REICH COMMUNICATIONS

What We Do: Chicago Auto Show

 

For the National Road Safety Foundation, we run a contest for teens in the midwest, inviting them to submit ideas for a public service message about safe teen driving.  We do it in conjunction with the Chicago Auto Show.

The theme this year is sharing the road... with other vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists.

Three finalists were selected and the NRSF video crew worked with them to make their ideas into finished TV spots.  The public is now voting online on the Chicago Auto Show Facebook page to pick the winner, who will get a $2,000 prize and have his or her PSA broadcast nationwide on "Teen Kids News."

Here's a link to the voting page, in case you want to see the videos and cast your vote.

What We Do: NJ Home & Garden Show TV Coverage

We scored another home run for the New Jersey Home & Garden Show this past weekend, with the local CBS affiliate Channel 2 having weatherman John Elliott reporting live on-site for two hours Saturday morning, just as the show was opening.  

John did 4 full reports and a few teases, getting us nearly 20 minutes of airtime.

He's shown here interviewing our client, show producer Eric Udler.  John also did reports featuring several of the show's exhibitors, which made for happy clients for Eric.

Click here to see one of the spots.

 

 

Cracking the Code

 

So far, I’ve been reluctant to use QR codes.  I especially dislike being forced to use them to read the menu at a restaurant.  When faced with that situation, I always ask the waiter to bring me a printed menu.   

I have used QR codes in business, though, as another way to connect people to information from a client.  The other format is to use a bitly link to take someone to the client’s site, but that’s not always a simple matter from a cellphone.  That’s where QR codes come in.

I have seen QR codes used in TV ads from time to time – mainly in infomercials on cable.  But the mold was broken during the Super Bowl broadcast, when Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, ran an ad that simply showed a QR code slowly moving around the screen.   According to reports in the trades, the ad pulled such a big response that the Coinbase server crashed because it got overloaded.

So, QR codes seem to work. They’ll likely become even more commonplace as more phones have the capability to use them.  More than 83 percent of smartphones today can scan QR codes, up from a bit above 52 percent only three years ago.  Industry experts say that number should hit 99.5 percent by 2025.

I guess QR codes are here to stay.

What We Do: N.J. Home & Garden Show

 

The New Jersey Home & Garden Show is returning from a Covid-imposed hiatus.  It's happening next weekend, Feb. 25-27 at the New Jersey Convention Center.

We're promoting the show and we already have some advance stories out in northern and central Jersey papers and online news sites.  And we just got confirmation that popular WCBS/2 weatherman John Elliott will do a series of live spots from the show Saturday morning, Feb. 26. 

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Going to The Game or a Super Bowl Party?

Drive Safely.     

If you plan to drink, don't drive.

30 Seconds...Flush...$7 Million Gone

 

NBC announced this week that it has sold all its inventory of commercial spots for this year's Super Bowl.  Some advertisers spent as much as $7 million for a single 30-second ad.    

Yes, it's true that the game and all the hoopla that surrounds it gets big audiences.  And some of the ads get talked about and shown and re-shown online. But I wonder how many people actually see the ads. 

Commercial breaks are when many people make a run to the kitchen or a run to the bathroom.  Who stays to watch a 2- or 3-minute commercial break?  And of you do watch, how many actually remember any specific ad or who sponsored it.

I wonder what else might a business do with $7 million?  Lower prices?  Pay employees more?  Put some into programs that benefit people in need?

Just sayin'.

 

  

 

Six More Weeks?

 

Six more weeks of winter? 

I guess it depends which groundhog forecaster you listen to.    

Punxsutawney Phil says winter will go on for six more weeks.  Staten Island Chuck says no.

The Staten Island rodent has a much better accuracy rate ... close to 85%.

So I'll go with Chuck.  Spring is right around the corner...I hope.

What We Do: National Passenger Safety Week

 

The first-ever National Passenger Safety Week has come to a close and it was a success.

Some 55 organizations joined with The National Road Safety Foundation and We Save Lives to lend their support and help spread the word.

We arranged for coverage on TV and radio stations in two dozen markets, including majors like Phoenix, Miami, Seattle, St.Louis and more.

The campaign even got official support from legislators in California and Missouri, with others saying they'll be involved in the future.

This will be an ongoing campaign, not just a one-week-a-year effort, to encourage passengers to speak up when they're with someone who is driving dangerously. The idea is that we can all play a role in saving lives on the road by speaking up. 

For more, visit nationalpassengersafety.org

 

 

What We Do: National Passenger Safety Week

 

Our work on the first-ever National Passenger Safety Week continues, as we generate more publicity on TV, in print and online around the country.

The key message, from The National Road Safety Foundation in partnership with We Save Lives, is to empower passengers to speak up when they're in a car with someone who's driving dangerously.

We're setting up interviews for We Save Lives founder Candace Lightner, who also founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving 40+ years ago.  She's a persuasive advocate for traffic safety, and she got more than 50 other organizations to join the effort.  She also got legislators in California and Missouri to issue proclamations of support.

Here's a link to a 6-minute live spot Candace did the other day with the CBS station in Toledo.   

For more, see the new site for National Passenger Safety Week.