Clackamas County
Expect the Unexpected Marketing Campaign, RFP #2024-66
Sheepscot Creative Electronic Portfolio | September 2024
Portland Bureau of Transportation
Safe Routes to School Campaign
Description
The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) called on Sheepscot to develop a traffic safety campaign aimed at people driving near schools and school routes. Unlike traditional Safe Routes to School communications, this campaign would target speeding and distracted drivers rather than students and parents. And rather than shaming drivers for bad behavior, they wanted to connect audiences around shared values and common desire for community health.
The campaign we developed was informed by an in-depth study of regional driving patterns previously conducted by PBOT and Metro, as well as a set of workshops that we facilitated with stakeholders from schools, public agencies, private businesses and nonprofits. Photo “stickers” overlaid on abstract backgrounds with unexpected color combinations catch the attention of audiences in social news feeds. With unidentifiable streets and intersections, the assets speak to communities from Gresham to Beaverton, Hillsboro to downtown Portland.
We also crafted a full set of social media captions to give schools, districts, cities and counties the building blocks to reach target audiences, with plenty of room to customize to address geographic or timely details.
Phase 1 materials included assets designed for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram posts and stories, email newsletters and even virtual meeting backgrounds. The campaign was developed with accessibility in mind; all of the assets are translated into Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, Chinese and Arabic, and every file includes translated alt text embedded for screen readers.
Phase 2 introduced refreshed digital assets, an animated video formatted for Instagram stories, TriMet bus backs and tails, hundreds of lawn signs distributed to each school, and a radio PSA.
The #DriveLikeIt hashtag continues to populate on Facebook and Instagram as the campaign organically spreads across the state. Campaign assets have even been shared from Canby to Connecticut and are available for free download via the Oregon Safe Routes to School website.
The campaign features a bright, colorful palette and an engaging, kid-forward “sticker” design.
Social media templates and the #DriveLikeIt hashtag allow community members and stakeholders to share campaign collateral with their online networks in any of six languages.
Lawn signs with the campaign slogan and branding are posted on busy streets and near school crossings. Signs are available with English on both sides, or with English on one side and a choice of five other languages on the other.
Eye-catching bus backs broadcast the campaign through high-traffic urban areas.
A colorful animated campaign video has been shared widely by major stakeholders, including Oregon Metro.
Work Samples
Oregon Department of Transportation
Safe Driving Awareness Campaigns
Description
ODOT has hired Sheepscot to create two safe-driving, behavior-change campaigns. Each campaign featured animated video and corresponding static graphics in both Spanish and English.
ZIPPER MERGE
“Do the Zipper Merge” was designed as an evergreen message to support communications related to ODOT construction projects. These elements are intended to remind drivers about the safety and efficiency of zipper merging at lane closures. We delivered both static and animated elements formatted for use on social media and throughout ODOT’s communications channels.
TOLIVER ROUNDABOUT
The Toliver Roundabout campaign was designed to raise awareness among local drivers about the installation of a new roundabout at the intersection of High way 213 and Toliver Road, and to build a greater understanding of the traffic efficiency and safety benefits that the new traffic pattern brings.
ZIPPER MERGE
TOLIVER ROUNDABOUT
"Yield and Go"
"Pulling Heavy Equipment"
Work Samples
Metro
Affordable Housing and Supportive Services Awareness
Description
Earlier this spring, Metro’s Housing Department asked Shepscot to design and produce a campaign and corresponding media plan to increase community awareness of the different investments being made to increase affordable housing options and supportive housing services in the region.
We met with Metro project leaders to determine the campaign’s core messages, key audiences, and timetable. Next, we reviewed available Metro communication assets related to affordable housing and supportive services; met with Metro project leaders to propose a campaign framework and workflow for corresponding asset production; developed a media buy strategy; created and produced a suite of assets to leverage the media plan’s channels; and launched the media buy.
All in eight weeks.
Over the course of the campaign’s four-week run, messaging was read by OPB radio hosts one hundred sixty-three times. An estimated 313,600 people heard the spots an average of 3.4 times each. On Meta properties (Facebook and Instagram), animated display ads drove the most cost-efficient reach, while video ads generated stronger engagement. In all, the digital campaign generated 11,400,000 impressions, 23,900 actions, and 6,400 clicks to a dedicated landing page on Metro’s website.
Diplay and video ads for Facebook and Instagram.
Photographs of the grand opening of Nueva Esperanza in Hillsboro.
Work Samples
Tualatin Valley Water District
Service Line Inventory Communication Strategy
Description
In 2022, Sheepscot Creative partnered with Brown and Caldwell, the largest engineering consulting firm in America focused exclusively on the environmental sector, to develop a communication plan and toolkit for Tualatin Valley Water District (TVWD.)
To meet the federal government’s new Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR), TVWD would be excavating and testing nearly a thousand randomly selected service lines (the pipes that connect water mains to homes and businesses) in the coming year. Sheepscot designed and developed a set of strategies to effectively communicate with ratepayers about the project.
Washington County’s construction history and years of past inspections indicated that no lead would be found, but the public’s anxiety about lead pollution is rightfully high, so we framed the inspection work as one element of a larger campaign designed to raise awareness about the tasks TVWD employees complete every day to keep drinking water safe. After all, the lead inspections were only one small part of their ongoing efforts. We named the project the “Service Line Inventory,” which clearly and accurately describes the work without unnecessarily drawing attention to a problem—lead—that doesn’t exist locally.
A suite of printable campaign materials developed for English- and Spanish-speaking audiences includes communication guidelines, FAQs, fact sheets, door hangers, a microsite, videos, and more.
The microsite acts as a hub, conveying key information to property owners. KeepingWaterSafe.org is accessible from TVWD’s homepage and via QR codes on door hangers and fact sheets. A video greets site visitors at the top of the home page with a friendly introduction to TVWD and its people. By providing more information about the Service Line Inventory project through custom illustrations, original photography, and carefully crafted messaging, we show customers how TVWD delivers clean, safe water to their homes.
Work Samples
The Keeping Water Safe campaign microsite.
A clearly worded, graphically appealing brochure provides information to ratepayers about the Service Line Inventory.
The Service Line Inventory video, with captions in English and Spanish.
Sheepscot designed a branded door hanger so that inventory results can easily be reported to homeowners.
TVWD employees can utilize these custom social media templates to bring brand cohesiveness to their communications.
Photographs of TVWD employees can be used for social media and other communications for years to come.
Josephine Community Library
Strategic Communication Services
Description
In 2012, Josephine County’s library system hired Sheepscot to develop a communications strategy and a suite of supporting creative materials. We've been serving them ever since, evolving our support to meet the library’s needs over a decade of growth and change.
This year, we’ve been helping Josephine Community Library (JCL) and its foundation develop strategies for just about every kind of communication challenge. Their effort to build a new downtown library has become a flashpoint for criticism. As JCL faces threats of defunding from a small but vocal political faction, its leadership enlisted Sheepscot to help devise strategies and talking points that will equip staff and volunteers to respond to and cope with public accusations, and provide tools for those who want to advocate for the library and its rightful place in the community.
Earlier this spring, a series of interviews and listening sessions with library staff and community leaders (the County Sheriff, high school teachers, and city councilors, among others) gave us the timely context and perspective we needed to craft talking points and responses for any situation library staff and advocates might encounter.
A message grid organizes talking points and strategies for staff, volunteers and board members.