After a successful soft launch last fall that consisted of radio and TV ads in three markets around the state, an industry-sponsored initiative designed to change negative perceptions about a technical education career path will roll out its “ground game” this month.
The initiative is known as Louisiana Calling and was first conceived in 2013 by a group of local industry leaders concerned about the lack of skilled workers in the state at a time when Louisiana was in the early stages of an industrial construction boom.
The effort was originally called the Louisiana Workforce Education Initiative, and its purpose was to encourage more people to consider careers in the technical and skilled trades by removing the stigma associated with not getting a four-year college degree.
After more than three years of fundraising, research and planning, the initiative launched with a commercial and video series in early November that ran until mid-December in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lake Charles.
Based on both analytics and anecdotal information, campaign organizers say the initial launch was a success. Some 160,000 people viewed the commercials on YouTube, and the television ads reached 70% of 18- to 34-year-olds in the markets where it aired.
Beginning later this month, the initiative rolls out what consultant Christel Slaughter of SSA Consultants calls its ground game. It will consist of presentations and collateral information targeting high school students, their parents, teachers and under-skilled adults.
The initiative will also continue using traditional and social media outlets as well as posters and handouts to promote the campaign.
Central to the effort will be the Louisiana Calling website. During the soft launch last fall, while the website was still in its beta stage, it proved to be a powerful draw. It had more than 33,500 views, and more than one in three viewers returned to the site for more information.
Whether the positive response from the campaign translates into more enrollees in technical training programs remains to be seen. But Slaughter says as early as late spring, data from the state will be available showing how many high school students have chosen to enroll in the Jump Start program, a dual enrollment technical training program.
“We won’t be able to take credit for any jump in dual enrollment,” she says. “But we’ll at least know over time if we’re moving the needle.”
—Stephanie Riegel
