• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, September 1, 2017

Not surprisingly, ad agencies and holding companies are assisting in various relief efforts to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey which devastated the Houston area before moving on to Louisiana.

Here’s just a small sampling of the efforts, but hats off to all in Adland who have stepped up to do something. Every bit of assistance, donating, whatever, helps when dealing with a catastrophic situation like this.

Project Worldwide agency G7 Entertainment Marketing in Nashville is part of a drive to get supplies to those in desperate straits in Texas. Working with others in the Music Row community in Nashville, G7 transformed its offices into a donation drop-off point, asking Nashville citizens to donate items that Harvey victims so desperately need, like batteries, bottled water, flashlights, towels, etcetera. The first truck-load of supplies was set to leave from the agency today.

Austin-based agency GSD&M is introducing the "Texas Strong" public service campaign to rally Texans and elicit support for Gulf communities impacted by the horrific storm, which dumped a year’s worth of rain on the Houston area (50 inches-plus) in a matter of days.

The Texas Strong tagline, first established by GSD&M for the Texas Department of Transportation in 1985, serves as the connective thread throughout the PSA. The clip features blue waves overtaking the red part of the state flag before receding while news of the storm coverage plays in the background. The spot ends with actor and well-known Texan Matthew McConaughey proclaiming “Don’t Mess With Texas” and directing viewers to donate to HurricaneHarveyAid.org.

The agency is working the Ad Council on the PSA effort and the latter is donating its resources to air the spot via TV and digital channels across Texas.

In addition to its work with GSD&M, the Ad Council has launched a broader effort with a number of PSAs that encourage Americans to make monetary contributions to relief efforts. The PSAs direct audiences to visit HurricaneHarveyAid.org, where they can contribute to the rescue and recovery efforts by donating to organizations providing necessary supplies and services to those affected by Hurricane Harvey. The new PSAs can be found here.

Meanwhile, Omnicom is matching 2 to 1 employee contributions to the American Red Cross and has set up a donation platform where they can contribute. In a note to the troops earlier this week, Omnicom CEO John Wren wrote, “We pray the rain will subside soon, although the challenges are far from over. Please give if you can. Every dollar counts.”

And Omnicom PR agency FleishmanHillard, which has an office in Houston, is working with the American Red Cross and the Houston Food Bank. 

Manny Flores, CEO of Hispanic shop LatinWorks, sits on the five-member, governor-appointed Texas Public Safety Commission, and has been very involved in relief efforts. No doubt he’s enlisted his agency in the relief effort as well but reps there hadn’t responded to a query by press time.