OUR NORTHWESTDECEMBER 11, 2008

Katie Davidson Christian Kollgaard Eleanor Liebhaber

Kaila Trout Brandon SatyCrimson Communication™

Our Northwest

“I would revisit this site. It is good leisurely reading, has

topics people would find interesting, and it’s decent

for local news.”

- Focus group participant, October 30, 2008.

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Introduction

Our Northwest seeks to inform and promote environmental issues facing communities and people in the Northwest region.

Crimson Communication conducted research to assist the creative team at Our Northwest in creating a clear identity for their multi-media website.

Currently, Our Northwest is transitioning from a blog to a multi-media website.

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Our Northwest’s HomepageCrimson Communication™

Situational Analysis

Our Northwest’s

Mission Statement:

“to inform, enrich, and

inspire listeners of Northwest

Public Radio, residents of

the Columbia River Basin, and current visitors and users of the website.”

Started June 2008 by Mary Hawkins

Lack of public awareness Result: Hindered development

Lack of partnership with WSU Result: Disconnected with staff

and faculty Result: Cannot fulfill mission

statement Other websites

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Strengths and Weaknesses

Weaknesses: Operated by single

individual with the help of interns

Inconsistent content updates

Strengths: Connection with high-

profile radio Partners with WSU

extensions

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Research Methods

Three Focus Groups October 15,

2008 to November 12, 2008

Pizza incentive One in-depth

interview Online Surveys

Letter of Intent Crimson Communication™

Interested in the environment?Want to help make a difference

in your community?Crimson Communication is looking

for Focus Group Participants!

October 15 at 5:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m., CADD 218/220

orOctober 16 at 5:30 p.m., CADD

218/220

If interested, please email crimsoncommunication@gmail.com

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Findings for Focus Group

Awareness Ten participants occasionally listen to NWPR One participant had heard of Our Northwest

Design and Layout Too many links and resources Like idea of adding more podcasts and video clips

Content Easy to read and understand Enjoyed the stories Preferred shorter stories

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Limitations of Focus Group

Subjective interpretations Difficult to understand participants’

comments and ideas Cannot generalize Design changes

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Findings for Survey

Survey Respondent Contribution Interest

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Findings for SurveyCrimson Communication™

Limitations for Survey

Response Rate was only 20% Length of our survey Depth of survey Limited to only six departments Time constraints

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Survey Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions: No one had heard of

Our Northwest from the website, and a very small percentage had heard of Our Northwest

Many people are willing to contribute to the site, even though they had never heard of the website before the survey

Recommendations Broadcast more about

Our Northwest on NWPR

Provide contact information on radio broadcasts

Provide search engine on website

Include more information about Northwest region that is west of the Cascades, instead of just east

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Focus Group Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusion: Awareness level is

low Site is cluttered DIY articles are

preferred

Recommendations: Advertise through

print, radio, event and media sources

Reduce number of links

Include a search bar

Weekly updated stories

Include more multimedia features

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Campaign Plan

Goal 1: To increase the usage of Our Northwest among WSU staff and faculty and the Pullman community by 50% from n=423 visits per week to n=635 visits per week by December 2009.

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Campaign Plan

Objective 1: To have 10 percent (n=2,526) of the Pullman population (n=25,262) be aware of Our Northwest by December 2009.

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Campaign Plan

Strategy 1: By utilizing various mediums through multiple media outlets to inform community members about Our Northwest and what they offer.

Press release Advertisements Public Service Announcements

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Campaign Plan

Strategy 2: By increasing Our Northwest’s community involvement at events that pertain to their mission statement.

Farmer’s Market Sponsor an academic event Flyers in utility bills

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Campaign Plan

Objective 2: Increase the awareness of Our Northwest among faculty and staff of the targeted colleges, Agricultural Sciences, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Engineering, Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Health Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine, from 16.9 percent (n=62) to 50 percent (n=182) by December 2009.

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Campaign Plan

Strategy #1: By targeting Washington State University faculty and staff that listen to Northwest Public Radio and increase their awareness of Our Northwest via the broadcasts.

Of the faculty and staff surveyed, who had previously heard of Our Northwest, 100 percent of them reported hearing of Our Northwest from the Northwest Public Radio broadcasts.

Generating more press releases and PSAs Weekly Fact

 

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Campaign Plan

Strategy #2: By advertising on a variety of WSU’s websites in order to increase the awareness of Our Northwest among WSU staff and faculty throughout the campus.

Press release to WSU Today Link on WSU Today

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Campaign Plan

Objective #3: Reach out to WSU faculty and staff in the targeted colleges and increase the number of those faculty and staff members that have a high interest in contributing in the website from 5.6 percent (n=20) to 20 percent (n=73).

  

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Campaign Plan

Strategy #1: By providing information about Our Northwest at events hosted by the targeted colleges of Agricultural Sciences, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Engineering, Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences, Health Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine.

Attend academic events Pamphlets Links on other websites

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Campaign Plan

Strategy #2: By sending quarterly updates via email in the months of March, June, September and December to faculty and staff of targeted colleges and request contributions of stories, images, videos, podcasts and even hosting an online discussion to the website.

E-mail list of WSU faculty and staff Compile quarterly topics

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Timeline

February 2009: Flyers in utility bills

May 2009: Attended three academic events. Start attending Farmer’s Market

June 2009: Flyers in water bills

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* Begin as soon as possible

Questions or CommentsCrimson Communication™