Industry Awareness Program Off and Running

Marketing is a constant, no matter what you do or where you are.

Advertising blankets all mass media, public relations activities influence news coverage, our mailboxes are stuffed with stuff and then there’s the Internet.

"It’s time for our industry to get some positive attention," says Harvey Massey, president of Massey Services in Orlando, Fla., and chairman of the Industry Awareness Council. "Properly conceived and executed, the Industry Awareness Campaign will help grow our industry and will surely help us take control of our image."

The Industry Awareness Council is a group of pest control operators, distributors and manufacturers who have joined forces to create a marketing campaign designed to grow the base of the industry and to put out positive messages about the benefits of professional pest control services.

The campaign is now in what Council members are calling "Phase Two."

"That’s the collection of voluntary donations being made by PCOs of all sizes and from all corners of North America," says Rob Lederer, executive vice president of the National Pest Control Association. "We’re extremely pleased with the way the system is running and the response we’re getting from our industry around the nation."

Phase One of the campaign was a comprehensive research effort funded by manufacturers, distributors and more than 800 PCOs. The research was facilitated by Shandwick USA, one of the largest marketing services firms in the world. The company is the architect of several other "industry enhancement" programs similar to the well-known "Got Milk?" effort, "The Incredible, Edible Egg" and "Pork…The OTHER White Meat." Other industries like real estate, the Plastics Council and the Florida Citrus Council have taken the road that the pest control industry is now embarking on.

"It’s entirely possible that a fully funded, three-year program of public relations and advertising can grow the overall industry by 21%, or as much as $1 billion," says Michael Petruzzello, CEO of Shandwick USA in Washington, D.C. "There’s not nearly the negative baggage some other industries have had to overcome and there’s a segment of ‘do-it-yourselfers’ out there who are ready to be converted to customers of qualified PCOs."

INDUSTRY SUPPORT THE KEY. Many of the industry’s top distributors have agreed to serve as the collection arm of the effort by adding a voluntary line item to material and supply invoices of 2.5%. "By investing an amount equal to 2.5% of the cost of the products we use to provide our services, PCOs will help fund this program," Massey says. "That’s 2.5% of materials and supplies, NOT 2.5% of total revenues."

"This adds up, in most cases, to less than two-tenths of 1% of gross revenues," Massey says. "If we can get everyone to contribute at that small level, we can get our message out and we can definitely grow the size of our industry."

With a strong commitment from all segments of the industry, actual public relations activities can begin in the early

part of 2000. "In the early going, and depending on the level of funding we’re able to generate, we’ll work on placing positive stories about professional pest control in selected media outlets like USA Today, the early morning national news programs and magazines like Time and U.S. News & World Report," Petruzzello says. "We’ll also be investing in PCO education and ‘tool kits’ to help operators on the local level get the positive word out on the beneficial aspects of our industry. Our research shows that the public is hungry for information about the industry. Our job is to feed that hunger."

Another positive aspect of the IAC effort is that despite some isolated and highly specific issues, mostly associated with the termite side of the industry, there aren’t widespread negatives to overcome.

"It’s not like the milk people, who had to overcome the perception that their product is high in fat and only for kids, or the egg industry dealing with the cholesterol issue," Petruzzello says. "For the most part, pest control is seen in a benign way, according to the research we did in 1998."

WHAT’S NEXT? "It’s easy to see that the more we are able to raise, the more we’ll be able to do," Massey says. "But I’m here to tell you that we’ll be very careful and we’ll exercise keen stewardship over these donations. For example, we don’t spend a dime of donated money on anything we can’t measure. We don’t do that in our business and we’re not going to do that with the Industry Awareness Campaign."

"In a perfect situation, we’d go forward first with a sustained public relations effort targeting key national media," Petruzzello says. "Second, we’d roll out some national cable network advertising, followed by national broadcast television, drive-time radio ads and print in highly targeted national newspapers and magazines."

The target of the effort will be the do-it-yourself customer and the creative ads will educate him or her on the need to rely on a professional for pest control services. Shandwick is also researching the idea of using a celebrity to help create a "third-party endorsement" image for the campaign. And the agency is recommending creation of a media "war room" to gather and disseminate information about the very real and serious problems posed by some pests and the benefits to be derived by using professional pest control services.

