Ford Motor Company, In the Driver’s Seat to Safety: Ford Accelerates Safer Teen Driving Habits to Save Lives

In 2011, in response to growing awareness about teen driving fatalities and driver distraction, the Ford Motor Company Fund, along with the Governors Highway Safety Association, announced a $1 million expansion of the national award-winning teen safe driving initiative, Driving Skills for Life. Direct Impact was hired to plan and launch a 14-city high school tour. The shared vision was to bring a fully immersive – and locally relevant – program to high schools to raise awareness and create ongoing discussions about safe driving practices. By customizing 26 in-school events, the team reached more than 18,375 students with safe driving messages and garnered more than 3 million earned media impressions.

United Healthcare Medicare and Retirement, National Medicare Education Week

One every eight seconds – that is how many baby boomers will be turning 65 throughout the next decade. These boomers will join 49 million Americans who are currently enrolled in Medicare, many of whom struggle to understand the program, according to a 2011 survey from United Healthcare and the National Council on Aging. In response, United Healthcare with its agency partners, Burson-Marsteller and Direct Impact, created National Medicare Education Week, a public education campaign designed to help Medicare beneficiaries and their loved ones understand Medicare and how to make confident health care decisions. Efforts engaged more than 2,000 attendees at 72 events in 58 cities with almost all attendees (96 percent) saying that their understanding of Medicare had improved as a result. The campaign also generated more than 27.8 million media impressions, and 34 mayors recognized “Medicare Education Week” with city-or county-wide proclamations.

Interested in learning more about these projects? Contact us – we’d be happy to share some of the thought processes and results that made these campaigns so successful. Thanks again to everyone’s hard work.

Qualifications include:

• Strong writing and communication skills
• Top-notch organizational and multi-tasking abilities
• Personal experience with social media and an understanding of its role in business
• Understanding of the impact of strong internal communications channels
• Local or regional understanding of the media environment
• 1+ years of experience in communications and/or human resources fields ideal
• Passion for the automotive industry a plus

Roles and responsibilities will include:

• Being the on-site eyes, ears and voice of the communications team
• Acting as a liaison between the client’s facilities and corporate office and being the first line of communication to the employees
• Participating in real-time discussions with employees in various offices and answering their questions
• Identifying issues as well as opportunities for the client to further engage its employees
• Managing and tracking local “hot topics” regarding the company to ensure that it is at the forefront of the discussions
• Research, research, research – what the company’s employees are saying and what can be done to ensure satisfaction
• Report on and write articles about events and activities taking place at your location for company-wide distribution
• Write, format and distribute a monthly newsletter
• Write leadership messages and presentations to address employees with company and location-specific information
• Disseminate timely information to employees through various channels on a consistent basis
• Managing the social media and digital presence for the company’s offices and helping employees to engage across the proper channels

About Direct Impact:
Direct Impact (www.directimpact.com), established in 1998, is a leading grassroots communications consulting firm that is part of Burson-Marsteller, LLC and the WPP Group. Direct Impact is America’s largest, most experienced grassroots communications firm with clients that include major trade associations, industry groups, Fortune 500 corporations and government entities. Direct Impact is an Equal Opportunity Employer, EEO, AAE, MFDV.

How to Apply: Please submit your cover letter, resume and salary requirement to: Amy Cloessner (amy.cloessner@directimpact.com). Applicants should be available to start as early as November, 2012.

Micro-targeting Messages Key

Both political parties were open about their desire to court constituencies such as Latinos and women at the conventions. In particular in Charlotte, convention delegates, volunteers, and staff, represented a cornucopia of ethnicities, ages, opinions, and ages. The DNC touted the event as the most open and accessible convention in modern times – and the anecdotal experience on the ground illustrates it was more than just lip service. From a diverse range of nightly speakers, to media events tailored to unique audiences and geographies, the convention was full of examples of effectively delivering specific messages to targeted constituencies, all while keeping with the main convention theme, “Forward”.

Rapid Response Works

Direct rebuttals to Governor Romney’s and Congressman Ryan’s statements during their convention a week prior, were sustained and well received by attendees. The toughest attacks came from the crowd-favorite Sen. John Kerry who said people should “ask Osama bin Laden” if he’s better off now than he was four years ago.

