It's prime time for advertising in The Big Easy
The Greater New Orleans Broadcasters Association (GNOBA) is advising marketers and their agencies to take note of the current advantages in targeting the Greater New Orleans market.
Said Don Cooper, Executive Director of the GNOBA: "Although hurricanes Katrina and Rita did inflict unprecedented damage, there are significant factors that make media purchases in the Greater New Orleans region a strategically wise buy. These factors include tens of billions of dollars in insurance and government funding pouring into the area, rapidly increasing population figures, post-storm wage hikes, and a huge number of consumers who must now repurchase entire households and businesses of consumer goods."
Said Larry Delia, VP/GM of the two Tribune TV stations in New Orleans and President of the GNOBA: "We want marketers and advertisers to be accurately informed about the New Orleans area. Many people have been misled to believe that people are not here and there is no economic activity. That is simply not true. The buying potential represented by the current population is overwhelming. Local economies are experiencing a boom. Marketers will miss out on unique opportunities if they do not know the facts."
One of the primary reasons to target New Orleans, say broadcasters, is the more than 100 billion of relief money and insurance proceeds flowing into the area. The federal government has designated 85 billion for the recovery effort. To aid homeowners, 24.5 billion has been set aside. The Community Development Block Grant program will deliver 6.2 billion. From private insurance payouts, it is projected that residents will receive 27.2 billion. The result is that large amounts of cash are being delivered to people who have entire households and businesses of consumer goods to repurchase.
Broadcasters also point out that those billions are being spent by a population that has not left the area but has instead relocated within the DMA. 14 parishes and counties constitute the DMA, or buying geography for New Orleans television and much of New Orleans radio. To date, local estimates are that nearly 80% of the pre-Katrina population has returned, with more residents moving back into the DMA daily. In January, thousands more residents returned to Jefferson and Orleans parishes with the reopening of schools. January also saw the return of more than 25,000 college students. Because these residents and students have returned to a city with 95% restoration of electric services, they are currently broadcast TV viewers and radio listeners.
Population figures for the three hardest hit parishes -- Orleans, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines -- remain reduced, with much of the housing stock damaged. But neighboring parishes have seen population gains since the storm as much as 160% as residents of flood-damaged areas seek lodging close to their homes and jobs.
"There is no doubt that a very significant population has been displaced from their homes," said William Johnson, Research Director for WDSU-TV in New Orleans. "But the untold story is that most of that population remains in the New Orleans metro area. They have filled every available apartment, they have filled the homes of friends and relatives, and they are moving back to their own properties as FEMA provides trailer homes at the rate of 2,500 per week."
Johnson notes that St. Tammany Parish, a New Orleans bedroom community, has seen its population soar from 79,260 households before the storm to 111,554 households post-Katrina. The population of St. Charles Parish has jumped from 17,020 households before the storm to more than 27,000 households today. Both parishes are part of the New Orleans DMA. Overall, it is estimated that approximately 80 percent of the pre-storm population has returned to the DMA.
While population figures return to near normal, the area's demographics have experienced a transformation. With a de facto minimum wage of 10 per hour and nearly 30 billion of insurance money to spend, the "New" New Orleans boasts higher income, earning potential and expendable income. In December, the number of people receiving unemployment benefits as a result of hurricanes Katrina and Rita dropped by more than 100,000 compared to November - - a 54 percent decline - - reported by the Louisiana Department of Labor. A Manpower Employment Outlook Survey reported that 31 percent of area employers plan to hire additional staff in the first quarter of 2006, and many employers are offering unprecedented pay increases for lower-wage jobs. The present viewership and radio audience represent higher income groups than the pre-Katrina population.
Local sales tax figures back up the belief that returning residents are spending money. Sales taxes in the late fall of 2005 were running 50% or more ahead of the same period a year earlier in the cities of Covington, Mandeville and Slidell in St. Tammany Parish. Jefferson Parish sales tax collections for November were just 14% below November 2004. This percentage was before many residents returned to the area and, even so, was significantly higher than official projections.
Businesses also reopen almost daily. There are currently 1,800 businesses that have reopened in Orleans Parish alone. As an example, the offices of GNOBA, which were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, are being restored with newly purchased furniture, computers, and office supplies - - expenditures which are mirrored by thousands of affected businesses across the area.
While residents are returning, tourists and conventioneers are also making their way to New Orleans. Presently, there are 20 conventions, representing 186,000 participants, scheduled for 2006.
Good Morning - Gain a personal edge on today's business day. Are you reading this from a forwarded email?
