Cercie Miller brought her scorching saxophone to trinity thanks to a Tufts Health Plan sponsorship.
Being a sponsor of First Night Providence is not only good business, it is also a dynamic and fun way to have an impact in the community, say representatives of a half dozen businesses that became supporters of the annual New Year’s Eve arts festival for the first time this year.
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“Providence is great because it is still small enough to have a strong sense of community and is able to support the arts and maintain great arts events,” says Oop!Juice marketing director Debora Dormody. “We wanted to be a part of that because the arts consumer is our consumer as well.”
The two-year-old soda company, a subsidiary of the similarly named gift store on Thayer Street owned by Jennifer Neuguth and David Riordan, markets its line of “fizz-a-licious” drinks nationwide, primarily to the teen market. So why the concern for local promotion? “Because for such a new product, we felt any kind of exposure in a setting as huge as First Night would be great,” says Dormody.
The Oop! store sells the work of artists and craftsmen, so the parent company’s affinity for things artistic is a natural one. That spirit extends to Oop!Juice, the graphics for which were created by a Rhode Island School of Design graduate. Each flavor, of which there are 18 — 8 original and 10 holiday — has its own humorous character on the label. “Oop!Juice is an art event in itself,” says Dormody, who adds that the soda and the festival also share a sense of playfulness. “First Night is fun. Oop!Juice is fun,” she says, so they make a good match from a marketing perspective.
Another beverage company, the international Perrier, also felt that its naturally bubbly beverage was an ideal fit for a non-alcoholic celebration such as First Night. After all, says Northeast regional manager Jeff Watson, “Perrier is perceived as the champagne of bottled waters.”
With a draw of about 50,000 people, the festival strengthened Perrier’s exposure in the market. “A sponsorship offers you a one-on-one relationship with consumers through sampling and a direct presence at the event,” says brand manager Carmen Bracho. “It allows the consumer to actually get involved with the brand by tasting it. The brand contact is especially effective when people are enjoying themselves in a festive atmosphere.”
In a similar vein, Alvin Stallman’s New England Fleece company is a logical partner to First Night Providence. Though most of the festival’s events are indoors and the venues are linked by heated shuttle buses, Rhode Islanders expect to bundle up for a wintertime night on the town. Stallman donated 500 fleece headbands, embroidered with the First Night logo, to benefit the event and to develop brand awareness in light of the opening of his factory outlet store on River Avenue in Providence. “Besides helping out,” he says, “I thought it would be good publicity.”
Tufts Health Plan of New England, a two-year-old presence on the medical-services scene in Rhode Island, is eager to align itself with community events that share the company’s values. “First Night is a healthy alternative to New Year’s celebrations and it promotes arts and culture. Our goal in supporting the festival is to match our values while doing something for the community,” says regional sales manager Augusta Martin.
Tufts chose to support a venue, in this case Trinity Repertory Company, which housed two major acts, the century-old puppets of the Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre and the tempestuous saxophonist Cercie Miller and her quartet. “It was wonderful. Our staff went. Our sponsorship was well presented and we were mentioned many times in the press and program. The whole experience was very positive,” says Martin.
OSO.com, an interactive online Web site about Rhode Island that was launched last September, was able to support First Night in new and innovative ways. It publicized the event, featured articles about the various artists complete with audio and visual clips and sold buttons online. OSO.com, which stands for Ocean State Online, aims to be the primary online resource for Rhode Islanders, says marketing manager Christina Ferranti.
This year’s support of First Night was just a beginning of things to come from OSO.com, which is part of Cox Interactive Media, she says. In keeping with their intention to be the one place on the Web that people go for information on what’s happening in Rhode Island, the site will become more interactive and inclusive of First Night’s offerings. “We’ll be able to provide a virtual journey of First Night,” Ferranti explains.
“Sponsoring First Night was one of my better decisions,” echoes Deborah St. Peter, director of advertising for American Tele-Connect Services in Cranston. “I think we were all aware of First Night, but we weren’t totally aware of what a tremendous event it is and how much time and effort goes into it. We did some checking around, and we made a decision that we wanted to join with other corporations to make the festival bigger and better, which we could do by lending our name and our financial resources.”
American Tele-Connect, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary in the year 2000 as a full-service telecommunications company providing such features as home systems, voice mail, long-distance and computer and fiberoptic cabling, was interested in aligning itself philanthropically with a venture with broad public appeal. “We’re always looking for new ways to get our name out,” says St. Peter. “This is an event that benefits a lot of people. It seemed like a win-win all around.”
