Every day, the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB) strives to provide “the highest quality rehabilitation and social services to Massachusetts residents who are blind, leading to their independence and full community participation.” Clearly, the main route to independence and full community participation is work.
Every day, the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB) strives to provide “the highest quality rehabilitation and social services to Massachusetts residents who are blind, leading to their independence and full community participation.” Clearly, the main route to independence and full community participation is work.
For a variety of reasons, people who are blind or vision impaired have not had the same employment opportunities as their sighted peers. In efforts to bridge this inequity, Concepts Communications helped MCB launch a public awareness campaign—called “What’s Your Vision?”—to challenge common misconceptions about the skills and talents of people who are blind among multiple target audiences.
The goal of MCB’s public awareness campaign was to emphasize the importance of ensuring Massachusetts residents who are blind or vision impaired have the opportunity to put their skills and talents to work for the Commonwealth’s employers and economy—as well as MCB’s valuable role in delivering on this goal. To assist, MCB contracted with the American Institutes for Research and Concepts Communications, which used a four-stage planning and implementation process to bring it to fruition. Early steps involved intake meetings with MCB staff and stakeholders as well as an analysis of consumer data from recent years. The team used this research to develop potential creative approaches and, once one was chosen, managed the production of a variety of media assets. Concepts Communications also developed an implementation strategy for MCB to use to launch the campaign and an evaluation tool to assist in measuring its reach.
The result was “What’s Your Vision?,” a campaign centered on a public service announcement (PSA) conceived and produced by Concepts Communications featuring several MCB consumers and other stakeholders sharing their vision for the future. Additional assets, including print ads and video interviews, further explain how MCB’s vocational rehabilitation (VR) services have helped people achieve their employment or workforce goals. The “What’s Your Vision?” PSA was filmed on the campus of the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts in July 2020, following safety and health protocols related to COVID-19. As part of this, plans were revised to use an all Boston-based crew due to quarantine restrictions. The campaign launched in October 2020 in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month. As part of this launch, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) featured campaign billboards across buses, trains and transit stations.
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