PSAs - What Can They Accomplish? To Buy or Not To Buy? Given the current flood of public education messages competing for media exposure on issues ranging from AIDS to zoo promotion, there is increasing concern about the efficacy of public service advertising.
Several recent articles have noted that intense competition for PSA exposure has forced some organizations buy broadcast air time that they used to get at no cost.
Are PSAs still a viable communications technique? Is there a downward trend in media donations? Are PSAs being relegated to "junk time"? Does it make sense to buy time? Do PSAs really work? These are all questions of interest to any organization with a public service message.
To provide some objective feedback, Goodwill Communications analyzed data from seven radio and eight television PSA campaigns, which the firm evaluated for various clients in 1989. The PSAs represented a broad cross-section of health, safety and public interest messages.
To obtain the data, bounce-back cards were inserted in each PSA package sent to public service directors. The data does not include network exposure usage data from telephone surveys, or extrapolation, all which would greatly increase response rates and value. Following is a summary of our findings:
Radio TV Average stations on mail list: 5,000 400 Average response to mail: 11.2% 21% Average $ value of campaigns: $651,532 $1,438,711 Average # of plays per station: 70 52 Average # of weeks spots aired: 7 12 Average # of states reached: 48 40 Average # of cities reached: 479 133 Average # of stations using PSAs: 639 157
PSAs and Dayparts
Another issue of interest to PSA producers is the time of day when their messages are being aired. To obtain feedback on this important question, 12 months of the Broadcast Advertisers Reports (BARs) were analyzed for the U.S. Coast Guard. In addition to providing the dollar value for television PSA campaigns, the BARs provide usage by daypart.
The pie chart above indicates that 2,159 (71%) of the Coast Guard's total PSAs ran in daytime (7 AM-5 PM), or early fringe (5 PM - 8 PM) slots. For many public service issues, these are effective placements because viewers are tuned to popular game shows and soap operas. About 10% of the PSAs ran in prime access or prime time slots (8 PM - 11 PM), with the remainder - 19% - airing during late fringe and late time periods, when viewing audiences are normally the lowest.
There is even controversy regarding the effectiveness of late placements. Despititive controversy," ample empirical evidence suggests that PSAs on television have an enormous impact, regardless of how late at night they appear," says an article published in TV Guide. "Public service directors glow with pride about the emotional letters from parents that came in after spots on child abuse aired," the story pointed out.
To Buy or Not to Buy Media Time?
As a way of increasing frequency and gaining greater control over placement of messages, many non-profit organizations are turning to paid advertising that previously would have run on a public service basis. While purchasing time may appear to be the solution in the short term, it could pose significant problems down the road, experts say.
The first and most obvious drawback is cost, which is increasing in spite of smaller television audiences. With rates for national network television spots ranging from a low of $4,000 to the $750,000 cost of a thirty second spot on the Super Bowl, cost is a serious impediment to many organizations.
Secondly, there is the possibility of being excluded from future PSA consideration due to a precedent of purchasing air time.
"We don't want organizations to run paid advertising and also get free time," said Harvey Dzodin, vice president for programs and practices at ABC Network. "That could shut out less well-off organizations, and we would consider reducing the amount of donated time for any charity paying for ads," he said. Other network officials say they would suspend a charity's PSAs while a paid campaign is running.
Some organizations have found that paying for exposure in one medium can cost free exposure in another type of media. When the Big Brothers agency in Fort Wayne, Indiana began buying ads in the local newspaper, a television station threatened to stop giving PSAs.
While many organizations are turning to corporate sponsorship, that too could be fraught with peril, since alignment with one corporate sponsor might cause a competing corporation to withdraw its support for an organization.
Perhaps the best lesson is provided by the U.S. armed forces which has been fighting the paid versus PSA battle for years. "It was shown that buying air time was not a good precedent," says Rory Benson, vice president of the National Association of Broadcasters. "Once the armed forces began buying air time, it really made it difficult if not impossible to get armed forces ads on the air without paying for them," she says.
