NEW YORK, NY – Weber Shandwick has been awarded an $866,000 contract by the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office to implement a public outreach program designed to ensure a complete and accurate 2010 Census count in the Silver State. The Nevada program includes advertising support from Sawyer Miller Advertising and Hispanic and African American outreach by Weber Shandwick’s multi-cultural firm, the Axis Agency. Weber Shandwick has subcontracted with The Ferraro Group of Reno and Las Vegas to assist in executing the plan. Weber Shandwick’s contract runs through the end of April.
Since 2007, a large team in six of Weber Shandwick’s U.S. offices has worked on the partnerships, public relations and digital aspects of reaching every resident in the country, an audience of approximately 310 million people with 2010 Census messages about filling out and mailing back the form.
The Minneapolis office of Weber Shandwick, which directs the firm’s work on the national Census effort, has assigned a separate team to lead the Nevada campaign.
Barb Iverson, president of Weber Shandwick’s Financial Services practice group, said of the win: “We are thrilled to have been awarded this contract with Nevada because we fully understand the importance of a complete count. While every state in the union has unique challenges with the decennial census, there are few states that face what Nevada faces: a population boom of more than 600,000 residents since the last census, plus one of the highest rates of unemployment, foreclosures and homelessness in the country. In our first planning meeting with Secretary of State Ross Miller and his staff in Las Vegas recently, the secretary indicated that Weber Shandwick’s knowledge and vast experience reaching hard-to-reach audiences will bring added value to Nevada’s efforts.”
The marketing and outreach plan is a multi-media effort to reach everyone living in the state, particularly populations that are traditionally undercounted. The final details will be developed in consultation with the Secretary of State’s Office, the statewide and local Complete Count Committees, and U.S. Census officials based in Nevada.