Background

Over the course of the last year, Neil Romano, the Romano Group and America’s Strength Foundation, has developed an entire marketing campaign for APSE The Network on Employment. Mr. Romano worked with Celane McWhorter, APSE’s Executive Director, and the Marketing Committee on the materials’ design and donated his companies’ time and expertise to this important venture.

The materials are designed to promote the inclusive employment of people with disabilities:

1. A DVD - A copy has been sent to every state chapter president;
2. A Brochure – Each State Chapter will receive 100 copies free of charge; and
3. Two 30 second public service announcements (PSAs) – each chapter will receive 1 copy on disc.

A 2007 survey in FL completed with the eight local Business Leadership Networks, found that “attitudes at all corporate levels” are the leading impediment to the employment of people with disabilities. These employers recommended training and awareness as the solutions to this attitudinal barrier.

The materials offer APSE state chapters and other entities the opportunity to reach its target markets, to change attitudes and urge employers, policymakers, legislators, providers and others to assist people with disabilities to join the American workforce in large numbers. The professionalism of the materials will make it easier to secure free space and time from local media and other advertisers.

Statewide Marketing Initiatives

Thanks to the work of Neil Romano and his associates, we are able to offer these tools along instructions for their use. In order for the materials to make a difference, we are inviting chapters and others to be partners in the campaign, with levels of partnerships outlined below.

APSE Chapter Marketing Initiative Options

1. Upon request, APSE Chapters will receive 100 copies of the brochure and a DVD with the PSAs for no cost. If this is the option your chapter chooses, we urge you to carefully target the materials so they are viewed as widely as possible.
2. Chapters and others can choose to personalize the materials with the Chapter logo printed alongside the APSE logo for $1000. If you choose this option, you will receive the personalized brochure in PDF format (photo ready) and print as many as you like at the printer of your choosing or, if you prefer, you can choose to set up an account with Spectrum Press, the company currently printing the materials for the national office. Should you choose this option and prefer not to receive the 100 complimentary copies without your Chapter logo, you can opt to receive a credit for the complimentary printing costs towards your $1000 purchase. (See APSE Marketing Initiative Response Form.)
3. If your chapter and a number of organizations want to put their logos on the brochure, the cost is $1,000 for the first logo and $250 for every additional logo. The same rules apply as in number 2 above.
4. For $15,000 any organization can buy the rights to the campaign materials with the caveat that they cannot sell the materials or transfer ownership to any other organization. For APSE Chapters, this price will be discounted by 1/3 to $10,000, with the same caveat – the materials cannot be sold or transferred to any other organization. (Alabama APSE is the first chapter to take advantage of this offer through a grant from their State Developmental Disabilities Council. We are urging ALL of our chapters to follow suit with relevant partners in their own state.)

Raising the Money – Where to Go

$10,000 for a campaign of this caliber is very affordable. The Miami-Dade Business Leadership Network raised $30,000 to pay for its campaign materials.

1. Developmental Disabilities Council (Byron White has offered to share a copy of the grant AL APSE wrote for their funding. See contact information below.)
2. State Vocational Rehabilitation Office
3. State’s Federal Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG)
4. State Department of Labor
5. Workforce and Local Workforce Boards (One-Stop)
6. Business Leadership Networks (BLN)
7. Other Grants – The Able Trust

Implementation How-Tos

People have to see the materials, and they have to see them often for the initiative to have an impact. From the brochure artwork, you can create posters, billboards, busboards and ads. The following suggestions should be especially helpful to Chapters who are purchasing their own logo or rights to the materials.

1. Contact a local marketing and branding firm or advertising agency for help designing your campaign, targeting media and placement. Miami Dade BLN is receiving pro bono assistance from TMP Worldwide, an advertising agency that just sent an article on the BLN to over 1,400 hiring mangers.
2. Find out who handles the local transit authority’s busboard advertising and ask that they provide the space free. You may have to pay for the printing of the busboards. Miami has 15 busboards roaming around the county.
3. Each state has an Outdoor Advertising Association. In Florida, it is the Florida Outdoor Advertising Association. Last year FOAA posted the BLN’s billboard in six locations for 12 months at no charge (a contribution valued at $160,000). The BLN paid for the printing of the billboards. FOAA has a public service component that offers space free of charge for public service announcements.
4. Request time from a cable company in your state. Last year, Comcast Cable, the largest cable company in the U.S., aired the BLN’s 30 second public service announcement (PSA) free of charge on all of its cable networks around the state. The contribution was valued at over $1 million.
5. Contact the largest television stations in your state and request public service time when people will actually see the spot.
6. Work with your local newspapers, business periodicals, state Chamber of Commerce and state Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) newsletter editors, and other periodicals to run free ads and feature stories in their publications and put a link to your website on their website.
7. Post the PSA on your website so that if you use your web address on the billboard/busboard, ads, etc., people can also view the spot when they go to your website.
8. Create posters in various sizes that employers and others can display. They can be desk size, wall posters or miniatures that can be handed out as bookmarks.

Alabama APSE Statewide Marketing Initiative

Contact: Byron White, Alabama Department of Rehab Services; 334-613-3527;
Email: byron.white@rehab.alabama.gov

Contact: Lisa Alford, Alabama Department of Rehab Services; 205-554-1322;
Email: lisa.alford@rehab.alabama.gov

North Dakota APSE Statewide Marketing Initiative

Contact: Don Brunette, Friendship Inc, Fargo, ND; 701-235-8217
Email: donbrunette@catholichealth.net

Technical Assistance from APSE National

The APSE National office will schedule a series of four teleconference training sessions for chapters (or members) who wish to learn more about this campaign, how to design an effective marketing strategy for your own state, who you might reach out to for funding and partnerships, etc. Watch the APSE website as well as APSE e-mails for more information, or contact Celane McWhorter in the national office – 804-278-9187 – celanem@yahoo.com or Leslie Wilson at lesliew@wilres.com.