CHALLENGES

• The “Passionately Pink” spot had a specific end date for use, which limits the length of the campaign and number of potential airings.

 

• Although Hispanics were a target audience, the client chose not to produce a Spanish language spot, which limited our ability to achieve placements on networks that feature Spanish language programming.

 

• Some network affiliates do not accept PSAs that feature celebrities from competing networks, which limited potential airings for the PSAs featuring Sarah Chalke and Ricardo Chavira who are known for their roles on ABC network shows.

 

• The client sought nationwide visibility but did not have a budget that allowed for a paid media buy.

 

STRATEGY

Given the budget constraints, I crafted a tailored PSA distribution strategy that relied on earned media from utilizing unsold advertising space on local broadcast television stations and national cable TV outlets that weighed heavily on larger media markets to generate more visibility.

 

I recommended selecting a targeted list of 300 broadcast TV stations and national networks that have a recent history of airing PSAs and  have indicated a preference for (or have recently aired) PSAs on similar topics. Because of the high volume of PSA distributions handled by my team, we had a wealth of data on media placement activity that were utilized to build profiles for each station based on their PSA usage and airing preferences.  The data were uploaded into a custom-built, searchable database that allowed me to hand-select the stations most likely to support this campaign.

 

The list contained high concentrations of stations in on top Hispanic and African American media markets, as well as more populous media markets to ensure higher audience and media values. I included national cable networks that had indicated an interest in accepting PSAs addressing women’s health and cancer issues, plus the ABC network.  

 

Not included were stations that were not accepting PSAs at that time and I carefully avoided stations that do not accept PSAs with celebrities.  

 

In order to fully maximize the small budget, I considered station consolidation when selecting stations for distribution. Due to budget cutbacks and consolidation of programming staff, the PSA contact at one station may make programming decisions on multiple stations that share one owner in the same market.  By sending only one PSA for a group of stations in a market we maximized efficiencies while broadening the potential reach of the message beyond 300 stations.

 

The media outreach materials were developed to cater to the audience of each media outlet, depending on the target audience of the station or network.  For stations that air PSAs during programming targeting a younger audience, the outreach materials highlighted the Passionately Pink spots.  For stations and networks that target Hispanics or are located in top Hispanic media markets, the outreach materials focused on the Ricardo Chavira spot.  For stations located in top African American media markets and national networks that feature programming for African Americans, the outreach materials highlighted the Gabrielle Union spots.  All media outlets received all three spots and were encouraged to air any or all as appropriate.

 

Throughout the campaign, my team of publicists conducted outreach to stations via phone, fax and email to encourage use.  Pitching to national networks focused on relationship building for long-term mutual support.  For the Ricardo Chavira PSA, our Hispanic outreach specialist was employed for placement on bilingual media outlets and those with an audience consisting of a higher proportion of English-speaking Hispanics.

 

I received airing information on a daily basis from Nielsen’s SIGMA electronic tracking service, which allowed me to identify exactly which stations supported the campaign.  I regularly analyzed the airings to determine whether the campaign received sufficient coverage across top markets and better day parts, and I altered our outreach strategy as needed to surpass the campaign goals and exceed the client's expectations.

 

Each airing was paired with an audience impression value and a dollar amount that indicated the value an advertiser would have paid for that airing if it were part of a media buy.  The dollar value of the airings (media value) is considered an in-kind donation to nonprofit organizations.

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

• 59% of airings occurred in the top 50 markets, and 14% of airings came from national networks.

• 4% of airings occurred during the Primetime day part (the average campaign receives three percent of airings during Primetime)

• The PSA was aired by over half of the stations who received it, far exceeding the average of 10-15%.

 

The PSA received great national network coverage on BET, Cable News Network, Centric, CNN Airport, CNN Headline News, Ion Life Network, Lifetime Movie Network, Lifetime Real Women, Oxygen and TBS, which added to the high audience impressions and value of the donated media.