MarketInk: Veteran Journalist David Ogul Joins SD College Of Continuing Education

By Rick Griffin, Times of San Diego

May 1, 2023

Veteran journalist and communications consultant David Ogul has left Grossmont College in El Cajon as interim director of college and community relations to join the San Diego College of Continuing Education as its public information officer in an interim capacity.

“I was planning to stay at Grossmont as long as it took to hire a permanent director,” Ogul told Times of San Diego.

During his 18-month stint at Grossmont College, Ogul said he “served as part of a leadership team that played a critical role in reversing a years-long decline in enrollment.”

Ogul, a former San Diego Union-Tribune news editor from 2000 to 2011, has spent the past decade in freelance communications roles with community college systems from Sacramento to South Texas, including the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, San Diego Community College District, Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District and MiraCosta College. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from San Diego State University.

Ogul told Times of San Diego, “I’m honored to serve as interim PIO at the San Diego College of Continuing Education, which is committed to providing not only the education and job training for anyone who walks through our doors, but also provides the critical wraparound services needed to ensure students reach their career and educational goals. Dr. Tina King is a visionary and I consider it a privilege to work with her in helping our college reach its goals.

King is president of San Diego College of Continuing Education, the largest noncredit college for adult education in California serving approximately 30,000 students annually at seven campuses throughout San Diego, in addition to off-campus locations, including community centers and libraries.

Succeeding Ogul at Grossmont College is Ernesto Rivera as director of college and community relations. He will oversee public relations, marketing and special event coordinator. Previously, Rivera was a marketing communications associate for six years at Southwestern Community College in Chula Vista.

Rivera also worked at California State University Chico as an editorial assistant. He also worked at the Chico News & Review newspaper as an editorial assistant and the Chico Enterprise-Record newspaper as an arts-and-entertainment reporter and videographer. He graduated from California State University Chico where he served as editor-in-chief of The Orion, the student newspaper.

InnoVision Marketing Adds In-House Global Franchising Division

San Diego-based InnoVision Marketing Group has announced the addition of an in-house global franchising development division following the signing of a partnership agreement with GNF Worldwide, a global franchise consulting firm headquartered in Madrid, Spain.

GNF Worldwide, led by founder Fernando López de Castilla, offers franchise development and sales outsourcing services to new, emerging and established franchisors and franchisees. It also specializes in mergers and acquisitions of business chains. Its clients reportedly include more than 2,900 franchise systems in 40 different countries worldwide.

A statement said InnoVision will serve as the U.S. agent for GNF Worldwide to identify and represent current U.S.-based franchises that have global expansion aspirations and appeal. InnoVision also will serve as a resource for GNF’s existing clients and assist global brands with marketing needs and newer brands with marketing and advertising strategies that will enable them to grow their franchise into multi-unit, mega brands.

“We are incredibly honored to partner with Fernando and his team at GNF Worldwide,” said Ric Militi, CEO and executive creative director, InnoVision Marketing Group. “They are a renowned organization that is built on integrity, relationships, strategy and results. Together, our two companies can offer brands incomparable global expansion and growth strategies.”

“With this partnership with InnoVision, we want to bring franchising to this century and prepare the industry for the next one,” said López de Castilla. “Franchisors and franchisees, as well as investors and entrepreneurs from around the world, deserve it.”

InnoVision’s other in-house divisions include brand strategy, advertising, digital media, creative services, film production, talent and casting, social media and reputation management, traditional media, public relations and marketing.

SOCi Raises $120 Million for AI Marketing Products

SOCi, a San Diego-based developer of social media and marketing platforms for multi-location brands, has announced it has raised $120 million for investing in a new line of artificial intelligence marketing products.

This latest funding round is led by San Diego-based JMI Equity with participation from Vertical Venture Partners of Palo Alto, Calif., Blossom Street Ventures of Dallas and Renew Group Private Limited of Singapore.

A statement said SOCi’s group of neuro and data scientists will leverage the investment to develop a new line of Genius products that changes the relationships customers have with the SOCi marketing software.

The Genius products, featuring advanced AI and machine-learning models, will transform the SOCi software to a marketing partner that makes highly intelligent and impactful marketing decisions while also automating time-consuming marketing tasks at scale, the company said.

