1. The Role of Analytics at a Public
Policy Organization
Slicing Through Idea Pollution With
Data and Narrative
Rebecca Campany
Director of Online
Communications
Brookings Institution

2. About Me
I’ve changed a lot
Pre Internet
Post Internet

3. About You
You’ve changed, too
2003 – Web Analytics Association
2012 –Digital Analytics Association
“to account for the analyst's changing role of weaving
together data from multiple sources and channels.”

4. About Brookings
Founded in 1916 by philanthropist
Robert S. Brookings
Brookings has contributed to:
» 1945 United Nations
» 1947 Marshall Plan
» 1974 Congressional Budget Office
» 1986 Tax Reform Act

5. Brookings Today
Washington, DC headquarters
» Doha Center in Qatar
» Brookings-Tsinghua Center in Beijing
» India Center – coming soon

6. ~250 Scholars

7. ~250 topics
Business and Homeland CompetitivenessGlobal Education Earned Income
Finance Security Exchange RatesK-12 Education Tax Credit
Banking Intelligence Federal ReserveNo Child Left U.S. Budget Defi
Corporate Military System Behind Domestic
Governance Technology Foreign Debt School Choice Discretionary
Corporations Missile Defense India's Economy Teachers Spending
Financial National Security Inflation U.S. Higher Estate Tax
Institutions Nonproliferation China's Currency Education Debt Limit Debat
Nuclear WeaponsBRICs
Financial Markets Energy and Tax Reform
and Services Terrorism Monetary Policy Environment Corporate Taxes
Financial Market Military
U.S. Productivity Carbon Tax U.S. Deficit
Regulation Affairs The Euro Crisis Clean Energy Reduction
Highways Weapons of Mass Trade Climate Change Committee
Regulation Destruction Trade Disputes Energy Value-Added Tax
Transportation Economics Unemployment Environment Global
Defense and Global Financial Education Environmental Development
Security Crisis Community Regulation U.S. Agency for
Arms Control U.S. Economic Colleges Natural Disasters
International
Performance Head Start Nuclear Energy

8. Dialogue of Ideas = Better Governance

9. Idea Pollution
Leaders

10. Idea Pollution
Citizens

11. Embarrassment of Riches
Paucity of KPIs
Right person; Right content; Right time
» Page views?
» Visit duration?
» Visit source?
» Visitor domain?
» Media citations?
» Social media mentions?

12. #BindersFullofWomen

13. Embarrassment of Riches
Paucity of KPIs
Right person; Right content; Right time
» Page views?
» Visit duration?
» Visit source?
» Visitor domain?
» Media citations?
» Social media mentions?

14. Traditional Marketing Plan
» Each piece of content has unique audiences
and goals
» Speed of landscape and change
» Can’t tackle things one-by-one
» Brookings.edu does not need to be the
destination
» Most effective marketers are the scholars

15. Marketing = Best Practices
» Searchable
» Shareable
» Browseable
» Enterprise Vehicles that Share Audiences
» Optimization and modeling of presentation

16. Training with Data and Anecdotes

17. Case Study
The New Republic publishes “Not Fade Away,”
Robert Kagan’s feature article dispelling the myth
of the American Decline.

18. Case Study
During the State of the Union address, President
Obama tries to temper concerns about America’s
influence in the Pacific.

19. Case Study
Foreign Policy’s blog, “The Cable” packages the story
allowing the conversation to continue and for the
information to be quickly consumed.

20. Case Study

21. My Questions for You
How can Brookings develop systems to:
» Recognize opportunity…
» vs… wasted marketing efforts
» Measure impact…
» vs… noise

22. Thank you!

23. The Role of Analytics at a Public
Policy Organization
Slicing Through Idea Pollution With
Data and Narrative
Rebecca Campany
Director of Online
Communications
Brookings Institution