LIA kicks off ad campaign to add members

The Long Island Association this week kicked off a television, radio and print advertising campaign in an effort to attract new members and spread awareness of the Island's largest business and civic organization.

Why, you may ask, would the LIA need a media campaign when it is mentioned in the media almost daily?

"I'm trying to rebuild the organization," said Kevin Law, who became LIA president 18 months ago. The Long Island Association had seemed to be moving sideways in the months before Law's appointment. But Law would not say membership has slipped. The LIA has about 3,000 members.

"Every organization over the last four years of the recession is down," said Law. "You see ebbs and flows."

"Organizations get stale," Law said. "I spent the first year rebuilding internally," eliminating some staff members and hiring others. "We now have a waiting list to get on our board."

Law said the money for the ad campaign came from a donation. He declined to name the donor or the amount of the donation.

The LIA hired ECG Group of Melville to design the ad campaign. ECG founder and president Ernie Canadeo said the campaign emphasizes the Long Island Association's place in the Island's business community and that the organization exists to help large and small companies alike.

The ads are to run for the next eight weeks, print once a week and TV and radio every day, on Cablevision, B-103/FM and WCBS-AM/880.

"There are so many people who have never had contact with the LIA," Law said.