Comcast subscribers flipping through the media giant’s cable offerings can expect to see advertisements for everything from beer to cars to pet food.
But Clark County’s recycling efforts? That’s something altogether different.
County commissioners last week authorized a $140,000 professional services agreement with Comcast Spotlight through 2016 for advertisements promoting the county’s solid waste programs.
But roughly 25 percent of the money was spent before county commissioners even approved the agreement with the cable company, leading Don Benton, director of the Department of Environmental Services, to acknowledge that a mistake was made. Since April, DES has spent nearly $29,000 on advertising and professional services, with the money going to Comcast Spotlight, according to the county’s online vendor records.
“It probably should have been approved beforehand,” Benton said. “The division manager at the time did not bring the paperwork forward, so we’re bringing it forward now.”
Benton didn’t respond to a request to explain what happened. But he did say the department chose to go with cable advertising to reach the largest audience possible following a record year collecting hazardous waste.
The scope of Comcast’s work for county environmental services calls for it to air advertisements to “educate Clark County residents and create behavioral change for the years 2015 and 2016.” The county will spend $50,000 in each of the next two years. The money will come from environmental service’s solid waste fund. That money comes from a state Department of Ecology grant.
Benton said a requirement of the grant calls for the department to conduct community outreach.
This year, environmental services began targeting urban residents who find it difficult to recycle items that are not easily disposed of curbside, according to the department. These items include block foam, computer parts, metals, tires and other hazardous and large items.
The department started a satellite collection program to collect and dispose of this type of waste.
‘Reaches a niche audience’
The county has used cable advertising in the past to promote events and programs.
The Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds, for one, has used television advertising for years. The money has come from an account the fairgrounds uses for promotion and events.
Matt Ferris, the fairgrounds’ director of marketing, said it was a valuable way of reaching a large number of people. But it’s also only one of many techniques used.
“Television is in the mix with print, radio and grass-roots efforts because network TV reaches the general audience,” Ferris said. “It’s cable TV that reaches a niche audience.”
Benton said environmental services is using Comcast Spotlight because it allows for a “zoned” approach to media buying, so the department will only pay to reach Clark County households.
The decision to use television advertising to promote programs and educate the public comes roughly a year after environmental services axed the Watershed Stewards program, a $72,000-a-year program that used volunteers to improve area waterways.
That program, however, relied on money from the Department of Environmental Services Clean Water Program.
