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News

June 15, 2008 8:54 PM

Creative Promos Take on a Global Flavor

WJLA-TV=E2=80=99s Quinn Has International Outlook = in Work

By Allison J. Waldman, Special to TelevisionWeek

One of the four winners of the inaugural Marketing Maverick Awards, a = joint=20 venture by TelevisionWeek and Promax/BDA, is John Quinn, public affairs=20 marketing exec for WJLA-TV in Washington.

Mr. Quinn is a two-time Emmy nominee who has been recognized by = Promax/BDA=20 for his innovative initiatives in the past. In 2007 he was asked to = create=20 multiplatform public awareness campaigns for the embassies of Germany, = Taiwan,=20 South Korea and Kazakhstan.

=E2=80=9CI=E2=80=99m really excited about winning,=E2=80=9D Mr. Quinn = said of the Marketing Maverick=20 Award. But, he added, =E2=80=9CAll I=E2=80=99m worried about is giving = out too many ideas to our=20 competition.=E2=80=9D

Mr. Quinn=E2=80=99s reports promoted local interest in the = international presence of=20 the embassies in the nation=E2=80=99s capital. The ideas about how to do = that were all=20 his own; publicists weren=E2=80=99t pitching him with offers. = =E2=80=9CNo, I was just listening=20 to the news on TV and radio, reading the newspapers, following the news = in=20 general to learn what was happening on Capitol Hill as far as other = countries=20 go. When the heads of state from those countries came, I would try to = come up=20 with an idea to promote topics of interest from their = countries.=E2=80=9D

While it sounds simple, the ideas were much more refined. =E2=80=9CIt = was thinking=20 outside of the box, if you want to call it that,=E2=80=9D said Mr. = Quinn. For the German=20 embassy, he realized it was the 60th anniversary of the 1948 Berlin = airlift,=20 which was being celebrated at Andrews Air Force Base. Mr. Quinn created = an ad=20 campaign to raise public awareness of how the heroic efforts of the U.S. = and its=20 allies saved more than 2 million people in Berlin.

=E2=80=9C=E2=80=98Friends Always, Germany,=E2=80=99 that was a = heartfelt story and my favorite=20 campaign,=E2=80=9D said Mr. Quinn. =E2=80=9CThere was the big event at = Andrews with the joint=20 services open house, including an air show with the Blue = Angels.=E2=80=9D

As part of the Blue Angels flyover, Col. Gail Halvorsen, a veteran = from the=20 airlift, was invited back. =E2=80=9CThe colonel is really popular in = Germany because=20 he=E2=80=99s known as the Candy Bomber,=E2=80=9D he said. = =E2=80=9CDuring the Berlin airlift he would=20 drop little handkerchief parachutes that he made himself, with candy = attached=20 for the kids. So we created a spot for that, showing Col. Halvorsen back = in=20 1948. At the air show, we re-created that by dropping candy to the kids = at the=20 show.=E2=80=9D

In addition to airing on WJLA, Mr. Quinn=E2=80=99s spot ran on the = German embassy Web=20 site. =E2=80=9CThen the news department interviewed Col. Halvorsen for = our station, and=20 it was shown on Pentagon TV and their Web site. It got a lot of = coverage.=E2=80=9D

The 12-week campaign was seen by 6,155,026 people an average of three = times,=20 and the Web component generated 3,877,026 impressions with more than = 15,000=20 click-throughs to other Web sites.

Mr. Quinn=E2=80=99s most fortuitous promotion was the one involving = Kazakhstan. He=20 was tasked with mounting a campaign that coincided with President = Nursultan=20 Nazarbayev=E2=80=99s visit to the United States. The objective was to = educate the public=20 about Kazakhstan, its leadership role in Central Asia and its progress = toward=20 becoming a more democratic society. Thanks to the film =E2=80=9CBorat: = Cultural=20 Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of = Kazakhstan,=E2=80=9D the=20 country, the embassy and events celebrating the nation all were = promoted.

=E2=80=9CThat=E2=80=99s a case where timing is everything. Our = campaign was launched the same=20 week that the =E2=80=98Borat=E2=80=99 movie came out. The president of = Kazakhstan met with=20 President Bush and they had a statue presentation in front of the = embassy here,=E2=80=9D=20 Mr. Quinn said.

Meanwhile, =E2=80=9CBorat=E2=80=9D star Sasha Baron Cohen was = desperately trying to get press=20 for his movie. =E2=80=9CHe couldn=E2=80=99t get any. When our spots = aired so many times, other=20 stations and networks got the story and it was shown on = =E2=80=98Nightline,=E2=80=99 the ABC=20 network news, it was on Katie Couric=E2=80=99s show, it was = everywhere,=E2=80=9D said Mr. Quinn.=20 =E2=80=9CThere was so much exposure about Kazakhstan and this movie that = people caught=20 on to it. That=E2=80=99s how Kazakhstan became an answer on = =E2=80=98Jeopardy!=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D

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