Creative difference: in the cutthroat world of movie promotional products, under the Sun Promotions says pitching more complicated concepts is the key to getting and keeping business.

Spotlight

Under the Sun Promotions

Founded: 2002

Revenues 2002: $1.2 million

Revenues 2004:$3.5 million

Employees 2002:2

Employees 2005:12 (expects to hire eight more in the coming months)

Goal: To be creative, work hard and have fun.

Driving Force: Marketing budgets. If the big media budgets get cut, they still want to market their products.

FIVE years ago, the movie promotional industry was simple. Certainly, advertisements were commonplace, but beyond that, promotional materials were largely restricted to T-shirts, baseball hats and pens. Times have changed and George Sagadencky's, Encino-based Under the Sun Promotions has profited off of studios' increased demands for more complicated and creative promotional items.

Ever wanted a specially designed "Anchorman" bobble-head doll? Or perhaps a custom made watch made to promote the film "Shark Tale?" Dreamworks SKG did, ordering up these items from Under the Sun to distribute to radio stations, print and electronic media outlets, studio executives and theater owners.

Formerly employed in the poster art business, Under the Sun President, Sagadencky, made a host of contacts in the entertainment industry before forging out on his own in 2002. Since its inception, Under the Sun has grown in terms of revenue, square footage and number of employees.

"Business has skyrocketed. In the first year, we only had two people and we only grossed $1.2 million. In this past year, we did $3.5 million and we currently have 14 employees and we're adding three more in the next two weeks.

We'll have 20 by the end of the year. I just added 2,000 square feet, bringing our total up to 5,500. We started in the corner of our building with just 1,200 square feet," Sagadencky said.

The concept

Competition is fierce in the promotional game. Sagadencky estimates that there are approximately 2,000 promotional firms in the Los Angeles area alone. In order to differentiate itself from the pack, Under the Sun relies heavily on being more creative than its rivals, a process that involves many long and difficult hours struggling with the proper concept to pitch to a studio.

"Our strengths are definitely creativity and service. We're as creatively strong as anyone and we have excellent customer service," Sagadencky said. "People in the entertainment industry always say it's not what you know but who you know. I preach the opposite. It's what you know will get you longevity in the business, that one time out of 10 that goes wrong is the most important. How you deal with the client then, determines whether the client will stay with you or not."

Sagadencky's clients seem to agree with his assessment of his firm's strengths.

"From the beginning, Under the Sun has been very eager to understand the process from the studio side. George has taken painstaking efforts to deliver the best," Patricia Gonzalez, Dreamworks' head of in-theater marketing said. "We use them for their creativity, their competitive pricing and their reliability. When they tell you that you've going to get product on a certain date, you're going to get it. It's nice to work with someone you can trust. They have great people and a strong team over there."

However, while Sagadencky appreciates the studio business, he anticipates handling more corporate accounts in the future, in order to insulate himself from the cutthroat nature of the entertainment industry.

"Right now, our business is about 75 percent Hollywood, and 25 percent corporate. I'd like it to be less Hollywood, as much as its recession proof. Hollywood is nice because it forces the creative process, but it's very competitive and there's more and more of us out there. There are tight deadlines and lots of intangibles. For example, sometimes to get a hat approved you need seven people to okay it, including both the star of the film and his or her publicist," Sagadencky said.

Out of Hollywood

Under the Sun's non-Hollywood clients also seem pleased with the firm's products.

"Under the Sun manufactures our gold heart pins that we sell in movie theaters for Variety's hearts charity," Ana LaDou, the national executive director for Variety, the children's charity of the United States, said. "I can't say enough about the company, we use them without question. They have great customer service and great prices. They deliver a superior product."

Besides occasionally finicky entertainment industry clients and other promotional firms trying to wrest away his clients, Sagadencky has also had to deal with wholesale suppliers in the advertising services industry trying to sell directly to his customers.

"When the economy got tough a few years ago, the suppliers in the advertising specialties industry who sold to us, tried to go direct to our clients. That never happened even five or six years ago, but now many of them do this. There are approximately 3,000 ASI wholesalers located all over the country, each with their own catalogue. But they deal with mostly simple items like T-shirt and caps, they can't match the individuality that we offer," Sagadencky said.

In the future, Sagadencky has plans for growth, but hopes to restrain the size of the company to no more than 30 employees.

"I don't want to become a factory of more than 30 sales people. I want to go over ideas, look at productions. Once you go over 30, it hurts your customer service, your creativity and your profitability. The only way I would want to grow beyond that is if I merge the promotional business with poster art, because nobody in town is doing that," Sagadencky said.