At a time when the gas distributors and marketers are spendingbig bucks importing celebreties to popularize their brand names inthe retail market, Yankee Gas in Meriden, CT, has engineered a swapwith one – none other than the ultimate TV homemaker, MarthaStewart – in its own backyard.

Yankee Chairman and President Branko Terzic worked out a barterdeal with the star of Martha Stewart Living that enabled her to getthe natural gas she needed to cook on her show. In return Yankeegot a well-known personality to plug the company’s name at afraction of the cost normally involved in endorsements.

The arrangement was formed shortly after Stewart purchased a”1920s era brick and cobblestone factory building” as a studio todo her daily television show. The building was located on theWestport-Norwalk border near Yankee Gas’ service territory, but inorder for Stewart to get the gas service she wanted, Yankee had tobuild an extension line that would have been a “significant” costto Stewart, Terzic said. Normally the cost wouldn’t have been a bigissue for Stewart, but at the time she was in the process ofnegotiating to buy her company from NBC. This put her in somewhatof a cash-strapped position.

“I didn’t want to lose her as a contact. And she said ‘I reallywant natural gas. I prefer natural gas. I have it in my home,’ sowe worked out the right to use her name on our promotions, to haveher on the cover of the annual report, and to have Yankee Gaslisted as the provider on the daily credits on her television show”in return for building the line at no cost to Stewart.

“She has what she wanted, which was natural gas, and we’redelighted because the [annual report] cover itself elicitednational press coverage,” from some New York newspapers and evenPlayboy Magazine mentioned it, said Terzic.

He acknowledged that the barter arrangement was unique. “Well, Itry to be a little creative.” He said he wasn’t aware of any othersuch barter arrangements in the gas industry, but he didn’t want torule out the possibility.

Terzic hinted that he may be looking beyond Stewart. “We havelots of celebrities in our service territory. We haven’t doneanything with any others. But I always keep my eye open,” theformer FERC commissioner told NGI.

The benefits of having Stewart aboard at Yankee Gas have beenmanifold, Terzic noted, including “wide publicity, more potentialinvestors are aware of us, as well as analysts and media people.”It has given Yankee, which is only nine years old, “highervisibility,” and has helped to fill a void. “We needed to presentourselves [as] more than a company that’s been around with the samename for 150 years, like our two neighbors.”

Susan Parker

©Copyright 1998 Intelligence Press, Inc. All rightsreserved. The preceding news report may not be republished orredistributed in whole or in part without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.