WSAZ CULTIVATES FRESH, GREEN CASH

Our clocks have sprung forward, and spring itself is less than a fortnight away. What better time to grow a little green for your station.

That’s just what they did this past weekend at Gray Television’s WSAZ in Huntington, W.Va., with their eighth annual WSAZ Home and Garden Show.

“From a sales and revenue standpoint it’s pretty straightforward,” says Jack Deacon, WSAZ’s director of interactive marketing. “We rent out the Big Sandy Superstore Arena, then lease booth space to exhibitors.”

They sure do. Over 120 vendors were on hand this weekend. “There’s a basic 10 x 10 booth and vendors can add on to that,” says Deacon, who has seen five consecutive Home and Garden Shows grow in both size and revenue.

“We have on-air packages vendors can buy in conjunction with their booth space,” explains Deacon. “But there’s not a big demand for that. We haven’t gone after the upsell because this was always designed to be a non-traditional revenue project.” 

Deacon is quick to credit his colleagues for the garden show’s success. “We’re very fortunate to have [Promotions Coordinator] Cheryl Myers who stages the event. Before joining our staff, she had lots of experience managing ‘flat shows.’ She stages the event, and Cindy Johnson sells the booth space."

With 120 vendors, those are no small tasks. Vendor displays range from simple, single-booth product displays to the ultra-ambitious indoor fantasy constructed by Landscaping by Hillcrest, which, according to Deacon, “is just amazing. They buy the entire arena lobby and create an ornate landscape with all kinds of live plants and a running stream.”

WSAZ supplements vendor displays with another crowd-pleaser for garden fans: topical seminars ranging from Simplifying Rose Care to Homeowner Pesticide Safety. My personal favorite? Decorating and Marketing Gourds.

Refreshments, too, are a draw, but the stadium keeps the concessions. The station derives added revenue from admission fees, which range from $1 for kids 6-12 to $5 for adults. Seniors get a discount. Kids under 5 enter free.

”The Home and Garden Show tends to be metro focused because we have such a large DMA,” explains Deacon, adding that the 65th DMA covers some 32 counties in West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky. “Attendees tend to come from the metro area, but we bring in vendors from across the entire DMA. Every year we have new ones and lots who return year after year.”

To make sure that happens, vendors receive reservation forms for next year’s show right in the middle of the current show. Many sign up right on the spot.

This year, WSAZ used that success to launch a related online project, says Deacon. “It’s a new Web page called The Perfect Home.  It’s a category-exclusive listing of all home-related services such as lighting, landscaping, cement work, roofing, you name it.”  Deacon expects each category to sell out quickly.

The Home and Garden Show is just one of a series of “signature events” at WSAZ, which include a February High School Wrestling Tournament, a May salute to high school valedictorians called Best of Class, and a Christmas-themed Breakfast With Santa.

“Our Fall Chili Fest in downtown Huntington is a certified competition so the winner goes to the International Chili Cookoff,” says Deacon.

Each of these events benefits the WSAZ Children’s Charities, a stand-alone nonprofit with its own geographically-chosen board of directors and community agenda.

“Every year they solicit requests and fund ‘seed grants’ to help some of the smaller local nonprofits that aren’t helped by large charities—for example, money to buy equipment for a new playground or bicycle helmets for families who can’t afford them.”

Although some vendors promote environmental benefits, the focus of the Home and Garden Show has been the kind of green that makes management smile. And, as an added bonus, the close-to-home event appears recession-proof as viewers seek nearby entertainment that doesn’t involve travel costs.

This year’s show featured a hefty boost in the number of exhibitors. Judging from reactions from attendees and vendors, Deacon and his team expect next year’s effort to grow like crabgrass in July.

Market Share by Arthur Greenwald showcases successful local marketing every Monday in TVNEWSDAY. Are you growing a sales or marketing campaign in your own backyard? Don’t keep it a secret. Send the details to Arthur at greenwald@tvnewsday.com.