Communicating the Value of Preservation: A Playbook (2012)

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Communicating the Value of Preservation: A Playbook 29 Checklist of Critical Activities  Survey existing messages  Consider your DOT’s environment  Adapt technical information for use in messages  Translate data into messages by factoring in your customers’ values  Seek out strategic tie-ins with other messages from your DOT 4. Message Design “Creation of communication materials is as much an art as a science.” This was the finding of the 2009 Parsons Brinckerhoff-authored report Making the Case for Transportation Investment and Revenue. In that study, the authors found that “in an era of fierce competition for attention … messages [must] be both concise and compelling.” The study also noted that transportation professionals often resist this approach, preferring a more comprehensive and technical strategy. The lesson for your DOT is that effective preservation messages should be built on a strong analytic foundation, but, to cut through the clutter, they must also be succinct and resonate with the audience on an emotional level. Some basic tips for creating good messages are shown in the discussion block “How to Make Messages that Stick” on page 31. The preservation messages that will work for your DOT will be driven by many variables that are unique to your agency, such as infrastructure condition, available revenues, customer values, political environment, and the DOT’s technical capabilities. No single message or group of messages will work in every state or in every situation, but, in this chapter of the Playbook, a simple set of message content creation steps is provided that will help you create customized messages of your own.

30 Chapter 4. Message Design Step 1: Survey Existing Messages Chances are your DOT already has several preservation messages. Before creating new ones, gather any already in use. Do not only search for messages, but also try to explore how preservation is being discussed inside and outside your agency. This will give you a baseline from which to further develop and enhance messages. Look in the following places, among others, for existing messages that offer a foundation for your efforts: • Long-Range Transportation Plan Materials often discuss the long-term preservation needs of the transportation system and include relevant facts, data, and graphics. • Strategic Plans or Visions will often identify system preservation as a priority and provide an agency-approved discussion of why it is important. • Annual Reports can discuss system preservation in a variety of ways including performance, projects, program spending, and needs. • DOT Performance Measures almost always include measures related to system preservation and provide lots of data and visualizations. • Presentations given by agency staff to external audiences such as industry partners, elected officials, or other groups often include messages about system preservation. • Other Preservation Communication Materials, such as brochures, press releases, and videos.

Communicating the Value of Preservation: A Playbook 31 You will also find it helpful to coordinate with others within the DOT to see what preservation messages they may be using: • Public Affairs Staff — Are there any preservation messages they use in press releases, presentations, brochures, videos, or project- specific materials? • Performance Measures Staff — What measures are being used and how are they being communicated? • Asset Management Staff — How do they describe the preservation needs and the importance of infrastructure preservation? • Executive Director’s Office — Does the secretary or director talk about preservation needs often? If so, how do they do it? How to Make Messages that Stick Today we are bombarded by thousands of messages a day. DOTs must cut through the clutter and deliver preservation messages that resonate. Four basic principles underpin messages that stick. The Penny Paved theme and USDOT’s Click It or Ticket message provide good examples of these principles at work: Stay positive: Don’t turn off your audience with negative messages that criticize or invoke fears; try to inspire. Offer a call to action: The message should inspire the audience to do something or feel a certain way. Be relevant: Audiences should relate to the message. They should instinctively agree with the premise and feel that the message is directed toward and applies to them. Be engaging: Messages should draw attention and be interesting to the audience; otherwise, they will be ignored and forgotten.

32 Chapter 4. Message Design Building Block Tie-Ins: Market Research, Audience Identification, Message Delivery You will wish to consider the other building blocks as you are beginning message content design: Review Audience Identification Efforts to determine how your key audiences might affect the messages you create. A basic understanding of whom the messages are intended for plays a critical role in content development. Evaluate the intended audiences based on their interests, technical and historical understanding of preservation issues, and what motivates them. Review any Existing Market Research, incorporate it into message content, and determine if any additional market research is necessary. At this early stage of content development, a broad review of existing research can inform how audiences perceive issues of infrastructure preservation. If a particular audience has been identified for which no market research currently exists, some simple market research, such as stakeholder interviews, might be helpful. Consider the Most Likely Message Delivery Methods and their impacts on message design. In the early stages of content development, you don’t need to identify and select a comprehensive list of intended message delivery methods; however, you will probably find it helpful to at least consider what the most likely methods of delivery might be. This will benefit the content creation phase by informing the type and level of detail that will likely be needed. Step 2: Consider Your DOT’s Environment At the outset of message development, think about how the content of your preservation messages could and should be shaped by state-specific situational factors: • Credibility with Audiences — Do your audiences trust the DOT? It’s never a bad idea to include content that builds credibility with audiences, but this can be particularly important if your agency faces a lack of trust. You can build credibility in part by including messages that show how the DOT is using its resources efficiently or that show how your audience’s values correspond directly with the DOT’s commitments to infrastructure preservation. • Infrastructure Condition — The condition of the transportation system itself can have a direct impact on the types of preservation messages you develop. Messages about a system in good condition could vary greatly from those about a system that is severely deteriorated. The historical trend of system condition could also affect the message.

