In April 2002 the Utah Foster Care Foundation asked PR agency boede&partners to help in the recruitment of new families, the first time the nonprofit agency would attempt a
large-scale, mass-media plan to get its message out.
"They have always done a lot of grassroots stuff, lots of little local events and things like that, but they had never had anyone help them to do something with a little bit
more of a broader reach," says Lori Feld Steele, managing partner of boede&partners. The goal? Help the organization raise the awareness level and, moreover, to make it
actionable so that they could recruit more families.
The campaign was charged specifically with helping to overcome one of the persistent challenges facing the foster care system: a perception that foster kids translate into
trouble. "There is a strong misconception that any kids in the system are problem kids, when in fact many of these kids are victims who are being taken out of a bad situation,"
Steele says.
That misconception has sorely hurt the foster care system, spooking prospective families that might otherwise have provided homes for kids. Kelsey Lewis, director of
recruitment at the foundation, says he wanted boede&partners to create a theme of strengthening families, giving an enlightened spin to the public perception of foster
parenting.
A new message
The PR agency was able to negotiate free placements and deeply discounted rates through its friends in the media. Reagan Outdoor donated $72,910.00 in outdoor advertising for
the billboards. Local networks gave almost $200,000 in airtime in the past fiscal year. These donations allowed campaign messages to appear on billboards and on television, as
well as in print publications, such as City Weekly, and various community papers. TV spots targeted news programming (especially early morning and late night news) which indexed
high for the target audience. Ads ran on local NBC, FOX, ABC and CBS affiliates, typically appearing in and around the local news segments that run during shows like "Good Morning
America." The TV ads also ran on daytime programs, which skew toward women.
The campaign uses a light approach. A highway billboard urges drivers to "Think carpool lane." Another suggests that more kids means "more happy meals." Steele's team also
brought to bear testimonials from foster parents. One Spanish-language television spot, features members of a Latino family talking about how much fun they have had caring for
foster children. "These families talk a lot about the joy these kids bring, how much happiness you get from doing this," Steele says.
Since the ad space was either donated or discounted, the PR team could not be too choosy about where or when its ads ran. Still, they tried to target their message as much as
possible. For example, the foster system is in serious need of families that are willing to take in older kids and sibling groups. Since empty nesters are most likely to take in
such groups, the PR team mounted a poster campaign in community centers, hospitals and other places likely to reach sibilings. The message includes posters of an empty spot under
a children's swing and a cookie jar that needs to be filled. The copy urges empty nesters to fill the void.
The billboards hit the right note. "We had been using some television and print advertising, but the billboards seemed to give lift to everything else we were doing," Lewis
says. "They did not show up as a direct referral source when families came in, but I think they put a lot of positive messages out there in the community."
The results
The effort generated strong numbers for the client. The foundation got more than a 20% hike in the number of initial inquiries received during the first two quarters of fiscal
year 2003 compared with the same period in fiscal year 2002. In fiscal year 2003, the year started with 462 families, and the goal was to increase that number to 510. The actual
amount recruited and trained, however, was 674 families -- a recruitment increase of 32%.
The strong growth in the number of actual recruits far exceeded anyone's expectations. "The campaign not only helped them recruit more families," Steele says, "but the number
of families who actually went through the training and became foster families was much higher, too."
Boede&partners' poster campaign for Utah Foster Care Foundation won gold Addy awards in the 2002-03 Utah Advertising Federation Addy awards competition, and went on to win
a silver Addy award at the district competition in Denver.
Fast Facts: boede&partners
- Founded: 2001
- HQ: Salt Lake City, Utah
- Employees: 60
- Main Clients: Unisys, Network Associates, Plantronics, ClearOne, Manugistics, Utah Foster Care Foundation
- Billings (2002): $50 million (capitalized)
- Campaign time frame: 2002-2003
- Budget: Agency time was donated by boede&partners; production was donated by multiple vendors in Salt Lake City; media budget was $50,000, but Utah media outlets donated
additional placements. Outdoor media was donated by Reagan Outdoor Advertising. - Campaign staff: Lori Steele, Partner; Kyle Hendren, Account Supervisor; Lance Oscarson, Art Director; John Kiechle, Art Director; Scott Fletcher, Writer; Chip Self, Writer; Ted
Tsandes, Creative Director; Vikki Trujillo, Associate Media Director; Todd Gorzitze, Production Manager
Contacts: Kelsey Lewis, 801.303.4068, [email protected]; Lori Feld Steele, 801.257.7770, [email protected]