Now that everyone in Utah has received their Vote By Mail ballots in the mail, BWP Communications continues to work with Salt Lake City Corporation and the City Recorder’s Office to remind residents of the “Vote By Mail” campaign. Our company has worked in various creative capacities for this project such as, advertising, marketing, graphic design, digital media, print media, messaging, and media buying. You will see the online advertisement on Utah websites such as the Salt Lake Tribune, KSL,  KSL Latino, and in print publications City Weekly and the Daily Chronicle. BWP, a Utah advertising agency, is proud to be a part of helping grow the voter participation with this exciting new campaign, and remember your ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 2, 2015.

The Utah Hive Pass Media Campaign continues to run on Buses and Trax across Salt Lake City. BWP, a Utah based marketing company,  works together with the Salt Lake City Department of Transportation on the “I Ride With Hive” advertising campaign. Our creative agency responsibilities include branding, advertising, marketing strategy, brand identity, campaign development and execution, media, print design, digital design and strategic consultation all for promoting the Hive Pass Program. The Hive Pass is a program Salt Lake City offers to all city residents with the goal of making transit more affordable and accessible. Current Hive Pass holders love it!  They have been able to reduce the number of cars in their households now that they have a pass to travel with.  Hive Passes can now be purchased for any number of consecutive months.  One month, two months, five months to a year, whatever works for you.  With the colder weather and snowfall coming to Salt Lake City it is important to limit our driving and help our air quality during peak inversion months. Utah is nationally known for its poor air quality, the more people riding transit is good for everyone, lightening the loads of car travel in our neighborhoods, cleaning the air, and reducing household costs for transportation.

Get your Hive Pass Today!

The Utah Association of Counties contracted BWP to develop their brand and create a marketing campaign and messaging to educate the public about local government. Here are some of the results of our research for their marketing campaign.

The Closest Level of Government to the People

The notion of a county originated in the middle ages, when they were called shires. American colonists adopted the idea, and today county government is the closest level of government to the people. The Utah Association of Counties recently launched a new website detailing the notion of Why Counties Matter.

A Wide Range of Service Areas

Utah’s county governments, working alone and in cooperation with other governments at the municipal, state and national levels, develop innovative and successful programs in a wide range of service areas, including arts and historic preservation, children and youth, community and economic development, corrections, county administration, emergency management, environmental protection, health, human services, libraries, parks and recreation, transportation, volunteers and many more.

County Services Vary by County

While each of Utah’s 29 counties differ somewhat in the services they provide, each county government is organized around the needs and desires of the communities served. Animal services, for instance, in the rural counties is different from the way it works in the urban areas. It all depends on the needs of the citizens who live there.

Important Documents

Perhaps you got married recently, renewed your passport or had to pickup a copy of your birth certificate. Those services are offered mostly through County Clerk’s office. Local government works because it provides services that folks depend on, and recognizes what local people need, like fire prevention and search and rescue.

Recreation and Health

When you think back on all the fun your family has had at the county recreation center, you’ll realize many areas where county government intersects with your life story again and again. Family health and senior services provide support to citizens throughout their life spans, including home delivered meals and activity centers. Health departments also offer flu shots, child and travel immunizations and oversee waste management to name a few of the contributions that impact health and wellness.

Tourism and Economic Development

Community development, tourist attractions, parks and recreation make our lives more enjoyable and support economic growth. County services from emergency management to road repair and maintenance bring tremendous value to each of our lives.

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

With America’s system of federalism, counties are a key component of government. It’s truly local government and it works well because it’s the closest level of government to the people. At BWP, we think of it as where the rubber meets the road. Visit the Utah Association of Counties website, WhyCountiesMatter.org to find out more about your local county government services and see more of their marketing campaign ideas.

The Heart of the Matter

President Barack Obama and candidate Mitt Romney both received their undergraduate degrees in the humanities. Other notables who studied the humanities on their way to final careers are Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Harold Varmus, current director of the Nation Cancer Institute.

American Academy Commission on the Humanities

Richard Brodhead, president of Duke University and the co-chair of the American Academy Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences, related this information in a talk he delivered at the annual meeting of the National Humanities Alliance on March 20, 2013. The organization he chairs developed a film on the subject that describes the “Heart of the Matter” and, in fact, why Humanities still matter. I came upon my own realization when I visited a meeting of the Clemente Course at East high School a few nights ago. Here is what I discovered.

The Clemente Course at East High School

The Clemente Course is a partnership between the Utah Humanities Council, East High School, the Salt Lake City School District, Westminster College, the University of Utah, and University Neighborhood Partners. The course is a two-year, interdisciplinary humanities course for underserved 10th and 11th grade AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination program) students. The goals of the endeavor are:

• Encourage underserved students’ eager engagement in school by involving them in a challenging but personally meaningful and relevant humanities curriculum.
• Introduce students to some of the most powerful and influential texts, art, and ideas from cultures around the world.
• Foster academic excellence and critical thinking.
• Demonstrate connections between book learning and the “real world.”
• Nurture the goal of attending a four year college and assist students in selecting challenging college preparatory courses during their junior and senior years.
• Develop thoughtful and engaged future citizens.
• Increase school and public understanding of the value of the humanities to personal growth, academic achievement, and the strength of our communities.

How the Program Works

Clemente draws from five subjects for its curriculum: literature, history, art history, critical writing, and philosophy. It follows an intellectually rigorous curriculum and focuses on important multicultural works using group discussion, writing, group projects and a focus on primary documents as the basis for learning.

