Attitudes towards the Census vary widely. Some see it as their civic duty; others question the need or fail to understand the impact. And certain individuals feel threatened by the Census, due to citizenship, homelessness, or legal concerns. Our task was to develop a campaign for the City of Jacksonville that would generate a sense of pride in the community for their hometown and drive more people to complete the Census.

“Mark your mark” was the theme we developed for the campaign. Using JAX, the widely known shorthand for Jacksonville, we developed a visual mnemonic with letter X, representing a completed cell on the census form. “Make your mark” said that every individual that can make a difference for Jacksonville simply by completing the census. This campaign dovetailed nicely into the national campaign theme: “Shape your future.” Punctuated by images of the Jacksonville skyline, our commercial featured a diverse range of people making their mark in the variety of different ways throughout the Jacksonville community. At the end of the spot, Mayor Lenny Curry encouraged citizens to do for it for Jacksonville: “Make your mark!”