| Chapter 2: | Marketplace Advocacy in Action |
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drilling—Allegheny, Armstrong, Bradford, Butler, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Fayette, Dauphin, Greene, Indiana, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Sullivan, Somerset, Susquehanna, Tioga, Washington, and Westmoreland.
In addition to highlighting issues related to the economy, energy security, and jobs, MSC advertising was also designed to direct traffic to the coalition’s Web site, http://www.marcelluscoalition.org. Online, the MSC provides extensive information and educational resources regarding the Marcellus Shale as well as opportunities for visitors to “get involved” by requesting a speaker from MSC’s speaker’s bureau or participating in MSC conferences and activities. The coalition has a Facebook page, a Twitter newsfeed, and a YouTube channel with relevant media stories.
The MSC also engages in extensive traditional media relations. In an interview on Clean Skies News, the president of the MSC, Katie Klaber, explained how the coalition seeks to provide a “unified voice on some very complex issues” to elected officials and decision makers regarding policies that are relevant to the coalition. Klaber noted that an additional goal is to “help the public and decision makers understand how this gas can get from 8,000 feet below the surface, how to do it safely, [and] how to look at environmental best practices.” She clarified, “That’s really an area we’re also focusing, what are the best practices to develop this safely with modernized standards, modernized legislative structure” (Clean Skies, 2010).
Summary
Marketplace advocacy campaigns have been described as targeting the general public rather than legislators or government officials (Cutler & Muehling, 1989). Depending on the campaign objectives, marketplace advocacy campaigns may target regional audiences (e.g., the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers’ “Foundation for Energy Education” and the Marcellus Shale Coalition’s “Energy to Fuel our Future”), national audiences (e.g., the American Plastics Council’s “Plastics Make it Possible?,” the American Petroleum Institute’s “Energy Tomorrow,”