Little Burgundy’s Citizen’s Committee Blog Advocating Fiercely for Our Community
INTRODUCTION
To highlight the Little Burgundy’s Citizen’s Committee’s (LBCC) commitment to their community, our message must be shared with Little Burgundy Residents. Specifically, we will communicate to individuals unaware of the lawsuit filed against the City of Montreal due to the atrocious housing for displaced residents. By communicating the existing housing problem and the upcoming court case, we will demonstrate the committee’s accountability to advocate for community member’s interests. Little Burgundy residents can access information about the committee and their initiatives at community meetings, however a blog campaign will allow for a greater reach and an opportunity for expropriated residents experiences to be heard. This plan proposes a four-part blog series displaying the unsafe housing situation through a video media tour of the apartment complex, two residents’ experiences while being expropriated from their home and one committee member describing the upcoming lawsuit.
AUDIENCE
The primary audience for this campaign is Little Burgundy Residents. Members of this audience are motivated by their personal interest in this initiative, such as their family’s well-being and safety. This audience will likely be accepting of our campaign because the problem is directly and negatively affecting them. Since the committee operates on resident’s behalf, residents have high power over the choices and decisions of the committee. This four-part blog campaign is aimed at informing Little Burgundy Residents who will be expropriated during the urban renewal project. By showcasing the hazardous housing and upcoming lawsuit against the city, residents will feel a connection to the LBCC’s initiative. Additionally, stories from expropriated residents will resonate and unite community members.
RESEARCH
Working adults and parents may not have the time or resources to attend committee meetings to gain insights about this initiative. Therefore, delivering our message through digital channels is the most effective medium. Digital channels such as blogs provide an affordable and simple way to reach a large audience. Adults, according to a 2021 survey on daily internet use by Pew Research found that eighty-five per cent of adults in the U.S are online daily, forty-eight per cent reported being online multiple times a day.
For this initiative, a blog campaign is superior to social media because we can present a greater amount of information on a very specific topic showcasing, factual events and unique perspectives. Social media provides an impressive platform for distributing information widely but can lack authenticity and credibility because posts are commonly less informational. According to a survey conducted by Affilinet, internet users indicated that bloggers were more trustworthy compared to journalists, politicians and celebrities. This is perhaps because a blog provides personalized, specific and in-depth information without asking for anything in return. In addition, a blog allows for more defined two-way communication between the committee and Little Burgundy residents.
The greatest challenge this campaign will face is shifting residents from the previous communication channels to the blog. Since, our audience is mostly middle aged home-owners, it is important accessing the blog is simple. Testing this campaign on a small focus group of Little Burgundy Residents would be useful but not critical. Questions regarding accessing the blog, the blogs layout, if their questions were addressed and how they felt after reading the blog series should be asked.
SPOKESPEOPLE
Individuals do not always trust owned media; it can appear self-serving and organizations are motivated to convey themselves in a positive light. According to a study by Nielson, a leading insight provider, owned media is not the most trusted source of information. In fact, eighty-four percent of respondents said that word-of-mouth was considered the most trustworthy advertising to them. Therefore, we can assume that our audience will rely heavily on opinions from friends, family and other community residents. Based on this assumption, this blog campaign will highlight two personal stories from expropriated Little Burgundy residents.
CONTENT
The proposed blog campaign is designed to increase awareness about the upcoming court case against the City of Montreal regarding the hazardous housing for expropriated residents. The campaign will use first person language to resonate with and unite community members. To encourage resident’s engagement, comments and public discussion forums will be open. The blog will serve as a home base for any information regarding this specific initiative to make key messages accessible and avoid misinformation. A focus on safety, family and community will be the guide of the entire blog campaign. Links will be provided to the LBCC website and, the St. Marches court-house website which provides information and scheduling of the lawsuit.
CALENDAR
This blog series will begin one week before the court case commences. Each post will be strategically released one week leading up to a court date. The timeline has been crafted to remind, interact and engage with residents about the lawsuit and to identify any additional complaints or witnesses who would like to be heard in court.
The blog entry interviewing a committee spokesperson about the lawsuit should be released first in order to describe the purpose behind the campaign.
The video blog including a media tour of the unsafe housing should be released second in order to produce an emotional connection to those effected by the expropriation and for our audience to be aware of how dire the situation is. Residents will be more inclined to believe our message about the unsafe housing because they are able to see it with their own eyes.
Finally, the last two blog posts reporting on personal stories from Little Burgundy residents will be released in the following weeks (one week before a court date).
Data on blog interactions, and impressions should be reviewed weekly to see if our message is resonating with our audience. In addition, the public forums will be monitored for questions and concerns that are not addressed within the current campaign.
CONCLUSION
This three-part blog series will provide a personal, interactive, community focused campaign on the lawsuit against the City of Montreal to engage residents in the LBCC’s initiative. This campaign will take place for the duration of the lawsuit to provide timely and factual information to residents.