Challenge:
Fully 18% of the population nationwide has some physical disability, intellectual disability or mental health issue. The Connect-Ability program was designed to:

• Open the minds of employers to the idea of hiring people with disabilities.
• Provide the education and tools that help employers recruit, hire and retain employees with disabilities.
• Help those with disabilities find the services and tools they need to seek and secure jobs.

Strategy:
To prevent entrenched attitudes about state government from undermining our messages, we created the name Connect-Ability to play off the mission of the initiative (Connect) and our most important asset (Ability).

Next, we developed a single theme that would join the perspectives and motivations of the two basic audiences - people with disabilities and those who could hire them. It was apparent from our audience research that matching candidates with disabilities to jobs gets easier when you look first at what people with disabilities CAN do, not what they can't.

"See the ability. See how we can work together."

Integrated Campaign Elements:

A website, www.connect-ability.com, the central tool to "connect" our audiences:

Video success stories.

A paid media campaign statewide with TV, radio, print, online, outdoor, helped build recognition for Connect-Ability and its mission and open employer minds.

Media relations with announcements, interviews, articles. We also forged a collaboration with Connecticut public television (CPTV) to underwrite and advise on five episodes of Able Lives Incorporated.

Winning Results:
In the first six months, the Connect-Ability campaign achieved the following:

• Media exposure on local TV, radio, online and print reached 80% of adults aged 35-64 in Connecticut.
• More than 11,000 visitors to the website.
• More than 300 phone calls and email requests about the initiative from employers and people with disabilities.