Promoting the Seamless Sharing of Information Across the Government

NIEM is a common vocabulary that enables efficient information exchange across diverse public and private organizations. Using a government-wide, community-driven, standards-based approach to exchanging information, NIEM increases efficiency, maximizes cost savings, and improves decision making. NIEM is a joint program of the U.S. Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and Health and Human Services.

Project Mission

As NIEM’s agency of record for more than a decade, LMD collaborated with the NIEM Program Management Office (PMO) to increase awareness of and participation in NIEM among government and industry audiences.

Activities & Deliverables

• Market & stakeholder research
• Brand development, including identity, positioning, and messaging
• Strategic planning
• Content strategy, copywriting, and editorial services
• Outreach collateral development
• Infographics
• Video production

Building the Brand

Created in 2008, NIEM was conceived as a grassroots effort to share information across state, local, federal, and tribal governments, as well as international partners and private industry, for the greater good. This ambitious mission required a polished brand, including identity and messaging. LMD conducted stakeholder interviews to understand the current perception of NIEM and identify areas for developing and strengthening the NIEM brand.

Based on research findings, LMD developed a compelling positioning statement and key messages for the program An audience segmentation exercise allowed us to create unique value propositions for each target audience. We also created a modern brand identity that symbolizes NIEM’s “whole of government” approach as well as its technical aspects. LMD provided detailed branding policies to help the PMO govern the new brand and ensure consistent brand implementation across all outreach channels and materials.

Simplifying the Complex and Communicating Impact

While the concept of sharing information for the greater good is easy to grasp, the way NIEM facilitates information exchange among diverse stakeholders is actually quite complex. This complexity presented a barrier to NIEM adoption, because the benefits of using NIEM got lost in trying to understand how the model works.

LMD created a suite of fact sheets that shifted the focus from the “how” to the “why” by describing NIEM’s benefits vs. how it works. We integrated this information into the content of the NIEM website, which serves as the program’s primary channel for educating target audiences about NIEM’s value.

To demonstrate NIEM in action and its real-world impact, LMD wrote and designed more than a dozen “NIEM Success Stories,” which are available on the website. LMD also produced “Success Story” videos as well as videos promoting winners of “Best of NIEM,” an annual award given to organizations that have implemented NIEM in innovative and impactful ways.

Increasing Visibility, Awareness, and Support

LMD works closely with PMO staff to develop strategic plans with tactics that enhance NIEM’s visibility, raise awareness, increase adoption, and encourage NIEM community engagement. We’ve implemented a variety of initiatives, programs, and events that build support for NIEM and grow the NIEM community. Our efforts include in-person and virtual events, social media, training curricula, ongoing market research and audience needs assessments, and webinars.