Communicating the Value of Preservation: A Playbook 33 • Funding Levels — Not all preservation messages are related to funding, but they are often developed with the intent to secure new funding, to protect current funding, or just to provide input into programmatic allocation decisions. If a message is targeted toward influencing funding decisions, an understanding of how the current funding situation relates to preservation needs is important. • Technical Capabilities — The level of technical expertise available in your DOT can affect your approach for developing preservation messages. Some DOTs have robust asset management programs that can be used to estimate program needs and to support project selection criteria. Others are able, in addition, to provide scenario- based predictive estimates of system conditions. The level of sophistication of these and other technical tools, as well as the faith that the agency has in them, will shape the options available to those developing preservation messages. For more on this subject and to see example messages based on technical input, see Step 3. • Size of System — The size and nature of the system your DOT oversees will affect your message. Some states have responsibility for a relatively modest fraction of their state’s highways and bridges, but others are responsible for nearly every public road mile within a state’s borders. The scope of this responsibility could very well affect the scale of the preservation challenge and the tone of the messages themselves. • Reasons for Infrastructure Deterioration — Every DOT faces variations in climate, geomorphology, and traffic conditions that uniquely affect the way their transportation facilities deteriorate and subsequently how they are preserved. This point is a subtle one, but there may be opportunities for some DOTs to bring this element into their preservation messages. Customization Opportunity Environmental Factors — Aligning messages with the specific environment in which your DOT operates is the first major opportunity you have to customize your message. Consider situational factors when you develop a message so that it accurately represents and addresses the issues that your DOT is facing and it is framed in a tone that resonates well.

34 Chapter 4. Message Design Step 3: Adapt Technical Data for Use in Messages Your DOT is rich with technical expertise, data sets, and analysis methods that provide a strong foundation of facts from which to build communication messages. This expertise is particularly well established in the arena of infrastructure preservation, so take advantage of it! Converting technical data into simple and coherent messages is challenging, especially considering that those with the engineering expertise are often not the ones crafting or delivering the messages. It requires open communication and a trusting relationship between those with the technical knowledge and the communicators that will create and deliver the messages. The communicators must rely on technical experts to provide sound and trustworthy information and the technical experts must trust that the communications staff will use the information in an appropriate manner and in the proper context. In this section, some of the commonly available classes of technical data that you will find most useful for supporting your communication about preservation are described; please note that data referenced in this section is used for illustrative purposes — you will need to collect specific data for your own state: • System Attributes — Facts about the size and scope of the transportation system are often used in preservation messages. Describing the number of highway miles or bridges can give a sense of your transportation system’s scale and importance. Identifying the age of your transportation system or its elements can convey the historical significance of the system and the sense of urgency that is required to protect these critical infrastructure investments. Examples include: · “The average bridge age is 33 years old and carries 21,000 vehicles a day”; · “State highways accommodate 1.5 million miles of travel every day”; and · Illustrative maps such as the one in Figure 3 from the Montana DOT. • System Condition — DOTs are awash in data about the condition of their transportation systems. All states measure pavement smoothness, bridge conditions, remaining asset life, and many other system condition attributes. As a result, nearly all system preservation messages include or are underpinned by these facts. Your DOT’s system condition data can help communicate how condition relates to customer expectations, how the condition has improved or declined over time, and the scale of the preservation task at hand. Examples include: · “750 miles of highway are in poor condition”; · “26 percent of bridges are structurally deficient”; and

