Kristen Joyal

A new testimonial promo campaign from WTLV-WJXX in Jacksonville shows viewers there is hope when they have consumer problems.

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WTLV and WJXX, Tegna’s NBC and ABC affiliates in Jacksonville, Fla., turned to their viewers’ testimonials in a powerful new promotional campaign.

Welcome to another episode of “Checking In,” a Market Share feature in which we survey local TV marketing and creative services directors. Today, we check in with Kristen Joyal, marketing director for Tegna’s WTLV and WJXX, the NBC and ABC duopoly in Jacksonville, Fla., co-branded as First Coast News.

WJXX and WTLV, Tegna’s ABC and NBC affiliates in Jacksonville, Fla., ran a two-week on-air campaign promising viewers that something big was coming. What was coming was four years and $1 million in the making, and it was going to be revealed live during the evening news.

Here’s a spot from Darcy Stapleford, senior news promotion producer for KSTU, the Scripps Fox affiliate in Salt Lake City. “Our anchor, Kelly Chapman, suggested we shoot our holiday promo at a light display this year,” Stapleford says. “I began to think how colorful lights on long, dark, winter nights is a good comparison to finding love, hope and inspiration during the dark days of the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

WJXX and WTLV,  Tegna’s ABC and NBC affiliates in Jacksonville, created a 60-second spot that captured the “sense of family and joy in a sincere way, like from our family to yours through iconic imagery,” says Kristen Joyal, WJXX/WTLV’s marketing director.

The burning questions on everybody’s minds right now revolve around the COVID vaccine. Am I eligible? Where and when can I get a vaccine? WTLV-WJXX in Jacksonville, Fla., formed a Vaccine Team, consisting of reporters and producers who take calls, emails and texts from viewers and sharing that information on all their platforms.

Delivered by their on-air talent, the spot not only highlighted how viewers adapted to the changes in their lives, but also thanked them for their generosity supporting various station community projects.

Marketing at TV stations across the country is undergoing a metamorphosis of sorts in 2020. In this first of a multi-part series, I share the work — and the thinking behind it — of local TV marketing executives to see how it’s changed to reflect the news events so far this year.