CHALLENGE

Getting the Word Out

In 2013, the Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council tasked Strategic America with raising Iowans’ awareness of STEM, especially among K-12 students, educators, and business leaders. STEM knowledge is vital to the state’s prosperity; however, research showed a lack of awareness of and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in Iowa.

Ten years later, our focus is to maintain the momentum of building awareness, support, and utilization of Iowa STEM, its programs, and resources among Iowa educators, business leaders, elected officials, and community members will a focus on further growing the number of STEM advocates across the state.

STRATEGY

Telling the STEM Story

Strategic America developed a multi-faceted public awareness campaign designed to tell the story of Iowa STEM and highlight the positive impact that STEM has on the state of Iowa. The importance of STEM education and examples of success stories were shared through PSAs, social media, media coverage, podcasts, and blogs.

Engaging with the Community

The Strategic America team assists the STEM Council in the coordination and execution of events designed to engage and inspire—including STEM Day at the Iowa State Fair, the Future Ready Iowa Summit, and STEM Day at the Capitol. These events allow thousands of Iowans to experience STEM education and learn more about the critical role it plays in our state.

RESULTS

State-wide Success

As of 2022, three-fourths of Iowans have heard of the acronym STEM—an increase of 35 percentage points compared to 2013. Total public relations efforts during 2021-2022 resulted in 153 placements in newspaper, television, and radio outlets in local, statewide, and national media coverage, appearing before potentially 51 million eyes. Social media continues to be a successful tactic to connect with STEM advocates and spread information about the STEM Council programs. To date, STEM has more than 7,000 followers across its Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter platforms.

Testimonial

“Through their commitment to the highest standards of ethics, leaders at Strategic America with whom we work demonstrate honorable personal character; foster an authentic culture; prioritize customer relationships; and consequently, generate trust with our STEM community.

To sustain the interest of stakeholders – school leaders, parents, communities, and elected officials – we depend on constant illumination. SA is our torch. The company created our brand and evolves it as we mature. They produce riveting media on our behalf – television and radio messages, blogs, billboards, podcasts, news content, presentation templates and more. They drive our social media profile and orchestrate many of our public events. These and more services provided by SA have won us many important friends across the state who, by measure of independent surveys, support a STEM education priority at ninety-five percent.”

— Jeff Weld, Executive Director of Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council