While many ad agencies continue to struggle in today’s lackluster economy, Ground Control Marketing will break new ground south of the border, when it opens an L.A. office in March.

Tania Koster, CD of the small Toronto-based guerilla marketing firm, initially plans to concentrate on Spanish confectionery brand Chupa Chups there, but hopes to eventually attract new clients too. ‘My overheads aren’t as large as they are at the big agencies. Therefore, when the economy fluctuates, it doesn’t affect people like me,’ she says.

Koster, who will split her time between Toronto and L.A., as well as hire a full-time assistant in each city, will develop a street program for Chupa Chups in Hollywood. The initiative will revolve around a troupe of voluptuous women known as the Chupa Chicks, who attend see-and-be-seen events to hand out candy. In L.A., they will ambitiously try to steal the spotlight at glittery celeb functions and award shows.

‘It’s an important market to develop from an image standpoint … [and] the city has a lot of influence on the rest of the country and the world,’ says Koster. She may also be involved in implementing the Chupa Chicks program in three other U.S. cities on the east coast.