The evolution of caltrans research marketing Joe Horton, Chief Office of Safety Innovation and Cooperative Research Caltrans Division of Research, Innovation and System Information July 2016

Research Marketing Approach Support the Division’s purpose and goals Strategic Approach Engage key partners early to achieve the marketing goals Communication Style Identify target audience needs, messaging, muti-channels, tools, and feedback Tactical Method Incorporate marketing throughout the research life cycle Outreach Practice We strive to ensure our research marketing is: Strategic approach – support the division purpose to provide solutions and knowledge that improve California’s transportation system and division goals: (1) Strengthen and sustain our ability to serve as a central resource for technical expertise, (2) Optimize the quality and value of our products and services, and (3) Catalyze organizational and transportation innovations. Ultimately, we support Caltrans mission and goals by ensuring our Division purpose/goals are met. Ultimately, we work to ensure research aligns and advances Caltrans goals, objectives, and strategies. Communication Style - marketing efforts should be closely coordinated and collaborative among management, project managers, researchers, and the marketing and technical teams to manage the consistency of the message and ultimately implement the results. Tactical Method – (1) address the targeted audiences’ core needs, (2) develop appropriate messaging or content, (3) use multi-channels/tools effectively and timely, (4) assess feedback. Outreach Practice – Marketing efforts begin at the early in the process at the concept stage and should be updated and amplified throughout the research life cycle.

Past Marketing Efforts Strategic Approach Lacked direction and standards Communication Style Siloed involvement Tactical Method Limited target audience, messaging and tools Our marketing efforts have evolved over time. Let’s start with our past marketing approach based on these four principles. This will show the progression of our past, present, and future marketing efforts. Strategic Approach: our past marketing efforts primarily supported each office’s purpose with less focus on the overall Division and Department purpose/goals. Our efforts were more siloed and lacked a standard marketing approach. Communication Style: there was limited involvement and collaboration between the project manager and management, governing bodies, public affairs, and others. Collaboration of marketing efforts was mainly conducted between the researcher, project manager, and the primary customer. Tactical Method: our past tactics primarily targeted each project’s immediate champion/customer, messaging was heavily technical, and the marketing channels and tools were ad hoc. Marketing efforts were somewhat reactive rather than proactive given their ad hoc nature. This approach resulted in an inconsistent voice and brand for Caltrans research. Outreach Practice: marketing efforts began at the end of the research life cycle rather than the beginning. This resulted in missed opportunities, such as providing up-to-date progress, showcasing active research to better capture potential stakeholders, and allowing more lead time to plan for implementation. Outreach Practice Delayed outreach practice

Created Communication Team Promote the value of our research program and available resources Identify a broader target audience Utilize more marketing channels Advocate for innovation for the department Provide assistance with project marketing plans Increase customer and stakeholder engagement Build the brand and messaging Develop and standardize marketing tools To launch a new level of marketing for DRISI research, the division created a communication team The Communication Team created tools to better communicate to a wider audience, complement the technical content with broader messages, and utilize more marketing channels.

Present Marketing Efforts Strategic Approach Changed Governance Communication Style Increased involvement and collaboration Tactical Method Defined audience, developed messaging and tools, began measuring feedback Here is what we are currently doing. Strategic Approach: Caltrans created an Executive Board (EB) comprised of Caltrans Director, Chief Deputy Director, Deputy Directors, and District Directors. The Executive Board is the new governing body that: Ensures the current research portfolio aligns with the Caltrans Strategic Management Plan Provides guidance and support on timely implementation high-value research and new innovations Ensures customer commitment to research product throughout the research life-cycle Leverages products from SHRP2, EDC2, etc. and other national efforts Communication Style: we increased involvement and collaboration between the project manager and management, governing bodies, public affairs, and others. A few examples include quarterly program status meetings within DRISI, Executive Board meetings, Research Deployment and Advisory Committee (RDAC) meeting, Program Steering Committee meetings, etc. Tactical Method: Our present marketing tactics includes the division-wide roll out of the following standard marketing tools: Research Notes, Research Results, Annual Report, and the final presentation in addition to the final report. We want to ensure the content and style are consistent division-wide to provide the same high-quality marketing across the board. DRISI management team plays a critical and influential role to ensure the marketing goal is met and tools are used. The Communication Team provides guidance and support to use a variety marketing channels including but not limited to: - Caltrans Public Affairs administered channels – Caltrans newsletter, videos, and social media - DRISI Research Connection Events - Conferences, Workshops, Demonstrations Outreach Practice: marketing efforts are present throughout the research life cycle to capture opportunities more effectively.    Currently, we are rebranding the website and developing Research Connection toolkit and streamlining the event planning process. Examples of the tools: Research Notes template, Research Results template, and Annual Research Highlights Report. Outreach Practice Incorporated outreach practice throughout research lifecycle

