Newcomer Services Advertising Creative Testing Executive Summary

Prepared for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Supplier name: Earnscliffe Strategy Group
Contract number: B8815-220080/001/CY
Contract value: $55,297.40 (including HST)
Award date: July 26, 2021
Delivery date: September 23, 2021

Registration number: POR 027-21

For more information on this report, please contact Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada at: IRCC.COMMPOR-ROPCOMM.IRCC@cic.gc.ca

Ce rapport est aussi disponible en français.

Copyright

This public opinion research report presents the results of an online survey conducted by Earnscliffe Strategy Group on behalf of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. The quantitative research was conducted in August of 2021.

Cette publication est aussi disponible en français sous le titre: Évaluation de concepts publicitaires sur les services aux nouveaux arrivants sommaire

This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes only. Prior written permission must be obtained from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. For more information on this report, please contact Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada at IRCC.COMMPOR-ROPCOMM.IRCC@cic.gc.ca. or at:

Communications Branch
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Jean Edmonds Tower South
365 Laurier Ave W
Ottawa ON K1A 1L1

Catalogue Number: Ci4-232/2022E-PDF
International Standard Book Number (ISBN): 978-0-660-41978-7

Related publications (registration number: POR 027-01):

Catalogue Number: Ci4-232/2022F-PDF (Final Report, French)
ISBN: 978-0-660-41979-4

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, 2021

Executive summary

Earnscliffe Strategy Group (Earnscliffe) is pleased to present this report to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) summarizing the results of the quantitative research conducted to test newcomer services advertising concepts.

Despite the Newcomers Services advertising campaign being utilized since 2009, many newcomers to Canada are unaware of the services that all permanent residents can access, free of charge, to help them settle in Canada. The newcomer services advertising campaign’s purpose is to increase awareness of and participation in these services, which include employment-related services, information and orientation services, community connections services, language assessment and training, mentorship, and more.

The overarching objective of this research is to determine which creatives (and elements of those creatives) most positively resonate with newcomers to Canada aged 25-60, so that IRCC can effectively construct communications and marketing material resulting in an increase in awareness and utilization of available newcomer services.

IRCC would like to understand which creatives overall, and what sub-components of those creatives most positively resonate with newcomers. The research findings will also provide guidance to IRCC on how best to construct effective communications and marketing material which will increase awareness and utilization of newcomer services. The contract value for this project was $55,297.40 including HST.

To meet these objectives, Earnscliffe was commissioned to conduct a quantitative exercise involving an online survey of 741 newcomers to Canada (in the past five years), 25 to 60 years of age. The online survey was conducted using our data collection partner, Leger’s, proprietary online panel. To reach the desired number of newcomers, online panelists from Asking Canadians, Decision Point, and Dynata were also invited to complete the survey. The survey was conducted from August 6^th-15^th, 2021 in English and in French, and was an average of 10 minutes long. The data was not weighted as no fulsome and recent profile of this population is available, and the demographic breakdown of respondents was in line with what is generally known about this group. Because the online sample is comprised of those who initially self-select for participation in Leger’s panel, no estimates of sampling error can be calculated, and the results cannot be described as statistically projectable to the target population. The treatment here of the non-probability sample is aligned with the Standards for the Conduct of Government of Canada Public Opinion Research for Online Surveys.

Key findings

• The same messages rank highest on ease of understanding and strength of call-to-action. “Get help settling and working in Canada” and “Newcomer services can help you build a life in Canada” are selected as the easiest to understand (by 40% and 42%, respectively) and have the strongest call-to-action (29% and 18%, respectively).
• “Newcomer services” is the easiest name to understand. Over three-quarters (78%) of respondents favour “Newcomer services” over “Settlement services” (18%).
• Ad tone preferences are varied. While the majority of respondents prefer an ad that is original/catchy (61%), uses images of real people (55%) and is bright/colourful (50%), preferences are more divided over whether an ad should use a testimonial (48%) versus a professional voice (35%), or if an ad should contain little (46%) or detailed (43%) information.
• Newcomers prefer the Phosphate font. Forty-four percent of respondents like Phosphate the most, over Britannic Bold (31%) and Barricada (25%).
• The Photo concepts are the most favourable among the concepts tested. The majority of newcomers say that the concepts Photo v2 (54%) and Photo (51%) are their 1^st or 2^nd choices.
• Respondents most often select their favourite due to their opinion that it is visually appealing. However, those who prefer the Photo concepts are more likely to say they like it as it is family related, whereas being informative and easy to understand are top reasons for those who prefer the Phone or Updated 2021 concepts.
• Approximately half or more like all the attributes tested for each of the four pairs of concepts. Indeed, all the concepts perform well on being easy to read/understand, being trustworthy, having the right tone, targeting the right people, and being memorable/attractive. Consistent with the overall favourability rankings, the Photo concepts perform better on all measures and the Updated 2021 concepts perform more poorly.

Research Firm: Earnscliffe Strategy Group Inc. (Earnscliffe)
Contract Number: B8815-220080/001/CY
Contract award date: July 26, 2021

I hereby certify as a Representative of Earnscliffe Strategy Group that the final deliverables fully comply with the Government of Canada political neutrality requirements outlined in the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada and Procedures for Planning and Contracting Public Opinion Research. Specifically, the deliverables do not include information on electoral voting intentions, political party preferences, standings with the electorate or ratings of the performance of a political party or its leaders.

Signed: Doug Anderson, Principal, Earnscliffe