Constituency Building by Kimberly Murphy, President, Berks Conservancy

1. D E L A W A R E R I V E R W A T E R S H E D F O R U M
O C T O B E R 2 0 1 4
Constituency-Building

2. Building on Themes from Last Year
 Lots of great work and interested partners on this
around the watershed
 Need for watershed-wide messaging to raise
awareness
 Identifying overarching needs will help support
multiple targets
 Using innovative approaches that span traditional
and new media will help expand opportunities
 Successful communications strategies need a
comprehensive plan

3. Presenters
 Jennifer Adkins
 Partnership for the Delaware Estuary
 Kim Murphy
 Berks Conservancy
 Sue Currier
 Delaware Highlands Conservancy
Delivery
Messaging
Research

4. Marketing & Communications Research
 Objective: Enhance the sophistication of marketing
and communications to build PDE’s and the
Delaware Estuary’s brand locally, regionally, and
nationally
 Need strategies that work at three levels:
 Building awareness of PDE projects/programs
 Increasing support for PDE as an organization
 Building affinity for the Delaware Estuary
 Need ways to measure success

5. Marketing & Communications Research
 First Realization:
We need help
 Marketing/Communications
expertise
 An outside perspective
 Second Realization:
We need data!
15 million Delaware
River Basin water users
6.7 million people
in the lower Basin
The “interested
public”?
Our 20,000
subscribers

6. Marketing & Communications Research
15 million Delaware
River Basin water users
6.7 million people
in the lower Basin
The “interested
public”?
Our 20,000
subscribers
 Tools:
 Brand Audit
 Focus Groups (2)
 Non-Users (11)
 Users (12)
 Online Survey (300)
 Interviews with Partners
(32)

7. Marketing & Communications Research
 Confirmed some things we suspected…
 Positive reputation and awareness of our “brand” among
those who know us – science, collaboration, people,
environment
 Low awareness of PDE and a negative perception of the
Delaware River and Bay among those who don’t know us
 Challenging name (unanimous across all groups!)
 Opportunities for improving communications, including:
 Our website
 Our logo
 Our publications

8. Marketing & Communications Research
 Illuminated some new things…
 Awareness of environmental groups in the region is very low,
but perceptions are generally positive
• Longer life
• Good health
• Our future as a
country
• Positive
• Healthy
• Helpful
• Future
• Health
• Fun
• Better
• Hip
• Re-use
• Dedication
• Incentive
• Reward
• Conservancy
• Education
• Fundraising
• Outdoor
• Nature
• Green
• Disorganized
• Caring
• Effective
(somewhat)
• Health
• Caring
• Motivational
• Civic
Responsibility
• Raising
Awareness
• Collaborative
• Safety
• Understanding
• Reality
key words used to describe environmental groups

9. Marketing & Communications Research
 Illuminated some new things…
 Perceptions of the Delaware River and Bay among non-users
are REALLY negative
Yuk!
Disgusting!
You can’t see
through it. It
looks like poop!
Unhealthy, I
would never
want to drink
that water,
that’s for sure
I don’t view it as
anything you want
to recreate in or
around. I view
more as for
industrial use, for
transporting goods
My basis is mostly
what I see… you see a
lot of industrial use,
you don’t see parks…
the big tug boats and
barges.
If it’s for
industry, that
means
pollution
from ships…
I see people
jet skiing in
Penn’s
Landing –
ew!

10. Marketing & Communications Research
 Illuminated some new
things…
 One of the main ways
people connect to us and
environmental action is
through their employers

11. Marketing & Communications Research
 Illuminated some new
things…
 Survey respondents (300 of
PDE’s 7,000 subscribers) are:
 Well-educated (90% college
degree; 50% graduate degree)
 On the older side (60% are
over 50) and without children
at home (almost 80%)
 Very active on social media –
79% use at least once per week

12. Marketing & Communications Research
 Lots of new questions…
 If we change our communications to reach new audiences, do
we risk losing existing ones?
 If people don’t understand “Estuary” is it better to avoid it, or
use it as an educational opportunity?
 How do we change perceptions of the Delaware River? How
do these perceptions change in other areas of the watershed?
How can we best use this information?
 Can we segment our survey responses to compare different
groups of people, gain insights into the messages that resonate
most with them?
 Can we do targeted additional surveying to reach the groups of
people not well-represented in our research?

13. Marketing & Communications Research
 What’s next?
 A multi-year communications plan for
PDE with strategies for media
relations, website enhancement, social
media and publications… and
measuring success!
 A key message platform for PDE
 Focus on building a more positive
image of the Delaware River and Bay,
including a photo contest in 2015
 New/shared research to better
understand key audiences in the
watershed?

14. J E N N I F E R A D K I N S
E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R
J A D K I N S @ D E L A W A R E E S T U A R Y . O R G
Thanks!