How are we doing? Data Gathering and Web Sites

Guest blogger – Clare

DPPEA regularly conducts surveys throughout North Carolina to gauge citizens’ brand recognition for the campaigns, how they spend their free time, preferred communication methods, etc. The surveys are conducted and analyzed by student interns. Table one gives an overview of the surveys that have been conducted since 2007.




The data provides the division with useful information. Although the Earth Day surveys are slightly skewed due to the nature of the audience, the division is confident that the campaigns are branding with North Carolina residents, especially those that receive the cable television advertisements. When asked where the respondent saw the logo, 32 percent say the Internet, 28 percent say television and 16 percent say school. The surveys conducted during the summer of 2008 were mostly done in areas that do not receive cable television advertisements. Also, the State Fair attracts people from all across the state, including those areas that do not receive cable television advertisements. This helps explain the dips shown in chart one, Brand Recognition.

One performance measure that an educational campaign has is Web site visits. Chart two shows the number of visits per month for Recycle Guys. Chart three shows the number of visits per month for RE3.org.

The light gray columns indicate the airing of cable television advertisements. The division does not consistently see a spike in Web site visits due to the advertisements. October spikes are caused by traffic to a Halloween craft page. The page consistently comes up in search engines and includes a funny ghoulish voice when refreshed. There are also consistently higher visit totals each April, which reflects the Earth Day bump.



Again, the light gray columns indicate the airing of cable television advertisements. The August 2007 spike was caused by an incentive program. Those that visited the Web site and pledged to recycle were registered to win a trip to the MTV Video Music Awards. After trending upward from 2005-2007, Web site visits now oscillate on a seasonal cycle.