Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
HVCB awards
Japan ad pact
It ends up changing agencies
By Russ Lynch
Star-BulletinThe Tokyo office of the McCann Erickson advertising agency has been chosen to handle Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau advertising in Japan, under a three-year contract worth about $18 million.
The HVCB sought competitive bids for the work and ended up dropping Hakuhodo Inc., which had been handling the Japanese advertising.
Tony Vericella, HVCB president and chief executive officer, said presentations by bidders were impressive but McCann Erickson showed unique insights into the behavior of Japanese leisure travelers and demonstrated an ability to leverage the HVCB funds for the maximum impact.
The McCann Erickson Tokyo office was started in 1960 and has 530 employees.
Its clients in Japan include Japan Airlines Co., Tokyo Disneyland, Sony Corp., Hitachi Ltd., IBM Japan, Fuji Photo Film Co. and NEC Corp. The agency also represents international companies such as Coca-Cola Co., General Motors Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Nike Inc.
In November, the HVCB awarded a three-year contract for its North American advertising to a Honolulu agency, Milici Valenti Ng Pack. That contract calls for spending about $6 million in the first year and overall is about equal to the HVCB's budget for Japan. In September, the HVCB won a three-year contract from the Hawaii Tourism Authority, worth $38 million a year, to keep on promoting Hawaii as a travel destination.
Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau
