Long Island Marketing Briefs May 6, 2003

Long Island Business News, May 16, 2003 by Claude Solnik

CAMPAIGN CLOSE-UP

Client: Father's Day Mother's Day Council

Agency: Harrison Leifer DiMarco with Silverman Media & Marketing Group

What: Pro-bono print campaign in Metropolitan New York area daily and weekly newspapers

Approach: The "faces of fatherhood" ad capitalizes on past celebrity winners of the annual Father's Day Committee Awards to drive home the message that your father doesn't have to be famous to be Dad of the Year.

Astoria debuts new round of free checking ads

Lake Success-based Astoria Federal Savings and Loan Association has launched a new version of its Free & Easy advertising campaign to promote its Free & Easy checking service.

Astoria, with $22.5 billion in assets and about 700,000 customers, launched the 12-week radio, print and outdoor campaign April 25.

The ads, prepared by Rabasca & Co. and Astoria, feature a radio spot with a jingle adapted from Frank Sinatra's "Nice and Easy." In Astoria's version, "free and easy does it every time."

Images for print and billboard ads show people in keeping with the thrift's motto of "putting people first."

The marketing also features signage on Long Island Rail Road cars, billboards and buses. The push also includes marketing within the thrift's 86 branches.

"This campaign works on two levels," said Brian Edwards, senior vice president of marketing at Astoria. "It conveys how opening a checking account with Astoria Federal is free and easy. But it also reinforces how simple and easy it is to bank with us."

Astoria's Free & Easy checking account has no monthly service charge or minimum balance requirement and unlimited check writing.

But there are limits to what you get free with the product. Customers have the choice of either banking by phone, ATM or use of one of Astoria's branches.

Carltun takes marketing by reins

The Carltun is betting a small portion of its marketing on a horse designed by Fran Kiperman.

The Eisenhower Park restaurant is one of about 30 companies that paid $4,000 to sponsor a life-sized horse statue in the Horses of a Different Color program, which raises money for the Nassau County Parks and Recreation Association.

The sculptures are then decorated by artists and displayed at locations, including the sponsoring business.

The Carltun chose local artist Fran Kiperman to decorate its horse.

The horse, which already has been displayed at the Nassau County Museum of Art, lately has been grazing at the corner of Franklin Avenue and Old Country Road.

It will move on to Belmont Park and finally head back to the Carltun until October before the auction back at Belmont.

In the fall, the horses will be auctioned to the highest bidder, although sponsors have the first option to buy their own horse for an additional $3,500.

Estelle's creates rooftop runway

Estelle's Dressy Dresses in Farmingdale recently took window gazing to new heights, creating a small sensation along Route 110 with a rooftop runway showcasing the store's latest apparel.

The retailer says sales "have gone through the roof" since it began stationing a mix of live models and mannequins on its rooftop last week, as motorists have veered into its parking lot to take a closer look.

"Everyone is stopping to look at the models to see if they are real," said Wellington Zumaeta, the store's operations manager. The promotion, something the store has done in the past with success, will run through the spring, weather permitting.

In addition to marketing moves, Estelle's has been undergoing other changes. The store recently completed a $400,000 expansion of about 2,000 square feet, enlarging its shoe and jewelry departments and adding a designer sportswear area.