Public Service Announcements - Using Them Effectively

What is a public service announcement?

Public service announcements, or PSAs, are short messages produced on video, audiocassette or digital formats that are given to radio and television stations for broadcast, and/or uploaded to the internet.

Canadian radio and television broadcasters aren't required by law to donate a fixed percentage of air time per day to PSAs but many stations choose to give free time to non-profit organizations and their messages. Consider it a mix of community good will and the chance to fill in those dead hours when fewer viewers are tuned in and ad revenue is low or non-existent anyway.

But fewer listeners or viewers still can mean a very effective, low cost way to get your message to a mass audience. Since the airtime is donated, the only cost to your organization is the actual ad production. A PSA is particularly effective if you plan it as part of a two- or three-pronged media campaign. And, if you have a simple message to get across or want your listeners or viewers to accomplish one action - like 'Don't drink and drive" - PSAs are a great tool.

While TV and radio remain the dominant means for local mass marketing, online distribution is growing all the time.

Your organization's own website and free online sites like http://www.youtube.com, http://www.ourmedia.org, http://video.yahoo.com, and http://video.google.ca can help you reach new audiences. To be successful on these sites, you will need to select good keywords: think of terms that other people would type into a search engine to lead them to your PSA.

When should you consider using PSAs?

A first step in deciding to use a PSA is to clarify its purpose. What are your goals with this ad or series of ads? What do you want to accomplish by putting a PSA out there? And, for that matter, why do you want to use a PSA instead of other publicity forms and outlets? If you have a clear, easy-to-understand issue, you're seeking a specific action with your ad, and you have a limited promotions or outreach budget, then a PSA is right for you.

The limits of the PSA There are limitations to PSAs. Because these ads are run on donated time, you may find you're not able to get them on all the media outlets you'd like. Or you may find your ads are at the mercy of station staff members who may be overworked, arbitrary, or personally opposed to your group's work. If you have a controversial message or an issue that is the subject of heated public debate, some stations may shy away from being involved with your group at all. Some basic research - outlined below - can help you decide if a PSA is right for your organization.

How do you get a PSA done?

Generally, PSAs are sent 'ready-to-air' although some radio stations (often community or campus radio) will accept a script that their announcers can read live on the air or record for later use. While stations may occasionally lend staff to help you write the script, in most cases you'll need help from outside professionals to craft an effective PSA. Generally, it's not a good idea to produce it yourself unless you or someone in your organization has TV or radio writing experience and you're sure you can do a professional-quality job. Everyone has seen or heard at least a few badly produced local PSAs. These can negatively affect public opinion of your organization.

Where do you start? A first step is to contact the local radio and TV stations that cater to the audiences you want to reach. You need to find out their policies on PSAs and their technical requirements. Do they even accept PSAs, what format do they want to receive them in, what is the preferred length, how to submit them, etc. Depending on the size of the market and the structure of the particular station you're dealing with, your best contact person could be the public affairs director, traffic director, program director, promotions manager, or even the station manager.

Making it happen

Once you have all the technical specs and a team you are sure can fulfill them, you'll need to creatively craft your message to reach your target audience. Simple ads, even just one announcer or actor with little music or effects can be as effective as bells, whistles and a cast of hundreds. Testing script drafts on your target audience is one way to make sure your message is working. How can you tell if your PSA was effective?

The best way to judge effectiveness of a finished ad is to request a specific action and then to monitor the actions taken. And to make your efforts even more worthwhile, you can use the PSA to get more extensive media coverage by sending it to journalists. You should find your organization getting longer media stories on your work or possibly getting asked to become a guest on a panel show. This is using the principal of leverage, a very powerful principle in doing community work!

The TV Public Service Commercial - How it Started - How to Produce One

So, Where did it all begin? Well, circa 1966, a lawyer in Washington complained to the Washington Post that with all of the cigarette advertising in newspapers, there should be a public service ad for the anti-smoking people who did not have a voice (or a budget). This got a lot of tv stations across the country nervous. You see, when TV stations go up for license renewal, they have to show what portion of their schedule is devoted to public service time. Bam - Boom - Bang! A new industry was born!

