ASHI Visits Media in New York City
Lisa Gunggoll, Senior Account Supervisor, Publicis Dialog Chicago, reported on the last-minute preparations for ASHI’s 2004 New York Media Tour.
This year the annual event was combined with the production of the ASHI Video News Release (VNR) and Public Service Announcement (PSA) to take advantage of the East Coast location of the tour, and the Connecticut location of the VNR and PSA production company.
• On Monday, May 17, the VNR and PSA were to be produced in Stamford, Conn., with Rob Paterkiewicz, ASHI executive director, and Steve Gladstone, ASHI president, acting as spokespersons. Both spots are geared toward consumers, and they focus on the importance of using an ASHI home inspector. In each case, the call to action is for consumers to visit ASHI.org to locate an ASHI Inspector in their area.
Both segments are scheduled to be distributed to the national media in early June. Expect the PSAs to begin airing in the month of June, with the VNR (which is a pre-packaged television news story that will also feature the Virtual Home Inspection) running on newscasts during a similar time frame.
Following release to national outlets, the PSA will be made available for use by chapters with a report on where it has been aired, and instructions on how to get it locally.
• On Tuesday, May 18, a local/regional media event is scheduled in Connecticut featuring a panel discussion to acquaint media and real estate professionals with what’s new with ASHI. The Coastal Connecticut Chapter is participating in the event. ASHI chapters will receive a guide for conducting a similar local media tour based on this event.
• On Wednesday and Thursday
May 19 and 20, Steve Gladstone meets with editors in New York City, conducting desk-side interviews and walking them through ASHI.org and the Virtual Home Inspection (VHI). He’ll also discuss legislative issues and what The ASHI Experience means to consumers. As of press time, interviews have been confirmed with The Wall Street Journal, Woman’s Day Home Remodeling, National Mortgage News, and the Executive Producer of “Dream House,” an HGTV series that follows homeowners building a home from the ground up.
Plans are in place to meet with up to a dozen media contacts over the two-day period and to drop off information packets to many others. More than 50 contacts were sent preview press kits and information including color slicks of the new ads, fact sheets on ASHI.org and the VHI, press releases and more. Editors who have time for interviews will receive Kidde products (kitchen fire extinguishers, carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors) to demonstrate that ASHI and Kidde are working together on promoting home safety. Kidde donated the products.
Members working the media
George Pilat, A George Pilat Inspection Company, Baltimore, Md., answers questions about home inspections on a call in, Sunday morning, real estate radio show. A mortgage professional and title experts handle questions about their areas of expertise.
Tom Kraeutler, HomeChek of New Jersey, Oakhurst, N.J., is the author of an article in the July issue of do! Magazine, a publication aimed at young homeowners with a circulation of 300,000. An ASHI advertisement will also appear in the same issue. Kraeutler continues to air the ASHI radio advertisements on his nationally syndicated radio show, The Money Pit. Currently airing twice per week, these ads reach 103 radio stations and an audience of more than 1.2 million.
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The NUMBERS
On the net
More than 5 million visitors each month see ASHI’s banner advertising on Yahoo Real Estate, Homeseekers.com and Homestore.com, and each month more than 1,200 of them click on the ASHI banner ad to learn more about The ASHI Experience.
In print
The circulation for print hits increased more than 7 million during the first quarter of 2004 overthe first quarter of2003. The increase was achieved by ASHI appearing in widely circulated publications. The average circulation number per clip increased from 109,820 during the first quarter of 2003 to 255,176 during the same time period in 2004.
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