1999 Crystal Awards

 

Campaigns

Promotional

Internal Communications

Crisis Communications

Special Events

External Communications

Projects

Brochures

Logos

Research/Measurement/Evaluation Summaries

Web Sites

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Promotional Campaign

Introduction

The newspaper headline sums it up: "West Virginians are fat and don't wear seatbelts."  Unfortunately, West Virginia is near the top of national prevalence rankings of risk factors such as obesity, sedentary lifestyle and cigarette smoking.  These factors provide opportunities for the Kanawha Coalition for Community Health Improvement whose mission is to identify and evaluate health risks and coordinate resources to measurably improve the health of the people of Kanawha County.  The Coalition has a successful track record of working with community members to prioritize and address the greatest health issues through schools and the community.  At the same time, members of the Coalition Steering Committee wanted to enhance the involvement of the business community in improving the health of residents of West Virginia's most populated county.

The Coalition Steering Committee explored Well City USA, a national program of the Wellness Councils of America (WELCOA).  The program encourages employers to develop worksite wellness programs that meet the standards of excellence as defined by the Well Workplace model.  Because the Coalition serves the entire county the Coalition Steering Committee established a goal to become designated the first "Well County" in the country.  The initiative was named Kanawha Valley Well Cities.  To receive the designation, at least 20% (19,482) of the working population in the county must be employed by a minimum of 20 Well Workplaces.  Six worksites in the county already had earned the Well Workplace designation.

Research

Primary research:  As the Coalition's sole staff person, I coordinated the Kanawha Valley Well Cities campaign.  Since there are only three Well Cities in the country, I wanted to learn from individuals in these cities.  First, I conducted interviews with persons who were involved in the Well City programs in Chattanooga, TN, Jacksonville, FL and Omaha, NE.  I learned what they considered to be keys to success as well as potential obstacles to avoid.   One key finding is the importance of a Chief Executive Officer's (CEO's) commitment to establishing a wellness program at his/her worksite.

In addition, an advisory committee was formed.  The committee was comprised of CEOs of companies who have wellness programs and CEOs of organizations who do not have wellness programs.  The committee members provided suggestions related to campaign objectives, target audiences and strategies.

Secondary research:  I compiled data in regard to the number of persons employed in the county.  Also, I compiled employment information about Kanawha County worksites.  Next, I conducted an extensive literature review related to the benefits of worksite wellness.  Finally, I reviewed information from the Tucson Wellness Council in regard to their plans for becoming a Well City.

Planning

The goal of the Kanawha Valley Well Cities campaign is to become designated in 1999 as Kanawha Valley Well Cities by the Wellness Council of America.

Objectives of the campaign include:

1. to recruit 24 organizations to commit to the Well City project and enroll in the Well Workplace University (a program to help participants design and implement a wellness program).
2. to provide information and technical assistance in order for at least 14 organizations to establish wellness programs and earn the Well Workplace designation.

Through research findings, we determined the primary target audience is CEOs of organizations in Kanawha County.  Secondary target audiences included human resource managers of the targeted organizations, Kanawha County residents and the local media.

The key message of the campaign was:   There are many benefits to worksite wellness including a decrease in employee health care costs, and an increase in employee productivity as well as improved employee morale.

Strategies developed to achieve the objectives included:

The original campaign budget was $39,000.   The project was funded through generous contributions of corporate sponsors and a grant from the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health.

Execution

Several communications tools were developed including recruitment leader talking points, a one-page fact sheet, a tri-fold two-color brochure, a Web pages and an eight-minute video. A kick-off event featuring Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden generated a lot of interest about the campaign among our key target audience and the media. 

The original timeline was altered in order to accommodate the timing of Wellness Council of West Virginia's technical assistance workshops, Well Workplace University.  Also, our research paid off.   Strategically targeting CEOs with the CEO to CEO message was key to the campaign's success.  We gained considerable media coverage through events such as the Chamber of Commerce's trade show.  (Red delicious apples with the Kanawha Valley Well Cities logo were a favorite with the trade show attendees.)  Additionally, we were able to maintain high visibility and keep the campaign momentum going by placing feature stories and an ad honoring the new Well Workplaces.

