News Analysis--GRDA & Chronicle Media
Or, How a Well Intentioned Program Turned Into a Media Beating
When GRDA set out in April to enlist help in furthering its public image it didn't anticipate that in doing so, it would launch a barrage of criticism effectively bringing the opposite result.
It all happened very quickly. According to meeting minutes, GRDA staff member Holly Moore, Director of Community Relations, reported on a recent brand audit conducted by Littlefield, Inc. of Tulsa, an advertising and marketing firm. (no relation to the former senator from Delaware County.) The audit included a telephone survey of 650 residents across northeast Oklahoma, 250 around Lake Hudson and Grand Lake and 400 who lived in the communities in which GRDA provides electricity. According to Moore, the survey showed some misunderstandings and misconceptions about GRDA, including a "very low unaided awareness about GRDA," according to meeting minutes. So a plan was put together to overcome the awareness problem. It was a very specific plan, quite demanding, and written to not favor any particular agency over another. Or was it so demanding with so little dollars that only one response would be forthcoming?
In a "Request for Proposal for GRDA Educational Campaign," specifications were sent to eight firms in the area outlining very specific requirements. The firms included Littlefield, Inc. of Tulsa, Choice Marketing of Joplin, Solutions Marketing Savvy of Claremore, Anglin Public Relations and Winnercomm of Tulsa, Brothers & Company of Tulsa, Hahn Promotions of Jenks, Fair Isaac of Tulsa, and Chronicle Media of Langley.
Littlefield Inc. returned a nice letter stating that it did not want to bid at this time, and Choice Marketing said it was really busy and the dollar amount listed by GRDA was too low to do the job. Other than Chronicle Media, the rest did not respond at all.
Deadline for returning the bid was May 2, 2006 and only one bid was returned---from Chronicle Media.
When it was announced as Contract A-10195-00 at the May 10, 2006 GRDA Board of Directors meeting in Vinita, no eyebrows were raised by the media in attendance.
The contract really didn't come to light until a month later when the Tulsa World ran two days of stories on the appointment of Chronicle-Media as successful bidder for GRDA marketing and advertisement services, highlighting the fact that the co-founder of Chronicle Media, Mike Williams, had once served time in prison for filing false travel claims with the State of Oklahoma. The Tulsa World made a big deal of this, but his prison record has little to do with the issue.
The bid was for an amount not to exceed $60,000 annually, or according to the actual contract, not exceeding $5,000 per month unless prior written approval is obtained from GRDA
Per the contract, Chronicle Media "shall work closely with GRDA personnel and shall present GRDA with a plan and estimated budget prior to the incurrence of any actual expenses to be reimbursed by GRDA." Travel expenses are not included in the budget, nor or actual media buys such as newspaper ads or television spots. Chronicle Media listed hourly rates for its services which range from $50 an hour up to $225 per hour, with "turnkey video production available at $1,000 per finished minute except for extraordinary travel requirements." A 20% space discount will be given to GRDA, however, for ads placed in the Chronicle newspaper.
Chronicle Media, according to the bid requirements, will need to accomplish a nine-item list…"assist in developing and upgrading the GRDA marketing plan, develop a budgeting plan for the Educational Campaign, develop and submit a timed plan with recommendations and budget proposals for advertising campaigns/promotions, research and recommend media print and radio purchases, create and produce multi-media advertisements and collateral materials to generate increased public support, provide objective independent post-market testing and advertising effectiveness, evaluation, research and analysis, provide and support video and still photography, design or create outdoor media, brochures in printed and electronic formats, PowerPoint presentations, fact sheets, radio scripts, advertisements and opinion editorials, and assist in launch of speaker's bureau, editorial board circuit, special events and other programs in support of public relation efforts."
A tall order indeed! The folks at Chronicle Media are going to be busy, if these goals are to be met. Maybe this explains why there was only one bidder. Owner Brian Ruth says "we can get it done."
Chronicle Media, in its bid, listed no clients, client record of achievements, or success stories, as most agencies do in bids or presentations. In fact, Chronicle Media didn't even exist until January, prior to the bid request in April. It is a creation of a few employees at the Grand Lake Chronicle, notably Mike Williams, otherwise known as Clarence Michael Williams, listed as co-founder of Chronicle Media in the bid document. He is the author of the weekly column, "The Lake Bum."
