WTLV

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

First Coast Living, the lifestyle program airing on WTLV, Tegna’s NBC affiliate in Jacksonville, Fla., relaunched on June 26 going live with a new host and new look, making it the only live, full-hour show in the market.

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.

There’s so much uncertainty and controversy about students returning to school. How is your station covering the return to school for students? How is your station promoting that coverage? However they go back, how do you have their back?

An unvaccinated viewer watching a newscast on First Coast News in Jacksonville says she was so “confident with the information it gave” that she scheduled and received a vaccine. Not only that, but she sent First Coast News an email thanking them. The station then turned the email into a testimonial spot.

“Testimonials are your best research audience,” says Kristin Joyal, marketing director for WTLV and WJXX in Jacksonville, Fla. “It doesn’t get more honest or closer to the truth at a time when people demand it.”

Having the veterans tell their stories from the deck of USS The Sullivans is a key visual element of a special program WJXX is airing tomorrow, Voices of Valor WWII 75 Years Later.

In 2020, local TV news branding and marketing was very different. What about in 2021? What messages are you crafting about your news coverage?

“I’m extremely excited to become part of the WBAL family,” said Aletha Rideout. “Throughout the recruitment and interviewing process, what attracted me most about the station was the concerted efforts invested into employees.”

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.