The Ad Council, known for producing iconic public service advertising (PSAs) in the U.S., works within a donated media model. The Ad Council does not have an internal PR budget and their clients’ PR/social media budgets are very limited. The Ad Council led an unprecedented partnership with The Today Show—one of the most watched television programs in America—entitled “Today Takes Action.”

Airing during February 2013 sweeps, the week long series began with an overview of the Ad Council. A 10" segment aired every morning in the 8AM hour featuring in-depth coverage of each anchor-selected issue—fatherhood, emergency preparedness, shelter pet adoption and hunger prevention. Each segment included expert interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and the debut of a co-branded PSA around the respective cause.

The Ad Council worked with NBC, the ad agencies developing the creative and the non-profit and government sponsors to promote this effort across traditional and digital platforms, highlighting the cause, the sponsor and the Ad Council’s mission.

Key PR elements:

• Outreach to consumer/industry broadcast, print and online media

• Customizable press release and social media messaging for ten partner ad agencies, non-profit/government sponsors, and other stakeholders.

• Nationally distributed multimedia news release

• Celebrity talent within PSAs

• Digital extensions allowing interaction with campaign

The Ad Council broadened its reach at an incredible scale. Each daily segment reached over 4.2m viewers. Each PSA was unveiled in the context of earned and social media, providing an extended narrative reaching well beyond a 30 second PSA and had a significant impact.

In September 2012 the Ad Council initiated the partnership with NBC. In the next few weeks, the Ad Council brought the anchors relevant social issues to choose from. Once selected, the Ad Council briefed the ad agencies who would be developing the PSAs on the specific creative and content parameters surrounding the partnerships.

Over the course of the next 2-3 months, the Ad Council coordinated the PSA shoots, brought issue experts and personal stories to NBC for segment development, and spearheaded all meetings with producers and anchors, sponsors, and ad agencies responsible for the PSAs. Despite slight creative modifications, the overarching program vision was adhered to.

In the weeks before launch, media outreach materials were distributed among partners. The Ad Council engaged NBC’s digital team to plan online coverage that would enhance viewers’ understanding of the social issues and the desired call-to-actions. The series began airing on February 11, 2013.

Each Today Show segment was viewed by approximately 4.2m people. Total audience reach for the series, including additional earned media, is estimated at 204.9 million. The partnership was covered by over 50 press outlets including MSNBC, CNN, The Weather Channel, AdWeek and The Huffington Post, with an earned media value estimated at $1.6m.

The co-branded PSAs aired in donated time across NBCUniversal/Comcast networks over 4,600 times in the first two weeks and will continue to air throughout the year. During the week of the broadcasts, the Ad Council’s Facebook reach increased by 800%, and Ad Council-related social media discussions increased 1500%. The Today Show segments were viewed nearly 8,300 times on the Ad Council’s YouTube channel. The results also included personal stories from viewers who engaged with the featured social issues and took the desired actions, i.e. the Ad Council received emails/messages from those who adopted shelter pets.