How stupid is the Forest Preserve District of Cook County?

[Tannerman]

Taking aim at county government is a pretty easy thing, especially here in the Chicagoland area, where Cook County is run on the "friends and family plan" by Todd Stroger & Co.

However, I wanted to talk about a subset of county government, specifically the Forest Preserve District of Cook County. Being a lifelong Chicago resident, I've spent a lot of time in our forest preserves, from family picnics, church events, corporate catering events that I've worked in college, and quite a bit of time on the bike trails, specifically the North Branch.

Ad for Forest Preserve District
Source: soclose2you.org
(Click to enlarge)

Amy and I often will bike the entire length of the trail up to the Chicago Botanic Garden, where one of the benefits of cycling is free parking -- if you drive, the parking fees are now up to $20 per car. We hold a lot of special memories at the Gardens, including our engagement. It's been great to see the place grow and develop over the years.

Over the weekend, we found ourselves at the Gardens to catch some of the live cooking demonstrations in the Fruit & Vegetable Garden. While there, I was flipping through the summer edition of the "Map and Garden Guide" that you can pick up free when you enter. A two-page advertisement from the Forest Preserve District of Cook County is the first thing you'll see.

I've scanned the images below:

Scan of Botanic Gardens Map
(Click to enlarge)


Scan of Botanic Gardens Map
(Click to enlarge)

What caught my eye was the poor copywriting and odd choice of words in the headline: "The Forest Preserve District of Cook County is proud to include the Chicago Botanic Garden as part of its precious and unique holdings."

That last word is what tripped me up. It's written like the Gardens are part of a stock portfolio, not a great destination. This misstep in phraseology mirrors what I see as a general lack of solid marketing direction for the Forest Preserves; they seem to be all over the map lately with poorly executed promotional materials.

For example, take a look at the second page of booklet scan. You'll see the website address soclose2you.org. This address was grabbed in 2007, and used in advertising on buses and billboards for the past two years. This caught my eye because I work with the 'net on a daily basis as the Web Director for a non-profit.

Ad for Forest Preserve District
Source: soclose2you.org
(Click to enlarge)

First off, it makes no sense at all. There's no identity in the address and it's rather hard to remember. Secondly, the way it's spelled just smacks of "well, we really wanted this other website address, but it was unavailable, so we thought we'd be clever by using the number 2 and settling on the .org."

Ad for Forest Preserve District
Source: soclose2you.org
(Click to enlarge)

Finally, I don't really see the value of owning this website address. The official website for the District is fpdcc.com. Not exactly beautiful, but at least it makes sense. With the right amount of search engine optimization, it could work quite well on many fronts for various purposes.

Which returns me to the wasteland that is soclose2you.org. You'd think that with a unique address, something special was on the other end? Nope.

Screenshot of soclose2you.org
(Click to enlarge)

The domain pulls you to a single page that rotates 4 images (different each time you visit). These images are from the same batch of ads that have been showing on buses and billboards around the city. They're pretty easy to recognize given that they look like the unholy marriage of stock art and default fonts out of Microsoft Word.

Ad for Forest Preserve District
Source: soclose2you.org
(Click to enlarge)

From this single page site, you are given a short paragraph about the forest preserves... and then links to fpdcc.com or fpdccvolunteers.org -- and that's it. So what was the point of this whole special domain name and ad campaign to promote it? Even looking at the code for the site, you'll note there's no special tracking codes or analytics data being captured, so the only real measurement that the web folks would have would be referrals to the main site from this single page (which is not going to give you robust data something like the free Google Analytics would provide). I'm sort of wondering just what kind of metrics the Forest Preserve District folks are using to measure the success of this campaign, because it seems poorly thought out.

