By Grace Boyle*
If you know someone who lives in the United States, you should have probably already heard about the 2010 U.S. Census. I felt like a real adult opening the envelope, ready to “offer” my household information, ballpoint pen in hand.
Looks like I’m a small percentage of eager participants in my generation this year.
As of March 10th, the struggle the U.S. Census was experiencing especially in the online realm is evident – they have fewer than 3,000 Twitter followers and 14,900 friends on Facebook.
Gen Y financial author, Peter Dunn humorously scoffs at the lack of interaction from the Census in his MediaPost column, “Are you kidding me? A grilled cheese sandwich with the image of the Virgin Mary has more followers. On top of that, the official U.S. Census website is both aesthetically abysmal and hard to navigate, not to mention that you can’t fill out your Census form online.”
Personally, I saw no marketing (to my generation in particular) for the 2010 Census. In fact, I received my form and really was surprised. That’s bad outreach. If they knew the statistics for online-use (especially in Generation Y) the Census would make an easy form to fill out, online. It’s painless, environmentally friendly and cost-effective.
The census results are important – it allows our tax dollars and government programs to reach the right communities, with specific needs gathered from the census. I only know this, because I’ve done my research. Poll a Generation Y group and they might shrug their shoulders or mention, “Why should I fill out the Census form?”
I agree with Dunn, that the Census should have focused less on Boomers as engaging Gen Y “will lead to a legion of brand advocates.” The Census is an “uptight” and “stodgy” program already, but anyone knows that properly targeted marketing can create anything to be powerful, exciting and executable.
Looks like the 2010 U.S. Census missed the mark this year with Gen Y. Better luck next year?
* Grace Boyle, is a 20-something adventurista. She lives in Boulder, CO and is the Publisher Services Manager for the tech startup, Lijit. She blogs at Small Hands, Big Ideas and tweets while she writes about the startup world, relationships, career and daily inspirations.
Hey Grace,
I totally agree that the marketing for the 2010 Census was a little…weird. I actually learned about it from a commercial on TV and was a little put off to receive a direct-mail letter from the Census department letting me know that my Census would arrive next week (why didn’t they just send the form?). Let’s do a little math here…there’s an estimated 114 million households in the US x $0.20 for bulk rate postage…
I honestly think they could have used that money on some targeted Facebook ads or, like you pointed out, engaging with people who will may not fill out the form and should (a la get out the vote campaigns for the ’04 Presidential election).
Good points, Grace!
Laura – I know, it seems crazy to us (especially as we reside online) that they spent so much money with the direct mail campaign and all that postage.
I’m glad you agree and I liked hearing experiences and ideas from other people in our generation, as well. Finally, why not have a form you could fill out online. It was a hassle for me to put it together, answer everything, then put it in my outbox to be sent and picked up by my mailman. I could have done the online form in probably 3 minutes, done. Thanks for stopping by!