"ELA Helping Turn the Tide for Media Coverage"

                                       ELT News 

ELA's public relations program has gotten off to a big start in 2004. ELA's PR team launched into full action in early January, countering negative reports from Capitol Hill on leasing to tax exempts. The press picked up on inflammatory language used in Hill reports, and ELA sought to inject some sanity into the stories. In addition, ELA sought to position the association as the source of counter-arguments for the Treasury department proposal to ban such transactions. These public relations efforts continue today.

     Additionally, ELA needed to focus on maintaining its proactive efforts to get the media and key customer organizations (i.e. Institute for Supply Management, America's Community Bankers, etc.) to view leasing as a positive financing mechanism for capital equipment. So, in February, ELA readied itself to debut an important study by Global Insight, The Economic Contribution of the Equipment Leasing  Industry to the U.S. Economy.

     ELA has been very successful. Messages that leasing is an important part of access to capital are getting through. About 570 million media impressions have been earned to date (the number of people thought to have read or viewed the stories in which ELA contributed). The tone of the media coverage is shifting from negative to neutral on the tax-exempt leasing angle, and positive coverage of the economic contribution study is just now beginning to emerge.

    Radio spots on the economic contribution study are being disseminated to thousands of radio stations nationwide this week. (Watch for future e-news stories on ELA's PR program for more exact radio placements.)

    Publications and wire services such as Associated Press, Bloomberg, Forbes, BusinessWeek, Fortune and ABC television have been in touch with the association regularly. ELA President Mike Fleming has had numerous opportunities to weigh in on various story topics, and the coverage of the tax exempt leasing story is expected to give way to more positive stories involving the equipment leasing industry. 

     Mike Fleming will be meeting with Fortune magazine and other media outlets next week on a half-day New York media tour. Other future activities include outreach efforts to customer organizations, including the American Bankers Association, the Institute for Supply Management, the National Association of Manufacturers, America's Community Bankers, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, and others. All organizations will receive copies of the Global Insight economic contribution study. An article, penned by Mike Fleming, also will be offered to business journals and other publications on the economic contribution study later this week.

    Soon, ELA will debut a revamped Web site for financial decision-makers. Renamed www.ChooseLeasing.org (from  www.LeaseAssistant.org), the site will include more information to helpCFOs, treasurers, controllers and other decision-makers learn more about how they may use leasing to their advantage. A media relations effort around www.ChooseLeasing.org will ensue this month.

    Additionally, in an effort to continually identify the most powerful messages when pitching leasing to the media, ELA has commissioned an in-depth study of about a dozen CFOs across industries. This project is meant to uncover prejudices and attitudes around the language the association uses to convey leasing's benefits. Results will be published in a future issue of ELT e-news.

   ELA is seeking case studies and lessees to interview for the association's proactive public relations program. Members of the press, in particular, wish to hear how companies are using leasing and to what advantage. If you have a lessee with whom ELA may speak, please contact Amy J. Holmes, CAE, ELA's Vice President of Communications at 703-516-8367 or aholmes@elamail.com. The more positive testimonials, the greater the coverage of leasing as the financing mechanism of choice!