Evaluation

The Kanawha Valley Well Cities campaign has been very successful. These successes include:

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Internal Communications Campaign

United Parcel Service: Balancing the Business

Research

An analysis of the data collected in UPS's post-1997-strike Employee Opinion Survey (EOS) showed that there was a knowledge gap among both management and non-management employees about the goals, direction and stability of the company. Other issues identified by the survey were a lack of trust in management, particularly by the driver workgroup.  (The EOS is a scientific survey conducted anonymously via computer each year in April and September of all UPS employees.  The EOS has an employee response rate of 91% with an error of +/- 3.5%.)

Focus groups were conducted among four workgroups: management; drivers; part-time manual laborers; and non-union clerical. These four workgroups represented 85% of the UPS workforce makeup. Key issues identified in focus groups were mixed messages from upper management; a lack of knowledge of UPS business priorities - and a lack of understanding of UPS profit centers. Possible delivery methods were also discussed.

Prior to implementing the "Balancing the Business" program, an informal survey was completed among the 4,800 employees in the district. A simple postcard was developed that asked each employee to list their perception of the top six business priorities. 2,167 of the postcards were returned for a 45% response rate. Only two employees could identify 5 of the 6 business priorities, one of whom was a manager, the other a driver. Only 410 additional employees could identify one, two, three or four business priorities. An informal survey of buildings and AV equipment was conducted via telephone.

Planning

The UPS Laurel Mountain district proposes unique logistical challenges. There are 4,800 employees in 31 buildings scattered throughout a five-state area. Operations run continuously around the clock. Video is the only logical choice to communicate a message to all employees on the same day.

The top six business priorities were finalized by the upper-level management group. Key messages for each segment and an achievable timeline were established.

The series was purposefully designed to end just prior to the holiday "peak season" rush because once peak season arrives, all effort, resources and time is dedicated to package delivery. Also, many of the key issues such as staffing, and delivery reliability, are especially important during this time of year.

A budget of $9,000 was set aside from the General Supervision fund. The goal was for 75% of employees to identify 4 or more of the business priorities.

Execution

Prior to the campaign, response cards and a memo were distributed to management employees. The survey response cards were collected and compiled.

Video scripts were drafted on the key topics of Introduction and Premium Services, Financial Security, Financial Security, Leaders in Safety, Staffing for the Future, Delivery Reliability, Community Spirit, and Balancing the Business. Stock footage for some portions of the video were requested from our footage library in Atlanta, GA. District footage was shot for the premium service, staffing, and safety videos at various local UPS locations.

A video crew was hired to shoot footage of the district manager John Warrick and to edit the series. A poster which listed the business priorities was also designed, printed and distributed. Videos were distributed one per week for seven weeks. Spot checks were conducted via telephone to ensure that the videos were being shown.

Evaluation

In the week following the close of the video series, an identical survey response card was distributed to assess the retention of the program materials.

Again, 4,800 cards were distributed throughout the district. 2,592 cards were returned for a 54% response rate. Results exceeded our goal. 82% of employees could identify four or more of the district's business priorities.

In addition, focus groups were again held throughout the district among key job classes: management, drivers, part-time manual and non-union clerical. Key comments coming out of these meetings were that the district manager was honest, believable, and up-front and, because they understood what the district's business priorities were, could better understand decisions that were made by the management group.

Employee Opinion Survey data is not yet available. It will be taken in late April. Final costs were $8,650 -  well within the budget.  

Internal Communications Newsletters

Objectives:

The West Virginia Manufacturers Association's mission is to "bring forth change in West Virginia to create an economy that welcomes investment and corporate commitment to the citizens of our state."

The Chemical Industry Committee (CIC) works within the context of the WVMA to support that industry. The CIC believes that the chemical industry is much maligned by the media, rather than receiving balanced coverage. Given the industry's significant contributing corporate citizens and that the industry is one of the state's largest employers, the CIC believes that its views and messages were not being given a fair representation in the press.

