Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine
In October, after its summer-long air quality campaign, which included paid newspaper, television, and radio advertising, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection wanted to see how effective It All Adds Up To Cleaner Air materials and messages were at raising public awareness about simple steps people can take to reduce traffic congestion and pollution.
They conducted a telephone survey of 400 adults, which showed 40% had heard or seen the expression It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air. "We were astonished and pleased with the 40% awareness of the tagline," said Deb Avalone-King, director of the research at the state's Bureau of Air Quality. "But our follow-up questions indicated some people associated more than clean air and traffic congestion with the umbrella theme," said Deb, noting the findings helped the department make decisions about how to proceed with their program the following year, including specific outreach methods they needed to employ.
Survey Results Shape Future Plans for Success
From the survey, Deb learned that three times as many people said they recalled seeing or hearing the expression from television and radio ads versus newspapers. "We invested $10,000 to place the ads on Maine radio and TV stations and received the equivalent of $150,000 in paid advertising," Deb said. "So this year we are dropping paid newspaper ads and relying on broadcast." Next year's tracking research will monitor whether the number of program mentions in newspaper articles drops or stays the same relative to previous years.
In the first survey, Maine residents recalled "Tune Up Your Car" as an It All Adds Up to Cleaner Air message more frequently than messages such as "Change Your Oil" and "Don't Top Off," prompting the Maine program to incorporate different spots this year and track how this affects message recall.
The Maine DEP has benefited from its investment in research by being able to fine-tune its program and will continue to monitor and evaluate its effectiveness. Deb recommends checking out the It All Adds Up To Cleaner Air Web site to get the sample questionnaire and information on research planning.
For more information about the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, visit: http://www.maine.gov/dep/