Salt Lake City’s new New Year’s Celebration Next Door designers’ collaboration with Jeffrey Berke Productions and the Downtown Alliance to create the look for this 3- day extravaganza.
The Evolution of First Night From block party to metro-scale event overnight For many years, Salt Lake City played second fiddle to the large metropolitan cities of the world on New Year’s Eve. Traditionally, the smaller arts-and-crafty First Night celebration was held over one evening to minimal fanfare and a light fireworks display. Each year, a new brand design would be instituted by local artists, but it lacked any brand strategy or vision as a franchise. Consequently, this alienated some of the cities potential visitors and perpetuated the feeling that New Year’s Eve in Salt Lake City was just a small town party. A change was imminent. The Downtown Alliance of
Salt Lake City wisely made the choice to turn to Jeffrey Berke Productions to produce a 3-day, 3-night extravaganza like never before. Jeffrey Berke called upon his longtime friends at Next Door to lead the search for a new name, a new brand and a bold, fresh, big city approach to this never-before-seen event. EVE was born and Salt Lake City would never be the same. In less than four months, Next Door designers created and designed a name, logo, brand, sales deck, website, social networking sites, billboards, posters, pin-up cards, event guides, a TV ad campaign and more.
SPORTYAR
The key to Next Door’s success with largeSPORTY = Explore Create an experience where they can physically engage with something new or something different.
PARTY = Connect Facilitate their good nature. These social mavens never miss a party and like to meet new people.
ARTY = Create Stimulate them intellectually with multimedia and all forms of art. They’re looking for the avant garde.
scale branding campaigns is due in part to the Next Door transformation process. During the initial discovery phase, Next Door met with the former producers of First Night, the Downtown Alliance and Jeffrey Berke Productions. Questions were asked about the competitive landscape, how First Night was marketed previously, city demographics and challenges to overcome. It became evident that 3 distinct demographics were to be served over 3 days and 3 nights. Those 3 demos had 3 specific drivers that needed to be satisfied: SPORTY, ARTY and PARTY.
RTYPARTY It was determined that these 3 brand attributes would help to create an experience that these demographics would respond to and champion. The brand logo, website, collateral and signage would all deeply involve these audiences in the fabric of the event.
Logo Development The EVE logo was designed to represent the three-night celebration, symbolized by the three stars and the number three. The past, present and future is symbolized by the reverse “E” or “3”, the symmetrical “V” and the forward-looking “E”. The EVE logo, along with the mischievous moon character, worked together on merchandise to state boldly to attendees that this star-studded event was a time to let their hair down and have a ball. The Sporty, Arty and Party audience loved the look and feel of the EVE imagery. The audience was always in the mind of the designers, from color palette to design graphics. Next Door dove deep to unlock the essence of the EVE brand.
Sell The Vision It’s one thing to create a logo and start advertising an event; it’s another to build a reason to get others to support a whole new brand with dollars and time. With only four months till launch day, Next Door put together a sales strategy with Jeffrey Berke Productions that would “wow” corporate sponsors in a way that had never been attempted before in Salt Lake City. JBP and Next Door laid out a vision of a 3-day event that was ambitious and bold. It challenged sponsors to be a part of something Salt Lake had not seen since the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.
EVE Sales Deck Engaging the sponsors from the start to rally around the EVE flag was crucial. The sales deck powerfully convinced them that EVE was going to be a large-scale event that would attract people to Salt Lake City on New Year’s.
EVE Sponsors EVE sponsors came through with more than just thousands of dollars. They came with their hearts through the “eBay It Forward” program and “eBay Live!” campaign. They also provided much exposure through their print and digital media connections. Presenting sponsors included: American Express City Weekly Coca-Cola Comcast Downtown Alliance eBay Intermountain Healthcare USANA Health Sciences Salt Lake’s Zoo, Arts & Parks
Collateral EVE collateral was an important piece in the overall marketing strategy. Pass-along cards, posters, event guides and stickers were placed everywhere our Sporty, Arty and Party people frequented.
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EVEslc.com
It became more and more apparent during the marketing process that there were three key points people needed to know about EVE: 1.) EVE was a New Year’s celebration; 2.) EVE was a 3-day event; and 3.) EVEslc.com was where you needed to go for tickets. The poster simply communicated those messages. All of downtown displayed these posters proudly.
