GOVERNMENT OF CANADA “WORKERS” ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN: PRE-CAMPAIGN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AND QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY REPORT
-Executive Summary-

Prepared for: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

Contract Number: G9547-090011/001/CY
POR Number: POR 045-09
Date of Contract Award: 11/05/2009
Date Field Work Completed: March 10, 2010
Cost (including GST): $119,293.65

For more information please contact HRSDC at: nc-por-rop-gd@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca

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Prepared by:
The Strategic Counsel
21 St. Clair Ave E., Ste. 1100
Toronto, Ontario M4T 1L9
Tel: (416) 975-4465 Fax: (416) 975-1883
Email: info@thestrategiccounsel.com
Website: www.thestrategiccounsel.com

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Strategic Counsel is pleased to present this report on the findings from a combined qualitative and quantitative research project undertaken to ensure that the Economic Action Plan (EAP) campaign objectives were realized. The research focussed both on the development of the campaign television creative, as well as the evaluation of the campaign itself using the standardized ACET survey tool.

The research was commissioned through HRSDC, and the total value of the contract is $119,293.65 (including GST).

Political Neutrality Certification

The Strategic Counsel certifies that this report and all final deliverables associated with this research project comply with the political neutrality requirement in Section 6.2.4 of the Communications Policy Public Opinion Research (POR) Procedures (June 2009).

Donna Nixon, Partner, The Strategic Counsel

A. Background and Research Objectives

Announced on January 27th 2009, Canada’s Economic Action Plan (EAP, Budget 2009) is designed to stimulate the economy, restore economic confidence and provide immediate support to Canadians. HRSDC is a major player in implementing the plan with 18 measures included in the EAP. Advertising is a key component of the overall EAP communications strategy, designed to help build awareness of the EAP at the national level and contribute to take-up of EAP measures at the local/regional level.

An EAP advertising campaign has been designed with the following objectives:

• Raise awareness of the EAP at the national level, and specifically income support and skills and training measures;
• Contribute to take up of measures primarily at the local and regional levels;
• Demonstrate that the Government of Canada is serving and helping Canadians;
• Demonstrate competency in implementing the plan;
• Contribute to building confidence in the economy; and
• Promote use of web/self serve, and ensure links from EAP site to program-specific fulfillment sites.

This research programme was aimed at ensuring the above-noted campaign objectives were met with respect to the development of the campaign creative as well as the evaluation of the campaign itself.

In order to meet the objectives, and as requested by the Project Authority, the research was undertaken in two parts as follows:

• Project 1: Qualitative focus testing of a television creative concept; and
• Project 2: Post-campaign quantitative telephone survey using the ACET research tool to evaluate the campaign.

B. Methodology

In order to successfully address the objectives of the study, for Project 1 a series of nine in-location focus groups (three in each of Trois-Rivières, Vancouver and Toronto) and two on-line focus groups were conducted to test reaction to a television advertisement produced by the Government of Canada and intended to inform Canadians of the various programs related to income support, skills and training, under the auspices of Canada’s Economic Action Plan (EAP).

All groups were conducted between December 1st and December 4th, 2009. The in-location focus groups were conducted among the general public and comprised a cross-section of the population by income level, education and occupation. The three groups were segmented by age: 18 to 30 years, 31 to 50 years and those over 50 years of age. The online focus groups included participants from various locations across Canada who indicated, in pre-screening, that they had either been unemployed over the last 12 months (excluding seasonally unemployed) or felt vulnerable with respect to their job security. A cross section by age and education were included in these groups. Detailed recruitment screeners can be found in Appendix A.

Each of the groups was segmented as follows:

The groups were each approximately one hour in length. Up to 10 participants were recruited for each group in order to ensure attendance of at least eight to 10 in each group. According to our Standing Offer submission, a $70.00 incentive was paid to all participants. The reader should note that the findings from focus groups are not statistically reliable and, unlike national surveys, cannot be extrapolated to the population at large. Nevertheless, focus groups are highly effective research tools for detecting subtleties in reactions and opinion.

The Project 2 portion of the research called for a nationally representative telephone survey of the general population to be completed according to Advertising Campaign Evaluation Tool (ACET) guidelines. A questionnaire of approximately 10 minutes in duration was administered based on the ACET tool with some revisions to address specific issues related to the campaign and/or the target audience.

Prior to the launch of the field component, a total of 20 pre-tests were completed (10 in English and 10 in French) on March 3, 2010. A pre-test was completed in order to ensure that all of the skips were working as needed, to confirm there were no issues with language, flows or sequencing and to gauge the overall clarity of the survey instrument. No revisions were made to the survey instrument as a result of the pre-test.

A total of 1000 Canadians, aged 18 or older, were surveyed from March 4th to March 10th, 2010, with a response rate of 12%, and the regional sample and margin of error are shown below:

During the data analysis stage of the study the general population data was weighted by region and age in order to be proportional to the actual population distribution in Canada according to the latest available Statistics Canada census results.

C. Key Findings

The key findings of the qualitative portion of this research program are as follows:

• Overall, the “Workers” ad was generally very well received and participants agreed that the message was an important one for the Government of Canada to relay, especially at this time. Most participants also concurred that the ad conveyed a sense of optimism, reassurance and support.
• The ad imparted a strong and clear message, underscoring that help is available. Notably, with respect to message takeaway, participants’ responses suggested the ad was effective on two levels – generating both an emotional and a rational response from the audience. Participants felt the comforting tone of the ad, in addition to the programs listed, worked well to emphasize that unemployed/laid off workers are not alone AND that there are tools/resources available to them.
• The call-to-action was also perceived to be effective.
• Recall of the specific programs listed in the ad is fairly good, although understanding of what they are is poor, especially with respect to benefits for self-employed persons and work sharing.
• Pacing of the ad was an issue, although with repeated exposure it seemed to diminish (somewhat) as a concern. At the same time, some participants thought that the overly “cheery” tone of the ad, especially at the start, was off-putting.
• Many felt the URL and the phone number were not sufficiently visible for the duration of the ad.
• The Finance “People” EAP ad and the “Workers” ad could be run simultaneously, in rotation. In general, they complement each other, although the “Workers” ad is viewed as having more specific, concrete information.

D. Conclusions

NOTE: Since there was no analysis required for the quantitative portion of this project, only qualitative conclusions and recommendations are elaborated upon in this section.

Upon completion of all of the focus testing, there are only a few minor issues that could be addressed with respect to the television ad which would improve the effectiveness of the ad in engaging the target audience as well as improving message impact and recall.

• To the extent possible, slow down the pacing of the ad – the pacing should be dialled back only slightly as the more energized look of the ad (connoting progress, movement, action) is a positive.
• Modify the tone of the ad, early on, to reflect and acknowledge the difficulties and stress facing those who are jobless – maintaining a cheery, upbeat tone is, however, critical to the emotional response generated by the ad and thus any changes made should not undermine the “optimistic” atmosphere created via the images, music and movement.
• Retain the supers on screen slightly longer and/or make them larger – visibility of the supers is an issue and could be addressed by increasing the size or duration on screen.
• Retain the URL and 1-800 number on screen for a longer period of time – as mentioned in relation to the supers, this issue could be also be addressed simply by making them more prominent.

MORE INFORMATION

Supplier Name: The Strategic Counsel
PWGSC Contact Number: G9547-090011/001/CY
Contract Award Date: 11/05/2009
To obtain more information on this study, please e-mail nc-por-rop-gd@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca