Soil Campaign History and Market Research

Campaign History. According to the scientists at Maine DEP, soil erosion holds the greatest threat to water quality in Maine. Previous research indicated that soil erosion is not even on the general public's radar screen as a water pollutant. This knowledge suggested the need to raise public awareness on the issue.

In the summer 2000, the DEP used the expertise gained from the Eight Simple Steps campaign, along with various education opportunities, and started a second awareness campaign focused on soil erosion. This campaign was even more aligned with standard social marketing techniques.

The soil campaign began with the DEP putting out a Request for Proposals, this time for a "Pilot Soil Erosion Campaign." In November 2000, an advertising and a marketing firm were hired to develop and implement the campaign.

Market Research
With the existing data on the present views of the target audience, the DEP was able to jump right into working on the issue. The advertising company developed test logos and slogans, which the market research company used when conducting focus groups. The focus groups provided invaluable insight (see page 6 of Market Discisions report) into the target audience's perspectives, values, and motivation. Without the focus groups, the campaign would not have been as successful as it was. Armed with the focus group results, the final outreach pieces were developed. They included radio, newspaper and direct mail post cards.

In April of 2001, a number of communities in the Central Maine area were targeted in a 4-week trial campaign. The communities selected had a good representation of the state's demographics. Two of the towns received direct mail pieces and the others did not. This allowed for a comparison and evaluation of the effectiveness of the direct mail pieces compared to the other two marketing venues.

At the end of the four weeks, the marketing firm conducted a statistically valid phone survey of the households in the targeted communities. The results (see page 9 of Market Decisions report) indicated that the campaign pieces were effective at raising awareness by 12%. Unfortunately, it was impossible to measure change in behavior due to the short time period. The survey results also showed that the way the direct mail postcards were used was not as effective as the radio and newspaper ads. However, it was determined that the postcards would be more effectively used in local grass roots efforts by watershed or lake associations.

Equipped with these results, the DEP has two choices: spend more money on tweaking the materials to make them more effective, or use them as is. Upon the recommendation of the marketing and advertising firms, the materials were used as is based on their proven effectiveness and the program's limited budget.

In August 2002, with a limited budget, the DEP did a targeted soil erosion campaign in communities with active 319 projects, TMDLs, or active environmental associations. At the end of the campaign, the DEP again evaluated their effectiveness with a phone survey conducted by a professional market research firm. The results of the survey indicated that the campaign was successful in raising awareness. Of the 21% who remembered seeing or hearing the ads, 42% correctly identified a behavior (BMP) that was encouraged in the campaign. Of the 23% who said they had done something to prevent soil, 73% named a behavior that was encouraged by the campaign. The results were greatly improved over the previous three years of surveys, proving the effectiveness of the campaign materials in raising awareness and likely in changing behavior.

For more information about the NPS Soil Campaign or other outreach efforts, please contact Kathy Hoppe, Maine DEP, 1235 Central Drive, Presque Isle, ME 04769,
(207) 764-0477.

NPS Outreach

Soil Campaign History and Market Research