EVE Event Guide How do you cram 3 days and 3 nights of event information into a fold-up pocket event guide? This was the question Next Door’s designers asked themselves. The answer came in a user-friendly guide that easily pointed out events by date, time and venue along with maps and special facts about the EVE event.
Media Announcement PR and free media were an integral part of the EVE marketing plan. From the beginning, we knew we didn’t have the budget to run large amounts of TV advertising, but we still needed TV coverage. The JBP and Next Door team put together press kits and launched a media campaign early to get the word out on EVE and build a relationship with media outlets. The result was that several TV stations covered the events of EVE for all 3 days, which helped increase attendance.
“It is a privilege to work with your brilliant team--the creativity and vision are inspiring and I am excited to be involved with this marvelous project! I appreciate your thoughtful consideration of my contributions.” Danica Farley, Public Relations Manager, Downtown Alliance
EVE Website The EVE website was a crucial hub for all things EVE. Housing the EVE event schedule, maps, media content, pictures of the event and ongoing press releases, the website reflected the evolution of First Night to EVE in its imagery and content. Here are some of the web stats: 21,017 unique visitors 987 Facebook fans 431 Twitter followers 882 EVE newsletter subscribers Average time on site: 5 minutes
Innovative connections–from social networking to the website–were crucial in creating buzz around the event. Thousands joined to be friends of EVE on Facebook. People logged on to Twitter and “tweeted” their “New Year’s EVEolutions” and won prizes and giveaways along the way. Each night, videos and pictures were added to the EVE blog and Facebook and Twitter pages to reinforce the fun and frivolity going on downtown.
EVE Signage Because EVE was scattered about downtown, it was important that EVE branding accompanied every facet of the event. Video screens and venue backdrops constantly designated EVE events and helped unify the whole celebration. As a result, EVE events that were covered by the media rarely had instances where video or photography did not include the branding in the shot.
EVE signage was everywhere. It was never difficult for attendees to know if they were at an EVE-sponsored event. Whether it was fabric draped over scaffolding, vinyl signs or backdrops for the bands, EVE was there.
“I’ve collaborated with the folks at Next Door many times, and it’s always a pleasure. From initial research, brainstorming and concepting to design, development and execution, they continue to amaze me with their drive, passion and creativity.” Jeffrey Berke, President/Owner, Jeffrey Berke Productions
Performance Stage Presence Though Next Door did not coordinate or hire acts for EVE, Jeffrey Berke Productions did consult with Next Door about show content. It was important that the marketing for the EVE events spoke to the Sporty, Arty, Party audiences. Acts like the Battle of the Tribute Bands, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the USANA Rail Jam were some of the more significant highlights of EVE.
EVE in action Whether it was the trickster rail jam skiers or fire dancers, EVE was always moving. The EVE brand essentially brought the city together for 3 days and 3 nights, which hadn’t been done since the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. The passion, hard work and sacrifice of the Next Door team and Jeffrey Berke Productions succeeded in targeting, reaching and pleasing those that attended EVE.
Finale The test of any brand endeavor is the reaction, the results, the lasting legacy. In this case, thousands shared in joyful harmony the welcoming in of 2010, thanks to the efforts of all involved in EVE. By all counts, EVE was a great success, especially considering it was a first-ever event in Salt Lake City. The turnout, media coverage, social networking and word of mouth were tremendous. In the end, the EVE brand and its messaging were loved by all who witnessed it.
EVE SLC Facebook comments "So much fun! I was there! Plan on going next year too!!" -Laura "Great night!!! Everything was so much fun!" -Melinda "I hope to be there next year!" -Lynne
EVE 2011
EVE 2011 followed in the tradition of EVE 2010. With minor additions to photography and color palette updates, Next Door provided EVE with yet another year of strong, branded marketing materials that helped to built brand loyalty and turn a healthy profit.
THE END IS JUST THE BEGINNING
EVE 2011 Event Guide
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EVEslc.com
CO R PO RAT E
STAGING RESOURCES
D E S I G N BY N E XT D O O R 路 P H OTO G RAP HY BY DAVI D N EW K I R K
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