Communicating the Value of Preservation: A Playbook 35 · Asset condition charts like the one in Figure 4 that comes from the Penny Paved campaign. • Economic Value — Conveying how the transportation system provides economic value to communities is becoming increasingly important to DOTs. This information is usually compiled through the use of an economic modeling package, case studies, and industry-standard economic multipliers. These relationships can convey a sense of the importance of your transportation system and therefore imply the importance of preserving it. Examples include: Figure 3. Montana Highways Last Reconstructed Before the 1960s Figure 4. Percentage of Pavement in Good Condition (Example)

36 Chapter 4. Message Design · “According to the Federal Highway Administration, every $1 billion invested in preservation supports 27,800 jobs in the state”; · “The asset value of the US highway system is estimated at $17.5 trillion”; and · “Five months’ groceries for a family of four. A year’s worth of textbooks for a college student. One thousand sixty dollars. That’s how much inadequate infrastructure spending cost the average American family last year.” • Asset Management Data and Models — “Transportation asset management” is defined as a strategic and systematic process of operating, maintaining, upgrading, and expanding physical assets effectively through their life cycle. The data and analysis techniques used in asset management can often provide information about your current system conditions; the costs of maintaining and preserving existing assets; the predictive conditions of the system based on any number of funding scenarios and management strategies; and the optimum timing of necessary preservation, rehabilitation, and reconstruction actions. The analytic methods used in asset management are often complicated and can be difficult to translate into a simple message, but when it is done effectively it can make a compelling case for system preservation. Examples include: · “The number of highway miles in poor condition is anticipated to increase from 750 to 1,900 by 2020 without additional investment” and · Examples of how funding distribution matters, such as the graphics in Figure 5 from the Penny Paved campaign preservation presentation. • Performance Measures and Targets — Most DOTs have established performance measures and targets in the area of system preservation, and they often are developed in a way that results in a clear and simple measure that can be communicated effectively Figure 5. Impact of Funding Distribution on Preservation Backlog (Example) $7 $7 $7 $7 $7 $10 $17 $15 $11 $6 $0 $5 $10 $15 $20 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total Expenditures = $35 M Uniform Distribution of Funds Funded Backlog $11 $10 $5 $5 $4 $0 $5 $10 $15 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total Expenditures = $35 M Early Distribution of Funds Funded Backlog

Communicating the Value of Preservation: A Playbook 37 to customers. In addition, public expectations are often among the considerations when establishing measures and targets, providing a good opportunity to relate the technical data to the customer. Examples include: · “78 percent of the state’s bridges are in good condition” and · “Citizens have told us they expect 90 percent of the state’s major roads to be in good condition, which falls perfectly in line with our targets.” • Needs Versus Revenues — DOTs often communicate about preservation in terms of the costs of system preservation needs versus projected available revenues. This information can imply the scale of the challenge that DOTs face, particularly if preservation funding falls well short of expected needs. An explanation of the elements that have contributed to the increased costs of preservation, such as inflation and stagnant revenues, can also be effective. Examples include: · “$500 million is needed over 10 years to repair and replace major bridges” and · “Since 1997, revenues have grown by 36 percent, but asphalt cost per ton has increased by 97 percent, concrete by 48 percent, steel by 57 percent, and fuel by 204 percent.” • Life-Cycle Cost Data — Some DOTs have developed messages around explanations of preventative maintenance and its life-cycle cost benefits, such as how it is cheaper to preserve a road than to rebuild it and how spending the right amount now saves money in the long run. Examples include: · “$10 million in preventative maintenance is the equivalent of $125 million in rehabilitation and reconstruction” and · Charts demonstrating how preventative maintenance is more cost effective than rehabilitation or reconstruction, such as the one in Figure 6 from the Penny Paved campaign. Figure 6. Preservation Costs vs. Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Costs (Example) Preserva'on  is  cheaper   per  lane  mile   $190K   $112K   $22K  Preserva'on   Rehabilita'on   Reconstruc'on  

