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So Cal Builders Launch TV Ads to Counter Growing NIMBYism
A proactive television and public relations campaign designed to reverse anti-growth and anti-builder sentiment in one of the fastest growing regions in the country is already showing positive results less than two weeks after the campaign launch.
“We are already seeing the public rallying to our side,” said Carlos Rodriguez, senior vice president and director of public affairs for the Baldy View Chapter of the Building Industry Association of Southern California, which encompasses San Bernardino County and parts of Los Angeles County.
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“What will happen when developers and builders have had enough of the town’s [Apple Valley] contempt for their efforts and stop building homes here and income from developer’s fees dry up? The roads will still need to be repaired and public parks and pools must be maintained. What group will the town target to fund our largess when income from development stops?”
— an Apple Valley resident’s letter to the Daily Press |
The Baldy View chapter launched two 30-second television ads — one somber, the other more upbeat — late last month to counter what the 400-member chapter saw as growing NIMBYism, particularly among long-time residents.
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A second television ad produced by Southern California builders asked residents how they defined their quality of life. |
More than 3,100 airings, many of them in prime time, are planned on 10 local cable stations through March. The ads are expected to reach 61,000 households — about 70%-80% of the county — about 10 times each.
The television ads highlight the contributions the building industry and growth bring to the region and pose two questions: “If home building stops, where will jobs go to sleep at night?” and “How do you define quality of life?”
The ads are based on research of building industry activity conducted for the association by John Hustings. They point out that in 2004 about 74,000 jobs in the county were directly and indirectly related to the building industry, and that those jobs generated about $3 billion in salaries.
In addition, the ads report that builders paid more than $500 million in fees, which helped to pay for better schools, more parks, better roads, better police and fire safety and other quality-of-life improvements.
(The ads are posted on the Baldy View Chapter Web site and can be seen by visiting www.biabuild.com).
In addition to increasing public awareness of builder contributions to everyday life, Rodriguez said the ads were designed to create a “climate of courage” for the many local officials the chapter works with so that these officials can support pro-growth measures in their localities.
At more than 20,000 square miles, San Bernardino County is nearly as large as West Virginia and includes 24 incorporated cities. Association members also work with local officials in 13 cities in nearby Los Angeles County.
Anatomy of a Pro-Builder Public Relations Campaign
“We were starting to see too much anti-housing sentiment and thought we should undertake a public affairs campaign that showed the benefits that we bring to quality of life,” said Ray Fernandez of Rainbow Building & Development, the current president of the BIA/Baldy View Chapter.
Last April, Fernandez and Rodriguez, along with Todd Tatum of American Housing Group, the chapter’s vice president of public affairs, began to develop a three-pronged public relations campaign to counter anti-housing sentiment “We wanted to get out in front of the issue,” said Rodriguez. “We wanted to see what people thought about our industry.”
With the support of the association’s executive committee board of directors and excutive officer, Frank Williams, they developed a campaign to address government relations, media relations and community relations. The effort included conducting a countywide public opinion poll to determine the residents’ “hot button” issues; a survey of members to determine the amount of fees they paid for their projects; research by Hustings to determine what contributions the industry and growth brought to the county; and the creation of television ads to highlight those results. The association worked with TMG Communications to develop the program and create the TV ads.
Through the poll, Rodriguez said, “We found that roads, schools, parks and public safety were overarching concerns.”
“Everybody thinks the government is wholly responsible for funding roads, schools, parks and public safety,” said Fernandez, so the association developed the television ads and a brochure to inform the public about the building industry’s contributions to providing those services and amenities. “We wanted people to know that the building community is responsible for much of that.”
Rodriguez said that since the ads first appeared, he is seeing public support for the industry.
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“I find it disturbing that representatives of our town government are so willing to malign the builders and developers who are willing to invest in our community.”
— letter to the editor in the Daily Press |
The Media Take Notice
The Baldy View chapter launched the television ads on Jan. 27 during a press conference attended by reporters from the county’s major media outlets who were allowed to preview the ads.
This was the second major press conference the builders held as part of the media relations component of their campaign. In August, the association held a press conference to announce the findings of Hustings' study.
Rodriguez said the press conference about the television ads generated stories in all the county’s major newspapers and other media outlets — with many of the stories prominently displayed “above the fold” on many of the papers’ front pages.
All the headlines and most of the coverage were very favorable, said Rodriguez:
- The San Bernardino Sun, the major newspaper in the region, featured a story about the campaign with the headline: “Area home builders take their case to TV viewers.”
- The Apple Valley News, a paper in an area where anti-growth sentiment was growing, had a headline that read: “BIA commercials praise builders.”
- An article in The Press-Express read, “Ads seek to build support for growth.”
- At the top of the real estate section of The Business Press, based in Riverside, Calif., the headline said, “Builders erect TV spots to burnish image.
The Next Phase: Meeting With Decision-Makers
Rodriguez said the next phase of the campaign is to conduct a “city-by-city briefing tour.” Using the polling and research information they have collected, association officials will be meeting with city managers and city council members to discuss the industry’s contributions to their communities.
Said Fernandez, “We're hoping that showing them the benefits of housing will translate into stronger support from the councils.”
The association’s campaign — including polling, research, creating the television ads and brochures, and airing the TV ads — cost $184,000. Rodriguez said the association did not budget for the campaign, so the money was raised by the membership.
For more information, e-mail Carlos Rodriguez at BIA/Baldy View Chapter, or call him at 909-945-1884.
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Find Me the Money!
Just about every local association wants to project a positive image for its members and the industry in general.
But absent a life-or-death political struggle in the making, it can be hard to convince members to come up with the money to pay for an expensive advertising or public relations campaign. And for many smaller associations, it’s practically impossible.
So how do you come up with funds for a promotional campaign or a series of advocacy ads?
The answer, according to Jim Williams, executive vice president of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association (NVBIA), is leverage, leverage, leverage.
- See if one of your members will produce a video or print piece pro bono, or at a reduced rate. That’s the deal Williams struck with Terri Stagi, of Jack Morris & Associates, a Leesburg, Va.-based advertising agency that created a print campaign, Web site and promotional video at cost for NVBIA’s HomeAid Northern Virginia charitable subsidiary.
“Sometimes it’s an easier ask when it’s for a charity,” Williams acknowledged. “But when you also point out the great exposure the company will enjoy among your builder members, it will help bolster your point.”
- Ask the larger members if your association can borrow their “remnant space.” Larger companies with big advertising budgets get more favorable terms from the newspapers, magazines and radio stations where they spend their money. Give these companies your ads in various sizes and see if they’ll include them with their own ad insertions to be used on a space-available basis.
- Talk to the media outlets and see if they will barter. Can you offer sponsorship opportunities and attendance lists at your next gala in exchange for advertising space? That’s what Williams did with the Washington Times — and he was able to secure some favorable ad placements for the association’s builder awards.
Another example: A local garage improvement company bought a radio ad touting its garage remodel in the annual NVBIA Tour of Remodeled Homes. In exchange for promoting the tour on the air, NVBIA gave the garage company an ad in the tour book.
“The advertising departments are all looking for the same thing: access to my members,” Williams said. “I’m looking for promotional opportunities for our association, and that’s what they have to offer. Usually, we can come up with a solution that’s good for both of us.” |
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