| Plexus Consulting Group | Success Stories | ||
|
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) |
|||
|
Plexus Consulting Group, LLC |
|
The Challenge | The Solution | The Processs | Unforseen Benefits | Measurements & Results | Lessons Learned
How to increase understanding among ASCE's target audiences of the value of civil engineers to society? How to raise the awareness, understanding and importance of infrastructure development and renewal through the association's public policy and media agenda? In 1998, ASCE's board approved a strategic communications plan that
set forth the objectives defined above. ASCE's target audiences were
identified as: opinion leaders (the "voting" and influential
public), government leaders, strategic partners (allied organizations),
ASCE members and students (beginning in middle school). Public and
member research had shown ASCE that while its audience was aware of
the civil engineering profession, its understanding about the profession
was limited. The association was particularly interested in capturing
the attention of younger students in an innovative and memorable way. To sponsor Building Big, a miniseries on megastructures and partnership with public television designed to improve the public image and understanding of the engineering profession and to reach middle school students, the engineers of the future. In October 2000, for the first time in its history, ASCE sponsored a national television series. The five-part series, called Building Big, was broadcast nationally on PBS each Tuesday of that month. Each one-hour episode explored one type of engineering structure (bridges, domes, skyscrapers, dams, and tunnels) and explained the engineering principles that make these monumental structures possible. ASCE's strategic communications plan recommended portraying civil engineering as a dynamic, problem-solving profession requiring highly educated and skilled people, and involved delivering key messages to target audiences using local engineers. The audiences and objectives were adopted as the goals of the Society's 150th Anniversary Observance in 2002. Due to cost considerations, television advertising (or sponsorship) was not initially considered for ASCE's communications plan. However, the Society did plan to sponsor National Public Radio programming which, like PBS, reaches many of ASCE's target audiences. In May 2000, WGBH Boston, the Building Big producing station, contacted ASCE to discuss possible sponsorship opportunities. Professional membership societies are not typical public television sponsors, but many of WGBH's contacts had suggested approaching ASCE, since the program's goals appeared to be closely aligned with the Society's. Indeed, ASCE was working with the Building Big producer as a technical resource, providing experts and background information. Forming an education outreach partnership directed at middle-school
students would give WGBH access to a grassroots network of 125,000
volunteers eager to conduct outreach programs, and would leverage
ASCE's investment beyond the initial broadcast through a program with
long-lasting opportunities and impact. "A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." A typical national sponsorship for a television program can cost $600,000+. For a cash outlay of $350,000, ASCE was able to simultaneously reach its target audience and engage its members in an unprecedented national outreach to promote the civil engineering profession. $350,000 still represents a huge investment in any one promotional initiative for a typical association, yet it is a small fraction of the program's $7 million price tag. While this outlay was hardly painless, the cost was spread over two fiscal years and resulted in a "win-win" for both WGBH and ASCE. Securing buy-in from ASCE's leadership involved numerous one-on-one meetings and personal follow-through on the part of four full-time ASCE staff members and volunteer leaders. The effort involved educating stakeholders about the multiple benefits of the program and commitment to accountability on implementation. By branding the Building Big sponsorship as an anniversary program, staff members were able to further leverage the opportunity to boost member communications. Based on shared mutual goals, ASCE and WGBH Boston negotiated a sponsorship agreement with the following provisions:
As part of the integrated publicity effort, ASCE planned supporting activities to reach its other target audiences:
These activities included: Articles Keynote Presentation Capitol Hill Preview Party Media Premiere Also, ASCE used its anniversary ListServ to encourage its grassroots anniversary organizers to organize premier parties for local ASCE members. Despite the fact that the first presidential debate was held in Boston that evening, hundreds of engineers and distinguished guests attended the ASCE-sponsored premiere party there. For its staff members, ASCE sponsored a premiere party in its Reston, VA, headquarters, to involve them in this historic event and to help increase their understanding of the civil engineering profession. ASCE used ideas from the educational outreach guide to conduct several team-building activities. Educational Outreach Build-a-thons The partnership with PBS enabled ASCE to achieve unanticipated success in reaching the congressional audience. WGBH staff worked to leverage ASCE's government relations office to build a doubly effective outreach to Capitol Hill. Also, the Build-a-thon project, essentially a hands-on engineering
fair for kids, energized ASCE's nationwide member base. It appeared
that more member volunteers were participating in Build-a-thons than
in regular ASCE chapter meetings One of the biggest challenges ASCE faced was to track 20,000 volunteer hours. ASCE leveraged WGBH to distribute promotional materials at educational conferences, taking advantage of their ongoing relationships with educators to draw students into the Build-a-thon programs. Meanwhile, ASCE worked to motivate its volunteers at the grassroots level. This proved to be particularly challenging when educators failed to follow through. ASCE employed the following tracking methods and measurements:
Prior to joining AFP, Vice President for Communications Reese Nank
had just completed a similar process and was fully armed with lessons
and contingency plans for ensuring a smooth transition. Talking points
were prepared for each key internal and external audience, and all
staff received media training to ensure that only one story would
flow smoothly and consistently throughout the organization. Despite
the tight March - October deadline forced by the timing of the annual
conference, no one could have anticipated such a smooth process.
|
|