Most Forest Preserve signage shows fpdcc.com address
Source: Photo by Steve Tanner

There's also the element of confusion given that most official Forest Preserve signage has the fpdcc.com address plastered on it. In most cases, this address appears via stickers that were hastily added years ago to cover up the name of John H. Stroger, Jr. when an outcry was made over having the County Board President's name on new signs that had to be replaced every time there was a regime change. Of course, this wouldn't be the first time for stupid sign planning. When many of the new bike trail signs were installed a few years ago, some included dates that would show the age of the signs (knowing full well that keeping these up-to-date is the last thing the Forest Preserve District will be doing), while also posting rules that have been pretty much unenforced (i.e. wearing bike helmets on the trails).

Now, I don't know who is running the marketing for the Forest Preserve District, nor if it's budget is of decent size or not, but given the output of what is being created, I think our tax dollars could do a lot better. There just doesn't seem to be much logic at all.

Then again, should I be surprised?

[Kidologist]

could it be they want an official website, and one that is 'catchy' to draw new visitors who otherwise would never go the fbqzr.com (or whatever it is) I never knew there was 68,000 acres! Wow, great advertising!

While I personally would prefer beautiful pictures of nature, it would make for some pretty boring ads that would probably have zero results. "Holdings" is kinda lame, but otherwise, I think its pretty good, considering it is a forrest preserve, and not a profitable enterprise who can afford to spend more.

At least they didn't spend $100 million on a stupid new logo like Pepsi did.

[spudart]

soclose2you is supposed to be about forests? My first thought when i hear soclose2you is some sort of weird commercial for men played during baseball games.

[Tannerman]

One week ago, I wrote this story about the Forest Preserves and their marketing. I submitted the story to the Windy Citizen where it got quite a few votes, boosting its local profile in Chicago.

One week later is it any surprise that the Chicago Sun-Times is doing a story about the marketing efforts of the Forest Preserves? Hmmm

Watchdogs: Cook County spends to make sure you know what forest preserves offer

July 20, 2009
BY CHRIS FUSCO Staff Reporter

Can't afford to hold on to your gym membership anymore because of a pay cut? Looking for a really cheap way to do something healthy on those unpaid furlough days you're being forced to take?

The Forest Preserve District of Cook County says: Have we got a deal for you.

"Your 68,000 acre health club. No membership required," boasts a billboard along the Eisenhower Expy.

It's one of six highway billboard ads the county agency has bought to tout the forest preserves.

Money is tight for government bodies everywhere these days. And consumers in Chicago now pay a nation-high 10.25 percent sales tax thanks in part to a penny-on-the-dollar increase that the same Cook County commissioners who also run the Forest Preserve District approved last year.

But the $655,000 it's costing for the district's summerlong "68,000 Acres of Adventure" advertising campaign -- which, beside the billboards, also includes spots on 16 Comcast cable TV stations, plus ads on CTA buses and L trains and at CTA stations -- is worth it, officials say.

"We know it's a significant amount of money, but we also think it's money well-spent," Forest Preserve District spokesman Steve Mayberry says. "If we just assume people will know what we have to offer, how is that going to happen?"

If you want people to use the forest preserves, says Mayberry, you have to make sure they know about them. The current campaign is part of a three-year effort to do that.

The first year cost taxpayers $430,000. It focused on getting people to go online to the district's Web site and also touted biking, hiking, fishing and picnicking opportunities.

The second year cost $550,000. It focused on conservation and, says Mayberry, attracted thousands of volunteers who have helped keep the forest preserves clean and in sound shape ecologically.

"This year," he says, "the effort has been focused around recreational opportunities people don't know that they have."

Kicking off the current effort last month, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger said: "We are proud to continue the district's effort to educate our great county's residents about the many opportunities that exist within their forest preserves. This campaign is all about helping people connect with their forest preserves and the 68,000 acres of educational and recreational opportunities they offer."

Stroger and the rest of the County Board famously have sparred over spending and taxes. Technically, the Forest Preserve District is a separate entity from county government -- although its president and commissioners are the same.

Mayberry says that, while commissioners have clashed on other spending issues, they've never questioned the cost of promoting the forest preserves.

Which, over three years, comes to more than $1.6 million -- a relatively small amount in government, though still enough to pay the total annual salaries of, say, 25 new nurses for the county's health system or 17 new attorneys for the public defender's office.

Source