The CIC determined that its most believable and ardent grassroots activists, chemical industry employees had not been successfully educated. Employees did not have the information they needed to present the industry's position to their families, friends and neighbors when discussing relevant news stories, community activities and contributions. Also, employees did not know ways they might "take action" to impact a particular issue.

Fourteen WVMA member chemical companies decided to pursue a comprehensive, internal newsletter designed to inform and educate the employees and retirees about the industry's value to the state and region. The publication addresses issues facing the industry, products of the industry in everyday life, positive activities undertaken by the plants and employees and how the industry minimizes risk in its processes.

Through a proposal process, Hyperion Creative Group was selected to develop and produce ChemLINES with guidance from an editorial board, who represent the chemical company sponsors.

Audiences:

The primary readers of ChemLINES, chemical industry employees, are typically between 35_60 years old and are interested in what will affect their lives as well as the people they know. ChemLINES is produced to convey issues facing the industry to the typically male employees in a user-friendly format To reach this audience, ChemLINES also publishes special interest articles about employee volunteerism, environmental and safety awards earned by the individual plants, historical articles about the industry and the industry's contributions to their individual communities.

Over the course of its development distribution has increased to include "community relations copies" that are sent to the state delegates and senators, media representatives and community leaders with a personalized letter from the plant managers. This was done after feedback from a focus group meeting indicated that these individuals needed balanced information about the chemical industry.

Budget:

The budget developed to implement this project three times annually is $31,050. This budget includes all writing and editing of content and the layout and design of the publication by the staff of Hyperion Creative Group. There is also an additional $3,750 available for miscellaneous expenses such as photography and travel. The printing is billed to the manufacturers association at a cost of $22,1 76 annually, for a total project cost of $53,226.

 

Results:

Hyperion Creative Group has conducted focus group meeting every six months to solicit employee feedback and determine the effectiveness of ChemLINES. The feedback from the meetings confirms the value of the publication in its role as an educational vehicle. Employees are more knowledgeable about the issues facing their industry. They are interested and proud that the industry they serve receives numerous environmental and safety awards. In addition, chemical industry employees are taking pride in the contributions their industry makes to the economy and citizens of West Virginia and are communicating this information to their communities, their legislators and their neighbors.

However, the agency has also advocated a coordinated collaborative strategy to continue to improve the publication. Employees have asked for more focus on individual plant employees and more white space in the publication. These improvements are currently being implemented.

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Crisis Communications Campaign

Summary

Crises take many forms. There is the obvious: a plant explosion, a flood, workplace violence. And, there is the insidious.

In May 1998, the public affairs staff of Camcare Health System received an unsettling preliminary report from Carelink Health Plans' external auditors. They were going to add what is called a 'going concern' notation to the final audit report. This note could have torpedoed the young and growing, yet financially immature managed care organization.

We had to scramble and create a comprehensive campaign to communicate the health plan's financial situation, audit statement, successes and recovery plan in a way that maintained strong relationships with our employer groups, members, physician providers and regulators and fostered public trust in the plan.

Research

Carelink Health Plans opened for business in 1995 as the first West Virginia-based managed care plan owned by a health care provider. In that time, the plan had amassed a network of 1,300 doctors and 28 hospitals throughout the state and provided health care coverage to 64,000 West Virginians. The plan had not yet booked a break-even year. The health system board had invested $30 million in start up funds, and the CEO had been quoted in local newspapers saying Carelink had to break even during 1999.

A 'going concern' audit statement released just two months before the plan's member enrollment season could have seriously injured Carelink's ability to continue as a viable business.

Our team set about researching some unknowns: Who needed to know about the audit statement? Carelink is regulated. Who needed to know first? Could we frame Carelink's complicated financial situation so it would be easily understood by the plan's varied audiences?

The audiences included regulators responsible for monitoring health insurers, business owners and benefits managers who make health plan purchasing decisions, members worried about being stranded without health insurance, media representatives, city and state government officials and the community at large. Through secondary research of regulations, we found we needed to disclose the audit report first to the insurance commissioner. By reviewing customer service records, we determined what questions most members had about Carelink's situation and survival. We asked marketing sales staff to note all recent questions about Carelink's survival and financial standing from business owners and benefits decision makers.