Williams was described as a "media maestro" in an August 1994 article by David Beiler on Campaigns and Elections. He was also a very effective lobbyist.
GRDA critics charge that the hiring of Chronicle Media was simply another "political payback" to Williams, who worked to get Senate Bill 408 passed into law, which effectively reorganized GRDA, fired the old Board of Directors, and pushed through changes that the "marina interests" wanted. After all, Williams was working for Ugly Johns Marina at the time.
The new board then hired Kevin Easley, former Senator, as CEO of GRDA who remains in that position. It was widely anticipated at the time that Easley would become the new CEO.
GRDA's relationship with Mike Williams continued in 2005 when he was appointed to the Shoreline Management Plan working group.
Williams wife, Carolyn Williams, known as "Cari," is also no stranger to GRDA, having been awarded two contracts for lobby work for GRDA in 2005 for her firm, Main Street Marketing. The first contract was dated Oct. 21, 2005 and $15,000 was paid on Nov. 2, 2005; another contract was dated March 30, 2005 and $5,000 was paid on April 6, 2005, according to GRDA records.
Shortly after the Tulsa World carried two days of stories on the Chronicle Media deal, Cari Williams filed for divorce in Oklahoma County. And, the Grand Lake Chronicle launched a blitzkrieg response with a full page ad listing people who support the GRDA and Chronicle Media, and columns attacking the Tulsa World and editor of The Grove Observer, written by Brent Howard of Howard Classic Boats and staff writer Bart Montgomery, whose attack was personal.
It is rare that journalists attack one another on a personal basis. Their full-page ad stated "we urge those who prefer …personal attacks to put down their weapons of destruction and join in the positive efforts championed jointly by GRDA and Chronicle Media." Maybe "they doth protest too much."
The Grove Observer finds it curious that the GRDA Media Department has always been shorthanded and recently lost one of its finest, Tana Poppino, who according to one source, disagreed on some management issues, perhaps even the Chronicle Media deal. And, where did the $60,000 come from, one must ask, when there was no money to hire another in-house writer.
It should be noted that the GRDA customers are the ones that eventually pay for these kinds of expenditures, in rate increases. GRDA is a utility company, first, and has several hundred hard working, very fine employees who perform dangerous work at times. Lake residents would certainly prefer GRDA lake management to the Army Corps of Engineers. GRDA has taken great strides since Easley's appointment in improving management of the lake and work on ecosystems and environmental issues. People who argue over the ecosystems thing should realize there wasn't even an Ecosystems Department three years ago.
Anytime you effect change, you bring reaction, or as Isaac Newton put it in his Third Law, "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." GRDA would do well to take note of this in advance of making decisions which could result in controversy. GRDA should have known that hiring Chronicle Media and Mike Williams would generate questions and trouble; maybe it did and chose to ignore it.
Williams' previous misdeeds are not really the issue. Neither is the Grand Lake Chronicle, which does an excellent job of keeping Grand Lakers informed on the fun stuff, and has expanded under new owner Brian Ruth.
The key issue is the perception that GRDA is playing politics, paying back favors, favoring the big marina interests, etc. A secondary issue is had we received only one returned bid on the solicitation, we would have had to ask ourselves why…and maybe punt, to be considered another day. Was too much to be expected of the bidders? Was the dollar reward too low? Were the bid specs not sent out to the proper agencies? Do we really need such a program anyway? We would probably have anticipated the furor over this deal and abandoned it. Unless Chronicle Media hires several more people there is no way they can complete the tasks as outlined, especially for $60,000, which is why no one else bid.
Anyone who attends a GRDA Board of Directors meeting quickly catches on that it is the Board that runs this company, not necessarily the CEO, and everything must be approved by the Board. The board should have taken a better look at this as well.
Important issues are still ahead, like habitable structures, responsibility for flood control pre-release, the Shoreline Management Plan, control of the board by the large marina operators, water quality, shoreline cleanup, and dock waivers which have stood since 1972, plus a new board member appointment next month. One can expect that in addressing each of these issues, controversy will be generated in the normal course of events. But GRDA should anticipate it and get out in front of the issue before the media turns it around.
