A new advertising campaign with the theme "New York. Your attendance is required." is being launched by three permanent showroom buildings: The New York Gift Building at 225 Fifth Avenue, The New York Marketcenter at 230 Fifth Avenue and The New York Merchandise Mart at 41 Madison Avenue. The campaign promotes the New York Gift, Textiles, Stationery and Tabletop Markets as the key to staying on top of trends and competition. It was developed by a joint venture of two new York City advertising Agencies, Cary Raffle & Co. and Hooek Inc.
New York, NY (PRWEB) February 20, 2004–-A new advertising campaign is being launched by three permanent showroom buildings, The New York Gift Building at 225 Fifth Avenue, The New York Marketcenter at 230 Fifth Avenue and The New York Merchandise Mart at 41 Madison Avenue. The campaign brings the buildings together under the label The New York Showrooms" to promote attendance at the New York Gift, Textiles, Stationery and Tabletop Markets.
The advertising sets out to convince buyers that New York is the one market that they cannot afford to miss. The theme of the campaign is New York. Your attendance is required." Each advertisement has a visual of people taking in the style and culture and fun of New York, with a tongue-in-cheek caption This is work." The advertising copy explains how what looks like play is really part of the job of buyers seeking to stay one step ahead of the trends and competition.
For example, one advertisement visualizes two people taking notes outside of a store window that reads This is work. Youre not just here for the show. Youre here to get inspired. New York is loaded with stores that are defining the cutting edge in retail. So bring your notebook because youre on a mission. New York. Your attendance is required" Another features two people picking up style trends at a Chelsea art gallery, while a third shows a party scene where the attendees are soaking up the best gossip.
The buildings ran a joint campaign announcing the shows for a number of years. Attendance at New York markets has continued to be strong. However, we think there is an opportunity to build further by reaching out to those who have not been to New York recently and give them a reason to come," said Su Hilty, VP Marketing for the New York Gift Building.
The campaign has a dramatically different look and more stylish approach compared to typical market and showroom advertising. At Forty One Madison, Senior VP and Director Carole Dixon added, Fashion and design are more important than ever in our market, so it became important for our message about New York to take the next step and reflect our point of difference."
The advertising message works across all of the major markets. Whether you are buying tabletop, gifts, textiles, lamps or practically any other product line, we wanted to explain why New York is the best place to shop," explained Elise Fishman, Director of 230 Fifth Avenue.
The campaign was developed by Cary Raffle & Co. and creative boutique Hooek, two New York City advertising agencies that formed a strategic alliance to pursue this project and others. Cary Raffle & Co. and its predecessor Favara & Raffle handled the 41 Madison advertising beginning in 1991, and has created campaigns for many luxury goods and retail clients. Hooek specializes in reaching a market it terms urban pioneers," young urban trend-setters with high discretionary incomes and demanding standards. Cary Raffle and Andrew van Hook, presidents of these respective companies, joined forces to combine insight into the marketplace with a fresh attitude about New York for the showrooms.
Advertising for everyone from Prada to Ralph Lauren and K-Mart uses New York to sell their brands," said Cary Raffle. He added whether you are talking to consumer or buyers or manufacturers, whats attractive about New York is what is new and happening. Its not the same old Broadway shows and the Empire State Building. To come across as the capital of design and style, we had to present New York and the showrooms in a fresh, new way."
The advertising is unexpected. It looks and feels totally different from any other trade show campaign and reflects the leadership of New York when it comes to style and trends," adds Andrew van Hook. New York shows give buyers, manufacturers and reps the opportunity to see the newest ideas in everything from retail to design to entertainment, and to immerse themselves in an exciting, cultured, style capital. When it comes to sourcing new ideas and trends, New York is a ‘must attend."
Before finalizing and presenting the campaign, Raffle and van Hook met with editors and industry executives, to get their insights into the market and their reaction to the proposed advertising. Their research concluded that this was a very well received approach, and that the message seems to get to the core of why buyers should prefer the New York shows.
The showrooms also consolidated their media buying in trade magazines with Cary Raffle & Co. to benefit from improved efficiencies, and coordinate the overall placement so that it achieves maximum impact.
A teaser campaign featuring all copy broke in a limited number of trade magazines in December. The main campaign will break in late February in publication that include Gifts & Decorative Accessories, Giftware News, HFN, Home Décor Buyer, Home Textiles Today, Home World Business, Kitchenware News, LDB, Tableware Today and Tableware International.
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