Here’s a summary of the latest activities by the Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA) provided by PPMA Executive Director Cindy Mannes:
This morning’s NBC Today Show featured a four-minute segment on bedbugs. The Today Show is currently rated as the top network morning show reaching over 6 million viewers each day. According to Cindy Mannes, “After a full day of orchestration with The Today Show producers, we were thrilled to see professional pest control positioned as the first course of action in response to bedbug infestations. Better yet, the spokesperson featured on camera, Dr. Phillip Tierno physician at NYU and author of The Secret Life of Germs, provided a third party recommendation for pest control as part of “regular home maintenance.”
During the course of the last three months, PPMA worked with the Wall Street Journal to develop a story to raise awareness of the current bedbug issue. PPMA was instrumental in providing third party experts as well as research to grow this story from a simple "mention" to a full fledged story. As late as this past week PPMA was still providing information to the reporter. The story appeared on the front page of Thursday’s Wall Street Journal.
Also, on Thursday morning CNN Headline News aired a 4-minute story on pest control and preventative tips for avoiding pest infestations. All of the information the reporter presented was directly from the NPMA website, www.pestworld.org. Recently, PPMA contacted CNN and other media outlets about the emergence of spring pests, and this story was a result of PPMA’s proactive media relations efforts on behalf of the professional pest control industry.
There has been a four-fold increase on the consumer message board on pestworld.org on consumer requests for information.