Campaign: Nation's Building News
Winner: National Association of Home Builders
The official weekly online e-newspaper of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) was looking for a makeover to attract a larger readership among the
association's members.
An online survey tracked the membership's views and analyzed reading patterns. This enabled the group to fine-tune its plans to improve the publication, as well as
collecting e-mail addresses for the members and their employees. The redesigned product used color to boost user-friendliness, while introducing new features including
floor plans, builders' tips and weekly lumber prices.
A follow-up survey reported that the newly redesigned Nation's Building News was meeting the readers' needs, as reflected by an increase in total circulation from
135,000 a month to 200,000. Member circulation numbers rose from 80,000 to 110,000, and member employee circulation increased five-fold, from 10,000 to 50,000.
Readers responding to the survey said they found NBN very informative (70%), that articles in NBN helped them understand the benefits of being an NAHB member (84%) and
that NBN was as useful as non-NAHB publications, if not more (84%).
Anecdotally, success was measured in reports that the new features are consistently among the top five to 10 stories read each week (out of more than 30). In addition,
when TV commentator Bill O'Reilley disparaged the building industry, the NBN kept its members informed and led a campaign demanding a retraction of his statements. NBN
solicited letters from its members seeking an apology, with successful results and an appearance on The O'Reilly Factor by the NAHB's president.
Honorable Mentions
The American Veterinary Medical Association represents many facets of veterinary medicine. The problem was how to communicate its global efforts to its allied
organizations' leadership and 600 members. The answer was a daily Internet news vehicle. The AVMA branded site would gather stories from various sources across the
Internet, synopsize them and provide links, highlight AVMA advocacy and outreach stories, and distribute what "News Bytes" daily. The first 11 editions led off with a
breaking news section dedicated to hurricane relief and recover efforts in the Gulf States after Hurricane Katrina. Now, the AVMA receives daily requests to expand
distribution of "News Bytes" to include veterinary students and the general membership.
Katrina's toll on the Gulf Coast was devastating, not to mention the insurance aftermath that went into recovery and cleanup. That's why, in the weeks following the
storm, the CPCU Society - an association of 26,000 insurance professionals - had a cleanup project of its own. The group set out to produce a special booklet demonstrating
its commitment to helping victims and their communities recover from the disaster. Using members' firsthand accounts of the tragedy, Society executives put out an eight-
page, full-color booklet, "After Katrina," and along with other marketing efforts it helped raise $60,000 for CPCU members.