The 2020 Census Communications Campaign: An Integrated, Research-Based Approach
October 26, 2020 12:30 p.m. – 1:20 p.m.
Session Type: Marketing Communication
The 2020 Census Integrated Partnerships and Communications Program (IPC) is an innovative communications program based on research. In today’s changing environment, it is critical that messaging for the 2020 Census be as far-reaching and comprehensive as possible. Analysis of a number of previous surveys and Low Response Scores from the 2010 Census and the American Community Survey served to create an initial research framework.
However, the Census Barriers Attitudes and Motivators Survey (CBAMS) is the primary research component of this program. The 2020 CBAMS is a mixed methods study designed to understand the mindsets or correlated attitudes and barriers that affect census participation across demographic subgroups.
This study creatively combines a tried-and-true method of a quantitative survey with a new focus group component. Results from the study developed the base of the advertising campaign by informing the development of the creative brief. The survey was designed to include the white, Black and Hispanic audiences. Focus groups were designed to include over 20 cities in the U.S. and interviewing the groups mentioned above plus American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asians, Native Hawaiians and Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico. With a brief in hand, a team of creative strategists from the Census Bureau’s communications contractor, Team Y&R, and its audience-specific partner agencies, and Census Bureau communications staff worked on the development of a number of creative platforms that were tested through an online survey, over 100 focus groups in 13 different languages and ethnographic interviews with community insiders.
The selected creative platform developed messaging for paid advertising, public relations strategies, digital and social media tactics, promotional materials and a whole campaign focused on children under the Statistics in Schools program. The result is a campaign that covers the diverse mass audience but also the Black (including Caribbean, Haitian and sub-Saharan African), Hispanic (including Brazilians), Asians (Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese and Japanese), American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Arabs, Polish, Russians, those living on the island areas and Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico.
We have produced advertisements, social media and media outreach in 13 languages, a website that provides support in 59 languages and have hired over 1500 partnership specialists to provide public relations support at the local level in over 60 languages across the country. We are confident that our campaign currently reaches 99.1% of the U.S. population and will be able to reach the hardest to count.
The campaign is currently in market and will have three main phases: awareness, motivation and reminder. Research conducted for campaign development and currently under development will be crucial in optimizing the campaign to reach a 2020 Census self-response of 61%.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
• Summarize how the Census Bureau used strategic communications to develop the 2020 Census Communications Campaign.
• Describe the use of in-depth research methodology to develop a campaign.
• Define how to reach the hardest target audiences through creative tactics.
• Demonstrate how to manage a campaign in 13 languages when they only speak two of them.
However, the Census Barriers Attitudes and Motivators Survey (CBAMS) is the primary research component of this program. The 2020 CBAMS is a mixed methods study designed to understand the mindsets or correlated attitudes and barriers that affect census participation across demographic subgroups.
This study creatively combines a tried-and-true method of a quantitative survey with a new focus group component. Results from the study developed the base of the advertising campaign by informing the development of the creative brief. The survey was designed to include the white, Black and Hispanic audiences. Focus groups were designed to include over 20 cities in the U.S. and interviewing the groups mentioned above plus American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asians, Native Hawaiians and Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico. With a brief in hand, a team of creative strategists from the Census Bureau’s communications contractor, Team Y&R, and its audience-specific partner agencies, and Census Bureau communications staff worked on the development of a number of creative platforms that were tested through an online survey, over 100 focus groups in 13 different languages and ethnographic interviews with community insiders.
The selected creative platform developed messaging for paid advertising, public relations strategies, digital and social media tactics, promotional materials and a whole campaign focused on children under the Statistics in Schools program. The result is a campaign that covers the diverse mass audience but also the Black (including Caribbean, Haitian and sub-Saharan African), Hispanic (including Brazilians), Asians (Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese and Japanese), American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Arabs, Polish, Russians, those living on the island areas and Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico.
We have produced advertisements, social media and media outreach in 13 languages, a website that provides support in 59 languages and have hired over 1500 partnership specialists to provide public relations support at the local level in over 60 languages across the country. We are confident that our campaign currently reaches 99.1% of the U.S. population and will be able to reach the hardest to count.
The campaign is currently in market and will have three main phases: awareness, motivation and reminder. Research conducted for campaign development and currently under development will be crucial in optimizing the campaign to reach a 2020 Census self-response of 61%.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
• Summarize how the Census Bureau used strategic communications to develop the 2020 Census Communications Campaign.
• Describe the use of in-depth research methodology to develop a campaign.
• Define how to reach the hardest target audiences through creative tactics.
• Demonstrate how to manage a campaign in 13 languages when they only speak two of them.
Maria Olmedo-Malagon
program manager, 2020 Census Communications Campaign, U.S. Census Bureau
Presenter