Meister & Associates - Community Based Research Services

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COMMUNITY-BASED MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

How does a company establish a long-term, mutually-beneficial relationship with the surrounding community?

With authentic community relations and that's where we come in.

At Meister & Associates, we believe there is a difference between public relations or lobbying versus authentic community relations. Community relations means genuine engagement between a company and its community. The company must be a part of that community, on its terms. Properly managed, that relationship builds trust and respect – a camaraderie, where company and community members work together towards common goals for the benefit of the community they share.

Community relations is not a 9 to 5 job. It’s taking the time to chat with neighbors when shopping at the local market; it’s grabbing a cup of coffee with a business owner after a power walk. It’s being the "go to" person because people know you, they are comfortable talking to you and they believe you are sincere (and you really are sincere).

What do we need to do to become a trusted member of the community?

As part of your company's community relations team, Meister & Associates will customize a program to fit your company's specific needs. This may entail any or all of the following:

Act as community liaison – meet with residents, local businesses and city staff on a regular basis; build and strengthen these relationships.
Be proactive. Problem-solve. Trouble shoot. Advise and work to mitigate community concerns. Follow-up.
Help to develop community partnerships to achieve shared goals, such as targeted public improvements.
Be there – attend City Council and commission meetings (e.g., Planning, Arts & Cultural Affairs, Public Facilities, etc.) as needed.
Represent the company publicly at city events, community meetings and other activities that could impact the company.
Develop creative and meaningful communications with the community. Actively seek opportunities to promote the company to the community from all directions (e.g., via a community newsletter, web presence on Facebook, Twitter, etc). Develop and produce messages that communicate the value of the company to the community.
Evaluate message effectiveness among the various stakeholders.
Develop internal communications that ensure the management team remains well-informed. Report to the management team on citywide projects and events as they relate to the company and the surrounding community. Provide valuable insights to the management team to help them do their jobs more effectively.
Conduct market research and community surveys on an on-going basis and provide evaluation, statistical analysis and recommendations.

How can we find out how the community feels about our organization/our project/our service?

For government agencies, developers, local businesses and other organizations, we offer PeoplePoll, a new approach to visioning and community-based research. By utilizing a highly trained team of researchers, probing and thought-provoking questions, and an approach that marries traditional marketing research techniques with good old common sense, we can provide clients with more than the obvious — we can provide real insight.

How do we go about it?

Marketing research utilizes a variety of methodologies. These methodologies include: one-on-one interviews, telephone surveys, web-based surveys, focus groups, "supergroups" and survey sessions using wireless data collection techniques. We customize the study to accommodate your organization's needs, the issue(s) at hand and topic sensitivity.

Marketing research can be costly. How will conducting marketing research benefit my organization/project/service?

Dealing with land-use and other issues that impact the community is expensive and time-consuming. If the methodology used in community research is flawed or the data is inaccurately interpreted, the results can be costly, especially in terms of the impact on the community. It is our philosophy that community research should be done right the first time. Accurate information will save clients time and money in the long run.

Why can't our organization do this ourselves?

City staff or community outreach consultants typically run community meetings and visioning sessions. While the meetings might be successful in terms of "turn out" and eliciting reactions, the event facilitators are, by and large, not objective research professionals and so, the discussion may be biased and/or the reporting of results may be compromised. Interpretation of data is just that... interpretation. If the people asking the questions and reporting the results are not objective, the end-user is likely not getting "the whole story." That's where PeoplePoll makes a difference. As experienced marketing research professionals, we can provide accurate, useful data and actionable reporting of results.

Contact us now to discuss your plan.