Government

Limelight Insights by Shugoll’s location in the Washington, DC metro/DMV area places us near hundreds of government agencies and contractors. We have conducted research for federal, state, and local government agencies over many years. Our studies examine the attitudes of government agency employees and decision makers as well as policy elites, opinion influencers, and legislative staff. We’ve also worked to determine public attitudes toward government programming and politicians/opinion leaders.

Specifically, we have conducted a broad range of studies on employee recruitment, communications/public education campaigns, website usability, and more. Results from our studies are used to identify constituent information needs and to enhance programming provided by government agencies. We also conduct branding and positioning studies to help government contractors develop strategies for positioning their products and services to the government market.

Limelight Insights offers full-service design, analysis, and consulting to government clients across a multitude of research categories including:

  • Recruitment strategies for government programs and initiatives
  • Rebranding existing governmental programs and initiatives
  • Gauging public opinions on politicians, social issues, and governmental programming
  • Voter turnout 
  • Governmental employee satisfaction

Limelight Insights Knows
Policy & Government Market Research

In addition to contracting directly with government agencies, Limelight Insights has teamed with advertising agencies, PR firms, non-profits, consulting companies and other government contractors on many government projects. Limelight Insights has helped a variety of clients with message development, rebranding initiatives, recruitment strategies, and the development of high-impact brand names, logos, and taglines.

Case Study:
Awareness and Recruitment Message and
Creative Testing for a Leading Government Agency

The Limelight Insights consulting team was contracted to conduct market research to better understand the perceptions and attitudes that underrepresented minorities and females have toward a leader government agency as a potential employer, and to assess reactions to recruitment advertising targeted to each specific segment. Underrepresented minorities in this study included: African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, LGBTQ+, Middle Eastern Americans, Native Americans and those with disabilities.

Over 75 qualitative focus groups were conducted with the aforementioned segments across the country. The studies were used to obtain reactions to creative concepts and advertising executions, explore attitudes towards the Federal Government and the specific government agency as a potential employer, and to identify sources for employment information and preferred communications channels.

The findings of the research helped guide development of and revisions to the recruitment strategy used with each segment.

A large part of our business is answering critical questions
and providing actionable insights that can inform a business’ or organization’s direction.

Here are some of the questions Limelight Insights has helped government clients answer:

How do I develop an effective advertising campaign to recruit new employees in specific professional categories for my agency?

In our experience, it is important to first conduct in-depth qualitative research with both current employees in these professions, as well as prospective employees (professionals working in the private sector who would be interested in working for the government). Understanding the reasons why current employees decided to work for a particular agency and their views of the hiring process will provide key information for crafting messages targeted to prospects.

Interviews with prospects will explore their perceptions of a government career, identify benefits and barriers to working for your specific agency, and test their reactions to current or new advertising. If timing and budget allow, a large-sample, statistically reliable quantitative survey should also be conducted with prospects to test the recruitment campaign before launch.

How should I go about creating and tracking the impact of a public education campaign my agency is developing?

Many government agencies are tasked by Congress to communicate with the public about specific issues. Limelight Insights recommends evaluating public education and communication campaigns for government agencies on topics such as cancer prevention, nutrition/dietary guidelines, rape and sexual assault prevention, anti-smoking, youth victimization and safety, aggressive driving and pedestrian safety, and direct deposit/direct payment, to name a few.

After campaign concept testing is completed and before these campaigns launch, it is important to conduct “baseline” research to measure the public’s current awareness, knowledge, perceptions, and behavior related to the topic. After the campaign has been launched, follow-up survey research is conducted with the target audience to identify changes in awareness, knowledge, perceptions, and behaviors that can be attributed to the campaign.

How do I reach and conduct research with culturally, economically, and geographically diverse participants?

Government agencies must ensure their programs reach all segments of the population. Limelight Insights’ research team is adept at reaching and examining the attitudes and needs of diverse populations. Members of our team have designed and implemented both qualitative and quantitative studies in 26 languages and have experience with conducting research with participants from a variety of demographic backgrounds. Specific research approaches are designed based on the target audience and unique demands of each project.

As a government contractor, how do I position my company and its products and services to the government market?

With numerous connections in the Washington, DC, area, Limelight Insights has conducted research with hundreds of government employees, policy elites, opinion influencers, and agency decision makers. This work has been for technology/defense contractors, professional services/consulting firms, health plan providers, and others servicing the government market. Image and positioning research, as well as policy research, is conducted with targeted decision makers to help understand current versus optimal positioning in the market, identify unique strengths in comparison to competitors, determine advertising awareness and recall, and measure satisfaction with products, policies, and customer service. Using the results of the research, contractors can fine tune current messaging, or they can develop new marketing messages and strategies.

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