New Orleans plans to tout improvements to city by hiring a public relations firm

By Frank Donze
The Times Picayune
(May 29, 2007) Mayor Ray Nagin's administration is poised to spend $100,000 to hire a marketing firm to help the city disseminate information about the status of the recovery to displaced New Orleanians as well as those who are back home.

The city's communications office is reviewing five proposals and hopes to choose a winner next month, Nagin spokeswoman Ceeon Quiett said.

She said getting the word out about the state of the city's recovery is beyond the capacity of her office, which has an annual budget of about $620,000 and a staff of six.

"Our primary mission is media relations," Quiett said of her agency. "We're looking for outside help to help us fine-tune our message and communicate that message to our citizens in other cities. A significant part of our population is still gone. And looking at our needs for strategic communication, this is something we absolutely, positively have to have."

Plans call for the marketing consultant to employ every method to reach displaced residents, including the Internet, radio, television, newspapers and billboards.

"We're even looking into using public access on cable TV in some cities," Quiett said. "We have to be creative."

If the costs allow, the Nagin administration is hoping to reach up to five evacuee hubs: Houston; Dallas; Atlanta; Jackson, Miss.; and Mobile, Ala.

Quiett said evaluation of the five bids -- two from local companies and three from large out-of-town firms -- is ongoing. She hopes to narrow the list to three finalists, which will be interviewed by administration staffers and a community representative before a winner is chosen in a few weeks.

Competing for the contract are:

-- The UniWorld Group Inc., a New York City firm specializing in multicultural marketing communications with an emphasis on African-American and Hispanic markets. UniWorld provides a range of services, including strategic planning, public relations and event marketing. Founded three decades ago, its corporate clients include The Ford Motor Co., AT&T, Con Edison, Burger King and Home Depot.

-- Walls Communications, one of the nation's premier African-American public relations firms. Based in Washington, D.C., the company's client list includes AT&T, Bank of America, Coca-Cola Corp., DuPont Corp., GEICO and Hewlett Packard.

-- The Clinton Group, a 30-year-old Washington, D.C., firm that has handled political campaigns and ballot propositions in the United States and abroad. The company's Web site say it specializes in "recruitment and activation to promote a political agenda or mobilize people into action."

-- EBONetworks, a New Orleans firm run by Anthony Patton that offers customized marketing, advertising and public relations services. The company's Web site says it has a track record of reaching an audience of middle- to upper-middle-class African-American professionals throughout the southeast United States. In January, the state's Road Home program hired EBONetworks to reach out to minorities who had not yet applied for housing aid.

-- Orgena Enterprises, a 14-year-old New Orleans company that targets African-American, Latin-American and multicultural clients. Owned by Gregory and Rhodesia Douglas, Orgena provides public relations, advertising and print, radio and television production services.

The information the city is looking to distribute runs the gamut from the number of potholes, traffic signals and street lights that have been repaired to how many flooded-out structures have been torn down or tagged for demolition to the status of air service at Louis Armstrong International Airport.

Since the storm, the city has posted sporadic and often vague information about the recovery on its Web site, prompting an outcry for more detailed updates from residents, including those who participated in the process to create the Unified New Orleans Plan.

Quiett said the consultant also will be asked to set up satellite centers to help evacuees navigate the maze of housing, education, employment and utility issues involved in returning to the city.

In New Orleans, the consultant's top priority will be keeping residents who are back home abreast of the city's long-range plan to pump more than $1 billion into 17 neighborhood recovery zones. None of that money is yet in hand.

While the details are still being worked out, Quiett said she hopes to launch traveling multimedia presentations that will offer residents a block-by-block explanation of what projects are under way, as well as those in the pipeline, in their respective areas.

She said the strategy may feature video, brochures, newsletters, kiosks and public service announcements on radio and TV. "We've gotten the conversation going on recovery," Quiett said. "Now that the 17 zones have been identified, the next step is to let everyone know they have to be part of this process."


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