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Ala Moana
owner transfers ad
account to Milici

Ogilvy loses its hold on
the $1 million contract

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By Rick Daysog
Star-Bulletin

The lucrative advertising account for Ala Moana Center is changing hands.

General Growth Properties Inc., the mall's owner and manager, transfered its $1 million-a-year account to Milici Valenti Ng Pack last week, according to a sources familiar with the deal.

Milici replaces Ogilvy & Mather Hawaii which has held the account since 1998.

Dwight Yoshimura, Ala Moana's general manager, could not be reached for immediate comment and a Milici spokesman had no response.

An Ogilvy spokeswoman said that the company was disappointed with the loss of the account but referred questions about the selection process to General Growth.

Milici is one of the state's largest ad agencies with 78 employees and annual billings of about $50 million. The company's clients include First Hawaiian Bank, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, McDonald's and Aloha Airlines.

Last year, Milici snagged the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau's North American $6 million advertising account. The HVCB account is one of the state's largest.

Prior to Ogilvy, the Ala Moana account had been handled by Starr Seigle McCombs Inc. for more than 20 years.

The marketing change comes nearly a year after General Growth completed its $810 million purchase of Ala Moana Center from Japan-based Daiei Inc.