GIS and the 2020 Census: Modernizing Official Statistics

The previous chapter stressed the critical importance of developing a census dissemination strategy and its implementation through a dissemination program to promote the use and benefit of census data. A key component of the dissemination program is the marketing of census data and products. This component requires a dissemination data policy that guides the NSO on any data pricing, data formats, and measures to protect data privacy. The organization also needs to consider methods in which to conduct a marketing campaign either alone or with possible partners. Generally, NSOs initiate communications activities in the buildup to and execution of the census but begin with intense follow-up communications once the enumeration has been completed. In this chapter, we will focus on the post-enumeration promotion and marketing of census products as part of the dissemination phase activities and how GIS can add value.

Census marketing activities aim to promote to and inform a wide range of potential users about the availability and access of census data and products. The ultimate objective is to raise awareness about the importance of census and statistical data. A marketing campaign generally focuses on three main elements: identifying the target audience to whom census products are marketed; choosing media channels; and developing the messages to best engage the community.

We also need to consider which media and mode will be needed to help us best present statistical information and facilitate its access, including the use of the data. We need to understand the market demand for the type of data that is most requested and the level of geography, as well as access (apps, maps, web, and mobile).

All products that are developed must also meet brand standards and require the supporting systems that are appropriate for the selected channels of communication.

Most statistical agencies have a marketing unit in charge of promoting census products, communicating with the media, and maintaining a relationship with the data user community. Typically, the data user community consists of citizens, civil society, academia, research organizations, government agencies, and the private sector, each with their own unique needs. The marketing unit must promote census data and products in a user-friendly way, increasingly with a compelling message,¹ so that the user community can be engaged and encouraged to use statistics. This unit manages and conducts communication campaigns that raise the profile of the census and the NSO itself,² and consequently improves public awareness of the importance and relevance of statistics in general.

An NSO’s marketing units usually carry out promotional activities using many different forms of media, including traditional print outlets such as magazines, newspapers, or newsletters; broadcast media such as radio or television; websites; blogs; and newer outlets such as YouTube^® or Twitter^®. They will conduct public advertising campaigns (including in schools) and run promotional events and national and international statistical days to raise awareness. Products needed to support these efforts may include posters, press releases, reports, audio-video broadcasts, web applications, maps, atlases, and more. Market research in support of the development of census products is critically important. Organizations typically look to better understand or segment their users to tailor the census products to their different demands and needs, and then follow up the promotional activities to evaluate their impact and adjust accordingly.

2020 US Census—future data dissemination and integrated communication plan

Excerpted from the US Census Bureau, The Future of Data Dissemination.³

•The focus is on user-centric capabilities and dissemination as a business function with a major information technology component.

•An enterprise-level dissemination system, the Center for Enterprise Dissemination Services and Consumer Innovation (CEDSCI), will provide access to prepackaged data products via an interactive website. Data users will have access to the prepackaged data products, APIs, and metadata documentation. This system replaces the previous dissemination system, known as American FactFinder.

•For digital advertising, the approach will determine the appropriate mix of display, search, video, social, mobile, email, text messaging, and audio streaming advertising. Especially on the local level, digital advertising—more than any other medium—can deliver tailored messaging to target audiences and can be optimized based on real-time results.

•Based on insights from campaign research, self-response propensities, and previous successes working with media, the US Census Bureau will bring to life the stories that generate interest in the census process and raise awareness about the mission. Storylines will be organized around distinct themes; for example, one could explore the value of the census to local neighborhoods, and another could make the value of census data clear to the news media. This approach will be designed to demonstrate the relevance of Census Bureau data to citizens’ daily lives, connecting messages and calls to action with trending topics, relevant news cycles, and the previous reporting of targeted journalists.

As stressed in chapter 9, in line with UN recommendations, the country’s dissemination plan should cover the costs of the full range of dissemination activities, including costs associated with marketing and ongoing support of all census products through the complete census cycle.⁴ It is important to remember that census data marketing and dissemination are typically carried out with public funding, as are all costs of planning, operations, and census data collection. Some NSOs may offer free access and opt not to sell census products with any kind of profit, while others may have a profit recovery policy. Opting for a user-centric dissemination strategy with the view of dissemination itself as a business function⁵ may require partnerships with other data producers—for example, partnering with agencies such as mapping, environmental, or health ministries that are also data providers (see the Census 2016 Ireland case study in chapter 8).

Modern GIS make it possible today to serve the data needs of many different types of users, including the dissemination of small-area statistical data disaggregated at various levels of geography.

Since the 2010 Round of Censuses, major developments in the landscape of marketing and advertising have occurred and are important to consider. Two key developments are the ubiquity of mobile and web-based technologies and the strong demand for location-based information. A third trend to consider is the development of social media platforms that communicate compelling messages and stories about the census and reach out to various users and members of the media.

The use of online social media to engage audiences continues to rise, competing with the traditional channels of communication. For example, a recent Pew Research Center report about today’s digital news media landscape found that “digital news and social media continue to grow, with mobile devices rapidly becoming one of the most common ways for Americans to get news. . . . More than eight-in-ten US adults (85%) now get news on a mobile device, up from 72% in 2016.”⁶ Furthermore, marketing and social research studies have shown that among societal changes, owing to the impact of the pervasive use of mobile devices and social media, today’s consumers are self-sufficient and more prone to research a brand on their own. Social influencers have taken on a more prominent role in the marketing strategies of brands and in effectively getting products and messages out to the consumers, particularly among millennials.