“SOCi’s customers have thousands of marketing decisions to make across hundreds or thousands of locations. The opportunity for optimization is incredible, but at such a scale, it’s stunted by true human capacity issues,” said Afif Khoury, CEO and co-founder of SOCi. “Our Genius products are the answer, as they will leverage sophisticated data science models to drive recommendations and automate data-driven decisions across the organization.”

In addition to its investment in AI technology, SOCi said it will use the funding to expand into new markets, including manufactured goods.

Currently, SOCi’s platform is used by more than 700 multi-location and enterprise businesses totaling more than three million locations. Industries include food and beverage, retail, auto, telecom, grocery, health and fitness. Brands include Ace Hardware, Ford Motor Company, Jersey’s Mike’s, Rent-A-Center, Smashburger and Taco John’s.

SOCi also said it has recently developed specific products and features that help brands in consumer products and other manufactured goods categories leverage the marketing assets of their local dealer networks to reach new audiences.

“Multi-location brands face a unique challenge in their effort to scale marketing initiatives to multiple locations, not to mention optimizing performance for each of them. This is true for traditional brick-and-mortar, as well as for the consumer products being sold in them,” said Suken Vakil, general partner at JMI Equity. “SOCi is the category leader in multi-location marketing, and its new line of AI-driven Genius products will only put more space between the company and its competition.”

Founded in 1992, JMI Equity, a growth-equity firm focused on investing in leading software companies, has invested in more than 175 businesses in its target markets, successfully completed over 110 exits and raised more than $7.5 billion of committed capital.

Before this latest round, SOCi had raised roughly $115 million from investors since its founding in 2012.

Chipotle Uses TikTok To Create Digital-only Menu Items

Newport Beach-based Chipotle Mexican Grill is proving that social media tool TikTok can become part of longer-term marketing strategies instead of just one-and-done moments.

The quick-service restaurant chain that boasts wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives recently began offering new digital-only menu items that catered to TikTok foodie followers.

Based on input from TikTok food critics Alexis Frost, who has 2.4 million followers, and Keith Lee, with 10.7 million followers, Chipotle added fajita veggies to its quesadilla to create the “Keithadilla,” which can be ordered only over the Chipotle app or website, the company said. Also, as another digital exclusive, Chipotle’s honey vinaigrette dressing is available as a side option for all quesadillas.

In the week following the Frost and Lee videos going live, Chipotle said it saw more than 30.6 million views, 3.7 million likes, 47,200 comments and 69,500 shares of TikTok content about the steak quesadilla with fajita veggies. The videos were filmed at Chipotle’s test kitchen in Irvine, Calif.

The massive fanfare posted a challenge for restaurant employees because the new menu items were not listed on Chipotle digital ordering channels, the company said.

“Chipotle quickly mobilized to execute tech updates for approximately 3,200 restaurant locations and conduct training for more than 100,000 employees, ensuring a seamless experience for guests and restaurant team members,” a Chipotle statement said.

“TikTok has not only changed the way we communicate with Gen-Z, but it’s proven it can identify areas of opportunity within our business,” said Chris Brandt, Chipotle chief marketing officer. “With the launch of the fajita quesadilla, we are celebrating Keith, Alexis and all our super fans who were craving this delicious customization while prioritizing support for our employees.”

“Chipotle announced pretty quickly that they would be adding the new items to their menu, so even before they hit the menu, the increase in favorability with Gen Z had already taken place,” Emily Moquin, a food and beverage analyst at Morning Consult, told Ad Age, an advertising industry publication. “A lot of the success of the story is in how quickly Chipotle responded to what was happening on TikTok.”

Ad Age said since Gen Zers enjoy trying new restaurants and menu items Chipotle’s decision to play into that space on TikTok and team up with two influencers, who each have large followings, hit on some of the key interest areas that helped spike favorability.

Marketing Dive, an advertising industry news outlet, said that Chipotle’s addition of the fajita quesadilla demonstrates how TikTok can be more than just an advertising platform to reach Gen Z and millennial consumers, but a tool for social listening that can inform business decisions.

“I never could have imagined that I’d have my own menu item at Chipotle,” said Lee. “I’m blessed to be able to work with Alexis and Chipotle to answer the call from the TikTok community. In my opinion the new fajita quesadilla dipped in the Chipotle honey vinaigrette mixed with sour cream is a 10 out of 10.”

“The fajita quesadilla has been one of my favorite reviews I’ve done on TikTok,” said Frost. “Collaborating with Chipotle and Keith for this launch is a dream.”

Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.

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