Kidd Transportation Group

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Case Study: Santa Rosa County

Location: Santa Rosa County, Florida


Santa Rosa County (SRC) lies between two urbanized areas that receive block grants for transit services: Escambia and Okaloosa counties. Although Escambia and Okaloosa County transit systems are the designated recipients of these federal and state transit funds, parts of SRC lies within both counties boundaries, which means while the population and density of SRC contributes to the formula funds that both Escambia and Okaloosa receive for public transportation, they currently receive no transit services. As such, a transit feasibility study conducted by the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) was funded to justify the need and demand support for investments in public transportation services. Through this study, the Santa Rose County Commission received guidance and feedback from the community and ultimately decided what county funds should be devoted to transit investments.

Transportation projects can be complex and difficult to understand by anyone other than an engineer. To that end, CUTR hired Kidd Transportation Group by way of Kidd Public Relations to take this complex issue and communicate it clearly to a diverse community. Ultimately, Kidd Transportation Group would gauge opinion about public transportation among a sampling of Santa Rosa's 154,351 residents using cost-effective grassroots electronic communications and an online survey. Kidd Transportation Group would then set out to create a communication campaign that would elicit feedback from SRC residents via the survey tool. This campaign would run from July 2007 through January 2008 with the online survey component available through October 2007.

Overall Objectives

  1. To educate residents about the purpose and importance of the survey while providing a platform to easily express themselves.
  2. To develop core electronic databases of local contacts.
  3. To security media impressions via local print, TV, and radio outlets by Jan, 2008
  4. To drive unique visitors to the campaign website between July 30-07 and Jan 31-08.

Implementation
To gauge opinion among a sampling of SRC residents, Kidd Transportation Group began to identify a core advocacy group. We created a database reflective of the population by identifying key organizations, entities and local thought leaders. In addition to individual citizens, the following Santa Rosa County constituency groups were included in the database:

  • Business Community
  • Local Medical Community
  • Workforce Development
  • FDOT
  • Education
  • Children and Families
  • Family Law Advisory Group
  • Disabled Community
  • Senior Citizens
  • Economically Disadvantaged
  • Housing
  • Community Transportation Coordinator
  • Public Transportation
  • Health Care Administration
  • Children at Risk
  • Citizen Representative
  • County Governments
  • Municipal Governments
  • Military
  • Community Redevelopment
  • Faith-based Organizations
  • Media
  • WFRPC/FL-AL TPO
  • FL-AL Citizens Advisory Committee
  • Florida-Alabama TPO Technical Coordinating Committee
  • Florida-Alabama TPO Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee
  • Faith Based Organizations

Once individuals were identified, Kidd Transportation Group made initial contact, asking permission to correspond electronically for the purposes of the campaign. Development of this core database was critical to the campaign's overall success, as they would ultimately help to disseminate information and messages to fellow family, friends and co-workers causing the message to "go viral."

The campaign needed an attention-grabbing "mark" or calls to action to incentivize participation. As the primary message was geared toward residents taking the transportation survey, a tag and logo was created with the text: "What moves you? Express Yourself." This play on words asked residents to consider a) what physically moved or transported them and b) what issues were important to them, or moved them emotionally. Most importantly, it asked them to express their opinions about public transportation in SRC.

This campaign was centered in SRC, so Kidd Transportation Group used color schemes that coordinated with the county logo - a bright yellow and blue. With the target audience and campaign logo finalized, the next step required development of a platform to support participation. Kidd Transportation Group recommended a campaign specific Web site with the unique URL: SRCtransit.com. This site became the hub of program activity, providing space for the online survey, but also background information about the transit feasibility study, a news section and an opportunity for visitors to sign up for future email correspondence. Kidd Transportation Group team worked to get this campaign site linked onto partner and affiliate Web sites.

To raise awareness about the study and drive the target audience to this online platform, Kidd Transportation Group implemented electronic correspondence, publicity tactics and community outreach.

To correspond electronically with our target advocacy group, Kidd Transportation Group created a standard HTML e-blast template consistent with the overall look and feel of the campaign. The primary purpose of the e-blasts was to educate the audience about the study and secure their participation in the survey. All e-blasts included a direct link to the Web site and a "Take the Survey" button embedded within. The secondary message encouraged recipients to initiate a viral marketing effort by spreading the word to others.

Public service announcements and press releases were distributed locally and regionally to print, television and radio outlets. Again, the SRCtransit.com URL was inserted in all media materials and publicized the primary message: take the survey, express yourself. Additionally, our team worked with existing partner organizations to get the message placed in association newsletters.

Community outreach consisted of hosting forums and participating in local events. This continued promotion of the study allowed residents to fill out surveys on-site, if needed.

Evaluation
We used a combination of measurement tools including media impressions, Web trends and electronic correspondence data. Results for the SRC campaign are as follows:

  1. Between July 20, 2007 and Oct. 29, 2007, Kidd Transportation Group received a total of 889 survey responses - a 132 percent increase from the initial goal.
  2. Prior to the July 20, 2007 kickoff, the initial advocacy database of contacts development by Kidd Transportation Group included a total of 368 individuals - a 22 percent increase from the initial goal. Throughout the campaign, this list grew to 468 contacts via individual signups from the Web site and word of mouth.
  3. By January 2008, a total of 491,613 media impressions - nearly half a million - were garnered throughout the campaign. Media coverage was received in both regional daily papers. Additionally, local SRC print, radio and television stations covered the story.
  4. SRCtransit.com received a total of 1,860 unique visitors between July 2007 and January 2008 - 86 percent above the original goal.

Based on the survey responses, SRC commissioners are undergoing a process that will implement transit services in the area. All results achieved in this campaign were a direct result of public relations and electronic communications, and did not include any paid advertising.

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