The decennial census is an extraordinary initiative and an extremely complex undertaking that requires the participation of every person in the country. An effective communications strategy is critical to its success and assists in obtaining a complete and accurate count of the nation’s increasingly diverse and rapidly growing population. Communications strategies must create awareness about the census and motivate each household to fill out and return the census questionnaire.

The 2010 Census Integrated Communications Program was developed in an effort to build on the success of the Census 2000 Partnership and Marketing Program, which showed that utilizing a paid advertising campaign for the first time supplemented by a strong partnership program, helped achieve the reversal of a three - decade long decline in mail response rates of the decennial census. Upon this success, the Census Bureau worked with an advertising agency, DraftFCB, as the primary contractor along with a group of thirteen subcontractors, to develop a communications campaign for the 2010 Census.

The goals and objectives of the 2010 Census Integrated Communication Program were established as follows:

Objective 1.1

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.

Objective 1.2

Develop measurable strategies to maximize paid and earned media coverage of the importance of mailing back the census form.

Objective 2.1

Disseminate messaging about cooperating with enumerators.

Objective 2.2

Maximize media coverage regarding cooperating with enumerators in national, local and special interest media.

Objective 3.1

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.

Objective 3.2

Garner support from 2010 Census national and regional partners and stakeholders to serve as third-party spokespeople for the 2010 Census effort by building on the campaign of “Its In Our Hands.”

Objective 3.3

Establish and implement media activities in local and national media venues to increase media coverage, and ensure integration and consistency on the messaging.