Burn After Reading -

The Butte area of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough frequently experiences elevated levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). The borough hoped to educate residents on this issue and the consequences, but initial communication did not result in changed behavior.

MSI was asked to come up with a more creative way to educate residents. With a tight budget, we focused our first goal on driving residents to useful information on the borough’s website.

We dug into the demographics of the area to learn more about our target audience, finding household income and educational levels were higher than in other parts of the borough; many residents worked on the North Slope where safety and environmental messaging are part of everyday life. This information helped us develop a fun campaign that used humor to deliver a technical message.

Information was mailed to every household in the Butte area. As hoped, web traffic spiked, and program directors heard directly from many residents on the effectiveness of the approach.