During the 2020 Census, Being Counted Is Being Seen

When a client says that they’re targeting everyone, you know that can’t be true. In this case, it is true.

The U.S. Census Bureau just introduced a $500 million public education and outreach campaign featuring more than 1,000 new ads designed to reach 99% of all U.S. households and communicate the importance of responding to the 2020 Census.

Ads reaching multicultural and historically undercounted audiences began airing this week while ads for general audiences will begin running in mid-February. Beginning in mid-March, households can respond to the census online, by phone or by mail.

The campaign includes television and radio commercials, digital, social media and print advertising and messaging on billboards and at bus stops.

Team Y&R Has A Deep Bench

The Census Bureau and VMLY&R (Team Y&R) — the advertising and communications team of 13 agencies that has expertise with multicultural and historically undercounted groups — tested the ads in multiple languages and in diverse focus groups across the country.

The massive effort encourages participation among multicultural and hard-to-count populations with ads in English and 12 other languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese.

Team Y&R includes PSB, Wavemaker, Carol H. Williams Advertising, Culture ONE World, G+G Advertising, The Kalaimoku Group, TDW+Co., VMLY&R Puerto Rico, Wavemaker Puerto Rico, Reingold, BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe), DCG, and Guidehouse.

First Enumeration — An Alaskan Tradition

The 2020 Census will officially begin January 21, in Toksook Bay, Alaska, a remote fishing village located on the Bering Sea. Director Dillingham will be on hand to count the first person. Also known as the “first enumeration,” local census takers get a head start in rural Alaska when the ground is frozen, allowing for easier access to remote villages.

Advertising in remote Alaska began in mid-December to provide awareness that census takers will soon visit villages to count the people who live there.

Maria Olmedo-Malagon, program manager for the 2020 Census Communication Campaign said, “Communication is key to educating people so they know why it’s important and how to respond. While people can now respond online, it is important to note that people can respond online or by phone in 13 languages or via the traditional paper questionnaire.”

Be Counted and Do the Counting

The U.S. Census Bureau is also conducting a nationwide push to recruit part-time census takers for the 2020 Census.

“In order to count every person in the United States, we need to build the team to help with the count. This is a national census and we need people in every state and community to make it a successful one,” Dillingham said. “Not only is this great work, but it’s a chance for people to be a part of our nation’s history.”

For information about job opportunities, visit 2020Census.gov/jobs.