November 2, 2005—Ready Business, an extension of the US Department of Homeland Security’s successful Ready campaign, is designed to educate owners and managers of small to medium-sized businesses about preparing their employees, operations and assets in the event of an emergency.
To help spread this message, Homeland Security, in partnership with The Advertising Council, has sponsored new business-specific public service announcements (PSAs). The PSAs will launch nationally this November, and will focus on the affordability and ease of business continuity planning, and the resources available to aid businesses in the process.
Although most businesses agree emergency preparedness is important, too few are taking the necessary steps to prepare. According to an October 2005 survey of small businesses conducted by The Ad Council, 92 percent of respondents said that it is very important or somewhat important for businesses to take steps to prepare for a catastrophic disaster, such as an earthquake, hurricane or terrorist attack. However, only 39 percent said that their company has a plan in place in the event of such a disaster.
Qualitative research with this audience demonstrated that even though many acknowledge the value of preparedness, they see time, workforce and money constraints prohibiting them from developing a business continuity plan. The goal of these new Ready Business ads is to show that developing an emergency preparedness plan can be relatively easy and cost-affordable.
The new PSA campaign, titled “Experience Lines,” was created by Chicago-based business-to-business agency Slack Barshinger and includes print, radio and Internet PSAs. Designed to reach managers and owners of small to medium-sized businesses in a number of industries, the advertisements encourage business people to visit the Ready Business campaign Web site.
