Advertisers aiming to align their brand with families can sponsor family-friendly, citywide New Year’s Eve celebrations in markets from New York to California. They’re called First Night and sponsors can partner on a single event or the entire evening.

To find out how to get your client’s message linked to family-friendly New Year’s Eve festivals, read on.

This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.

Fast Facts

What
Sponsorship of family-oriented, non-alcoholic New Year’s Eve celebrations in markets from coast to coast.

Who
For this article Media Life spoke with First Night International in Binghamton, N.Y., the umbrella organization for the festivals, and with First Night Boston, the first and largest celebration.

How it works
Advertisers can sponsor family-friendly, non-alcoholic New Year’s Eve celebrations through the First Night network.

Sponsors can be involved on the national or local level, says Dave Sullivan, executive director of First Night International.

Levels of sponsorship vary by location, ranging from supporting a single event like a concert or fireworks to supporting multiple events.

Advertisers can also sponsor a property, like the Boston Commons, and all the events that take place there. Artists started the First Night celebration in Boston in 1976, and there is still a strong art component that sponsors can tap into. For instance, a company can sponsor the installation of an ice sculpture or the construction of a parade float.

First Night International can arrange multi-market sponsorships for corporations or link companies with a single local celebration.

Creative is provided by sponsors and it can be different across markets.

Sponsor logos appear on media materials, banners and other signage.

Also, sponsors can negotiate the use of the First Night name and logo on their promotional materials and in advertisements.

Sponsors also appear on the First Night International web site and can have a presence in contest and games online.

Product exclusivity can be negotiated.

Markets
There are First Night celebrations in 101 U.S. markets in the following states: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

Boston is the oldest and largest site.

Numbers
Attendance ranges from 1,500 to 1.5 million for individual celebrations.

How it is measured
Participants purchase buttons that are used for entry into events.

There are also free events held in public venues like parks. Organizers use police estimates to gauge attendance.

What product categories do well
Food, soft drinks, clothing, retail as well as services like communications and transportation companies top the list.

Power companies, non-profits and other public service groups are also top categories.

Media support, including television, radio and print, is often donated.

Alcohol and tobacco sponsors aren’t accepted.

Demographics
The broad demographic is families.

First Night International can line up a multi-market campaign based on the advertiser’s goals.

“If a corporation comes to us we can target urban, suburban, rural, college town, or they can focus on the top 10 cities or on a region like the West Coast,” Sullivan says.

Groups like teens or seniors can be targeted by event within the local celebrations. For example, a corporation could sponsor a teen dance at one or several locations.

Making the buy
Costs range from $1,000 for sponsoring an event to $300,000 for a presenting sponsorship for First Night Boston.

Who’s already sponsoring First Night celebrations
Federal Express, Minute Maid, Cracker Barrel, Coca Cola and Kodak have sponsored First Night events.

What they’re saying
“There’s been a tremendous change with corporate sponsorship of festival events in the last few years. It used to be they would use a banner or sampling. Now corporations are looking for identification with an event, like the orange ear muffs that Minute Maid gave out to First Night participants. There was no poster saying Minute Maid was best, but it was incredible to look down a street and see thousands of orange circles bobbing. It was major brand identification.” – Dave Sullivan of First Night International

Web site info
First Night International at http://www.firstnight.com

First Night Boston at http://www.firstnight.org