Not only is the Coastal Carolina Fair full of exciting attractions, food and entertainment, there is a purpose behind it all.

Since 1957, the Exchange Club of Charleston has strived to serve the community in the most positive way. Although you may not be familiar with the name, you are familiar with their fundraising project and the charities that benefit from the Fair. The Coastal Carolina Fair is one of the most high profile and popular events in Charleston. They provide a venue for our citizens to showcase personal achievement, demonstrate new technologies, awarding talent and creativity. It is an educational, exciting, and a fun way to offer amusement and entertainment for people of all ages. The Exchange Club of Charleston works very hard every year to produce a successful, high quality, positive community event. The Coastal Carolina Fair contributes heavily to local charities. ‘How much we donate is based on our revenues, one year we gave $250,000 to 33 different charities,” said fair spokesperson Fred McKay.

The vision of the Coastal Carolina Fair is to be the ‘cleanest, safest, most enjoyable fair anywhere’ and its objective is to promote Agriculture, Industry, Commerce and the Educational and Recreational facilities of the counties of Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester and Colleton and surrounding areas.

The word is out! With the number of vendors, bands, rides, and attendance growing each year, this is the best time to have your company involved. A combination of good weather, exceptional pre-fair publicity/advertising and sponsorships are what make the Coastal Carolina Fair so successful. Thanks to the many sponsors of the 2009 event, every night will be a hand stamp night!

• Coastal Carolina Fair
• October 29-November 7, 2009
• Ladson Fairgrounds (just outside Charleston, SC)

Sponsorships make sense:

Sponsorship provides a great means of broadening your competitive edge by improving your company’s image, prestige and credibility by supporting events that your target market finds attractive. In recent years, corporate sponsorship has become the fastest growing type of marketing in the United States.

Part of this growth can be attributed to the increasing numbers of small and medium-sized businesses involved. Previously, only large businesses could afford to sponsor ’cause’ marketing, for instance, as a way of boosting profits as well as establishing goodwill. However, now smaller companies are sponsoring everything from local volleyball and softball teams to fairs, festivals and clean-ups of parks as an effective method of boosting their visibility in their community. Most of these sponsorships help these companies to enhance their public profile relatively cheaply.

Irrespective of the size of the company, however, experts in the field flaunt a broad variety of benefits that can be gained by sponsorship aside from enhancing visibility and image, such as differentiating the company from competitors, helping to develop closer and better relationships with customers, both existing and potential ones, showcasing services and products. These experts go on to say that when sponsorships are strategic and well-conceived, they can boost both short-term and long-term sales.

Event Sponsorship Benefits

Sponsorship of events in particular can be especially effective as a marketing tool because it can be a means of accessing a wide range of audiences such as decision makers in business, government entities, and of course customers.

Heightened visibility due to positive publicity through the media is another reason corporate sponsorship of events – especially those that attract large numbers of people like the Coastal Carolina Fair – can be the most effective marketing tool. Every sponsor seeks the widest exposure possible in both print and electronic media. This publicity increases the visibility of the company’s products and services. The various kinds of media that cover the event usually include the names, logos and even pictures of the sponsors.

Interested in Sponsorship information or unique ways to market or advertise your business in the community? Contact Vista Marketing Group today.

Article by Kira Bailey

Vista Marketing Group
kira@vistanow.net
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