Trend in Media Donations
A final area of concern to many non-profits is the amount of PSA time and space devoted to important causes.
The Advertising Council, undisputedly the single largest distributor of PSAs, admits competition for exposure is getting more intense. However, Ad Council data shows a 22 percent increase in media PSA contributions between 1987 and 1988.
The National Association of Broadcasters estimates that last year more than $1 billion worth of television time alone was donated for PSAs devoted to a single issue: substance abuse. The Ad Council estimates that PSA time for its largest charities has risen by a third during the last four years, to more than $530 million in 1988.
PSA Impact
Perhaps the most important question at all is whether PSAs really work.
"It is nearly impossible to determine the impact of PSAs upon changing public behavior and attitudes, because there are so many different factors that can influence the ultimate success of a campaign," points out Roger Vilsack.
Vilsack, an independent broadcast producer with extensive PSA experience, says that the time of year when the campaign is distributed, the creative quality of materials, how the issue is perceived locally, and many other factors can determine outcome.
However, the experience of two different U.S. government agencies indicates that PSAs, particularly television - have had an important impact upon getting a message heard and generating the desired response.
A study conducted by the National Cancer Institute indicates that in nearly every category of measurement, television PSAs were the single most important medium for generating awareness of cancer risks. As shown in the chart below, over 55 percent of calls to the Cancer Information Service regarding the smoking risks of resulted from television. Inquiries from TV accounted for more than double all the other sources combined.
The recruiting division of the U.S. Coast Guard, which has distributed television PSAs for nearly two decades, tracks the impact of PSAs compared to other kinds of media.
Operators staffing a toll-free telephone system record caller data as well as how prospect recruits heard about the Coast Guard. Of the total incoming calls, 79% resulted from TV PSA's, with the remainder coming from media and referrals.
In summary, current data suggests that well conceived and soundly executed PSA campaigns are an effective communications technique for non-profits - something that is not likely to change in the near future, despite the increased competition.
Tips For High Impact Broadcast PSAs:
Build evaluation into campaign strategy. When you begin planning your campaign, think about how you are going to measure its impact. Examples:
- Include an 800 toll-free telephone number in PSAs.
- Put coupons in print ads.
- Include local chapter addresses in radio/TV tags which give PSAs a better local slant.
Know What Stations Want.
- To maximize usage and reduce wasted effort, distribute PSAs in the formats stations prefer.
- The TV networks and most large market stations prefer 1" and will not use anything else.
- Over 50% of radio stations prefer reel to reel tape, even though most will accept lower priced materials such as sound sheets, cassettes or live announcer copy.
Use Strategy in Your Distribution Plan.
- With nearly 13,000 radio and TV stations in the country, which ones should you target and why? You should be able to answer:
- Who are my target audiences? Where do they live?
- What stations reach primary audiences most efficiently?
- What stations regularly use PSAs?
High Impact on a Low Budget.
When faced with limited production budgets, use low cost, imaginative PSAs to get your message across. Examples:
- Use outtakes from a previous film or PSA; update or recycle a previous PSA; obtain rights to use segments from film archives.
- For radio, send stations live announcer copy printed on the reverse of a four color postcard, a low-cost, highly effective way to get on the air.
Cultivate the Networks; Know Their Requirements
Learn what the networks want and try to get appointments with public service or clearance directors to present your campaign, rather than sending it to them.
- Send scripts and visual concepts to TV networks for clearance before shooting begins.
- Remember cable networks in your distribution (there are more than a dozen that accept PSAs)
Take Corrective Action.
At a minimum, compile data on audience and market penetration levels, performance by media type and advertising equivalence. By comparing usage data to your goal, you can pinpoint what areas are weak in PSA attainment and take corrective action:
- Send out second notices to stations requesting them to return usage business reply card.
- Prepare state/market lists showing weak performing areas for follow-up action.
- Enlist local volunteers to contact non-using stations to learn why materials were not used.
