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Oink if you love pig races – the 2010 State Fair commercial

Firecracker September 24 October 24

Red, white and blue. Those are the colors of our logo this year and were the inspiration behind our 2010 State Fair commercials. MSA, our advertising agency, created these ads with a nod towards patriotism and celebrates two things that make our country great – democracy and the political process. We think they are fun commercials and hope they will encourage you to “Say Yes to the North Carolina State Fair.” What do you think? Check out the other ads on our YouTube channel.

A ‘Whole Lotta Happy’ with our commercials

Firecracker September 25 September 25

If you want to know what makes a bunch of communications professionals happy, start with a Friday, add in a jeans day, put fresh Krispy Kreme donuts on the snack table and then send us all to an advertising meeting where we get to see and hear the final versions of the State Fair commercials. You can say that we are an office full of happy people today. We love how the look and feel of our logo and posters were translated into the television commercials; the radio commercials make us a whole lotta happy, too! The TV and radio…

It’s a bird, it’s a plane…

Firecracker August 27 August 27

…it’s a N.C. State Fair billboard! With only (gasp!) 48 days before the gates open for the 142nd annual N.C. State Fair, our advertising is slowly being unveiled. The online campaign started in early August when advance ticket sales began to promote our early bird special through Aug. 30. [You can join in on the online promotion by getting your own web banners here.] This week, we started hearing rumors that the billboards were up, which is about a week ahead of schedule. So today at lunch, I ventured up Capital Boulevard in Raleigh to see for myself if the…

Overheard at the Fair: The Jingle

Flying Bob October 21 May 8

Yesterday, I was walking into the press office when I passed two deputy sheriffs. One of them was singing the jingle from the State Fair’s TV and radio commercials: “Take time for a great time … take time for a great time.” He sang pretty well, too. I’m glad to hear that the jingle stuck with at least one person.

Hyping the fair, part 2: The commercials

Flying Bob September 22 September 22

One of the surest signs that the 2008 State Fair is rapidly approaching is the completion of the TV commercials. As reported here in July, this year’s spots use still photography and animation to depict people having fun at the fair. They also feature an advertising technique we haven’t used in several years — a jingle. Produced by MSA, one spot focuses on a family (see it above), while the other shows co-workers heading for the fair after a day at the office. Each spot will carry “tags”at the end promoting additional fair topics, such as advance tickets, park-and-ride opportunities…

Hyping the fair, part 1: Choosing a theme

Flying Bob September 17 September 17

We do a number of interviews before the State Fair begins, and a frequent question is “How did you choose the theme?” If I had taken more — um, I mean any — marketing classes in college, I would be able to give some pithy answer about analyzing market research to find exactly the right words and phrases that would resonate with the public and persuade them to drop everything and come to the fair. That’s all well and good, but market research doesn’t always meet with success. Can you say “New Coke“? So at State Fair Theme HQ, we…

Tag: advertising