[Moncton] Centre Avenir Centre | 26.65m |~6 Fl | Completed

[Taeolas]

Originally Posted by Freddypop

gtsoc's hint above is correct Centre Avenir Centre...Local hearing aid firm won the naming rights with an option for a 2nd 5 year term

Interesting. Their Website

11 locations, all in NB. Still feels a bit small fry, but they clearly can afford it. I'm sure getting their name on it will be worth it in the end.

[pierremoncton]

Source: T&T - https://www.telegraphjournal.com/times-t.../events-centre-name?source=story-rotator

Their logo is alright. And 'avenir' means 'future', so quite fitting.

[josh_cat_eyes]

It’s kind of boring but it could have been worse. I feel like people are still going to call it the events centre because of how unrecognizable the name is.

[mylesmalley]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

I'm sure getting their name on it will be worth it in the end.

Didn't work for Red Ball Internet...

[Monctoncore]

Seeing the logo and the other sign on the building, I’m okay with it, I’m just curious about what price they paid .

[lirette]

Originally Posted by mylesmalley

Didn't work for Red Ball Internet...

Not sure those are overly comparable. I'm not sure if Red ball internet was anything more than a startup company. The 4plex has next to no visibility outside of hockey players and parents. This seems like an already very successful company in the medical field putting their name on a building that has concerts, weekly hockey and basketball games, nationally televised events and is located downtown. Perhaps this additional visibility allows them to expand into the rest of the maritimes.

[CodiacCanuck]

I'm happy that its a local Maritime company, and not some mega-conglomerate adding its name on multiple sporting facilities.
Yeah... I'm looking at you Rogers.

[MonctonRad]

I have no problem with the name. Avenir carries a progressive and positive connotation.

My concern is similar to others. To have as a sponsor a local chain of audiology clinics seems pretty small fry. One would have thought that a facility the stature of the events centre could have attracted a more substantive sponsor.

Were they unable to attract the interest of a major financial institution or brewery? Did SMG have to lower the asking price for the naming rights? How many parties were actually interested in the naming rights? Did Avenir get the naming rights mostly by default????

It would be nice to know how much they actually paid. Having a local chain of clinics owning the naming rights is borderline embarrassing IMHO. It would be nice to allay these concerns. SMG should fess up and let us know that they got good value for the naming rights........

[felip_ars]

Remember when I posted that I wouldn't be surprised that it will end up being a 5 years deal

Having no Big events that would gather Nationwide coverage at the moment, its understandable that big companies weren't willing to pay the big bucks (they were probably aiming at 6-700k/year for 10 years like Halifax).

Maybe they are not unveiling the amount cuz bigger companies were offering the same, but it looks better having a local name with a "discount".

But then again, I'm not surprised as getting major sponsorship in Moncton always been an issue. It's one of the big reason why theres no more show at Magnetic Hill.
On a related point, still no word on where they are in the 5 millions fundraiser.

Now SMG got 5 years to raise the value of the Centre...

[CodiacCanuck]

Originally Posted by felip_ars

Having no Big events that would gather Nationwide coverage at the moment, its understandable that big companies weren't willing to pay the big bucks...

If Moncton can win it's bid for the 2020 Brier, along with hosting some of the indoor events during the 2021 Francophone Games, that may start to bring the necessary national audience it needs.

[Photo1]

Wouldn't have been my first choice, but I'm glad it's a local company.

That sign on the top part is horrid, kind of ruins the aesthetic on the top (colored light area).


New poster...I've been lurking for a long time.

[felip_ars]

Yeah they should really make a PR push to get as most 2020 Brier presales as possible. By 2020 it gonna close to half of the 5 years term, and Avenir will have some numbers on hand to see if it starting to be a good investment or not.

They have tough competition ahead, and coincidentally, 2 of them are against cities where SMG is also running their arenas (Kingston and St. Catharines). The 3rd city is Prince George, BC who back in Spring had the best presale numbers.

As for Jeux de la Francophonie, while a big event, its doesnt have the same Nationwide appeal as a Memorial Cup or a Brier. Might get an intervention or two at the end of the french sportscast and thats about it.

Maybe a joint bid with Saint John for the 2021 World Juniors is being discussed backstage. Or maybe in 2024 which could be an incentive when times to negotiate the 2nd "5 years term".

While typing this, it popped in my head, how could I forgot about the UFC lol. If a big KO occurs, or a potential "Fight of Year" candidate, people will be all over Youtube watching it over and over again, in additon to the UFC and FightTV showing that fight afterward.

[BlackYear]

Congratulation to Avenir Hearing for capturing the naming rights for one of Moncton's biggest projects in its city's history. The Assumption building may be the only other project I can compare it to. I hope that whatever amount you paid for it will be worth it.

My take.

I'm half a dozen years away from retirement and lived in Moncton all my life. I've never heard of Avenir Hearing. Never seen any promos around town, never heard any radio ads, never seen any tv ads, newspaper, internet or any other form of media exposure. To me, they are a unrecognizable brand.

Missed opportunity for SMG, Moncton and corporate brands?

As the inaugural grand opening event is about to take place, which I'm sure every media outlets within these parts of the country have been invited to, how much of an impact will the Avenir Centre have on the public? Who will actually recognize or even bother to search what or who is Avenir? How many English only speaking folks will even be able to pronounce Avenir? Sorry, my intention is not to be offensive in any way.

Another sorry in advance. I want to try and keep this short and to the point.

Once these events, national and international concert promotions, televised sporting events, YouTube viral videos, etc, begins to hit the stream, how will outside folks actually know where or what is a Avenir Centre?

