Sarah Jackson & KRLD on the #DallasComeBack PSA

Read the Transcript:

Chris Sommer:

All right. So tell me about this campaign. I want to talk about Emmitt and his involvement in just a minute, but considering what we’re going through right now and businesses trying to make it through, what was the mission or the goal here, Sarah?

Sarah Jackson:

Absolutely. We were excited to partner with Cowboys legend, Emmitt Smith. He’s a Pro Bowl football Hall of Famer, Ring of Honor everybody knows. He’s a favorite. Also, how could I forget? He is a past winner of Dancing With the Stars, which I think is one of the coolest accolades. So we were excited to partner with him and Texas 2036, which is this new data driven statewide group that’s working to really look at the different areas of infrastructure in our state to find a way to really communicate not only to the other business leaders and owners, and just to the general public, about the importance of safety at this time. You need to behave during this public health crisis, but also that we’re in this together and that we will come and overcome this at some point. So we thought the sports metaphor was a great way to do that, and that together, if we all really bond together and stay together through this, we really believe that the economy will get back to its ability to flourish and we can remain open. And so that was really, I would say, the importance of us partnering together on this important PSA.

Chris Sommer:

When it comes to our local businesses that have been struggling now for several months, we want to pull for them to make it through this. But I mean, they really have had to walk a fine line between ensuring safety and keeping the doors open.

Sarah Jackson:

Absolutely. One of the things on Dallas Citizens Council, we’ve been working with the mayor on the Dallas Economic Recovery Task Force and specifically an initiative called Dallas Forward. And one of the things we found out in that work is that the small and medium sized businesses are roughly about 50% of our local economic ecosystem. So to your point, Chris, yes. These small business and medium sized business owners has had to really work to keep the doors open. And we understand that, yes, this current economic situation has been hard on everyone, but we also understand with small and medium sized business owners it’s been even harder.

Sarah Jackson:

So we’re doing what we can through our Dallas Forward initiative. We’ve offered this week free PPE through that and we’ve also been working through the Revive Dallas fund and the Communities Foundation of Texas to provide loans to these small business owners. This is a tough time. We know that in addition to actually giving people tangible solutions and options and relief, that we also hope to kind of band together through PSAs and just messages in reminding people that we are in this together and that our business is strong and we will come back.

Chris Sommer:

And is it the case where if we hear the messages about wearing masks and so on from the governor or from local officials, we hear that every single day. And that message is important, but if you hear it from somebody like Emmitt, does it maybe have a different sort of impact?

Sarah Jackson:

We hope so. Yes. I think it does. In addition to Emmitt doing this PSA with another Dallas Cowboy, Jaylon Smith also recently did a PSA in emphasizing the need to wear a mask. What we found in a lot of our work these last few months is that sports celebrities, or just celebrities and social media influencers, they speak to different audiences. And so we think that when you look at the recent infection rates and it’s some of the youngest, that sort of 18 to 49 demographic that we’ve seen the biggest growth in COVID-19 infections, you’ve got to speak to that group. But I’m one of them. I’m a Millennial. There are certain people who influence us differently in addition to our friends and people-trusted sources. There are other people that we know and respect. Emmitt is a great person because in addition to being a sports Hall of Famer, he’s also a very astute, smart businessman. He’s done great civic work in our community. And so we know he’s got a connection beyond the football field and that was another reason why we were excited to partner with him on this project.

 

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