Paid advertising, a component of the 2010 Census Integrated Communications Program, consisted of developing media schedules for creating and placing 2010 Census advertisements using the appropriate media vehicles to reach the right people at the right time in the right way. This campaign officially launched on January 17, 2010, and continued through July 4, 2010, supporting the established goals of the 2010 Census Integrated Communications Program:

1. Improve the Mail Response Rate
   • Develop tools and materials to educate and inform the public about the census form, census day, confidentiality of census information, and the benefits that can be derived from the data gathered.
   • Develop measurable strategies to maximize paid and earned media coverage of the importance of mailing back the census form.
2. Improve cooperation with enumerators
   • Disseminate messaging about cooperating with enumerators.
   • Maximize media coverage regarding cooperating with enumerators in national, local, and special interest media.
3. Improve overall accuracy and reduce the differential undercount
   • Establish local partnerships in hard-to-count areas and through the use of specialized products and services to educate the public and increase knowledge of the benefits of the 2010 Census with all target audiences.
   • Garner support from 2010 Census national and regional partners and stakeholders to serve as trusted third-party spokespeople for the 2010 Census effort by building on the campaign of “It’s In Our Hands.”
   • Establish and implement media activities in local and national media venues to increase media coverage and ensure integration and consistency on the messaging.

The 2010 Census paid advertising campaign was built upon a solid foundation of research to ensure that the messaging resonated with the targeted communities. It consisted of three phases: awareness, motivation, and support.

• Phase 1, the Awareness Phase (January to February 2010), aimed to build awareness and familiarity with the upcoming 2010 Census.
• Phase 2 marked the Motivation Phase (March to April 2010) where individuals were motivated to complete the census form and mail it back.
• Phase 3 was the Nonresponse Followup Phase (May to July 2010) in which the campaign supported nonresponse followup efforts to educate non-respondents about the enumerators who would be traveling door-to-door to obtain responses.

The U.S. Census Bureau executed 452 total advertisements in 28 languages in all 210 Designated Marketing Areas for 3,900 unique media outlets between television, radio, print, interactive, and outdoor media. The Census Bureau developed the advertisements in 28 total languages comprised of the 14 languages used in Census 2000 plus 14 additional languages added because of funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Funds received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act helped us to expand the campaign to its final state. The final 2010 Census paid advertising budget was 167 million dollars.

The Census 2010 Publicity Office attempted to reach every market across the United States and Puerto Rico, with emphasis towards hard-to-count populations. The messages revolved around three key points – the 2010 Census is easy, safe, and important. There were two 2010 Census taglines used: “It’s In Our Hands” and “We can’t move forward until you mail it back”.

Additionally, the Census Bureau formed the Joint Advertising Advisory Review Panel, which included representatives from each Race and Ethnic Advisory Committee, the 2010 Census Advisory Committee, and the Census Advisory Committee of Professional Associations. The Communications Directorate facilitated these meetings. The Joint Advertising Advisory Review Panel also existed during Census 2000; for both censuses, it enabled representatives to take pertinent information relating to the review of advertisements from start to finish back to their respective Advisory Committees.

The internal Census Bureau lessons learned for paid advertising include discussions of the many successes, including communication and integration. However, several shortcomings were also identified with recommendations for the 2020 Census. The major recommendations include:

• Awarding the contract earlier to commence contract work sooner.
• Build options into the contracts to allow for flexibility and uses for additional funds received.
• Build better tools to assess program effectiveness and develop metrics to measure progress.
• Accounting for industry inflation in the starting budget for paid media buys.

In conclusion, this assessment details that the Census 2010 Publicity Office, along with the primary contractor and subcontractors, effectively administered all components of 2010 Census paid advertising campaign. The Census Bureau received multiple awards, including the Media Week: Media Plan of the Year Awards, Interpublic Group MERGE Awards, and Summit International Marketing Awards. The 2020 Census paid advertising efforts should build upon the successes of the 2010 Census paid advertising campaign while taking recommendations and lessons learned into consideration, especially with regards to beginning earlier with an adequate budget from commencement.