Planning

Group met and conceived a comprehensive action plan that included the following goals:

1. Progress Report: explain successes as well as financial situation in a forthright fashion, explain plan for future and how Carelink will meet its parent corporation's requirement that it break even.

2. Arrange training and preliminary question development sessions for CEO with public affairs team

3. Develop a press release explaining the report and situation in commonly understood language.

4. Plan to keep employees up to date on developments and questions so they're not caught unprepared on the phone or on the street by a question. Develop idea for employee forums with CEO & COO.

5. Planned release of story to business/health reporter. (When we do this, we use each outlet in turn so we don't appear to play favorites.)

6. There was a mid-course correction. See # 5 under execution.

 

Execution

1. Printed a Progress Report in two versions. One with the audit statement and union bug for regulators and business audiences. One without the audit statement to provide to members who request it.

2. Training and preliminary question development session for CEO with public affairs team was held. Q&A and talking points documents were developed from the session and distributed to all senior managers, sales staff and customers services staff (Carelink telemarketers).

3. Developed press release explaining the report and situation. It was given to reporters as they inquired.

4. Kept employees up to date on developments and questions via an employee Q&A forum with Carelink's CEO & COO. As a result of employee requests during the forums, we developed an email newsletter and followed up with regular department meetings.

5. The insurance commissioner asked us not to release report or give an exclusive to a reporter until he was in town. This request required a midcourse correction of our plan.

6. We added an element to our plan and asked the Camcare CEO to mail a letter to the insurance commissioner assuring him Camcare would continue to back Carelink and would not leave members without insurance.

7. We held the mailing and mailed the Progress Report as it was requested by benefits managers and business owners. The second version without the audit was mailed to consumers who called customer service with questions as they arose from media coverage.

8. Release of story to one of the area's business/health reporters went awry when a reporter from the competing daily unearthed the story and called the Camcare CEO. We immediately scrapped our original plans. Both CEOs knew all the facts and had worked with the team to develop concise answers to hard questions, so we arranged for them to complete interviews with the reporter.

 

Evaluation

The preliminary story was balanced, truthful.

The insurance commissioner wrote a letter to Camcare's CEO thanking him for our responsiveness to this crisis.

Carelink's 1998 enrollment period (for 1999 coverage) was successful. Carelink is still one of the state's major managed care organizations with 60,000 members, 1,200 physicians, 31 hospitals and 25 counties in its network. Carelink pulled out of one county, lost the 137 providers in that county and about 4,000 members disenrolled for 1999.

Carelink employees are focused on limiting the 1999 losses to $1.5 million. A dramatic recovery plan, which includes new computerized audit and payment systems, is under way.

Final Notes

We'd like to acknowledge the able counsel of Charles Ryan Associates including Charles Ryan, Dolores Kinder and Nancy Tonkin.

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Special Events

Appalachian Small Business Expo

Research

We determined the event is designed to provide a networking and training opportunity for small businesses in West Virginia through feedback from the Small Business Development Center and the Center for Economic Options. Hyperion Creative Group began the research for the Expo by reviewing the materials from the past 1996/1997 and the evaluations from 1997. In the past both primary sponsors have demanded to participate In all interviews and promotions of the event This equal exposure In the media necessity could pose problems while scheduling interviews for the 1998 Expo.

Of the 250 pre-registered attendees at the 1997 conference, about 100 participants (less than 50%) represented small businesses or those considering starting a small business. Of those small business owners, several attended as presenters. Participants were primarily female.

Even though the Expo's participants have historically been female, West Virginia Small Business owners are primarily male. While the organizers are interested in reaching out to women and minority owned businesses, It became clear that more focus must be placed on these male-owned businesses. Increased attendance was noted by the majority of those surveyed as the area most in need of improvement The best way to achieve that goal was to target the larger market share.

Small businesses are typically understaffed. Overworked owners and managers have difficulty making time for personal development during working hours. However, most recognize the value of networking and try to invest time In doing so, though they prefer after hours events.

