the kenney group

Public Opinion & Market Research

FasTracks

In 2004, The Kenney Group directed public opinion research for the successful FasTracks campaign, the largest US expansion of light rail in decades. As always, we began with informal "focus groups" of our clients and team members to help clarify the research objectives. We then followed with extensive focus groups of likely election-day voters. These focus groups informed our initial round of polling and set a strategic direction for the campaign.

Following the focus groups, we fielded a survey of likely voters in the district. The goals of the survey were to test insights and assumptions collected through our focus groups, benchmark our level of support, test potential problem areas, and hone our campaign message.

Among our many findings, our focus groups and polling uncovered, what at first appeared to be a nuanced finding, but eventually turned out to be a great strategic insight. Our initial telephone survey showed that a large majority of voters view traffic as a "high priority" and a "serious problem." Armed with this information the campaign may have mistakenly created a communications strategy that overplayed current problems associated with traffic. However, two additional findings alerted our team that this would have been a mistake. Through further questioning and focus groups we discovered that most voters were not in fact frustrated with the current state of traffic congestion, but were very concerned that it would get worse in future years. This insight informed the communications message that led to award winning television ads that focused on the growing problem of traffic.