Consequently, it is essential that NSOs emphasize the use of web-based and mobile tools and leverage the location component of the data collected. Maps, applications, and other information products need to be optimized for mobile and online use.

The list of potential products that the NSO should consider publishing as covered in the previous chapter includes reference maps, dynamic and static atlases, gazetteers, thematic maps, map applications, smart maps, and story maps. These products all need to be marketed to the appropriate audience. A modern GIS aids in the marketing of these different types of products. By using a map services–based approach, NSOs can produce and share products with different users with varying needs in a more cost-effective manner.

New tools such as story maps can also be used as effective marketing tools to educate the public, other government agencies, researchers, and data users from all sectors.

Esri^® Story Maps allow for combining authoritative maps with narrative text, images, and multimedia content. These tools make it easy to harness the power of maps and geography to tell a story to data users from all sectors. To use story maps effectively, consider, as with any information product, the audience, user experience, maps needed, and ease of use. One should avoid jargon and use easily understood language. It’s not about “dumbing down”; it’s about striving for clarity and simplicity. The more nonessential elements are removed, the more effectively the story is conveyed. Remember that attention spans are short in the digital age.

Once a story map is finished, it can be shared either publicly or with restricted access to allow only certain people in the organization to view it. After user restrictions are applied, the story map can be linked to or embedded in an organization’s website. Story map authors can write a blog post about it, share it on social media, and so on.

With respect to location-based information, the building and developing of a full, digital GIS-based census database allows the creation of census geographic products. This data and the products produced from it can be used by many different industries, such as retail, financial services, manufacturing, and health care. In fact, marketing data to these industries can be made easier via web and mobile GIS-based applications and APIs. For example, a health-care organization may want to consume information on income, education, and average family size to build its own application for serving its customers. By marketing not only the data but new means of access to this information (via APIs), NSOs can increase the use and demand for census data overall. Many agencies are looking at commoditizing data and building spatially enabled government services. By building this type of system, we bring together data producers and consumers and create a network.

Census data has been used for years in market research, especially for demographic segmentation, understanding customers, market expansion opportunities, and attracting customers to stores or purchasing online. By allowing users to generate reports and data around a specific location while still protecting privacy and confidentiality, you are creating increased market demand and affecting the economy. Integrating geographic and demographic information with business data provides insights, otherwise hidden, for business intelligence solutions. This has been labeled location intelligence, considered by some a new disruptive technology.⁸

Companies from many sectors rely on GIS technology to help them understand market potential and customer needs, including major brands such as Starbucks^®, Walmart^®, Cirque du Soleil^®, Petco^®, and Chick-fil-A^®9 as well as smaller retailers such as Lululemon Athletica^®. By using demographic data with their own internal customer data, these organizations can make better business decisions, making a positive impact on the local economy.

Some statistical agencies are even beginning to offer applications to help small-business owners and economic developers alike to easily gain access to data, thereby affecting local economies.

The US Census application Census Business Builder (CBB) was created specifically to make census data available to these users in an easy-to-use web-based application. The CBB Small Business Edition allows individual small-business owners to access key data needed to make smart decisions, including demographic and socioeconomic indicators, helping them understand the market demand.

The US Census Bureau also makes this data available for regional economic developers via its Regional Analyst Edition (see https://cbb.census.gov/rae/#).

Traditional publication and advertising methods will continue to be used, but with the significant increase in electronic dissemination and digital advertising and marketing, we expect to see the decrease in hard-copy publications to continue. This trend means that census products will gain use by focusing on web, mobile, infographics and animated graphics, interactive web-based smart mapping, and other apps. Statistical data enriched with location data offers visual patterns and insights and helps tell stories that mainstream viewers can benefit from.

1.For example, the US Census Bureau used the expression “It’s in our hands” as the key message of its 2010 Census Integrated Communications Campaign, and Statistics South Africa used “The South Africa I know, the home I understand” for its 2011 Census user segmentation and preparation of products.

2.For example, we can cite the use of SMS to announce census results in Kenya, the use of PDAs for data collection in Cape Verde, and the use of smartphones to collect point-based data in Poland. These innovative practices during the 2010 Round of Censuses have contributed to the visibility and reputation of the corresponding NSOs and their countries.

3.US Census Bureau sources: The Future of Data Dissemination, available at https://www2.census.gov/about/partners/sdc/events/steering-committee/2015-04/2015-blash.pdf; 2020 Census Integrated Communications Plan version 1.0, available at https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/program-management/planning-docs/2020_integrated_COM_plan.pdf.

4.See the UN Handbook on the Management of Population and Housing Censuses rev. 2. Available at https://unstats.un.org/unsd/publication/seriesF/Series_F83Rev2en.pdf.

5.See the US Census Bureau white paper The Future of Data Dissemination, available at https://www2.census.gov/about/partners/sdc/events/steering-committee/2015-04/2015-blash.pdf.

6.See the Pew Research report “Key Trends in Social and Digital News Media,” available at http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/04/key-trends-in-social-and-digital-news-media/.

7.For more information, see The Human Reach, a story map in the Living in the Age of Humans series, available at https://arcg.is/1XjzKC.

8.Listen to the Esri podcast “Why Location Intelligence Is a Disruptive Technology,” available at https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/podcast/why-location-intelligence-is-a-disruptive-technology.

9.See the Esri case study “Reliable Growth in the Restaurant Market,” available at https://assets.esri.com/content/dam/esrisites/media/pdf/chick-fil-a-case-study.pdf.