Small businesses are constantly targeted by organizations and associations to participate in events and become members. Limited time and funds are available for such activities. This makes individuals focus on the benefits of the event related to their business. Therefore, they are much more focused on the results of their involvement whether it is attending a conference or making a donation to a little league team. We also determined that marketing materials must be somewhat sophisticated in their approach.

The printed materials from the previous years had limited visual appeal and urgency. The format required an individual to read too much before learning valuable information on why the prospect should attend. The message, for the most part was lost on the readers.

Planning

An overall strategy for this event was to make it more relevant and interesting. Further, Hyperion strongly advised the organizations to understand and focus on the demographics of the broader audience. The following objectives and strategies were developed.

Improve awareness generally and specifically as a statewide event

Put focus on event rather than sponsors

Solicit sponsorship from media with regional coverage

Schedule and direct media interviews statewide

Consider effectiveness of spokespersons (both national and state)

Capitalize on role as non-profit/state agency by involving political leaders

Consider new strategies such as public service announcements and Internet promotions

Improve the effectiveness of the direct marketing materials and advertising

Develop theme to use consistently in all mediums

Strengthen appeal or "pizzazz" of materials

Communicate urgency and value of attending the conference

Appropriately time direct mail pieces and advertising

Target use of advertising funds to business publications

Increase attendance

Appeal to the male audience

Create an after-hours event (trade show) to serve as a media kick-off, to give potential business-start-ups a training opportunity and to give small businesses an opportunity to network

Involve membership based organizations in order to solicit their members to attend, e.g. WV Hospitality and Tourism Association

Develop and distribute "free" tickets to the after-hours trade show

 

Execution

Hyperion developed the theme and logo ideas for the event Hyperion took the theme and logo ideas and incorporated the logo and ideas into a registration brochure and an exhibitor brochure. Both brochures were extremely creative and used original art and a unique fold to impact readers. This fold was determined by the insert size limitation of the State Journal (West Virginia's only business newspaper). We also limited the amount of copy so readers wouldn't be distracted from the message that this is an important event to their business.

Hyperion produced two audio public service announcements (PSA) and developed several print advertisements. The PSA's were sent to the radio stations designated to run them and the print advertising buys were scheduled.

We met with media representatives and obtained sponsorship from The State Journal (West Virginia's only business newspaper), a local television station and a local radio station. These sponsors interviewed Expo representatives and also ran the print advertisements and PSA's they were given. Hyperion also contacted every radio and television station in the state and scheduled interviews where possible.

Hyperion also generated a series of press releases that were sent to all newspapers, radio stations and television stations in the state. We developed a media kit and coordinated all on-site media activities during the event including interviews with speakers, Expo representatives and exhibitors.

Hyperion implemented the planned networking event and fishpond prop immediately after the mayor of Charleston, West Virginia gave a speech to "kick-off 'the Expo. Following the "kick-off" speech, the mayor, two Expo representatives and various exhibitors were interviewed by the media in attendance.

Results/Evaluation

Through media relations activities the Expo garnered on-air Interviews with 21 radio and television stations throughout West Virginia and numerous PSA's were run on-air statewide. Several television and radio stations were on hand during the event and interviewed participants, Expo representatives and exhibitors and broadcast these Interviews on their news segments. The media/publicity aspect of the Expo was extremely successful given the extensive coverage and the interviews associated with the event throughout the state.

Sponsorship of the event was successful and many sponsors were also workshop presenters.

Through an independent evaluation by the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Government Studies, we received the following positive feedback from Expo participants. 221 of 257 respondents said they would recommend the event to others. Of 1,662 workshop or roundtable participants, 95.6% said their expectations were met or exceeded.

Expo participants were asked to state how the Expo affected them. Many used the information they obtained at the event and gained/maintained contacts. Forty percent of respondents believed the Expo was very important to their recent accomplishments. More than half of the respondents Indicated that they had secured some kind of contract as a result of the Expo.

Networking opportunities were given as the most Important part of Expo followed by the tradeshow and the workshops/roundtables.

