Unshackle Upstate

Situation

Travers Collins & Company was retained by the Unshackle Upstate coalition to launch a branding and publicity campaign to gain the public support needed to prompt legislative change and create a climate for regional and economic growth. The coalition's purpose is to bring sensible government reforms to an area that desperately needs economic relief to spur business growth.

In addition to creating a campaign that resonated with a diverse target audience Travers Collins & Company was asked to develop a website that would be as just agile as the coalition. 

Execution

With the main message "We want our economy moving, not our people," Travers Collins & Company developed and implemented an integrated marketing campaign with savvy media materials, eye-catching creative and a content-managed website to help launch the coalition's efforts and raise awareness among Upstate residents and elected officials of the need for change. We know it takes more than just slick graphics to make a website successful. That's why every site visit is analyzed to determine how well visitors are listening and responding. We know that visitors are actually trying to communicate to us through their website actions. Therefore every user's behavior is analyzed, measured and compared against campaign goals. Then messages can be tweaked to see how even minor changes impact user behavior and produce a more effective campaign. 

Results

The campaign launch and ongoing efforts have been hugely successful with lobbyists and elected officials calling it the most effective branding of an advocacy program that they've encountered. More than 250,000 emails were received by New York State legislators via the Unshackle website, sent by citizens using provided templates. Most telling however is the coalition's first reform victory: landmark changes to workers' compensation, resulting in a 20% reduction in costs to business owners - 10% higher than hoped for.