"There are still many specifics to be ironed out before we launch this program," Massey says. "We encourage input from everyone in our industry, no matter how big or small your business is and no matter where you do business. If, as we’ve been saying, ‘a rising tide lifts all boats,’ then we need everyone to be involved and to be heard from."

THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITY EVER. "The Industry Awareness Council’s program to grow the pest control industry will begin as soon as voluntary contributions begin coming in, sometime in the fourth quarter of 1999," Lederer says. Distributors began collecting contributions in the form of a voluntary 2.5% line item surcharge on invoices beginning May 1.

"The simple truth is that our industry isn’t keeping up with incremental demographic growth in the marketplace," Lederer says. "We’re doing a lot of customer churning from one company to another, but we’re not taking advantage of the booming national economy and growing our industry base. And we’re not, as an industry, in control of the messages being g put out before the public in the news media.

"With a well-funded, consistent and positive campaign," Lederer says, "we can enhance the way people think about pest control and we can add brand new customers to our loyal industry base. Everyone can benefit from this."

Contributions from more than 800 pest control operators, distributors and manufacturers generated the dollars necessary to fund exhaustive research on perceptions by service users, non-users, regulators, media and industry insiders. The results of that research, facilitated by Shandwick USA, formed the basis for the Industry Awareness Campaign.

"NPCA’s website (www.npca.org) is already getting hundreds of hits daily from consumers looking for information about our services," says Lederer. "And that’s without any promotion. Imagine what will happen when we kick in the first public relations phase of our campaign."

The tiered program will operate depending on the amount of money raised through voluntary contributions amounting to 2.5% of materials and supplies ordered by PCOs from industry distributors. The 2.5% contribution is only on material and supply expenditures, not on general revenues.

"Early indications are that operators are showing support for the Industry Awareness Campaign," Lederer says. "It’s a constant selling effort for us to reach as many operators and manufacturers as possible with our story. Once they truly understand what we’re doing and what’s at stake, they generally respond."

Lederer says strong industry support is needed to get the job done. For more information, PCOs are encouraged to call 800/678-NPCA.

Purpose: The Industry Awareness Council (IAC) is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1997 for the sole purpose of promoting an industry-enhancement marketing program.

Objectives: The IAC will accomplish two specific goals. The primary goal is to expand the customer base of the entire pest control industry by as much as $1 billion over three fully funded years. "Fully funded" means at a funding level in excess of $10 million per year. The second goal of the campaign is to take control of the message being sent to American consumers about pest control.

Membership: The IAC is a coalition of pest control operators, industry associations, manufacturers and distributors.

Theme: "A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats"

Funding: Unlike other industry enhancement campaigns, the IAC campaign will be funded through voluntary contributions. Distributors are placing a voluntary 2.5% line item contribution on invoices for materials and supplies. (PCOs may volunteer to contribute more.) 2.5% of material and supply costs generally amount to less than two-tenths of 1% of gross revenues.

Chairman: Harvey L. Massey, president and CEO, Massey Services, Inc., Orlando, Fla.

Members: Glen Rollins, vice-chairman, Orkin Pest Control; Norman Goldenberg, secretary/treasurer, Terminix International; Robert Jenkins, ABC Pest and Lawn Services; John Abell, Abell Pest Control; Joseph Thomas, Arrow Exterminators; Robert Case, Sears Termite & Pest Control; Thomas Fortson, Terminix Service; Scott Nolen, Truly Nolen of America; Richard Rupkey, University Termite and Pest Control; Michael Katz, Western Exterminator Company; Richard Sameth, Western Industries; Greg Storey, Bayer Corporation-Agriculture Division; Reid Sprenkel, Dow AgroSciences; Jim Collins, FMC APG Specialty Products; Buddy Camors, Zeneca Professional Products; Bevan Cates, Van Waters & Rogers; Thomas Forshaw, Forshaw Distribution; Bill Foley, Lesco; Tommy Reeves, Oldham Chemical Company; Ward Combs, Presto-X-Company; Rob Lederer, NPCA.