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External Communications Newsletter

Project Harvest III

Problem Statement

In 1988, Senator John D. Rockefeller IV established the Discover the REAL West Virginia Foundation (DRWV) to facilitate national and international interest in West Virginia. As part of this economic initiative, Senator Rockefeller coordinated a trade and investment mission comprised of West Virginia business leaders to Asia in 1 994, 1 996, and 1 998. During the trade and investment missions, entitled Project Harvest it became very apparent that communication problems between the cultures would have to be overcome with an effective communications strategy. Hyperion Creative Group was invited to research methods and materials that would alleviate cultural differences.

 

Objectives

The objectives of this mission were to highlight West Virginia business and investment opportunities to national and international business leaders and to position Senator Rockefeller as a leader in economic development and trade negotiations. An internal objective was to eliminate the language and cultural barriers with successful communications action plans. Planning The Senators staff chose as their main communications vehicle a tabloid style newspaper newsletter. For the first two trade missions. the same template of content and layout was translated into the appropriate languages. For the third Project Harvest trade mission, a strategic action plan was developed to improve the effectiveness of the newsletter. Not only did the differing cultural aspects have to be taken into account but also an informal survey of trade mission participants indicated that not all countries would value the same information. Country specific information precisely targeted towards a particular audience was researched by using Asian business authorities' opinions concerning timely topics. In addition, state resources and business services were prioritized and placed in the order of importance. Economic development officials from Senator Rockefeller's office worked closely with Hyperion Creative Group to determine content placement.

 

Audience

The Project Harvest III newsletter focused on reaching Asian business officials in exporting industries. The three countries visited, Taiwan, Japan, and China required different language translations. Participating West Virginia business leaders were also considered as well as potential funders for DRWV. The DRWV staff members were also considered an audience. They were very involved in the process and had high expectations for the project For instance, every proof for review had to be printed in color, full size. Due to the large size of the publication, this required pasting the document together for every review period.

 

Budget

The budget for the newsletter reflected the commitment of DRWV to produce a very high scale piece. High quality paper, 4 color inks. and larger dimensions were required as budget expectations. After the Initial price estimates, DRWV soon discovered that their budget could not fulfill their requirements and consequently was lowered midway through the project forcing Hyperion to redirect their efforts. The new budget did not allow for the original plan of having an interpreter review the translated versions for accuracy, leaving Hyperion without the ability to ensure accuracy of the translation.

 

Results

The newsletters visual elements were designed to be very colorful in order to attract attention, no matter if one understood the language with which it was written. In addition, the layout is very professional with serious illustrations and clip art The Senator was featured in all written and graphical sections as an important decision-maker in the United States. Content was prepared according to country priorities. For example, the steel industry could not be mentioned in the Japan issue due to the controversy surrounding the price of their steel exports. The center spread is a stand-alone piece and can be framed for investors, funders, participants, etc.

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Brochures

IMPACT: The Importance of Coal to West Virginia

With nearly 300 members, the West Virginia Mining & Reclamation Association is the largest state coal association in the nation. WVMRA was formed in 1966 from two regional organizations, the Southern West Virginia Mining Institute, and the North Central West Virginia Surface Mining Association.

The Association serves as the liaison for the state's surface mining industry with the state and federal government, state and federal executive regulatory agencies and all other audiences.

For more than a century, coal has been a large part of West Virginia, yet contributions by the industry have historically been clouded by inaccurate assertions. As a result, the modern coal industry has never been able to get balanced information to the public concerning the mining process, post mining land use or the economic benefits of coal to the state.

There was a need to develop a vehicle that would present the positive aspects of the coal industry to a wide variety of audiences. As a non-profit organization not having considerable funds, this goal was to be met without accruing high advertising or printing costs.

Consequently, a brochure was deemed as the vehicle easiest to distribute to the variety of audiences. This brochure needed to succinctly present the overall view of the many benefits of the West Virginia coal industry as well as concisely address issues such as mountaintop mining. All of this must be done in a manner that will display a professional look, yet keep production costs at a minimum.

To have a brochure that will reach such a wide variety of audiences, the cover must quickly grab attention, be attractive graphically and have high readability. Hence, the brochure "Impact: The Importance of Coal To West Virginia " was created.

