The New York Times this week carried a positive promotional piece about Waterford Crystal’s year-end marketing blitz in the US.

Under the heading “Waterford Toasts ‘A New Beginning’”, the article in Monday’s edition highlighted the brand’s bid “to polish its image so

brightly that it sparkles everywhere from magazine pages to billboards to the screens of cellphones and computers.”

With an estimated

three-month budget of $2.5m, the print, outdoor and digital campaign, which involves four agencies, carries the theme “The sparkle of a new beginning.”

The words refer to the role that Waterford plays each New Year’s Eve as the supplier of the glittering glass ball that drops from atop Times Square. They’re also a play on crystal’s connotations with weddings, christenings and other special occasions.

Of course, as the NYT notes, this is the brand’s first holiday season under its new owner, KPS Capital Partners, aka WWRD Holdings – whose initials stands for the company’s three main brands: Waterford, Wedgwood and Royal Doulton.

The New York Times quotes Michael Craig, New Jersey-based group vice-president for the Americas, as saying KPS is “committed to reinvesting back into the brands.”

The campaign is being backed by a new Manhattan showroom for Waterford and “a relaunch of the brands to the trade.” While “people are definitely cutting back; no question,” Mr Craig maintains sufficient numbers “are still spending on quality purchases.”

The goal is to stimulate “thinking of the milestones in people’s lives – the start of a new year, a wedding, the birth of a baby – and how we’re part of that,” says Regan Iglesia, senior brand director.

Meanwhile, Philip O’Keeffe, master glass cutter and artisan, is travelling to Springfield, Illinois (a sister city of Killarney) next Tuesday to sign pieces at Gamble’s Gift Gallery. A Waterford Crystal Ambassador, Philip started at the Kilbarry plant when he was 16.