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medialifemagazine.com Out of Home On St. Patrick’s Day, which is next Saturday, everyone is a little bit Irish, including corporate sponsors for parades that anchor festivities in markets from New York to Scranton. To find out how to get your client’s message out in front of those celebrating the wearin’ o’ the green, read on. This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly. Fast Facts What Who How it works Programs vary locally, from neighborhood businesses chipping in to cover expenses in exchange for carrying a parade banner to multi-level sponsorships that include naming rights. Local businesses and regional representatives of national companies march alongside bagpipes, bands and Irish dancers. In many markets supporters pay a fee to march and carry a banner. For instance, in Cincinnati businesses pay $50 for their parade entries.
Parades in several markets are launching sponsorship programs to cover the cost of city services. “Up until a couple years ago we had handshakes with the city of Denver, but no more. We even had to pay $2,500 for the little bags they put over the parking meters,” says Denver parade organizer Trudy Insalaco. The Denver parade, one of the largest outside New York, with 11,000 marchers and 250,000 lining the route, has a major sponsor this year to help pick up costs. The Bellco Credit Union also launched a media blitz, co-branding with the 45-year-old parade.
Parade officials allow sponsoring nonprofits to carry banners as they march, but not businesses. “There are no ads on the stands or banners,” says parade chairman John Dunlavy. Ads are printed in the free programs that are distributed along the parade route and are broadcast with television coverage.
“For 246 years we’ve done it all with volunteers,” Dunlavy says. “Contributions come in from $25 to $5,000. Like the sun rising in the East and setting in the West, they come in.” Corporate advertising supports the four hours of parade coverage on NBC. A parade stretches into a weekend of festivities in some markets. A foot race, costume contest and evening parties are elements in Austin's first-time parade weekend. Eleven levels of sponsorship support the activities. San Diego sponsors have signage rights on the grandstand, get passes to the grandstand, and mention the parade in their ads, says Irish Congress board member Scott Dodge. “The parade spills over into our Irish festival, and our sponsors support both.” Parades can take on local flavor. For example, the Denver parade’s theme this year is “Irish Roots and Cowboy Boots.” Markets Numbers How it is measured What product categories do well Most parades also have media sponsors. Demographics Making the buy Who’s already sponsoring parades What they’re saying Web site info © 2010 Media Life |