Some producers in New York City and Washington, D.C. began producing what today is known as the tv public service spot. In the 1960s the spots were sixty-seconds in length, and usually were a call to action on safety in the home, driving safety, food safety, and on and on - and, the evils of smoking! The sponsors had a tag at the end of the spot that appeared less than 10 seconds, as the rule was that no sponsor mention could be on longer than that time frame. The big surprise, however, were who the sponsors were - (getting free airtime). Companies like Prudential Insurance, Metropolitan Life, Avis Rent-A-Car, Gulf Oil, as well as non-profit associations, government, etc. As the 70s began, it became a cottage industry.

Today, sponsors of a public service commercial must be non-profits or not-for-profits. And, as the times changed, so has the length of a spot - to 30 seconds. One of the most popular questions usually is "Yeah, but how many of the airings are in the wee hours of the morning?" Well, that has a lot to do with what time of the year you release your public service spot. During the summer months, stations in New York City, for example, may have as much as 100 minutes per day devoted to public/community service. That window starts narrowing as you get into September, and recedes even further in October and November. For example, in December, those same stations will have only 3 minutes of public service time per day, due to the heavy load of advertisers. Come January, that figure jumps right back up to 100 minutes. So, your spot will air in what is known as "run of station."

As someone who has produced/directed over 200 PSA's, I'm going to offer you (for free my all-knowing wisdom in one phrase: "Get Emotional." This is what sells public service messages. Don't let anyone tell you anything different! Here in New York when I watch the local network affiliates roll out one of their leading stars from their network show, and they say something like: "Don't Smoke - It's Not Good For You" - I always say out loud, "What Bull Shit. - You're promoting your show!"

If you're planning to produce a PSA for your company or client, the first thing to think of is the concept. Here is where a professional producer of PSA's comes in real handy. He/She can tell you what the current climate is for acceptance, what time-length, and how to distribute (extremely important). When thinking of the actual production, here is my simple but highly effective procedure: Break the spot down into three sections - the opening, the middle, and the close. The opening should be pure dynamite! Very dramatic. You want the viewers attention. In the middle portion, you tell your story. The close is a "Call to Action" and here is where we again get emotional. You've got to leave the viewer with a strong picture and message.

Distribution: I could write an entire chapter here alone. The distributor has got to be on top of current conditions, and have a strong working relationship with television and cable outlets. You should be getting tens-of-thousands of airings in a three-month period, with the life of the spot being six-months, although you will be getting airings for up to a year.

Dealing With Public Service Ads on Your Website

Many of us start out with websites that we want to generate some income with, so we think that Google is the one and only solution to our desire or even our need to earn some extra money. And, it's fair to say that a lot of money can be made with the use of Google ads on one's website, but only if they work correctly. Money is made on these ads when relevant ads are posted on our website so that visitors can click on them and we can be compensated for every click! Unfortunately, a good deal of the time one will visit their website only to find that public service ads have been placed on their website by Google, and these ads don't pay at all when your visitors click on them.

You can report the fact that you have had a lot of public service ads on your website to Google, but generally there is not much that Google can do about it. The public service ads are placed on your website when relevant or targeted ads are unavailable, or when Google is simply unable to obtain information from the page to display relevant ads. This can be frustrating when for one reason or another ads that pay are not posted on your website continually. The reason that this is so frustrating is that you have only aligned yourself with Google AdSense to make some cash on your website, even if you are not profiting from it in any other manner.

Luckily, if you are tired of seeing public service ads on your website you CAN do something about it. You don't have to sit by and wait for Google to decide that you are worthy of those ads that pay! You can visit a website such as http://www.defaultads.com which will show you how to monetize public service ads and even alternate the ads shown when Google AdSense, or Chitika, and other content advertising networks cannot accommodate your needs with targeted ads on your webpage. This awesome website can help you out when you load all of your affiliate or other ads into DefaultAds when it quickly generates a link to include in your Google AdSense alternate ad URL.

This system will allow you to make money when you typically wouldn't be making any at all! The best thing about this system is that it is totally risk free. You don't have to worry about the content that will be shown as DefaultAds will only show their ads one out of every 100 impressions and they will be the same size, quality, and will even target the same category that you would target with the Google ads!