Research Notes give an overview of research in progress to a general audience. Released at the beginning of a research task, the notes describe the need, methodology, goal, benefits, milestones, and next steps. The research notes answer the following questions about the project: What is the need? What are we doing? What is the goal? What is the benefit? What is the progress to date?

Communicate to a general audience what was accomplished with the research. They summarize the need, goal, methodology, outcome, and benefits. The Research Results answer the following questions about the project: What was the need? What was our goal? What did we do? What was the outcome? What is the benefit?

The Annual Research Program Highlights showcases DRISI’s activities and completed research over the past year. Currently, the intent of the Annual Research Program Highlights report is to share research results and provide a two-year outlook of the highlighted active research tasks. At this time, the report does not include all the tasks closed during the fiscal year. DRISI is looking to pursue a complete report for all completed tasks and projects.

Current Measurement Activities DRISI Internal Staff Survey Research Connection Participation Tracking Website Analytics Implementation Assessment Measuring effectiveness is very subjective. What does it mean that your marketing is “working?” In general, this means that it’s supporting your marketing and business goals. Current marketing assessment measures include: DRISI Internal Staff Survey Research Connection Participation Tracking Website Analytics – We have some website analytics, but they we question their accuracy. We are launching a cleaner, more streamlined website in the next couple of months and hope that the new platform will provide more accurate analytics. Implementation Assessment I am going to speak to the first and last activities Future survey to establish benchmark measurements and assess progress with follow up surveys internal survey, Future – will do – finalize marcom plan, customer survey (benchmark), constant contact to help track: using cc – find low cost sources   Learning Lessons

DRISI Staff Communication Survey Recommended improvements: Create more attention grabbing emails Increase the amount of research results presentations Distribute research results through email blasts to targeted audience We conducted a DRISI Internal staff communication survey – to gain a baseline understanding of who the customers and stakeholders are, what communication tools and methods are currently used, and how to improve communication tools and methods. Findings: Recommended communication tools and methods improvements: Create more attention grabbing emails Increase the amount of research results presentations Distribute research results through email blasts to targeted audience

Implementation Assessment DRISI has made several attempts to monitor and encourage research implementation. In 2012, we conducted an assessment of past research. This exercise assessed if the DRISI research projects completed between July 2007 and June 2012 (the past five fiscal years at the time of the analysis) resulted in a tangible product, and if so, whether or not the customer actually implemented that product. The results were enlightening.  Of the 175 research projects completed during that period, 135 resulted in deployable products that were suitable for implementation by the customer.  Of these products, 89 were actually implemented. 

Future Measurement Activities Implementation Assessment Part II Assess progress with follow up surveys Conduct baseline customer survey Current marketing assessment measures include: DRISI Internal staff survey – to identify and understand how DRISI currently communicates research results and products. tools and study which tool is most resourceful to standardize. Our measurement process is in its infancy. Our next steps include: Future survey to establish benchmark measurements and assess progress with follow up surveys

Contact Information Contact Information: DRISI Communications (916) 654-8899, DRISI.Communications@dot.ca.gov Joe Horton, Office of Safety Innovation and Cooperative Research (916) 654-8229, joe.horton@dot.ca.gov Website: http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/drisi/index.htm