Labels:
Advertising,
Census
at
7:31 PM
Yup, I've filled out my census form -- have you? To be honest, I don't really see how people couldn't have. Or more importantly, why they wouldn't have. I mean, there were all of 6 questions, nothing personal, nothing difficult to answer. The form was very cut and dry (and not Scantron, what were they thinking??). What's more is that the postage on the return envelope is already paid, meaning that there should be no excuse not to take the 45 seconds to write in your responses. Still, I have seen lots of US Census advertisements on Metro buses, on the TV, in the papers, etc., all encouraging individuals to submit their forms. It seems a little excessive to me, especially since you are bound by law to fill it out. According to United States Code, Title 13 (Census), Chapter 7 (Offenses and Penalties), SubChapter II, if you're over 18 and refuse to answer all or part of the Census, you can be fined up to $100. As a recap -- it's easy to understand, very few questions to answer, the postage is covered, and you can be fined $100 for not responding. Why in the world is all of the advertising necessary? It seems like common sense to me.
The advertising effort for the 2010 Census doesn't just feel like it's everywhere, it literally is. And in lots of different languages, targeting lots of different niche demographics in the United States. A plethora of advertising agencies were hired to help advertise the census, including DraftFCB, GlobalHue, GlobalHue Latino, D'Exposito & Partners, Allied Media, IW Group, PLUM Agency, G&G Advertising, and DraftFCB Puerto Rico.
I did not originally realize the intensity of this campaign, but after thinking about the nature of the project, it is quite a task. Rarely does a communications message need to be disseminated to the ENTIRE United States. For the few media planning projects that we have done in TexasMedia, we have had fairly narrow target markets which has made communications material easier to prepare. I cannot even get my head around tackling a plan that needs to reach every individual living in America. So while I still may not think that this campaign was necessary with regards to the frequency of message delivery, I applaud the communications team working for the US Census for work.
0 comments:
Post a Comment