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Optimist International wants tips for distributing PSAs

5 Responses

1. Kathy Peterson Says:
   February 28th, 2007 at 6:38 pm

   For the last 9 years, I’ve hosted and produced a national TV series that airs weekly at 4pm Thursday on the Family Net TV Network called TOWN & COUNTRY CRAFTS WITH KATHY PETERSON. Network demographics reach millions.

   I have available time slots if Carrollyn would like to contact me.

2. robert smith Says:
   March 6th, 2007 at 11:00 am

   PSAs Made Easy

   Most PSAs fail to run on television or radio because they are way too promotional and they serve as a free ad for the sponsor.

   The best PSAs talk about a common problem that gets little attention. For example, one of my clients Drive & Grow Rich wanted to use PSAs so we thought about driving hazards i.e. drunk driving, kids and car seats, etc. Well, MADD uses drunk driving PSAs.

   Also, none of these angles helped promote us to business people. So we created a PSA about using your cellphone while driving and we found statistics on the number of accidents.

   And at the end we say this PSA was brought to you by Drive & Grow Rich. Now imagine hearing that 400 times a day across the country. We also targeted the cities with the worst traffic.

   All you need to make this happen is a good PSA and email addresses or fax numbers of program directors.

   You can go to http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/ and send emails to the media at no cost.

3. Paul Furiga Says:
   March 6th, 2007 at 7:00 pm

   Carrollyn, the key word here is “leverage.” You need to find a large, companion nonprofit that might share your mission and which is willing to partner with you in distribution. For example, AARP, the nation’s largest nonprofit membership organization, has perhaps the best nonprofit broadcast center in the world with full studio and satellite capability in Washington, D.C.

   If your PSAs have a “hook” that ties them with the missioin of another nonprofit, whether it would be AARP or a medical mission or whatever, two nonprofits would be better than one. And in my hypothetical AARP example, the best scenario is one in which your partner needs to flip switches to help get your message out. But if the hook is right and there is a partnership, it may be that you leverage the relationships or network of your partner organization. This is one way to go that has worked many times in the past, based upon what I saw as a journalist in D.C. a few years ago. Good luck!

4. Lennie Rose Says:
   March 6th, 2007 at 9:29 pm

   PSAs are a great way to get your message out in 15 to 30 seconds.

   Nothing beats a snappy lead, which means when you think of creating your benefit or fundraiser, think of creating a sound-byte title and follow with clear facts of the event.

   At Rise, we don’t use a buck-shot approach. We get the names of Community Affairs directors. You can also research who to submit to by going online to TV & radio stations. Your hope is that your cause will be “adopted” by the media who cares about what you care about.

   If this is a nationwide event, I’d stick to the key cities where it can be seen and heard by the most people. Another thing to keep in mind is matching the demographic of the media audience with the cause. If the radio plays rock, it’s more apt to endorse and younger hip cause.

   Lennie Rose
   Rise Public Relations LLC

5. Joan Says:
   March 6th, 2007 at 10:54 pm

   Carrollyn, how about taking your public service announcement over to YouTube.com?

   In today’s newsletter, I wrote about how SmartPower, a nonprofit that promotes the use of clean renewable energy, is sponsoring a contest over at YouTube to see who can come up with the most clever 30-second PSA.

   Since you already have yours, upload it to YouTube and take advantage of all that traffic on the Internet, not just traditional media.

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