Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry announced at the Excellence in Government conference last week plans to create a new marketing campaign to improve the public's perceptions of federal employees. But Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., is questioning whether such a campaign is a good idea.
In a letter sent to Berry on Thursday, Coburn questioned how much OPM plans to spend on the rebranding campaign, why it is necessary and what OPM hopes to accomplish through the campaign. Berry said last week that the campaign involves a "cool team" that will interview 100 people from all political persuasions to gather information on public attitudes toward government and federal employees, after which OPM will hire a marketing firm to create a more traditional branding approach to "bring the cool to life and repolish public service."
OPM announced the creation of the "cool team" last fall, and the agency has been reaching out to top technology companies like Google and Facebook to help put its branding strategy together. But is the strategy necessary, as Coburn questions? I think it's important, particularly as images of government workers like those portrayed in this recent Saturday Night Live skit influence the public's view of government service. Plus, as the economy improves, the government will face more competition for top talent, particularly information technology and cybersecurity professionals. What are your thoughts? How can the government repackage itself to better appeal to the younger workers and improve public perceptions of federal service?
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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