With that in mind, we are pleased to announce that we have promoted Alison Taubman to the new position of executive VP-chief strategy officer. She will continue oversight of Doner’s strategic planning and research teams and remain a core member of our business development team.

We believe this promotion not only reflects our commitment to strategic planning and insights, but also in providing the opportunity for employees to reach their potential and share in the success they help to create. Alison has been with us since 1986 when she started as a research project manager. From that day, she’s demonstrated incredible levels of intelligence, dedication and intensity (not necessarily in that order).

Over her 23-year tenure, Alison’s contributions to the agency have been influential not only in the way we serve clients but also how we fundamentally operate. We are thrilled to have her as a member of our executive management team.

Among her career highlights, Alison developed the research protocols to support our proprietary Path2Purchase™ strategic process and she was one of the key developers of our integrated communications development. Alison also has been the lead strategist for our thought-leadership content, including our “The Art of the Possible” series and “What Has Worth and What’s Worthwhile.”

Please join us in congratulating Alison on her new role. We look forward to sharing more good news with you in the coming months as we continue to shape the New Doner.

David, Rob and Tim

]]> http://media.donerus.com/2010/02/a-new-member-of-our-executive-management-team/feed/ 0 http://media.donerus.com/2010/02/a-new-member-of-our-executive-management-team/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Donermediablog/~3/2q6bNVs3J_g/ http://media.donerus.com/2010/01/del-taco-fills-up-on-the-weird-with-skit-show/#comments Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:10:06 +0000 Editor http://media.donerus.com/?p=732 AdFreak
January 15, 2010
By: Brian Morrissey

Taco Bell is clearly trying to reach beyond its young-dude appeal with its implausible new Taco Bell Diet campaign. But rival pseudo-Mexican-food purveyor Del Taco is going a much different route with a bizarre skit show, “The Del Taco Super Special Show,” which is clearly aimed at the bro demo. The first episode is chock-a-block with Honeyshed-like oddities, double entendres, scantily clad babes and oddball animations and puppetry. Users can vote for their favorite parts of the show over at Del Taco’s Facebook page. I’m casting mine for Timothy Taco Hands. (See below.) At the very least, this should help Del Taco push down the results for its most popular YouTube video, a clip showing three men scamming the chain out of free food, a stunt that eventually landed them in jail. Doner and Mekanism created the show.

Del Taco, the #2 Mexican QSR chain, has created a branded humor series with content that will be featured in Webisodes on Facebook and the brand’s site and also in traditional advertising.

“The Del Taco Super Special Show,” created by Doner and Mekanism, is the brand’s version of a late-night variety show.

The series is set at a Del Taco “just up the street” and hosted by an actor playing a Del Taco employee named Wes. Sketches and vignettes feature both animated and live characters, including Wes’s roommate Barry (a voracious Del Taco fan) and the “Hot Sauce Girls” (Dallas cheerleader types).

Images and value messages about the chain’s taco lines are interspersed throughout.

The full Webisodes, available on deltaco.com and facebook.com/deltaco, include edgier, more risqué content with appeal to Del Taco’s core audience of men ages 18 to 34.

Del Taco is also tweeting to drive traffic to the Webisodes. People who view the first Webisode can get a coupon redeemable during their next visit to Del Taco.

So as not to alienate customers in the 35-49 age range, tamer excerpts from the show are being incorporated into the TV and radio ads being used to build brand exposure, as well as drive online traffic, notes Del Taco VP, marketing John Cappasola. The advertising uses the tagline: “Eat it here; watch it online.”

TV spots will air in Los Angeles and Del Taco’s other largest markets during the NFL playoffs, Lakers basketball, “Saturday Night Live,” “Family Guy” episodes on CW, Fox Sports and ESPN programming and other shows. Radio spots will also air in key markets. Smaller markets will rely on print and in-store promotions, in addition to the online/social media element.

“We wanted a fully integrated campaign in which the creative could be used to carry our message across media,” says Cappasola. “The show offers the irreverent spirit our customers expect from Del Taco.”

Del Taco, which has up to now focused on traditional media advertising, views social media as a cost-effective means of building exposure and interaction with customers, particularly beyond its original West Coast markets. “We’re using social media to extend the Del Taco experience,” Cappasola says.

The chain now has 500-plus restaurants in 18 states, including the Southwest and Midwest and a few new locations in Florida and South Carolina.