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Joanne Dickinson

What's the buzz about Census Ads at This Sunday's Super Bowl?

The Census happens only once every ten years and many Americans are unaware that it starts when the forms are mailed out to residents this March. Therefore, the first goal of our promotion efforts is to raise awareness of the when and how the Census works within a very limited window of opportunity Jan - April.  Hence, we look to TV and mass media that attracts the highest numbers of viewers. So, we went where the audiences were to be found, and the Super Bowl was identified as a part of a larger advertising package with CBS. 

 

The Super Bowl reaches 100 million viewers and is the top-rated and most highly anticipated television event in the U.S. A 30-second ad running once in the Super Bowl has the potential to reach 45% of adults over age 18. In comparison, CSI, another top-rated program reaches 6.6% of adults and American Idol has 9.5% of adults watching--both just fractions of the reach of the Super Bowl.

 

The televised Super Bowl event is rare--viewers are just as tuned in to see the commercials as the game itself. Commercials that air on the Super Bowl have multiplier effects. Advertisers are mentioned in multiple news media outlets and viewers typically will look to view them online almost immediately after airing. Therefore, airing once in the Super Bowl creates significant buzz that leads to additional viewings and discussions elsewhere.

 

Our media buy with CBS consists of (1) 30 second ad in the 3rd Quarter. CBS provided added value in the form of (2) more 30 second ads in the pre-game show and an additional (2-3) 12-second vignettes featuring James Brown delivering a message on behalf of the Census. We believe the message delivered by James Brown who is the host of the day, will carry great weight with viewers.

 

Finally, Super Bowl advertisers see a significant lift in internet searches which is a great opportunity for Census to drive traffic to 2010census.gov to further educate viewers on the Census.

Tags: 2010 Census, Census 2010, Super Bowl, Super Bowl Ads, TV, TV Advertising, US Census Bureau, census, census2010

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GovLoopPermalink Reply by GovLoop on February 5, 2010 at 12:21pm
A great plan and strategy. Really look forward to seeing the ads in the Super Bowl. An added benefit I see is that now everybody watched the ads online after the game. So that brings extra viewership to the Census materials

I wonder if this is the first time a government agency has advertised in the Super Bowl. I think it's a great idea.
Jay S. Daughtry, ChatterBachsPermalink Reply by Jay S. Daughtry, ChatterBachs on February 5, 2010 at 3:34pm
I'v seen the previews of the ads. It's a clever campaign, and, I believe, is creating and will create the buzz that the Census Bureau is after. Hopefully, that leads to the actions and results you've designed it for. Thanks for posting an "insider's perspective" and creating additional exposure here on GovLoop.
GovLoopPermalink Reply by GovLoop on February 7, 2010 at 4:35pm
Just saw one of the Census commercials in the pre-Super Bowl warm-up. Pretty neat. It said "to be continued" so I'm looking forward to the rest of them.
Jeffrey LevyPermalink Reply by Jeffrey Levy on February 7, 2010 at 10:35pm
You absolutely ROCKED it! And you clearly thought a lot about how to tie into the ad with your FAQ and real-time Twitter response.

I'm just so impressed. Truly a stunning example of how good thinking occurs in gov't.

Try tweetreach.com to check out how far your tweets went. I searched for "@uscensusbureau 25" and maxed out their report at 50 tweets and more than 50,000 people. Apparently for $20 you can get a fuller report up to 1500 tweets. Probably worth the money to demonstrate the effectiveness of coordinating all your channels.

You're definitely getting RT a huge amount. Even some critics are repeating your statement about the savings, which means your message continues to spread.

Congrats again!
Joanne DickinsonPermalink Reply by Joanne Dickinson on February 8, 2010 at 11:40am
Thanks for the reference to tweetreach. Looking into it now.
Steve LuncefordPermalink Reply by Steve Lunceford on February 8, 2010 at 8:28am
Joanne, great comms campaign built around the SuperBowl buy. One thing you could/should look at adding is a bit more interactivity, perhaps @ing some of those who are questioning the dollars spent and sending them to the FAQ. Only pushing out to your Twitter followers will only spread the message so far - you can increase that reach by directly engaging (yes there's some risk in that approach, but also reward).

Blogged about the great job you did: http://bit.ly/crq7xm
Joanne DickinsonPermalink Reply by Joanne Dickinson on February 8, 2010 at 11:29am
Definitely will incorporate your ideas. Thanks.
Joey WhitePermalink Reply by Joey White on February 8, 2010 at 11:30am
Wow, you turned me from a doubter into a believer. All I initially saw was millions of taxpayer dollars going out the window, but you make a great case for why this is actually a savings over where the money could have otherwise gone towards outreach efforts and it looks like you're doing a great job of spreading the information through other media channels. I like it!

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