Fort Worth’s public transit system, Trinity Metro, and its advertising/marketing agency of record, J.O. Agency, have created an integrated campaign to tackle any concerns about riding public transportation during the pandemic.
The upbeat campaign featured video and digital advertising – all done with volunteer principals and extras, including staff, a creative promotional twist and a strategic media buy. The objective was to increase ridership while building customer trust, Trinity Metro and J.O. said in a news release.
Because of the pandemic, Trinity Metro experienced the same declines in ridership as other systems across the country and set to work immediately putting in place the necessary protocols to ensure the safety of both passengers and employees.
From enhanced cleaning to social distancing to implementing a face-mask policy, all safety measures were designed to help reduce the spread of the virus. The marketing challenge was to reassure prospective riders that using the service was safe.
J.O. Agency saw an opportunity to communicate the changes to consumers in a reassuring yet light-hearted way. To put riders at ease about returning to public transit, the agency developed the “We Got You!” campaign. Advertising features staff and passengers in colorful face masks following the protocols while interacting and dancing to upbeat music.
A recent global survey of 35,000 conducted by Kantar shows that consumers want brands to use a reassuring tone, offer a positive perspective and communicate brand values. More than 50% also think brands should talk as they have always done, while the rest think companies should talk about their brand in a carefree and light way. These statistics align with the team’s decision to reinforce the light-hearted brand tone previously set for Trinity Metro and to focus on the positive.
Video and photo shoots included all Trinity Metro service lines: buses and commuter rail lines, The Dash and ZIPZONE, Trinity Metro’s new first-mile/last-mile solution.
The “We Got You!” media campaign includes cable television, Hulu, digital advertising, print publications, YouTube video, social media, email, and audio streaming on Pandora and Spotify.
All rides were free for the first six weeks of the campaign.
The campaign has delivered over 20 million impressions and the combined ridership of buses, Trinity Railway Express, TEXRail and The Dash has increased 10.6 percent between May and August.