The convention messages were direct, consistent, integrated and clear throughout every podium speech. Phrases such as “Osama bin Laden is dead,” “Arithmetic,” and “Mom in Chief” ingratiated themselves into convention attendee vernacular and generated loud and raucous cheers every night from the convention floor.

Emphasize Positions of Strength

Democrats attempted to play on their perceived strength on prevalent foreign policy and national security issues throughout the convention. Speakers, and attendees, were effusive in their gratitude towards our country’s troops and military families throughout the week – something noticeably absent from the RNC convention the week prior. U.S. House candidate and Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth was featured in a prime slot Tuesday night, and multiple veteran caucus events highlighted this theme through the week.

Look Forward but Remember the Past

Noticeably absent from the 2012 convention was fierce healthcare and rights advocate, and long-serving Massachusetts Senator, Ted Kennedy. During a touching tribute to “Teddy,” the campaign didn’t miss an opportunity to use Romney’s past- reinforcing their line of attack that he flip-flops on major issues like abortion, healthcare, etc. (see specifically the 1:50 minute mark). So much of what the President has accomplished the past four years were completed with help from Democratic leaders, past and present. Plus, bringing former President Clinton into the arena to convince the public we need four more years with Obama was risky – short term it seemed to work, time will tell if that holds true.

Today’s voters are increasingly technologically savvy.

Conventions have become tech-heavy affairs as political parties seek to share the convention experience on television, online and digitally. In Tampa, the stage showcased 13 LED screens to enhance the program through live video streaming, social network feeds and panoramic and collage images. AT&T and Verizon installed additional hardware and supplementary mobile cell towers to handle the intense data traffic. To augment the mobile experience, AT&T also created a Tampa2012 smartphone app. Charging stations for mobile devices were in abundance so delegates and journalists could stay connected with each other and the outside world.

Traditional media saturation is not an understatement.

15,000 credentialed media representatives representing every continent except Antarctica descended on Tampa for 24-7 coverage – a press corps three times the number of delegates and alternate delegates present and twice the size of the royal wedding of William and Catherine. Despite the unparalleled media presence, television viewership for the 2012 convention was significantly less than in 2008. Major news networks limited their coverage of the convention to three hours during primetime each night.

Social media reigns when it comes to engaging people and amplifying messages.

While TV viewership was down, the convention saw much success in online viewership and on social networks – further indication of the steady movement from traditional media to online and social media. The RNC’s “Convention Without Walls” tapped in to multiple social media platforms through a customized YouTube page, Google+ Hangout chats, Microsoft Skype stations, Twitter, Facebook “Photo Spots” and others. Over the three-day course of the convention, there were more than 4 million tweets, 2.5 million-plus YouTube views and 300,000 hours of streaming video viewed.

Old-fashioned networking is still essential and relevant.

The convention drew upwards of 50,000 guests to the Tampa Bay area, including media, delegates, elected officials and other key influentials. Ultimately, most interactions happened outside the Tampa Bay Times Forum – from one-on-one conversations in hotel lobbies to bartering for tickets to concerts to rubbing elbows at exclusive receptions and parties – providing invaluable opportunities for in-person networking, relationship-building and creating new opportunities to amplify your business, cause or organization.

Appealing to the Latino and female vote is critical.

Both parties are heavily courting Latino and women voters this November, and diversity and women were front and center in Tampa. The GOP displayed for the world its strong farm team of Hispanic and female candidates, including U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz (TX) and Utah congressional candidate Mia Love, as well as rock stars and rising stars like former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Governor Nikki Haley (SC), Governor Susana Martinez (NM), Senator Marco Rubio (FL), Governor Brian Sandoval (NV) and Senator Kelly Ayotte (NH). Mitt Romney’s son, Craig, even went so far as to deliver his remarks in fluent Spanish.

Not everything can be perfectly scripted.

As much as modern day conventions are highly choreographed affairs, some things are out of the Party’s control – cue Mother Nature; Tropical Storm Isaac; unfiltered Twitter conversations; Clint Eastwood and his empty chair; Code Pink; and Ron Paul fanatics. And, with the proliferation of rapid response, bracketing and surrogate operations, campaigns stand at the ready to take advantage of any unscripted opportunity.

