korinek's client list has grown, as has his own list of entrepreneurial enterprises and hopes to turn Temecula into a destination for entertainment. The agency's small second-floor space in Old Town Temecula was anything but the typical off-white cubicle configuration seen in most offices. Brick and distressed metal commingle with reclaimed wood and Mac computer monitors. A boardroom is normally wide open unless someone rolls down a warehouse-style door turning it into a "war room" for brainstorming sessions. It's a setting that Korinek said reminds him of his New York roots. Korinek moved west to San Diego with his family, going to school and settling into the coastal metropolis from 1986 to 2006 before he found himself with a growing family of four kids and a seemingly shrinking 1,500-square-foot house. He moved to Temecula to start Magnetic Creative, working out of his home first before opening an office in 2008. In that time, one dominated by the Great Recession, Korinek said his small firm grew to earn $3 million in annual revenue. He expects it to grow to $4 million next year and two years from now, he wouldn't be surprised if he had a staff of 30, he said. He and a friend also have started their own company to package and brand Synch bands (pronounced cinch), which resembled laces on his own set of Converse All-Star shoes but without the bows. Instead, he and his friend's "synch discs" keep the elastic bands in place without a tie. Another company, Voltage Productions, serves as a full production studio when Magnetic Creative needs it for a client's campaign or a local band wants to shoot a music video. The idea man has his sights set on bringing more entertainment options to traditional Temecula, especially considering city transplants have been moving farther inland. "I don't want to have to have my kids go to San Diego to do something cool," he said. When Vizio needed to show off its brand of flat-screen televisions to tens of thousands of concertgoers at this year's Coachella Music Festival, the company turned to Magnetic Creative, which designed the company an air-conditioned lounge with an earthy but tech-savvy vibe to suit the crowd. There, would-be customers would certainly escape the heat and, at the same time, learn about the young brand that has made "Entertainment Freedom for All" its battle cry. "We found that in the past it's very tough to find an agency that really listens to the feedback," Maciel said. "Dave is very, very willing to listen. ... They get it. They understand the Vizio brand." Reach Kimberly Pierceall at 951-368-9552 or [email protected] ___ To see more of The Press-Enterprise or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pe.com. Copyright (c) 2011, The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544) |