VHB Viewpoints: COVID-19 Response through Thought Leadership


Target Audience: VHB Viewpoints is a thought leadership platform developed to engage with AEC clients, partners, and interested parties outside the industry. White papers, videos, and other digital content is hosted on www.vhb.com/viewpoints, as well as promoted on VHB's social media platforms and via targeted email campaigns. Direct email campaigns are sent to a list consisting of thousands of targeted contacts across VHB's business geography along the entire eastern seaboard, including staff at all levels of transit agencies, DOTs/transportation agencies, municipalities, developers, higher education, healthcare, energy, and consultants.

Strategy Objective:COVID-19 brought change and disruption to how we live, work, and play. VHB remained focused on providing value, creativity, and solutions. The COVID-19 Resources Page was developed for our clients, partners, and colleagues as they navigate daily challenges, such as health and safety of the traveling public, loss of revenue, operational impacts, and bringing ridership back online. From white papers such as Restoring Service and Confidence Post-COVID-19 and Dynamic Service Planning in the COVID-19 World, to summaries of virtual video roundtables held with industry leaders, this site provides a way to stay connected with clients and help them address their most complex challenges. Our objective was three-fold: stay connected, share perspectives, and move forward together.

Situation Challenge: When COVID-19 hit the US, everything changed. Remote work became the new norm, virtual meetings became a lifeline, and the AEC industry faced unprecedented challenges. Transit and transportation agencies faced significant revenue loss, budgetary shortfalls and operational challenges. Uncertainty was top of mind, as the US workforce is mostly comprised of employees who have never experienced a pandemic. Recognizing the need for guidance, best practices, shared perspectives and overall business continuity solutions for the AEC community, VHB reimagined the Viewpoints platform to include a dedicated COVID-19 page: www.vhb.com/viewpoints/covid-response-series. The site proved a valuable resource for hosting relevant information for our clients, communities and employees to navigate COVID-19.

Results Impact: From Mar. to Nov. 2020, Viewpoints published 21 white papers and summary documents, as well as one e-book, directly focused on COVID-19 issues or trends accelerated by COVID (e.g., e-commerce). Our virtual roundtable series with industry leaders discussed shared challenges, opportunities, solutions. This series provided interactive engagement, with summaries and results posted online. Viewpoints site users increased by 26% in Apr. 2020 compared to Apr. 2019. VHB's social media platforms grew net audience in 2020, with LinkedIn increasing more than 60%. Our paper The Virtual Meeting Norm achieved the highest open rate (33%) of any Viewpoints email campaign in 2020, as well as the highest engagement rate on LI (7%). Both are above industry standard averages (22% for email, 2% for LI posts).

Why Submit: VHB's COVID-19 Response through Viewpoints Thought Leadership serves as a resource both within the company and externally with our clients and the industry during a critical time. Content on the Viewpoints platform in response to COVID-19 became a roadmap for navigating through an unprecedented pandemic; a touch point for VHB, our clients, colleagues, and communities to remain connected; and a platform for sharing possibilities for the path forward. Viewpoints has drawn recognition and positive feedback, including this from a passenger rail provider: "Lots of great information. Excellent!" Additionally, "Your white paper on click-and-collect is fascinating. This trend is not going away…and you captured everything I've been thinking and talking about for months."