To view more photos from the Republican National Convention please visit our Facebook page.

Politics is an emotional business. Our political beliefs are closely tethered to our deepest moral values and are carefully constructed from the personal experiences that make up our lives. And when you combine all those experiences, values and ideals, you get a lot of one thing: emotion.

Emotions are important for candidates and political operatives to understand because they drive our behaviors as human beings. Fear, confidence, hope, skepticism – they all serve as catalysts for our actions. In an election year, it’s particularly important for us to understand the sentiments surrounding our candidate, platform or issue so we can better anticipate the realities we are likely to face in November – and thus the environment we will likely inhabit for the next two to four years.

As this election cycle continues to unfold, our digital mobilization firm, Crowdverb, is at the forefront of helping us more fully understand emotions and thus anticipate voter behaviors. As Mitt Romney announced Paul Ryan as his running mate early Saturday morning, the presumptive republican nominee unleashed a tidal wave of emotion on voters – and Crowdverb and BehaviorMatrix were there to gather data and analyze emotions for a comprehensive report.

Burson-Marsteller’s chief digital strategist, Dallas Lawrence, gave an analysis of the findings for Forbes.com, and Crowdverb will continue to update its data and other findings in the coming weeks via its Political Belief Index. The next few months are bound to be emotion filled and action packed, and we’re excited to see how this type of information will complement traditional campaign insights provided by polling and publican opinion research.

There’s no denying that politics is an emotional roller coaster. We’re buckled in and ready for a wild ride.

If you follow us on Twitter and Facebook, you might have heard rumblings today about some sort of a shark attack at our D.C. offices. I know what you’re thinking – we’re nowhere near the ocean, and sharks only grace the waters of the Potomac sometimes. But what you may (or should) be aware of is that next Monday kicks off Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.

We’re all big fans of Shark Week in our offices. But what we’re even bigger fans of is seeing companies seize the opportunity to engage the local community.

Starting this past weekend, @DiscoveryComm asked its neighbors in the greater D.C. area to tweet in asking for a #ChompieAttack. Who is Chompie you might ask? Your run of the mill neighborhood shark. For every Chompie Attack, he visits a local business and brings lunch from California Tortilla for the entire crew. DI was fortunate enough to be Chompie’s second stop this week, and our staff couldn’t have been more excited.

But burritos and sharks aside, the important takeaway here is that these simple community interactions, the face-to-face conversations and personal touches are what builds lasting loyalty to brands and corporations.

Joins with CBI, Localis to discuss growing importance of local outreach in UK

Direct Impact (DI), the UK’s leading grassroots communications firm, recently joined with the CBI to host an event called ‘Delivering Localism’ in the firm’s London Office, which examined how recent policy changes are impacting the way companies and officials connect with local communities.

“Localism is at the heart of our government, and as we’ve seen recently, there is more focus on driving powers away from the centre and into local communities,” said Andrew Cumpsty, managing director of Direct Impact in the UK. “The Localism Act has helped enshrine this idea into law and this carries significant implications for the business community.”

Event speakers, which included CBI Senior Policy Advisor Mark Pawsey MP and Localis Chief Executive Alex Thomson, spoke at length about how localism’s growing prominence could impact business, and in turn, how corporations can position themselves more effectively to affect real change in the local communities where they do business.

The event was attended by more than 50 business leaders, many of which commented on how timely it was for Direct Impact to bring its grassroots campaign model to the UK.

Direct Impact, a leading grassroots communications firm, seeks Communications Specialists to work with one of its largest clients as liaisons between the client’s corporate office and its facility in Lima, Ohio. This is a contract position for 2012 with the possibility of extension based on company needs.

