#PeopleLiveHere Reaching the Bridgewater Community, Everyone Counts

Presenter(s)

Justin French, Alex Moon, Neil Murray

Abstract or Description

The team of JNA Public Relations tackled the issue of the underrepresentation of specific groups regarding participation in the United States Census. The audiences chosen to direct these messages to include students of Bridgewater State University, along with households earning under $35,000 annually. By catering a campaign to these groups directly, a significant increase in participation could be realized, and measured through online data metrics. Through the analysis of previous campaigns involving the US Census, a clear approach to advertising the Census can be modeled with considerations of previous successes in mind. With the sudden spread of COVID-19 worldwide, the plans initially set by this group had to be suddenly and effectively translated into a strictly isolated form - focusing on social media interactions, as well as telecommunications with small businesses that offer takeout dining options for their local area. Working with a limited budget of $200, a majority of these funds will be allocated towards social media efforts in the form of filter creation on supporting platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat.

Comments

Ann Sylvia5 years ago

Fantastic subject! It's going to be interesting to see how the census is impacted by COVID. I am specifically worried about groups of people who may not have consistent access to the internet. What are your thoughts?

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Neil Murray5 years ago

Prior to the cover-19 pandemic the 2020 census would have been the first to prioritize collecting online responses in history. Now that other measures of counting are not able to occur, the lack of representation among many hard to count communities will be further diminished. This is very difficult because of the importance the census plays in the day to day lives of the population for the next 10 years. Our hope is that efforts put forth will create a conversation and culture that allows communities to come together to help those who cannot have consistent access to the internet. Perhaps the measures in place should be extended or a second wave put in place once things return to normal. Thanks for your reply, - JNA public relations

Cindy Kane (she/hers)5 years ago

Thanks for sharing your work with us, JNA! I'm curious about the sticker campaign and whether you got any feedback from businesses on this idea? Did they love it?I really think it's such a smart plan - and I think our campus dining services could play a role in that too!

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Neil Murray5 years ago

With my work for the Town of Weymouth we have previously utilized sticker campaigns to target other issues thus and built up relationships with many businesses around town. We were able to lean on these relationships to help with Weymouth's census campaign. I did not get a chance to get feedback on the current census campaign but previous sticker campaigns have been highly successful and received a lot of positive feedback! Thanks for your reply, - Neil + JNA public relations

Kacey O'Donnell5 years ago

This is a great project! It's coming at a crucial time where there needs to be more engagement from younger demographics. How has the outcome look so far?

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