Instructors for the Course consist of four college professors, four teaching fellows, and a writing teacher at East High. Students enrolled in the Clemente Course will become a learning community, encouraged by their teachers and each other to become highly engaged in their learning and put forward their best efforts. Clemente excites the young learners about higher education and strongly encourages them to attend college. Students will receive an elective humanities credit for successfully completing the Clemente Course.

Example of the Learning Experience

The Clemente class took a field trip to Salt Lake Community College South City Campus for a tour of the New Media Center. The Dean of the School of Arts, Communication and New Media, Richard Scott, showed them the sound room, the broadcast journalist room, the theater, and the filming area.

The students got to have a hands-on, interactive experience with public art exhibit, Camera Obscurra. They learned how the cameras could be used for conceptual or performance art because people can perform in front of the cameras and be seen by viewers inside the New Media center. That students can also create art by using the cameras and take pictures or drawings of the projections.

Support From the Utah Humanities Council

The goal of the endeavor fits exactly within the mission of the UHC: “The Utah Humanities Council provides leadership by empowering individuals and groups to improve their communities through active engagement in the humanities.” This notion goes along with what Richard Brodhead is trying to accomplish with the American Academy Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences. He proposes that STEM, (science, technology, engineering and math), cannot be the only focus of our education system. Without the critical thinking that comes from a Humanities education many of our greatest leaders might not have achieved success.

The Humanities plays a crucial role in the drama of strengthening communities, improving cooperation and building better lives. by participating in humanities-based programs and education, young people are inspired to cross over into the world of others and discover an affinity with the different way people see, think, and believe in order to imagine a common good that serves us all.

Growing Up on A Farm In Poland

Dominika decided early on to become a psychologist when as a young teenager she successfully manipulated her father into letting her attend a rock concert with friends. Her curiosity about understanding people’s behaviors and motivations led her to receive a Master’s degree in psychology from Warsaw University.

Received a Fulbright Scholarship

Propelled by the desire to acquire more expertise in social and behavioral research she came to the United States, and with the help from a Fulbright scholarship embarked upon her path to a doctoral degree in social psychology.

Getting her Ph.D. at the University of Utah

During her Ph.D. studies Dominika also gained experience in business and industry doing user experience research for University of Utah Commuter Services and helping a global company specializing in information services and publishing to innovate and improve their products and services.

Director of Research at BWP

We’re happy to have Dominika join the agency. She’s a great contribution to the group and adds a global understanding to our communications endeavors. Thanks, Dominika!

Branding the Idea of Stop Texting and Drive Safely!

In 2011 at least 23% of auto collisions involved the use of mobile phones. Nation-wide, that’s 1.3 million car accidents. If you’re traveling at 55mph, your car will cover the length of football field in just 5 seconds, which is the minimal amount of time your attention is taken away from the road when texting and driving. That’s long enough to cause serious accidents. And most assuredly, even fatal accidents.

Drivers are Still Texting and Driving

Amazingly, 55% of adult drivers still claim it’s easy to text and drive, and 77% of young adults are “very” or “somewhat” confident that they can safely text while driving. This is a troubling number, especially considering the fact that 39 states currently have laws that prohibit all drivers from text messaging while behind the wheel. (Source: textinganddrivingsafety.com)

Miss Utah USA, Jamie Lynn Crandall

Jamie Lynn Crandall, former Miss Utah USA (2011) and a professional model, made it her platform during her reign to promote the message that it’s very dangerous to text and drive. She helped found the campaign “Hang Up – Save a Life.” Her good friend, Lauren Mulkey, a student at East High School in Salt Lake City, had just dropped Jamie off after a holiday event, then moments later was killed by a texting driver. This life-changing event inspired Jamie to use her position as Miss Utah USA to promote a campaign to alert the people of Utah about the dangers of texting while driving.

Her Campaign Against Texting While Driving

Now, seven years later, Jamie is still very committed to the cause. Though her efforts were instrumental in helping create a no-texting while driving law in Utah, the statistics shown above demonstrate the need for continued messaging targeted at both young adults and all drivers alike. During her year as Miss Utah USA she campaigned across the state, mostly speaking at high schools, as a person who had experienced the tragedy first hand.

Jamie: Not Going to Give Up

After relinquishing her crown, Jamie continued her career as a working model, which has taken her from Chicago to Florida to Los Angeles. Now back in Utah she intends to continue the messaging campaign and branding to alert drivers throughout the state and beyond to help people understand the personal tragedies and life-changing consequences of texting while driving.

“Hang Up – Save a Life”

BWP was fortunate to work with Jamie on a branding project for our clients where we had the opportunity to get to know her. (Shown here are some of the photos she did for us.) We are very happy to help Jamie further her cause by helping to promote the notion of “Hang Up – Save a Life.”

Thanks for all you do Jamie! And from all of us at BWP, we encourage Utah drivers to turn off your phones before your drive.

Methods in Psychology and Design Research

New Year always makes me think about the future and this provokes a lot of anxiety, so I wanted to write about some methods in psychology and design research that help to think about the future in a constructive, playful way.

A lot of work at BWP focuses on helping our clients reinvent themselves and imagine their futures. Thinking about future is both exciting and anxiety provoking, so it requires a special approach.

This summer BWP worked with a client who wanted to come up with more effective ways to partner with other local organizations. During one of our workshops we encouraged our client to enact these future collaborations. We prepared a role playing exercise using personas of potential partners that were developed through ethnographic research. Richard and I role played potential partners who members of the client team had to engage with. Together we brainstormed ideas for future collaboration and programming. Through this exercise, the client team developed empathy with and better understanding of their potential partners and created actionable solutions for future collaborations.