Ottawa radio stations give $60,000 in air time to Flint, Michigan
FLINT, Michigan – Flint, Genesee County and the Buick Open are being promoted on two of the largest radio stations in Ottawa, Canada – FOR FREE. Ottawa radio stations; LIVE 88.5 FM and HOT 89.9 FM  are airing the radio ads tied to the Pure Michigan campaign (www.michigan.org)
The ads, which will continue airing through June 21, would normally cost more than $60,000, but the stations agreed to run them for free over four weeks following negotiations with the Flint Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. The FACVB and many other Flint area organizations, residents and supporters contacted the stations upset over a radio campaign called “This Ain’t Flint”. The campaign includes a related Web site (thisaintflint.ca) and video that compared 1989 Flint to Ottawa, Ca., of today.
Station general manager Scott Broderick said he received hundreds of e-mails and letters from upset people in the Flint area. While he didn’t pull the video or Web site, Broderick did agree to several other steps in response to the criticism. They put an apology statement on the Web site (thisaintflint.ca) explaining the video and campaign was not intended to “denigrate the citizens of Flint.” They also added to the Web site a section called “Flint Today” linking to positive attributes and attractions in Flint.
Broderick also agreed to the four-week ad campaign where the two stations aired the Pure Michigan advertisements featuring the voice to Michigan native and comedian Tim Allen. One ad, called “Discoveries”, focuses on the attractions in Flint and Genesee County, and the other, called “The Journeyman,” focuses on the Buick Open, taking place July 27-Aug. 2 at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club outside of Flint.
“My mother always told me when you do something wrong you need to make it right,” Broderick said. “This is our way of trying to make it right.”
Broderick worked out the free advertising arrangement with Flint Area Convention and Visitors Bureau President Jerry Preston.
“We didn’t like this campaign from the start,” Preston said. “But through the efforts of many Flint supporters we feel we’ve turned this around to our advantage. In addition to these free radio ads, we also received numerous radio, TV and newspaper interviews and stories about this campaign. Through that coverage we were able to talk about the positive attractions and events taking place in the Flint area. Overall, it’s been very positive for the Flint community.”
When the campaign started in April, the FACVB and Ottawa Tourism, issued a news release jointly denouncing the campaign by the Newcap-owned radio stations. Ottawa Tourism President and CEO Noel Buckley said his organization continues to support Flint.
“Ottawa tourism is pleased that Newcap radio is offering and playing Flint advertisements on their radio stations. We genuinely wish Flint a successful tourism season as we all in the tourism industry work to face our collective challenges,” Buckley said.
The Flint CVB also is using the publicity from the campaign to promote Flint by having a “This IS Flint” media tour July 30-31. The FACVB invites travel writers from throughout the nation and Canada to come to Flint during the Buick Open and see first-hand what Flint is like today. So far a record number of travel writers have indicated they plan to attend the tour. Travel writers with assignments related to Flint and interested in attending this tour are encouraged to contact Matt Bach at the FACVB at mbach@flint.travel or (810) 232-3288.
“We’re going to show the travel writers how Flint is transforming from a factory town to a college town and how our community now serves about 30,000 college students each year,” Preston said. “We’re going to take them downtown to see the revitalization going on and the new restaurants and businesses that have opened or are under construction. We encourage them to discover on their own what Flint has to offer.”
June 4, 2009
Posted in: United States NorthEast