Re: Council level TV ads
Settummanque, the blackeagle (waltoml@WKUVX1.WKU.EDU)
Sat, 27 Nov 1993 11:07:47 CDT
Steve Souza <76703.633@COMPUSERVE.COM> writes:
>
>quoted From: JOAN UPHAM UPHAMJE%SNYPOTVA.BITNET@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU
>
>> Well...if this is true, [that National allows Councils to air their own TV
>> ads without prior National approval] Mike, I am "very" surprised.
>
>> I am speaking of "ads" for recruitment...not the 30 minute programs... I
>> am thinking about those slick little 30-60 sec. spots which usually come
>> from the brains of a Madison Ave. ad company
Again, if you are talking about those ads, you are also talking about
several hundred THOUSAND dollars to produce, at least....the recent
"Scouting is...." campaign was an investment of well over $2M from the
BSA's tired coffers...it was done VERY reluctantly, I may add...
>> I still think that any such "ad" effort would be (at the least) in the
>> control of the local council and would have to be seen and approved by
>> them before airing.
(and Steve added...)
>Some Councils may not require things go through them... ours does.
Smaller Councils don't require things to go through them for
approval...they are happy just getting someone interested enough to
actually follow-through with a ad or a column. Larger Councils will
have a Council staff person with responsibilities for Public or
Community Relations, and this person (usally a Field Director or
better) works really hard to promote, manage and maintain. He or she
could use all of the help in the world!
In most Councils, it would be a great idea to just show the finished
product to the Council Executive Board and get their "concurrance" on
it. They can't complain if the money's not coming from them to do it.
What *I* would do is to get their cooperation early in the message-
development process. As I wrote before, perhaps the local Council
had a really rough Youth Protection issue in the past and many folks
remember the BSA as "where so-and-so was doing all of that stuff..."
In this case, the message would come out something to the effect of
"While no organization can be 100 percent positive about their adult
leadership, the BSA is working with its organizational partners to
insure a high standard of quality, character and civic awareness from
the Scouters working with your child."
If the local Council has problems getting kids to summer camp, the
message would come out like "Scouting is great fun...particularly for
those Scouts that come to Camp Medina to experience the true outdoors
and Scouting at it's best! Come on and join us...the water's fine!"
Or if the local Council has money problems (and most do), the message
might emphasize the "investment of Scouting".
In those ways, the Council's message could be incorporated into the
overall message that Scouting is fun, it's a game with a purpose, and
that we want you to join in and play along!
>Why
>bother having my job if I don't have to do things like clear PR and come up
>with PR of my own to get aired (or printed in the papers, etc.).
Steve has a great point here....we had a PR person on my District's
Committee, but all this person *could do* was to get everyone's name
in the newspaper the weekend of Scout Sunday. They have *never* got a
Eagle Scout's picture and article in the paper, *never* got a list of
recipents from the District's Recognition Banquet in the paper, *not
even coverage of a Pack Meeting*.
The woman resigned her position because despite everything, each
article MUST have been written by the DE or by the District's
Chairman. I don't blame Debbie for resigning....again I ask Steve's
question: Why have a PR Chair if you don't give them something to do??
>We had a good example of someone sending info to the local paper without
>prior approval and things going wrong. A local Exploring Post
>(Skateboarding, with > 300 members) sent a story to the local paper with all
>kinds of stuff in it about their Post, but the one thing the paper picked up
>on was the mention that the only reason they were even a BSA Post at all was
>for the insurance... (can you spell OOPS!)
LOTS of Explorer Posts are organized, with the EE's concurrence,
because of the "free insurance". This is one of those things that
while it happens frequently, I don't think the BSA would want it
known. That's the concern Steve's Council had in the ads.
>Needless to say, the Post will not be sending in any more unapproved press
>releases.
Another good role for the PR chair is to keep writers and editors from
saying "Explorer Scouts" when explaining the Exploring program (a
personal pet peeve of mine!!!), saying the "Cub Scouts of America"
when explaining anything above the Pack level in Cub Scouting; saying
"Packmaster" or "troops" when attempting to explain what a Cubmaster
is and what a Pack is....and by far, the biggie, in explaining about
women Scouters that "...in areas where the Scouts can't get males to
serve as Troop leaders, women may serve as Scout Masters or Assistant
Scout Masters.
Settummanque!
Mike L. Walton
former National Communications Committeemember
Greenwood, Kentucky
--
Settummanque, the blackeagle... (MAJ) Mike L. Walton (
AIS/MR Recreation Specialist, Lifeskills Inc. ___)_
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