iHeartMedia, Horizon Media on Embracing Impactful Cause Campaigns

For Alexandra Cameron's iHeartMedia's Senior Vice President of Unified Partnerships, it boils down to meeting a quartet of criteria, all starting with the letter C:

Care. Do enough people in the desired audience for this effort care about the subject explored through the campaign?

Consensus. Does the campaign dovetail with what people generally conclude about the subject?

Capability. Do you have the creative team and other resources necessary to pull off the campaign in an effective, impactful manner?

Capacity. Can your associates handle the campaign in-house, and if not, assemble additional staff and tools to do so, as well as prepare follow-up messages or community outreach?

"Do you have the bandwidth, the human capital and the resources?" Cameron asked. "Where do you need to show up?"

Leave it to Angela Kosniewsky, Managing Director of issue-raising advertising firm 180 NY, to bring up critical questions about running these campaigns. "Is it a (one-shot) initiative, or are you actually changing culture? What's inherent in your company to accelerate purpose?

"Customers can see that," she asserted. "Your employees can see that. What do you want to bring forward? That's the responsibility of management -- to ask how your audience thinks."

One example of an iHeartMedia project that transverses that roadmap is "Show Your Stripes," designed to open job opportunities to veterans returning from tours of duty overseas. The company's radio personalities joined forces with entertainment celebrities to participate in a variety of media venues. In the process, more than 200,000 job applications were processed. "It was a rallying cry across all of our channels," Cameron said.

At 180NY, the campaign known as "#NOWYORK," out to stimulate activity among local restaurants, cultural landmarks and small businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, came together in quick fashion. Numerous organizations from local newspapers to the New York Yankees and New York Mets donated thousands of dollars in free media, including billboards and signage at sports stadiums, to highlight "#NOWYORK" all over New York, Boston and other major cities. "This was the easiest moment of my career, rounding up people to do whatever (was needed) for this campaign," concluded Kosniewski.

Campaigns can work with humor or a light touch to make their points with the public. In "Don't Stop," another project associated with citizenry and businesses staying the course amid the pandemic, user-generated content on that theme was encouraged for display on YouTube. "It was a fun, inclusive, high-impact campaign that directed people to find information," noted Cameron.

Kosniewsky detailed a 180 NY advocacy campaign. The goal: make the public aware of laws in many states that tax feminine care products -- so-called "Pink Tax/Tampon Tax" charges. "It was mind-blowing to learn that (in these states) tampons and other feminine care merchandise are not considered necessities and are therefore taxable, while products like Viagra are not taxable," she explained. "The passion was there, the work was there, awareness was raised and other organizations are picking up the issue," she said. "This is an educational moment we cannot ignore."

This panel was part of an all-day Advertising Week NY track sponsored by New York Interconnect (NYI), a joint venture between Altice USA, Charter Communications and Comcast.

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