When GRDA set out in April to enlist help in furthering its public image it didn't anticipate that in doing so, it would launch a barrage of criticism effectively bringing the opposite result.
It all happened very quickly. According to meeting minutes, GRDA staff member Holly Moore, Director of Community Relations, reported on a recent brand audit conducted by Littlefield, Inc. of Tulsa, an advertising and marketing firm. (no relation to the former senator from Delaware County.) The audit included a telephone survey of 650 residents across northeast Oklahoma, 250 around Lake Hudson and Grand Lake and 400 who lived in the communities in which GRDA provides electricity. According to Moore, the survey showed some misunderstandings and misconceptions about GRDA, including a "very low unaided awareness about GRDA," according to meeting minutes. So a plan was put together to overcome the awareness problem. It was a very specific plan, quite demanding, and written to not favor any particular agency over another. Or was it so demanding with so little dollars that only one response would be forthcoming?
In a "Request for Proposal for GRDA Educational Campaign," specifications were sent to eight firms in the area outlining very specific requirements. The firms included Littlefield, Inc. of Tulsa, Choice Marketing of Joplin, Solutions Marketing Savvy of Claremore, Anglin Public Relations and Winnercomm of Tulsa, Brothers & Company of Tulsa, Hahn Promotions of Jenks, Fair Isaac of Tulsa, and Chronicle Media of Langley.
Littlefield Inc. returned a nice letter stating that it did not want to bid at this time, and Choice Marketing said it was really busy and the dollar amount listed by GRDA was too low to do the job. Other than Chronicle Media, the rest did not respond at all.
Deadline for returning the bid was May 2, 2006 and only one bid was returned---from Chronicle Media.
When it was announced as Contract A-10195-00 at the May 10, 2006 GRDA Board of Directors meeting in Vinita, no eyebrows were raised by the media in attendance.
The contract really didn't come to light until a month later when the Tulsa World ran two days of stories on the appointment of Chronicle-Media as successful bidder for GRDA marketing and advertisement services, highlighting the fact that the co-founder of Chronicle Media, Mike Williams, had once served time in prison for filing false travel claims with the State of Oklahoma. The Tulsa World made a big deal of this, but his prison record has little to do with the issue.
The bid was for an amount not to exceed $60,000 annually, or according to the actual contract, not exceeding $5,000 per month unless prior written approval is obtained from GRDA
Per the contract, Chronicle Media "shall work closely with GRDA personnel and shall present GRDA with a plan and estimated budget prior to the incurrence of any actual expenses to be reimbursed by GRDA." Travel expenses are not included in the budget, nor or actual media buys such as newspaper ads or television spots. Chronicle Media listed hourly rates for its services which range from $50 an hour up to $225 per hour, with "turnkey video production available at $1,000 per finished minute except for extraordinary travel requirements." A 20% space discount will be given to GRDA, however, for ads placed in the Chronicle newspaper.
Chronicle Media, according to the bid requirements, will need to accomplish a nine-item list…"assist in developing and upgrading the GRDA marketing plan, develop a budgeting plan for the Educational Campaign, develop and submit a timed plan with recommendations and budget proposals for advertising campaigns/promotions, research and recommend media print and radio purchases, create and produce multi-media advertisements and collateral materials to generate increased public support, provide objective independent post-market testing and advertising effectiveness, evaluation, research and analysis, provide and support video and still photography, design or create outdoor media, brochures in printed and electronic formats, PowerPoint presentations, fact sheets, radio scripts, advertisements and opinion editorials, and assist in launch of speaker's bureau, editorial board circuit, special events and other programs in support of public relation efforts."
A tall order indeed! The folks at Chronicle Media are going to be busy, if these goals are to be met. Maybe this explains why there was only one bidder. Owner Brian Ruth says "we can get it done."
Chronicle Media, in its bid, listed no clients, client record of achievements, or success stories, as most agencies do in bids or presentations. In fact, Chronicle Media didn't even exist until January, prior to the bid request in April. It is a creation of a few employees at the Grand Lake Chronicle, notably Mike Williams, otherwise known as Clarence Michael Williams, listed as co-founder of Chronicle Media in the bid document. He is the author of the weekly column, "The Lake Bum."
