Black History Month Social Awareness & Engagement Campaign

Month-long marketing effort to help achieve the Chesapeake Utilities Corporation mission of an inclusive workplace culture.

Lagoon Loyal Community Engagement Initiative

The Challenge

Chesapeake Utilities Corporation is a company deeply committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and continually seeks opportunities to foster a company culture of innovation and creativity through social awareness and engagement.

Our Approach

To celebrate Black History Month 2023, Chesapeake Utilities Corporation launched an awareness campaign spotlighting inspiring Black pioneers and employees, while promoting education through scholarship opportunities. This campaign ran throughout February, and targeted both Chesapeake employees and the general public within the communities they serve. 

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is a priority for Chesapeake Utilities, as part of its company culture of innovation and creativity.

As Chesapeake Utilities Corporation’s agency of record, MTN, Inc. helped to build the campaign strategy by isolating a variety of marketing tactics focused on their target audience behaviors. Collaborating with Chesapeake on researching black pioneers who excelled in energy and technology fields, along with gathering testimonials from exemplary black employees, MTN, Inc. crafted content and created consistent design templates that could be easily carried through to all campaign components. MTN, Inc. managed the project from strategy development, content, design, web development, media buying, and digital marketing implementation, to analytics monitoring and final performance reporting following the 28-day run time. 

Chesapeake Black History Month Landing Pages

The Deliverables

To help achieve their social awareness and engagement goals, Chesapeake Utilities Corporation worked with MTN, Inc. to develop a multifaceted campaign that included the following components:

  • Landing Pages: MTN, Inc. created dedicated landing pages on Chesapeake’s website to showcase the campaign’s content and engage visitors through lead forms.
  • Online Quiz: An interactive online quiz was developed to educate participants about black history and motivate entries via gift card prizes. 
  • Online Scholarship Prize Entry: An entry portal was established to facilitate scholarship submissions based on a set of criteria.
  • Email Communication: MTN, Inc. crafted email communications to reach out to Chesapeake employees, informing them about black history and encouraging participation.
  • Educational Videos: Engaging and informative videos were produced to highlight inspiring black pioneers, Chesapeake leadership, and share the campaign’s educational message.
  • Social Media Assets: A series of visually appealing social media assets were designed and distributed across various platforms to increase campaign visibility and promote interaction.
  • Print Ads: Print advertisements were created to reach a broader audience through local publications and newsletters.

The Results

The combined efforts between Chesapeake Utilities Corporation and MTN, Inc. yielded remarkable results during the campaign period of February 1 to 28, 2023.

The Black History Month Awareness Campaign won a gold Angel Award for Corporate Social Responsibility. Conducted by the American Advertising Federation District 4, the Angel Award Competition honors the best in public service advertising by honoring campaigns that demonstrate exceptional results and execution.

“This was a powerful campaign with an important message that was very well received by a multitude of communities across all states served by Chesapeake Utilities,” says Joanie DuPont, Senior Strategy Director. “We’re proud to be part of it.”

These results underscore the success of the campaign in raising awareness about black history, fostering diversity and inclusion, and promoting education within Chesapeake Utilities Corporation and the communities it serves.

MTN, Inc.’s partnership with Chesapeake Utilities Corporation exemplifies the power of collaboration in creating meaningful and impactful social marketing initiatives that resonate with their values and stakeholders.

5,132 Landing Page Views: The landing pages proved effective in capturing the attention of visitors, drawing more than 5,000 views.

49 Black History Quiz Completions:The online quiz engaged nearly 50 participants, contributing to the campaign’s educational objectives.

40 Scholarship Submissions: The campaign’s scholarship entry portal received a total of 40 submissions, reflecting a strong interest in education and diversity.

3 Scholarship Winners: Three deserving individuals were awarded a $3,000 scholarship fund each, recognizing their contributions and achievements within their communities.