Qualifications include:

• Strong writing and communication skills
• Top-notch organizational and multi-tasking abilities
• Personal experience with social media and an understanding of its role in business
• Understanding of the impact of strong internal communications channels
• Local or regional understanding of the media environment
• 1+ years of experience in communications and/or human resources fields ideal
• Passion for the automotive industry a plus

Roles and responsibilities will include:

• Being the on-site eyes, ears and voice of the communications team
• Acting as a liaison between the client’s facilities and corporate office and being the first line of communication to the employees
• Participating in real-time discussions with employees in various offices and answering their questions
• Identifying issues as well as opportunities for the client to further engage its employees
• Managing and tracking local “hot topics” regarding the company to ensure that it is at the forefront of the discussions
• Research, research, research – what the company’s employees are saying and what can be done to ensure satisfaction
• Report on and write articles about events and activities taking place at your location for company-wide distribution
• Write, format and distribute a monthly newsletter
• Write leadership messages and presentations to address employees with company and location-specific information
• Disseminate timely information to employees through various channels on a consistent basis
• Managing the social media and digital presence for the company’s offices and helping employees to engage across the proper channels

About Direct Impact
Direct Impact (www.directimpact.com), established in 1998, is a leading grassroots communications consulting firm that is part of Burson-Marsteller, LLC and the WPP Group. Direct Impact is America’s largest, most experienced grassroots communications firm with clients that include major trade associations, industry groups, Fortune 500 corporations and government entities. Direct Impact is an Equal Opportunity Employer, EEO, AAE, MFDV.

How to Apply

Please submit your cover letter, resume and salary requirement to: Amy Cloessner (amy.cloessner@directimpact.com). Applicants should be available to start as early as May 2012.

Just a few weeks after announcing our acquisition of digital management and advocacy firm Crowdverb, we are proving this is indeed an exciting time to roll up your sleeves and delve into the powerful world of grassroots communications.

Today we host “Modern Mobilization: Where Traditional and Digital Converge” to give clients, colleagues and industry enthusiasts a first-hand glimpse into the next generation of grassroots communications, brewing right here at Direct Impact.

And there is no subject matter more poignant, or more controversial for that matter, than the 2012 election. With this as our backdrop, we will for the first time showcase our ability to capture data, analyze trends and predict outcomes that will forever influence how, where and why we implement advocacy campaigns.

From capturing data to predict Mitt Romney’s running mate to analyzing on some of the most burning questions about our country, submitted and analyzed in real time, this event will be much more than a brain teaser for the most astute data junkies and grassroots aficionados. This is our debut of the new world of grassroots communications as we see it taking shape, where traditional and digital strategies converge to influence a new generation of campaigns that are smarter, more targeted and strategically more powerful than campaigns of yesteryear.

Do you know how to predict Romney’s running mate? Can you instantaneously pull data and trends to answer some of the most relevant questions of this day? Can you do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that?

Stop back tomorrow to learn who Romney will choose as his right hand man. And while you’re at it, take time to explore how our approach can transform the way you conduct local outreach. We are on a mission to transform the power of local, and we would like to welcome you aboard.

Direct Impact is proud to announce its acquisition of Crowdverb, a digital management and advocacy firm based in Seattle, Washington. The alignment will transform how traditional grassroots campaigns are led –and won – by using proprietary technology to complement the suite of traditional offerings Direct Impact has developed and refined over the last two decades.

Crowdverb specializes in using an intensely data-driven approach to provide cost-effective, highly scalable mobilization of activists to impact issues and legislation, manage reputations and promote products. From digital campaign strategy and management to exclusive technology products and partnerships, Crowdverb complements the fundamentals of traditional advocacy.

Founding partners Cyrus Krohn, Todd Herman and Sally Poliak have deep strategic communications, advocacy and digital experience, and all have worked at the intersection of politics and technology. Krohn, a veteran of CNN, Slate Magazine and Yahoo, and Herman, a veteran of Microsoft, served successive terms leading digital strategy for the Republican National Committee. Poliak is a leading Washington state communications consultant and a recipient of the 2010 Stevie Award for Women in Business.

“This acquisition adds depth to how we develop, execute, monitor and adapt our grassroots programs,” said Nicole Cornish, CEO of Direct Impact. “Crowdverb brings an acute understanding of the power of traditional advocacy, along with a unique knowledge of how to translate and grow that power exponentially online. This acquisition will allow us to formalize this important convergence and provide unmatched service to clients.”

“We are thrilled to build on the work that Direct Impact has done for the past two decades on the ground by adding a very strategic presence in the digital mobilization space,” said Cyrus Krohn, co-founder of Crowdverb. “Direct Impact is a true pioneer in the advocacy field and we are eager to join them as we build a suite of hybrid online and offline offerings that exploit the very best strategies out there today.”

For additional updates, follow @directimpactgr and @crowdverb.