Williams was described as a "media maestro" in an August 1994 article by David Beiler on Campaigns and Elections. He was also a very effective lobbyist.
GRDA critics charge that the hiring of Chronicle Media was simply another "political payback" to Williams, who worked to get Senate Bill 408 passed into law, which effectively reorganized GRDA, fired the old Board of Directors, and pushed through changes that the "marina interests" wanted. After all, Williams was working for Ugly Johns Marina at the time.
The new board then hired Kevin Easley, former Senator, as CEO of GRDA who remains in that position. It was widely anticipated at the time that Easley would become the new CEO.
GRDA's relationship with Mike Williams continued in 2005 when he was appointed to the Shoreline Management Plan working group.
Williams wife, Carolyn Williams, known as "Cari," is also no stranger to GRDA, having been awarded two contracts for lobby work for GRDA in 2005 for her firm, Main Street Marketing. The first contract was dated Oct. 21, 2005 and $15,000 was paid on Nov. 2, 2005; another contract was dated March 30, 2005 and $5,000 was paid on April 6, 2005, according to GRDA records.
Shortly after the Tulsa World carried two days of stories on the Chronicle Media deal, Cari Williams filed for divorce in Oklahoma County. And, the Grand Lake Chronicle launched a blitzkrieg response with a full page ad listing people who support the GRDA and Chronicle Media, and columns attacking the Tulsa World and editor of The Grove Observer, written by Brent Howard of Howard Classic Boats and staff writer Bart Montgomery, whose attack was personal.
It is rare that journalists attack one another on a personal basis. Their full-page ad stated "we urge those who prefer …personal attacks to put down their weapons of destruction and join in the positive efforts championed jointly by GRDA and Chronicle Media." Maybe "they doth protest too much."
The Grove Observer finds it curious that the GRDA Media Department has always been shorthanded and recently lost one of its finest, Tana Poppino, who according to one source, disagreed on some management issues, perhaps even the Chronicle Media deal. And, where did the $60,000 come from, one must ask, when there was no money to hire another in-house writer.
It should be noted that the GRDA customers are the ones that eventually pay for these kinds of expenditures, in rate increases. GRDA is a utility company, first, and has several hundred hard working, very fine employees who perform dangerous work at times. Lake residents would certainly prefer GRDA lake management to the Army Corps of Engineers. GRDA has taken great strides since Easley's appointment in improving management of the lake and work on ecosystems and environmental issues. People who argue over the ecosystems thing should realize there wasn't even an Ecosystems Department three years ago.
Anytime you effect change, you bring reaction, or as Isaac Newton put it in his Third Law, "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." GRDA would do well to take note of this in advance of making decisions which could result in controversy. GRDA should have known that hiring Chronicle Media and Mike Williams would generate questions and trouble; maybe it did and chose to ignore it.
Williams' previous misdeeds are not really the issue. Neither is the Grand Lake Chronicle, which does an excellent job of keeping Grand Lakers informed on the fun stuff, and has expanded under new owner Brian Ruth.
The key issue is the perception that GRDA is playing politics, paying back favors, favoring the big marina interests, etc. A secondary issue is had we received only one returned bid on the solicitation, we would have had to ask ourselves why…and maybe punt, to be considered another day. Was too much to be expected of the bidders? Was the dollar reward too low? Were the bid specs not sent out to the proper agencies? Do we really need such a program anyway? We would probably have anticipated the furor over this deal and abandoned it. Unless Chronicle Media hires several more people there is no way they can complete the tasks as outlined, especially for $60,000, which is why no one else bid.
Anyone who attends a GRDA Board of Directors meeting quickly catches on that it is the Board that runs this company, not necessarily the CEO, and everything must be approved by the Board. The board should have taken a better look at this as well.
Important issues are still ahead, like habitable structures, responsibility for flood control pre-release, the Shoreline Management Plan, control of the board by the large marina operators, water quality, shoreline cleanup, and dock waivers which have stood since 1972, plus a new board member appointment next month. One can expect that in addressing each of these issues, controversy will be generated in the normal course of events. But GRDA should anticipate it and get out in front of the issue before the media turns it around.
posted by Editor | 2:21 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home