Bridgeport spends big on coronavirus messaging
BRIDGEPORT — During normal times, Connecticut’s largest city has budgeted around $ 200,000 annually for marketing efforts aimed at luring visitors and boosting the local economy.
In the first couple months of the COVID- 19 pandemic, Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration spent nearly half that amount — slightly more than $ 94,435 — on messaging aimed at keeping the public healthy and stopping the virus’s spread.
“And, quite frankly, ( we) wish we could have done more, not less, in terms of getting the message out,” Rowena White, Ganim’s communications director, said last week.
City Hall’s anti- coronavirus advertising blitz from late March through May included, according to paperwork provided The Connecticut Post through a Freedom of Information Act request, television and radio
spots, professionally produced daily live briefings by Ganim, as well as mailings, posters and yard signs.
All those mediums reinforced efforts to convince the public to stay home and, when out, avoid crowds and socially distance, wear masks and disinfect/ wash hands frequently.
Aportion of the campaign also thanked health care providers and other frontline employees.
The city’s request for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state for the marketing expenses is pending. Scott Appleby, Bridgeport’s longtime emergency operations chief, said last week he expected the funds will be covered.
The Ganim administration invested tens of thousands of dollars more in pandemic- related messaging than other urban centers like New Haven, Stamford and Danbury that were also health crisis hot spots in the spring.
While Ganim had a company — Ferocious Media — helping to produce daily briefings for Facebook and radio, Danbury Mayor Mark
Boughton issued his updates using his Samsung phone and what he said was a $ 35 microphone purchased on Amazon. com.
Stamford Mayor David Martin’s office said it spent $ 2,209 on Facebook advertising and produced a handful of videos in- house using city- owned equipment. The Martin administration also relied on social media posts and issued a daily newsletter.
Gage Frank, New Haven’s director of communications, said he spent $ 15,142 on a firm to help produce some radio spots and advertising, $ 7,576 on street banners that read “Spread the Facts, Not the Virus” and $ 800 on billboards.
“I’m grateful for all we did with this amount of money,” Gage said, adding he also had pro bono help from businesses and other stakeholders.
Appleby, Bridgeport’s emergency management director since 1994, said in his experience there can never be enough public communication and he would have gladly spent $ 1 million if it meant getting through to every single resident: “What we learn from every disaster ( is) information sharing is the number one priority.”
And that, he added, ne
cessitates extensive and widespread efforts so messages will eventually filter through to residents, either directly from the source or second- hand.
For example, Appleby said, some people may ignore local government and media outlets, but listen to relatives, friends and acquaintances.
“If it’s the person at the corner bodega, I need to get the information out to them,” Appleby said.
And White said that in her experience, Bridgeport, despite its size, can fall into a media limbo between New York City, New Haven and Hartford- area focused Connecticut television stations. She said the city could not rely on free news coverage: “We had 150,000 people we needed to communicate with immediately ... so it was of the utmost importance we did everything in our power.”
That was one of the main reasons, White said, for the television and radio announcements featuring Ganim issuing advice about how to prevent COVID- 19 infections. The city spent $ 52,169 to run these on area A. M. and F. M. radio stations and paid $ 12,020 to air commercials on five cable channels, including CNN and BET ( Black Entertainment
Television).
According to the city’s Freedom of Information response, Bridgeport also spent $ 2,248 on interpreters to make all of the messaging multi- lingual for this heavily diverse municipality.
Ganim also made two videos that involved the mayor and an April 16 parade of emergency vehicles past the hospitals to honor front- line workers. With soft piano accompaniment and featuring a speech by the mayor, the polished spots also appeared to promote Ganim’s leadership and lead some on the City Council to question the expense.
The city also purchased lawn signs that read “Bridgeport Loves Our Healthcare Heroes.”
White said those thankyou efforts were also submitted for FEMA reimbursement because it was important for the greater public to understand “what others were really going through” during the pandemic’s early weeks.
With coronavirus cases again on the rise — Ganim on Friday revived some restrictions on the public and on businesses that were lifted over the summer— the city is spending more money on COVID- 19 messaging.
White is rolling out a new round of public service announcements, bus shelter and yard signs and mailings she said will continue through February urging people to get tested for COVID- 19 to help reduce the increased spread and protect loved ones.
“The first phase was trying to stop ( the rapid rise in infections) quickly,” White said. “Now it’s trying to prevent a spike.”
“We still have challenges with people wearing masks, socially distancing, washing hands, sanitizing,” Appleby said.
In April Richard Hanley, an associate professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University, said he was impressed with Bridgeport’s efforts: “There’s nothing like what Ganim’s doing. It’s a whole different level. It’s well- produced.”
This past week, Hanley said like all advertising campaigns, the city must “change it up” to keep the public’s attention. He wondered how long Bridgeport or any municipality could afford to do so before ceding the effort to others.
“It’s commendable they’re doing it because this is a health emergency ( and) they really should keep getting the message out,” Hanley said. “Just try and find new, different and innovate ways to reach people.”