What A Difference Today Makes

A Today Show appearance by NPMA raises homeowner awareness about a variety of pest management issues.

It’s not often that you turn on the TV and see someone you know. And it’s not often you see someone you know promoting your industry on national TV. But for many PCOs, that’s exactly what happened this spring.

On May 18, Greg Baumann, director of technical services for the National Pest Management Association, made a five-minute appearance on NBC’s Today Show to discuss the need for homeowners to use pest control professionals instead of trying to control pests themselves. He also pointed out common hiding places for pests and discussed various pest management solutions.

PREPARATION. The idea of the segment was originally presented to Today through NPMA’s Professional Pest Management Alliance, an industry group aimed at creating a more positive image for pest management pros. "This is the first time the industry has had such a prominent piece," PPMA Executive Director Steve Kramer said. "This is indicative of what PPMA is all about."

More than two months in the making, PPMA pitched the idea to Later Today (an NBC program that airs after the Today Show) but that show turned the idea down. But then, the Today Show jumped on the proposal. The show’s executives liked the idea so much that they agreed to build an outdoor kitchen set as well as the "outside" of a house, in New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza, where the live show is shot.

The outside set pleased Bau-mann, who said he didn’t want to be indoors where the host could be in the driver’s seat during the interview. "I didn’t want to be in a stuffed chair so we proposed a hands-on, lighter piece. "We drew the set and the show took our design," Baumann said, and the show took care of all the props needed for the segment. "The Today Show did a wonderful job," he said.

Although Baumann has appeared on many TV shows before, live shows, he said, are much harder to prepare for. Because the show is live, the guest doesn’t know what the host may want to talk about. "My biggest concern was about the questions they were going to ask," Baumann said.

To prepare for the "live" experience, Baumann went through intense media training that emphasized getting key messages across and how to deal with unrehearsed questions. "The media training put Greg through the paces," Kramer said.

THE SHOW. NPMA had May 18 reserved for three weeks but didn’t know if another news story would preempt the segment so the association didn’t tell members about the show until that week.

The day before the show, Baumann, Kramer, NPMA Executive Director Rob Lederer and industry veteran Don Jamison went to NBC’s studios to look at the Today Show set. The next morning, at 6 a.m., the producers and cameramen discussed with Baumann how they would shoot the piece and the various camera angles.

At about 8:15 a.m., NPMA’s segment appeared and lasted 4 minutes and 57 seconds. And although Baumann may have been nervous about Today Show co-host Matt Lauer’s questions, his pre-show media training served him well. "Most people with their ant problem, can they go to the store and buy some kind of remedy?" Lauer asked.

"Your best bet is to talk to a pest management professional. They can provide advice and the homeowner can decide how involved they want to be," Baumann said. "Most homeowners prefer not to handle this on their own."

Baumann also stressed that homeowners need to use a PCO instead of trying to control pests themselves.

"Will the type of remedy that I buy at the store do a thorough job in getting rid of (cockroaches)?" Lauer asked.

"The most important thing is that if you’re going to get into a control program, this is why the professional is trained," Baumann replied. "The professional knows to do a thorough inspection and identify (insects). You can work in tandem with that professional."

Baumann said the producers cut a minute off the segment because it started to rain and they were concerned about outdoor electric lines and cameras. But the shortened segment didn’t affect NPMA’s message. "Greg couldn’t have done any better," Kramer said. "The key is to know your subject and he’s been doing this for 10 years."

After the segment, NPMA presented Lauer with a framed scorpion as a token of their appreciation. "The people were so nice," Baumann said. "They were nicer off camera than on camera. They truly treated us as guests."

INDUSTRY REACTION. How did the pest control industry react to the segment? "It’s been great," Kramer said. "We received a handful of media calls. And PCOs called to say it was really professional and that it’s exactly what they want to see."

Baumann, the face of the segment, said he was bowled over by the response he received. "I’ve never had so many e-mails and voicemails — they’ve all been 100 percent positive," he said.

And the Today Show, watched daily by millions, provided a great spring-time audience for NPMA. "This represents a major home run for the PPMA program and its value to the industry," Lederer said. "The advertising equivalency of a four- to five-minute segment on a national news program is worth well in the millions of dollars."