Digital Super Summer Challenge and Video
Salt Lake City Public Library, Utah
Innovation Synopsis
The Super Summer Challenge is our annual reading/activity program for all ages. Typically, patrons sign up in person and receive a custom-designed booklet to track their progress. We also produce a promotional video tied to the program's theme. When COVID-19 hit, our plans had to be scrapped with a very short time frame to start from scratch.
Challenge/Opportunity
We were 90% finished with promotional materials (after several months of work) when COVID-19 hit. We had just a few weeks to redesign the program. We picked a new theme, set up online tracking, created virtual events and reworked activities to be appropriate for social distancing. Our marketing team had to come up with a new concept for the promo video and figured out how to film it despite our buildings being closed and the need to maintain social distancing.
Key Elements of Innovation
Our marketing team came up with a video concept that involved staff filming themselves in their own spaces. The window to get this footage was only five days, with two weeks for editing. The video, normally shown in schools throughout the city, was uploaded to YouTube and boosted in order to spread the word. We used Beanstack as an online tracking tool, and came up with prizes that could be mailed. We also promoted the program through bookmarks that were distributed with "holds-to-go" (curbside pickup) materials.
Achieved Outcomes
The video was a hit with staff, and over 235,000 people watched it thanks to the YouTube boost. The average viewing duration was 88%, which took audiences all the way to the ending graphic that contains all of the information needed to participate. We did not see a huge difference between those that watched the video organically and those that were able to skip after five seconds. Participation in the program was lower overall, as expected, but adult participation made up a greater percentage than in past years.