Cosmopolitan magazine has teamed up with one of its biggest advertisers, CoverGirl makeup, to ring in the New Year.

The two companies agreed to a joint sponsorship of the New Year’s Eve ball at Times Square in New York City. 

The event has lots of marketing potential, according to Jessica L’Esperance, a vice president of user experience at marketing agency Huge.  She says experiential advertising is preferable to stagnant, traditional methods. For CoverGirl, the event means people in Times Square will be able to try their products in an environment that they associate with a fun celebration.

“There is no print ad or TV commercial that’s really going to help you see it on your own face,” L’Esperance says.

From Cosmo’s perspective, getting one of your advertisers to help foot your marketing bill is a pretty savvy strategy too, according to Cathy McPhillips of the Content Marketing Institute. Cosmo and CoverGirl have very similar audiences and aren’t competitors.

But McPhillips says getting into bed with just one advertiser could backfire for Cosmo, since the magazine runs the risk of losing advertising dollars from some of its other clients.