UEZ kicks off 2005 Holidays marketing effort

Members of the Plainfield Chamber of Commerce, the new Special Interest District, the Plainwood Square Merchants Association and interested retailers and business people joined together yesterday morning for an overview of marketing plans for the 2005 Holiday season.

The breakfast meeting at the Plainfield Public Library was sponsored by the Office of Economic Development and the City's Urban Enterprise Zone. After a continental breakfast beside the Library's pool and an opportunity to look over the many capital improvements under way at the Library, the meeting got under way in the Anne Louise Davis Meeting Room.

City Administrator Norton Bonaparte opened the meeting with a welcome from Plainfield Mayor Al McWilliams, and then turned the meeting over to Economic Development Director Pat Ballard Fox and the team from Fitzmedia, the UEZ's marketing consultant.

A general review of UEZ initiatives included a collage of collateral materials, a new UEZ logo door decal for branding purposes, the recently released 'Home Arts' brochure, an upcoming 'Clean & Safe' brochure, and a trade show display. The trade show display will get its first showing at the NJ League of Municipalities convention in Atlantic City later this month.

The Holiday marketing effort will build on last year's very successful components. A poster and flyers highlighting various community Holiday-related events will be distributed, as well as a coordinated shopping bag, advertising and coupon program.

Retailers will once again be able to have their windows painted in coordinated Holiday themes, this year to be done by a Plainfield artist.

The official kick-off date is Saturday, December 10, with a Visit by Santa to be held at the YWCA, East Front and Church Streets. The event was so popular last year that some families waited in line for an hour for the youngsters to get some time with Santa.

This year, a horse-and-buggy ride will be added as a new feature. The ride will take a route through the Downtown and South Avenue shopping districts.

For more information about the Urban Enterprise Zone, or for copies of the Holiday events poster, call Jeannette Aparicio at (908) 753-3602.










Keywords: Plainfield, UEZ, marketing, holidays