Marketing mavens weigh in on the potential for a stamp honoring a famous literary figure to create buzz for South Berwick.
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Could a historic literary figure become a posthumous "influencer" for South Berwick? It may be a long shot, but some Maine marketing experts say it's not out of the question.
Sarah Orne Jewett, a novelist who spent her whole life in the York County town until her death in 1909, is being honored with a postage stamp issued last week.
The stamp features an original portrait of the author with the Maine coast in the background and a ray of sunshine, evoking a scene from her best-known work, “The Country of the Pointed Firs." The stamp is the 35th in the Literary Arts series and honors Jewett (1849-1909) as a foundational figure in American literary regionalism.
While sales data for the stamp is not available, a regional spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service told Mainebiz via email that last week’s first-day-of-issue ceremony in South Berwick was a “wonderful event.”
Marketing potential
Marketing mavens with no involvement in the stamp project say the postal exposure may shine a spotlight on the 2,900-population town, where the writer’s former home is owned and operated by Historic New England as a museum. The museum hosts exhibitions, tours and events, including a Pride Tour on Sept. 13.
“The real opportunity here is proactive co-branding,” said Marnie Grumbach, founder of Fluent IMC in Westbrook.
“South Berwick doesn't have to hope the stamp story gets picked up on its own,” she noted. “There's already a built-in national audience of stamp collectors, historians and enthusiasts, and the town has the ingredients for something bigger than ‘town gets a stamp.’ ”
She also noted that while the upcoming event pairs one of Maine's most celebrated literary figures with an openly queer history story, nothing connects it to the stamp news as of yet.
“If the town, library and Historic New England worked together to weave those threads into one story for local and regional media, that's a recipe for amplified storytelling that could give South Berwick visibility across many channels rather than leaving it to chance,” Grumbach said.
Meredith Strang Burgess, CEO of Burgess Advertising & Marketing in Portland, is more skeptical about possible co-branding but sees some possibilities.
“I suspect the public reaction will be more about a powerful woman writer with strong female characters who happen to hail from Maine,” Burgess said. “However, if South Berwick has the bandwidth, they could definitely plan some events to create a local buzz.”
