Amidst a global pandemic and misinformation campaign, the Government of Los Angeles County wanted to ensure every resident took part in the 2020 Census. Fenton crafted an omnichannel campaign spanning direct mail, out-of-home advertising, and digital media, as well as experiential activations involving street artists and local canvassers, to create ties directly within the communities they were targeting.
Beginning with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, their strategy pivoted to rely more heavily on digital channels and tools. Optimal’s data and programmatic digital solutions helped bridge the gap between their message and target audiences.
Fenton created campaign content in each of the 13 most spoken languages in Los Angeles County, with a special emphasis on Spanish language outreach.
Optimal leveraged voter data to find individuals in each of these communities and serve them ads through programmatic and private marketplace video, display advertising, and Connected Television (CTV)
Fenton used teams of offline data collectors to analyze response rates to the Census and identify audiences that required additional messaging and outreach. Optimal and Fenton were able to identify areas as small as two city blocks and target audiences of 5,000 people at a time who had low response rates, reaching targets with ads through our geotargeting solutions.
When socially-distanced canvassing was able to restart that summer, our partnership with Fenton allowed us to focus digital advertising on the Census tracts where field organizers were having in-person conversations.
Los Angeles County is considered the hardest-to-count county in the United States. Together with Fenton, we were able to close the gap and help make sure Los Angeles County residents were counted in 2020.
