Census 2010: Counting On A New Kind Of Effort

The Census 2010 is still nearly as far in the future as the previous one is in the past, but the search for a marketing team to lead the outreach campaign is about to begin in earnest. And while convincing an entire country of disparate cultures to stand up and be counted is never an easy brief, this year's effort could be more complicated than ever given the growing sensitivities—political and personal—surrounding immigration.A request for proposal in the government's search for an agency team is still several months away. However, more than two dozen agencies have met with officials from the Census Bureau in the past month to help the government develop a scope of work.The scope will be included in a draft RFP, which is expected in August. Census officials want to make sure they incorporate the latest and best communications channels in the "statement of work," said sources. For example, the government is considering mobile messaging, blogs and other Web-driven efforts this time around in addition to traditional forms of media, sources said. The overall budget is expected to be around $200 million, spread out over three years.Census officials also want to familiarize themselves with the latest audience segmentation research methods, said William Russell, the bureau's chief of contracts. Agencies interested in vying for the contract will have an opportunity to comment on the draft before a final RFP is issued in the fall. A final decision in the review won't come until next year.As always, strategy will be a critical factor in the government's selection. And this review, though still in its early stages, comes against the white-hot backdrop of a fractious national debate on immigration. As such, this will be a "complex and unique pitch," said a source. "It's a new world, it's a different administration [than in 2000] and it's political."Said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington, "We're still talking four, five years out, but this immigration thing may become more touchy between now and then. With the protests and the marches, it hasn't really been raised to this kind of level before, so that's something that needs to be handled carefully."If this is still percolating through the next presidential election," he continued, "you may have some raw feelings among immigrant groups, and that's something to be careful about."On the plus side, the basic Census questionnaire will "ask a lot fewer invasive questions, so [the campaign] should stress that," said Frey, also a research professor at the University of Michigan. "None of this stuff about income or how many toilets you have—that's going to be the other survey," known as the American Community Survey, which has been separated from the decennial census, Frey said.The preliminary agency meetings have involved big general market shops such as Young & Rubicam, McCann Erickson and Leo Burnett and specialty agencies such as Omnicom Group's Ketchum (public relations), Interpublic Group's Draft (direct marketing), Publicis Groupe-backed Burrell Communications (African-American marketing) and independent CMS (Hispanic marketing), according to sources.The meetings continue this week, with five more shops (including JWT, Ogilvy & Mather, Foote Cone & Belding and The Martin Agency) on tap, said sources. Census representative Stephen Buckner stressed that the gatherings do not give any agency a competitive edge. At this point, they're simply interested agencies—not contenders—because the review is still in its presolicitation phase.The agencies either declined comment or could not be reached. The meetings will continue through May. At the same time, bigger shops eyeing the account are already looking at potential pitch partners, said sources, with a focus on Hispanic and African-American market specialists since they're expected to play significant supporting roles. And because a yet-to-be-determined percentage of the project must be carried out by small, "disadvantaged" or minority-owned businesses, some shops are focused on independents and those that are majority-owned by their principals.Examples among Hispanic shops include Bromley, in which Publicis Groupe has a 49 percent stake; independents CMS, Lopez Negrete, Zubi and The Vidal Partnership; and Casanova Pendrill, which is 49 percent owned by IPG. Minority-owned African-American agencies include Burrell, WPP-backed UniWorld and Omnicom-backed Footsteps, each of which are 51 percent owned by its principals. As one source put it, "Everybody is going to be courting, trying to get a date to the prom."The last Census marketing effort, from 1999 to 2000, was managed by a team culled largely from what's now known as Y&R Brands. Y&R led the team, which included The Media Edge, The Bravo Group, Burson-Marsteller, Kang & Lee and G&G Advertising, an independent.The campaign they created emphasized the federal funding benefits of standing up to be counted. One TV spot, for example, depicted school children being taught in a converted closet due to overcrowding and a lack of funds. The tagline was, "This is your future. Don't leave it blank."

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Census 2010: Counting On A New Kind Of Effort

Andrew McMains

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