Cover Story

FINA gets free advertising. Why?

by Jason Magder, The Suburban Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Montreal, Que-- Television and radio broadcasters have offered thousands of dollars in free publicity for the 2005 World Aquatics Championships, The Suburban has learned.

"A lot of material has been provided free by the media," said Richard Prieur, vice president of communications for Montreal 2005, the event's organizing committee. "Some of the advertising on TV, in print and on the radio is free. In most of what you see, there is part of it that is free."

Prieur would not say how much the organizing committee is spending on advertising.

"The only thing we released is the general budget, not the specific amount for advertising," he said. "I can't release that information. I don't have to answer that question."

On top of the free advertising, sources say Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay is approaching companies and asking them to buy $100,000 blocks of tickets.

Prieur said among the companies that have offered free air time or print advertisements are the CBC, Radio-Canada, TVA, TQS, CTV, most Corus and Astral Stations, as well as La Presse, le Journal de Montréal and The Gazette.

"All of them offered some free space or air time," he said. "For some of them, we added by buying some, but all of them have given some free space."

On top of that, Prier said that the production of the spots has also been free, with the help of the television stations.

"Our advertising campaign in print media, we don't pay the production of those ads because we have an advertising firm called Allard and Johnson, which is providing the concepts and the [ads] free."

Despite the free spots, the revised budget for the event is actually $6 million more than the group's original budget.

Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay took over as co-president of the event in February after the Fédération Internationale de Natation cancelled and then reinstated the event with a guarantee by the megacity to cover any deficit.

When Tremblay took over the organizing committee resigned and a new one was named. Marketing and communications was given to internal employees, when that job was outsourced by the former organizing committee.

"The old organization decided to go externally to do the marketing," said Prieur. "When the new group came in place, they would be better served with personnel among the organizing committee."

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