Advocates all face at least one common marketing gap: knowing whether their messages are hitting the right audiences the right way. No small challenge, particularly as issues evolve and communications technologies shift. Many groups default to talking louder in hopes they will be better heard; others invest in sharpening their point and understanding their key audiences.
One such investor is the League of American Bicyclists, which recently hired Bernuth & Williamson on behalf of all bike advocates. Anyone who has spent time in an American city in the past 5 years has noticed the growth of bike lanes, bike events, bike-share programs, and even bikes in unrelated advertisements. By any measure, advocates for increased bicycling have made huge progress. But had bicycling advocates adjusted their message?
Our colleague Douglas Meyer worked with the League to help clarify where cycling issues stand with the legislators and regulators they need to reach, as well as with the advocates themselves. Combining in-depth interviews and iPad surveys, Douglas was able to paint a compelling picture, one that suggested new approaches over old tropes. The League’s own blog, as well as a leading Portland bike blog tells the story of how Douglas’s stakeholder research has had an immediate — and very useful — impact.