Ethics in Public Services

As public body managers, you are tasked to deliver your services to the public and hence you have the responsibility to ensure that the services you provide are not only effective, efficient, reliable but also that their delivery is free from corruption and malpractice. People must get a clear understanding of the important functions of public bodies and the obligations of your organization and yourselves as stipulated in the law.

Important functions of public bodies like your organization, a considerable number of institutions are scheduled by law as public bodies. They are designated as such because their operations and services have important bearings on the interests of the public and society as a whole. For example, they are the:

- Major services providers given a monopoly/ franchise/license by the government like: bus companies, railway companies;

- Organizations spending/disbursing substantial public funds e.g. universities, hospitals;

- Organizations performing public regulatory functions e.g. regulatory bodies of the financial sector and real estate industry;

- Organizations performing other important public service functions e.g. housing and land development bodies, charitable organizations; and

- Major mass media organizations e.g. television and broadcasting stations.

Public management is public trust. As public body managers, you must ensure that your operations are conducted in a fair and responsible way and your staffs maintain a high recognizable standard of conduct so that public trust is upheld and public interest protected.

Ethics and values should be taught in public administration schools. Some argue that ethics principles and values can be taught about but they cannot be taught in the same manner as we teach skills and knowledge of budgeting, information technology, personnel management, policy analysis, and so forth.

The debate continues with little evidence of a consensus emerging anytime soon. Nonetheless, it is imperative that the debate move faster rather than slower least the profession languish in the fields of careerism, technical rationality, and moralist.

The second great war of the 20th century brought the mythology of the politics/administration dichotomy to its knees and was the beginning of the end of the prevailing orthodoxy that administrators are and should be passion-less dispensers of public goods and services, thus freeing up a renewal of public administration.

The New Public Service advocated by Denhardt and Denhardt (2000). Their vision is one in which public administrators return to their roots as guardians of democracy.

They further enunciate seven principles that, individually and collectively, provide a normative framework for the professional public administrator.

Nonetheless, renewal will not be an easy task for professional associations, public administration educators, or those who toil in the day-in and day-out work of making their communities a better place to live, work, and play. Some albeit limited help might be found in a recently published collection of essays and articles.

Rediscovery and renewal, as this discussion highlights, is certainly fermenting within the academy. Adams and Balfour call for unmasking administrative evil has not gone unnoticed. Nor has Frederickson challenge to put the public back in public service or the Denhardt vision for a New Public Service been lost in the early years of the 21 st Century. Yet the findings reported by Light cannot be dismissed lightly. What then can and should we expect in the years ahead? Where do body and soul of public administration reside? If not in or among professional associations or in the workplace, must we conclude that our search is in vain? No. Two significant events are most revealing-the tragedy and triumph of September 11 th 2001 and the financial and organizational meltdown of corporate titans such as Enron, WorldCom, AOL Time Warner, and Arthur Anderson.

The culture of self-enrichment embedded in the business executive corps that has sapped employees, shareholders, and the American public speaks volumes to the culture of greed and self-serving. An ethical meltdown comparable to that in the corporate world borders on the unimaginable if not unthinkable in all but a few American cities and states. Even more dramatically, the tragedy of September 11 brought forth in clear view for the world to see the triumph of goodness in the courageous efforts by passengers and crew members on the ill-fated United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed into Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and the fire, police, and military men and women who rushed to the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to preserve life and property.

These deeds in the air and on the streets of New York and Washington remind us that public service is truly about caring for others and this is the essence of public administration. The body and soul of public administration reside in service to others whether on the street, in a distant region or location around the world, or in the offices of thousands of public agencies.

Still, there is a substantial need for greater awareness of and commitment to the idealism of public service. Can do must be exalted by should do. Public service is, as so often uttered but so seldom heard, a noble calling. Perhaps we should remind ourselves of this day-in and day-out and draw on this feeling to animate our work as educators and public administrators. The result may well be a true and profound rediscovery and renewal of public administration as a field of study and practice.