This brochure has been distributed extensively to elected officials; high schools, colleges, church groups; civic organizations; community leaders; WVMRA members; member-company employees, used as an insert in several state newspapers and downloaded on the Association's web page.

Results of the brochure have been very well received. Association members have requested the brochure and have extensively distributed these to employees, clients, customers and local elected officials.

This brochure compresses an abundance of information into one vehicle and is judged as a successful promotional piece for the coal industry.

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Logo

Employers Service Corporation

Planning

A solid corporate identity is the cornerstone to any good marketing strategy. Employers Service Corporation, a third party administrator, wanted a new look and message introducing their new disability program that would compete on a national level. ESC employs over 170 people and has been in operation since 1946. The company is family owned and has built a solid base by specializing in cost control and claims administration. With the concern that ESC would be competing on a national level against bigger names such as Aetna and Frank Gates, the look that was developed almost 53 years ago needed to be updated. Hyperion Creative Group proposed a marketing audit to gather information regarding ESC's position in the marketplace, including perceived strengths and weaknesses.

 

Objectives

The marketing audit revealed perceptions that ESC's services have evolved over the years to keep pace with the ever-increasing challenges of managing disability while maintaining the personal commitment necessary to provide the best solutions for the employer and employee. Throughout, the research echoed the sentiment that ESC was a well-established company that clients had grown to trust over the years because of their focus on personalized customer service. The presiding family had established a reputation for a 4^th of July mailing echoing patriotic values and enforcing a conservative image. In addition, the audit revealed that the ESC initials had replaced the title Employers Service Corporation. The logo and slogan reflected the name change and sought to communicate the conservative tradition of ESC's exceptional service by rejecting modern or trendy looks.

 

Audience

ESC serves more than 1,000 client companies ranging in size from approximately 10 employees to nearly 8,000 employees, and includes representatives of coal, manufacturing, construction, hospitals, retail, trucking, banks, municipalities, hotels, automobile dealers, utilities, nursing homes and others. ESC primarily deals with decision makers such as company presidents and human resource directors. Another audience component considered during the development of the logo was ESCs directors and president.

 

Budget

ESC had never spent money on outside vendors to perform services such as developing or maintaining their image, designing marketing materials, or providing public relations consulting. The logo effort was viewed as a radical step among ESC officials. It was only at the insistence of Hyperion that the logo was allowed to be updated.

 

Results

ESC "Above and Beyond' was the logo and slogan developed based on the marketing audit results. The red and blue with white background evokes feelings of patriotism and wholesome American values by using the colors of the American flag. It conveys the message that ESC is an all-American company that concerns itself with the traditional characteristics that helped build our country. ESC chose instead of the white background their traditional powder blue paper. The star cutout in the E symbolizes the "Above and Beyond' theme in several ways. The star, which represents outstanding performance, has shot upwards leaving a vacant spot on ground level indicating that ESC leaves its competition behind.

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Research

WV Division of Rehabilitation Services: Communications Audit

Objectives

The mission of the West Virginia Division of rehabilitation Services (WVDRS) is to enable and empower individuals with disabilities to work and to live independently. A new governor, a new division director and a new assistant director with responsibility for internal and external communications provided the ideal opportunity to conduct a communications audit to determine the attitudes and opinions held by division staff and key audiences. Homestead Communications was retained to design, conduct and evaluate this communications audit for WVDRS. The objective of the project was to provide a baseline of information for activities to be undertaken by the new administration so the division would no longer be considered "one of the best kept secrets in the state."

 

Audiences

The project had a number of internal and external audiences. Internally, the audience consisted of 738 employees working in administrative services, disabilities determination (for Social Security disability income determination), the rehabilitation center in Institute and seven service districts throughout the state. Externally, audiences included clients and their families, service providers, legislators, supported employment providers, traditional sheltered workshops, media, other state agencies, medical providers and the business community.