38 Chapter 4. Message Design Step 4: Translate Data into Messaging by Factoring in Your Customers’ Values Data by itself, even data that has been translated into a simple and clear message, rarely resonates. The best messages do not rely entirely on the numbers; instead they build on data to tell a story in a way that resonates with audiences personally and emotionally. As Maslansky Luntz + Partners say in The New Language of Mobility: “The discussion should be about the benefits you can add to people’s daily experience. If you can convince them that you’re providing them with real value, like more efficient roads and highways, they’re willing to pay a price for it.” Cutting through the clutter requires you to find ways to cast the message so that it aligns with the values of the intended audience. You must know your audience and build from market research to create a message that fits. The following actions can help you use data effectively in your message: • Find Instances Where Customer Expectations Align with Targets and Priorities — Using market research, you should aim to figure out where customer expectations align with what your data says. Through simple surveys, prioritization exercises, or use of more elaborate techniques like the road rallies used in Kansas and Missouri1, you can craft messages that demonstrate people want their roads preserved. Examples include: · “Citizens have told us that they expect 85 percent of Interstates to be in good condition, and this aligns with our performance targets” and · “We’ve traveled the state and talked to thousands of people and one thing is consistent no matter where we go. Preservation of the existing system has to be our number one priority.” 1 “Road rallies” are an approach used to gauge stakeholders’ perceptions about pavement conditions by taking them on carefully monitored van trips along roads in different states of repair and tracking their reactions. Building Block Tie-Ins: Market Research, Audience Identification

Communicating the Value of Preservation: A Playbook 39 • Incorporate What People Want and Expect from Their Government — Maslansky Luntz + Partners’ work says that DOTs should use language that reflects what people expect from their government. The words they use are “smart,” “efficient,” and “modern.” You should seek to cast preservation messages in this light where possible. Examples include: · “We are on the cutting edge in terms of pavement preservation techniques. We are using pavements that cost less and last longer” and · “We are using computer models to optimize our resources and get the biggest bang for our preservation buck.” • Invoke the Broad Values of the Audience — Although what is important to individuals varies, it is possible to find values that can speak to large swaths of an audience. These values will vary from place to place; what works in California might not resonate in Louisiana, and what works in an urban environment may differ greatly from what speaks to people in rural areas. One example from a state DOT is: · The Kansas DOT discovered Kansans were proud that their highways were rated as some of the best in the country. The DOT was able to effectively capture this sentiment in a preservation message with the phrase “We must protect our past investments.” • Communicate at a Personal Level — Large numbers can provide a sense of scale and introduce a concept, but, for people to remember the message, it must mean something to them on a personal level. This concept can be incorporated into preservation messages. Examples include: · “Bad roads cost the average family over $335 per year in car repairs and wasted fuel” and · “Inadequate infrastructure spending cost the average American family as much as a month’s groceries last year.” Step 5: Seek Out Strategic Tie-ins to Other Messages Your preservation messages must compete for attention with other messages from state governments and even with other messages from the DOT itself. One way to elevate the issue of preservation is to broaden the scope of the message and find ways to mesh preservation with other initiatives that are receiving more attention. Every mention of preservation helps and, by blending the preservation story with other high-profile initiatives, DOTs can strengthen support and awareness for preservation without demanding the spotlight.

40 Chapter 4. Message Design The ways you might weave preservation into other messages that are important to your agency and state will vary greatly depending on the unique and specific circumstances your DOT faces. No strict formula exists for how to blend the message of preservation in, and it can require an awareness of the issues and a creative approach. Below are a few examples that illustrate how it might be done with today’s more popular issues: • Jobs and the Economy — Include references to the idea that preservation of our roads and bridges is essential to keep goods and people moving and that this is vital to growing the national, regional, or local economy. • More Efficient Government — Mention that preventative maintenance of our transportation system saves money and prevents the waste of taxpayer dollars. • Sustainability — Describe the process and benefits of recycling pavement and materials. Message Design Conclusions Every DOT already collects immense amounts of technical data about preservation; your goal should be to become better at using this information to create concise and compelling messages that not only deliver facts, but also appeal to the emotions and interests of your most important audience segments, and work in multiple delivery channels. Message design can be a fun but challenging process that enables a DOT to move from possessing technical information to changing attitudes and building support. The following mistakes are some of the most common to avoid: • Getting Too Technical — Messages about preservation invariably build on data that is extensive and complex; you must work hard to transform it for your audiences and remember — they don’t usually share an interest in, or technical understanding of, this data; • Going Too Negative — The best messages don’t use fearsome scare tactics to alarm (although a gentle nudge may be needed), but tap into aspirational behavior, i.e. “we want to be proud of our roads” not “our bridges are falling down.” • Lacking a Call to Action — Don’t forget to give audiences a sense of how they can influence the future, i.e. a call to action.