HOTLINE

Cronin to Fill In for Beavis on Toyota Account





LOS ANGELES–Joe Cronin, president and chief





executive officer at Saatchi & Saatchi Pacific in





Torrance, Calif., is stepping in temporarily to run the Toyota USA account while a search for a replacement for Ian Beavis gets under way. Beavis, the agency’s group account director on the car business for the past four years, is leaving the agency for Ford Motor Co. in Detroit as marketing communications manager for the Lincoln-Mercury division. ‘We will continue to serve our client through this transition period–100 percent business as usual,’ Cronin said.





Pioneer Seeks Shop for Home Electronics Work





LOS ANGELES–Pioneer Audio and Video Systems in Long Beach, Calif., has put the home electronics portion of its advertising account in review. The main account continues to be handled by BBDO West in Los Angeles. Think New Ideas in Los Angeles, Alcone Marketing in Irvine, Calif., and Advantage Plus Marketing in Newport Beach, Calif., will present their ideas this week in the competition for the estimated $2 million account. Advertising will include retail point-of-sale materials, according to Pioneer senior vice president of marketing Michael Townsen. BBDO declined to participate in the review.





Freeman Plans West Coast Expansion





BOSTON–New business on the West Coast has prompted Freeman Associates to consider opening a





office, possibly in San Francisco. The agency, based in Wellesley, Mass., specializes in media planning and buying for high-tech companies. Annual billings of the agency exceed $140 million.





Winkler Captures Best of Show Honors





SAN FRANCISCO–Winkler Advertising in San





Francisco won the Best of Show award at the Silicon Valley Addy awards for a TV campaign for Hewlett-Packard.





Accounts Roundup





The San Francisco office of FCB Healthcare won an estimated $1-3 million assignment from Alza Pharmaceuticals in Mountain View, Calif., after a review. . . Di Zinno Thompson Integrated Marketing Solutions in San Diego, Calif., has been awarded the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau account after a review that included Chapman Warwick and Phillips Ramsey, both in San Diego. Annual billings for the account are estimated at $3 million.





Reviews Roundup





PetsMart has narrowed its list of contenders





for its $25 million account to 15 agencies. The shops have been asked to fill out questionnaires and return them to the company by June 13. . . Lowe & Partners/SMS in New York has elected not to participate in the review for Charles Schwab’s $10 million electronic trading account.





Copyright ASM Communications, Inc. (1997) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED





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