The determination was made to conduct personal interviews with the four associate directors, since they have responsibility for implementing decisions made by the division director and the management team. Direct mail surveys were chosen to reach the employee and external publics. While the response rate with this method is sometimes lower than other survey methods, the direct mail decision was made based on budget and time table constraints, as well as the need for survey instrument consistency between internal and external audiences.

Based on the diversity of locations and activities, the decision was made to survey all employees, as well as a representative sample of the external publics. Internal audience surveys were printed on color-coded paper so their work locations could be identified without revealing individual identities. Public audience members were asked to self-identify the category they represented. WVDRS distributed surveys to all employees through internal mail and provided mailing lists for clients and their families, service providers, supported employment providers, traditional sheltered workshops, other state agencies and medical providers. Homestead Communications provided the mailing lists for legislators, media and the business community. While all members of the internal audience were surveyed, a random sample of every nth name was chosen for external audiences. A total of 2,067 surveys were distributed to internal and external publics, with the 458 responses tabulated and evaluated by Homestead Communications.

Budget

The budget for this project was $5000. This amount included $4000 for management interviews, survey design and tabulation, review of existing communication materials and consultants' report and recommendations. Postage for mailing and return envelopes for public audiences was budgeted at $850. Based on the availability of WVDRS printing facilities and services, no portion of the budget was allocated to printing the survey instruments or distributing surveys to employee audiences.

 

Results

The results of the communications audit indicated that WVDRS enjoyed at least moderately favorable attitudes from employees and external audiences, while familiarity with services was somewhat lower across the board. Strengths and weaknesses were identified in a number of areas, and information came to light regarding one employee audience which did not identify very strongly with WVDRS.

The communications audit was conducted in a timely fashion within budget limits, resulting in specific recommendations on publications and solid information on which the division could base future public relations plans.

As stated in the final report from Homestead Communications, "These publics hold (WVDRS) in a favorable light, even without knowing all the services you provide. You are in a position of starting to educate people without having to overcome or change negative impressions."

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Web Sites

United Way of Kanawha Valley

Objectives

United Way of Kanawha Valley (UWKV) uses "management by objectives" to oversee its efficient operations. One of the primary communications objectives for 1998 was to develop a web site that would be valuable to volunteers, contributors, people in need of information about health and human services and others interested in the United Way.

Audience

Though a web site implies a global audience, we knew our primary audiences would be current and potential volunteers and contributors.

 

Planning

A volunteer from the Board of Directors secured sponsorship for the United Way site through a local internet provider, Newwave Communications.  The company has provided the site and e-mail services to UWKV at no cost.  UWKV did pay the registration fee for the domain name, which is uwaychaswv.org.  Once this was completed, another volunteer agreed to prepare a site with very basic information to get things started.  However, as the Marketing Director, I needed to learn how to design and manage this site.  After looking at various types of web software, it was decided that we would use Microsoft Publisher '97 to design this site.  This is the software the organization uses to design all its publications.  Even though the program had some limitations in web design, it was capable of producing a professional, attractive web site.  UWKV did purchase an inexpensive ftp software program for uploading the site to the web.

Web sites of other United Ways throughout the country were reviewed for ideas on how the site should look and what information should be covered.  The current local campaign theme, "Building Tomorrow Together," was incorporated into the web site design.  Photographs from the campaign brochure and other materials were used in the site design.  All of the writing and design work was done throughout 1998 and the site was finally uploaded in January 1999.

Results

UWKV now has an attractive, professional site which provides valuable information, and it was done at very minimal cost.  A table of contents page directs readers to a variety of pages and links.  The site includes links to any member agencies or United Ways in West Virginia that have web sites or e-mail addresses.  Several of the pages include e-mail links for UWKV.  This e-mail link has been used by visitors to inquire about member agencies, volunteer opportunities and how the money raised by UWKV is used in the community.  The volunteers and staff have received positive comments from people in the community who have visited the site.

The web site and e-mail address have been added to the organization's letterhead and will be included on all materials.  Of course, no web site is ever truly finished.  It is always a work in progress.   In 1999, the organization plans to add a counter to track the number of visitors to the site.  Also, the site needs to be registered with Internet search engines.   As special events come up throughout the year, information on them will need to be added.

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