Scotch Plains Downtown Considers TV Ads

The Scotch Plains Management Corporation, the administrative body for the township's downtown district, is considering the purchase of television advertisements to promote businesses and available storefronts on Park Avenue, East Second Street and Route 22.

At the monthly meeting of the SPMC's Board of Directors on Wednesday night, consultant David Biagini said he was discussing a deal with Comcast cable, which had offered to produce three, 30-second advertisements to air on three cable channels of the board's choosing. Biagini suggested three business networks: CNBC, MSNBC and Fox News or Fox Business.

The ads would air in two Comcast regions, Biagini said: Union South and Union Central, which include more than 150,000 households that receive Comcast cable. The spots would air throughout the day for five weeks, at a rate of 10 spots per week. The cost to produce and air the spots would be $2,100.

"I like this," Mayor Nancy Malool said. "I think it's good exposure for the money."

Comcast would create three "donut" ads, Biagini said: the first and last 10 seconds would remain the same for all three segments, but the middle 10 seconds would differ. That middle portion, Biagini suggested, could feature local business owners promoting their stores and wares.

Included in the price is a fourth, "bonus" advertisement that would run 100 times in each region, Biagini continued. That spot would be more generic: the first 15 seconds would feature a voiceover urging viewers to shop locally, overlaid with images of Scotch Plains' downtown. The next 15 seconds would remain open. Biagini and SPMC board member Dominick Verdic proposed using the second half of the spot to advertise store vacancies in the downtown district.

Biagini said he would explore a deal with Verizon to air the commercial on its FiOS network. Unlike Comcast, however, Verizon does not divide its network into regions, meaning that the SPMC might have to pay for the whole state, rather than a region. Stay tuned to the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Patch as this story develops.

The SPMC board also voted to donate $500 for the repair of waterproof lights inside the fountain next to the Scotch Plains Municipal Building. The lights filled with water, froze and cracked during the winter, Verdic said. The donation is contingent on grant money paying for the remainder of the repairs, which amount to about $2,000.