Is it money well-spent? A decision will be made Thursday on whether the community will be spending $25,000 on a promotional segment with a U.S. television company, a plan which has sparked some criticism.
Salmon Arm’s Economic Development Society was approached by the Today in America show, hosted by Pro Football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw, to participate in a program called Canada’s Hidden Gems, The Best Places to Live, Work and Play.
What’s called ‘a scheduling fee’ for the five-minute Salmon Arm segment would be $24,800 US, and local organizations participating would have control over content.
The segment would air 35 times over a 90-day period – once on the Discovery Channel in the U.S., once on Canada’s Business News Network, and in 33 regional slots that Salmon Arm would select. The City of Salmon Arm would provide up to $10,800, while seven local organizations would each provide $2,000: the economic development society, the chamber of commerce, Shuswap Hospital Foundation, Shuswap Tourism, Downtown Salmon Arm, Community Futures Shuswap and SCIP (Shuswap Construction Industry Professionals). Once the five-minute segment is complete, the local partners would be able to use it as they wish.
Lana Fitt, manager of Salmon Arm Economic Development, said the organizations had their first meeting Friday and are expected to make a decision Thursday whether to proceed.
“We haven’t signed a contract... We want to do as much due diligence in this process as we can. We want to ensure a really good fit for our community before making a decision that it’s a no-go or a go,” she told the Observer Monday.
A number of complaints about the show’s promotional segments are made on various websites, including accusations that the promotion is a scam, the time slots when the programs air have few viewers and the videos are of poor quality.
One web commenter notes that Bradshaw also hosts similar infomercial-type programs called Net Worth Television, The EnviroReport, Business Day TV, Profiles with Terry, and The Edge with Terry.
Fitt says the society has already done a significant amount of due diligence, including speaking with communities which have participated in the show and contacting the Better Business Bureau. The communities she has spoken to – Fayetteville, Arkansas, the City of Langley and Whiting, Indiana – are satisfied, she said, and the company has a good rating with the bureau.
Kimberley Worthington of Economic Development spoke to Parsippany, New Jersey, a township that declined the show’s offer. Fitt says Worthington was told a video, not the television exposure, was a priority for the town, so the town declined.
Fitt said candid conversations with the show have pointed to previous problems being associated with a former owner or disgruntled employee.
In any case, Warren Welter of Salmon Arm, who has been active in the Shop Local initiative, says the city should have a defined target market from a strategic marketing plan before responding to an unsolicited request to buy an infomercial.
While he said he respects the group effort to move ahead, he also wonders why local expertise in video production or marketing/advertising isn’t involved.
“This is arguably the most we’ve spent in a single ad buy. If we are being asked to embrace this as a community, can we know what part of the plan it fits in, and is there a tangible outcome?”
Meanwhile, Carl Bannister, the city’s chief administrative officer, said the initiative is the economic development society’s and he believes the society has already done a fair amount of due diligence. As far as the city’s participation goes, he said, “we are asking Lana at economic development to complete her due diligence on this before any city funds are put towards it.”
In an email response to the Observer, Mayor Nancy Cooper stated: “Carl Bannister and I sat in on two of several phone calls with the Today in America producers. The city values partnerships with community groups and will support their decision on this matter.”