USDA APHIS ALB Beetle Outreach Campaign
Issues/Challenges:
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has been working to eradicate the Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB) through its ALB Cooperative Eradication Program for nearly ten years. ALB poses a threat to 1.2 billion susceptible host trees across North America, many in suburban and urban areas. Because of this, educating the general public about the potential danger of ALB has been a priority for APHIS. Sparkman + Associates, Inc. and Lindberg Group, LLC (S/L Partners) were contacted and formed a strategic partnership to conduct a successful 2004 Asian Longhorned Beetle Outreach Campaign in support of these efforts.
Strategies:
- Design the ads for the campaign in a way that utilizes white space in order to ensure that the impact of the ads has a maximum effect
- Initiate dialog with publications to bring an awareness level to the editorial and advertising sales staff to provide us with the best ad positions
- Develop an in-school education campaign aimed at increasing awareness among youth living in the areas most susceptible to infestation
Activities:
- Negotiate ad space with the Newark Star Ledger as a result of the area’s position as an infested area of the highest priority
- Motivate people in ALB-prone areas to report back to designated APHIS offices with either positive or negative reports on ALB
Results:
Since the inception of the ALB campaign, Lindberg Group has been able to bring positive innovations to the media plan. We have completed USDA Asian Longhorned Beetle Outreach Campaign and are available if there are future outbreaks because of our extensive contacts and methodology. Further, as a result of coming in substantially under budget, we have been able to use these savings as a means to expand the program in the future.