Public Service Advertising FAQ
How can I involve a corporate underwriter or sponsor in a public service advertising campaign? Will the media limit my public service announcement usage because of a for-profit sponsor involvement?
There is increasing pressure from corporate sponsors to be featured in public outreach communications campaigns. There are, however, few opportunities to do so without significantly compromising the quality and quantity of donated media time and space. We recommend that sponsors be recognized in fulfillment and collateral materials as well as on web pages to which the advertising directs the target to visit—and not the public service announcements themselves. Media gatekeepers are looking for reasons NOT to run a particular advertising campaign. Your job is to minimize those opportunities.
What has been your experience in using celebrity endorsers in a public service announcement campaign?
Celebrity endorsers offer the non-profit marketer limitations and benefits. The most important consideration is how committed the celebrity is to your cause and how closely tied he or she is to the issue. There is potential fallout if the celebrity were to be seen in an unfavorable light or if his or her character, —and by association yours—were to be called into question. PlowShare favors the use of celebrities as voice-overs for the campaign. You benefit from their talent, and their celebrity without subjecting your organization to some of the long-term potential risks.
What spot lengths and magazine ad sizes are the best to produce?
We recommend that clients produce TV public service announcements that are the following lengths (in priority order): :60, :30, :20, :10 and :15. At a bare minimum we recommend the :60 and :30. Interestingly, the :60 format is the most often used of all the lengths that we distribute. In some cases the :60 represents upwards of 70% of the total number of TV airings. For radio public service announcements, we recommend only the :60 and :30. The magazine sizes we recommend are full page (7” x 10”), one-third vertical (2 ¼” x 10”), one-third square (4 5/8” x 4 7/8”) and one-sixth page (2 ¼” x 4 7/8”).
Do you recommend that "kill dates" be placed?
Talent end dates are essential for the media in determining when a PSA’s talent agreement has expired. We strongly recommend that the talent expiration date be placed on both the slate at the head of the PSA and on the actual packaging. Non-profit marketers are more likely to be in a powerful negotiating position with the unions if the end dates for the PSA have been clearly marked on the distributed materials. Note: SAG and AFTRA, the unions governing public service announcement talent usage, allow for a second year’s use of the talent on the PSA at no additional charge with the stipulation that the second year is requested in a written letter to each performer. If all the performers agree to the extension, the public service announcement can be played for an additional year at no cost.
How aggressive a call to action can we use in our public service campaign?
The ground is moving on this question with the sands shifting away from the prohibition of asking for direct contributions. The shift is happening, but it’s been a relatively slow process. Our clients are making requests in their advertising campaigns with words like: “To learn about what you can do call or visit www…”, “For more ways to make a difference, click www…”, “Get involved by calling 1 800 000-000 or visiting www…” These represent a more direct call to action than was historically allowable. What the medium is also makes a difference. TV is the most stringent advertising media, followed by radio, and then print, the least stringent of medium.
Advertising Campaign Promotion
What do you do to “pitch” or promote public service announcements?
We try to inform our PSA media gatekeeper contacts as to the relevance of your social issue to their audience. These contacts represent the social conscience of their readers, viewers and listeners and as such are more likely to use public service announcements that relate to the concerns of their audience. PlowShare also has a responsibility to bring messages to our contacts that are thoughtfully created, creative and compelling; but most importantly messages that are relevant. We don’t really “pitch” your advertising campaign, however; rather we create conversations with the media that speak to their needs as well as yours. It’s less of a sell and more of an ongoing conversation. This is especially true with the hundreds of TV PSA directors with whom we have established personal relationships.
Is telemarketing helpful in getting media outlets to use a public service announcement?
People buy advertising from people. And as such PlowShare has set up an off-campus calling team that makes media calls to PSA directors virtually every week. This team of five has carved up the United States into five quadrants and has established personal relationships with literally hundreds of TV PSA gatekeepers. We often know their birthdays, their children’s names and the issues that they spark to. This all makes a difference when we call on your behalf. Please note that we are careful not to cross the line by becoming an annoyance.
Campaign Distribution
What benefits does an organization like PlowShare Group provide to my public outreach advertising campaign beyond what I might be able to provide on my own?
PlowShare provides our clients with the science of smart database direct marketing found at the best PSA distributors combined with the magic and sparkle of the best of Madison Avenue. We create advertising programs that inspire, move and inform. We build public service announcement distribution programs that generate significant amounts of media activity. We strive to do this with a wink and a nod.
Do you work with other advertising agencies and PR firms to distribute their clients’ public service advertising campaigns?
We have an established track record working this way. PlowShare works with a host of traditional advertising agencies and public relations firms in the development of marketing programs for their non-profit clients. We’ve been given fully finished PSAs and we’ve worked alongside agencies through the creative development process. We’ve brought concept creative to the media before it was produced to identify any problems with the advertising in placing the campaign.
What are the key considerations from the advertising media in choosing to use a particular PSA?
Relevance, relevance, relevance. All the surveys that we’ve conducted in the past eleven years have pointed to these three words as the reason why certain public service announcements are chosen over others. All campaigns must meet other basic criteria including, but not limited to: PSAs must not try to influence legislation or have a political agenda; PSAs must be professionally produced; PSAs must be produced and signed on the ad by a legitimate non-profit (501-C3) organization; PSAs must relate to a social issue of importance to the media’s audience; and a solicitation for donations must not be made in an overt fashion.
Does it make sense to redistribute public service announcements that have been previously distributed?
Yes, message wear-out rarely happens at the PSA director level and it’s even more unusual among your ultimate target audience. We recommend that clients maximize their PSA production investment and distribute their campaigns at least twice before retiring the work.
How are your media lists created? What’s your strategy for making the most out of our limited distribution budget?
Our strategy for developing media lists is based solely on ROI. We want to maximize the amount of media inventory that your advertising campaign generates. We have over 570,000 media usage records in our FertileData database from which we identify the best media for your materials. We know what kinds of advertising campaigns the media outlets have responded to in the past and thereby which ones they are likely to respond to now. We sort this information by geography and media outlet size to blend the past with the possibilities of the future. We can even create a matrix that visually places the media with quadrants on a graph to help pictorially demonstrate where the opportunities exist. FertileData is the PlowShare proprietary media database and reporting tool that helps us identify historical information about media outlet usage patterns and helps us identify gaps that exist as an advertising campaign unfolds.
If we are considering a paid PSA campaign, will that significantly impact our ability to place the same spots as pro bono PSAs?
The boundaries that once existed between buying public service advertising and obtaining pro-bono public service advertising have collapsed. The media are eager to have any paying account and we have purchased local and national media inventory for our clients only to see the public service component accelerate, not diminish. Paid PSA schedules help to create focused, time-locked promotional periods, and the public service advertising inventory can be the continuity between these periods. It is important to be discreet about the paid advertising component, in order to avoid alienating those media outlets that receive no financial gain from it.
What kind of media value and return can I estimate to achieve from my public service announement campaign?
There are dozens of factors that impact overall campaign value. PlowShare takes a decidedly conservative approach to determining media valuation. Overall, we expect an ROI of somewhere between $45 and $110 to $1. For every dollar spent on public service announcement distribution, you should be receiving between $45 and $110 in donated media value. The dramatic difference in range is due to the differences between media. Radio and cable tend to have higher ROIs than do newspapers or magazine campaigns. Broadcast TV is somewhere between radio and print media. PlowShare is proud to have been a part of some of the most significant and most widely accepted PSA campaigns in the history of broadcast, where enormous media volume and value were created for our clients.
© 2008 PlowShare Group, Inc.