When you see sport events, concerts, etc, being broadcast on whatever media channels, there is always a mentioned of the name of the event centres which are always recognizable brands. I certainly do not need to go through the list. How will the public perceive the brand name Avenir?

I hope you folks understand where I'm going with this. Either way, I applaud Avenir for having the guts to dish out their money for this cause. I wish them success. It will definitely not deter me from attending any events...I'm just not convince that my tongue will spit out Avenir Centre before Events Centre anytime soon.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I have no problem with the name. Avenir carries a progressive and positive connotation.

My concern is similar to others. To have as a sponsor a local chain of audiology clinics seems pretty small fry. One would have thought that a facility the stature of the events centre could have attracted a more substantive sponsor.

Could be worse...

[riverviewer]

Originally Posted by Budyser

Never seen any promos around town, never heard any radio ads, never seen any tv ads, newspaper, internet or any other form of media exposure. To me, they are a unrecognizable brand.

That's the whole point of advertising. That's why its worth small brands to risk big money on putting their name on large projects.

This brand went from zero to hero in one shot. I'd never heard of them either, now they are a household name. How many TV, Radio, paper spots does it take to reach a whole region? Lots of ads are hit and miss, while this just got front page coverage.

Better to see Centre Avenir Center on the top than Centre Audiologie Avenir Hearing Center

[RedBall]

Originally Posted by riverviewer

That's the whole point of advertising. That's why its worth small brands to risk big money on putting their name on large projects.

This brand went from zero to hero in one shot. I'd never heard of them either, now they are a household name. How many TV, Radio, paper spots does it take to reach a whole region? Lots of ads are hit and miss, while this just got front page coverage.

Better to see Centre Avenir Center on the top than Centre Audiologie Avenir Hearing Center

In most typical cases you don't get to be a big name company without taking risks and shelling out tons of money to improve your brand recognition.

Personally, the first thing I did was pull up the Avenir website when I saw (on here) what the name was. Everyone is connected to the internet, nobody is going to have trouble figuring out that Avenir Centre is in Moncton... "Whoa I've never heard that name before. Oh it's the Moncton Events Centre. Oh, they're a hearing aid company..?" I'm sure nobody will mistake it for the Avenir Centre in Ottawa? Because it's the only one.

Obviously if they have the money to spend on naming a building, they aren't small fish. I found this on their facebook page this morning. They may not be as small as some may think.

https://www.facebook.com/AudiologieAvenirHearing/videos/701511803548099/

[lirette]

It saddens me to see a few cynical views in this forum about a naming rights deal. I expect the negative comments on facebook (a large portion of people are struggling to even understand what a naming rights deal is) but I usually come here to get my daily dose of positive comments to keep things balanced.

Personally, I don't lose any sleep over what private company is getting to put their name on a building, and I would never use the word embarrassing. I'm actually proud that its a local company, and one that looks to hope to expand from an NB company to a nation wide company. Having Rogers or Molsons name on that building does not excite me in the least.

Nick was part of managing the arena in Kingston and negotiated a naming rights deal there. So I have no reason to believe he doesn't know what hes doing. It would be nice to get some specifics for sure..but I'm sure he did not give it away for pennies on the dollar. Perhaps details will leak down the road

Just because other arenas have big corporations on their buildings doesn't mean Moncton has to be the same. This has a more community feel since Avenir is owned by someone who grew up in the community and I bet you'll feel their presence at all the events. In a way that really fits in with Moncton's identity as a place to grow a business.

[CodiacCanuck]

There are actually quite a few positives relating to this:
1) The name is short and easy to say... the Avenir Centre.
2) It is a local, New Brunswick company... the type of company we should be promoting.
3) It is a unique name, and will be quickly associated with Moncton on a regional (and hopefully, national) scope.

The third item is very important. Case in point, at this moment there are three sports facilities in this country that are branded by Rogers... Rogers Place, Rogers Centre, and Rogers Arena. Does everyone know (without using Google) what three cities those buildings are in?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by CodiacCanuck

There are actually quite a few positives relating to this:
1) The name is short and easy to say... the Avenir Centre.
2) It is a local, New Brunswick company... the type of company we should be promoting.
3) It is a unique name, and will be quickly associated with Moncton on a regional (and hopefully, national) scope.

The third item is very important. Case in point, at this moment there are three sports facilities in this country that are branded by Rogers... Rogers Place, Rogers Centre, and Rogers Arena. Does everyone know (without using Google) what three cities those buildings are in?

I agree with all this, and as I stated in my post above, Avenir as a word carries a positive and progressive connotation, similar to the city's motto "Resurgo". It doesn't really matter that neither of these words are English. Resurgo is Latin and Avenir is French, but I don't think too many Anglophones would get ruffled feathers over this, especially since Avenir in this case is a corporate name.

I'm still surprised however that the naming partner isn't a higher profile corporation. I would still like to know why this is the case..........

[Sunnybrae]

I would have preferred something more recognizable. They are a niche business. I think that's the disconnect. I don't know what percentage of the population uses hearing aids or needs help with hearing. At least a company like Vogue Optical (I know they started in PEI) would have been more recognizable considering the number of people who have glasses or contacts.

Even if they named the Coliseum something else, I would have still called it the Coliseum and the same will be with the events centre because in 5 or 10 years it will be called something else, but it will always be the events centre.

I know all these buildings need to have sponsorship now but I agree with Neil Peart of the band Rush when he said he missed the names of the old arenas and now he just calls them all "Financial Arena or Insurance Arena".