Bus Tail
Bus Tail
Bus Side
Bus Side
Bus Interior
Bus Interior
Snapchat Filter
Snapchat Filter
Store
Store
Challenges
- Need to help reverse entrenched Austin “car culture” by increasing commuter and event-goer ridership of 801 & 803 MetroRapid bus lines.
- Cheaper gas prices have led to declining overall CapMetro ridership in the last few years.
- Transportation alternatives like Uber and Lyft also compete for riders (particularly for events).
- Potential riders perceive the stigma that buses aren't for "people like them," especially along the socio-economic and demographically diverse North-South routes of the 801 & 803.
Constraints
- An extremely limited budget—in an expensive media market—left little dollars for creative production (beyond labor hours).
Solution
- Hold a mirror to Austinites' faces by showcasing real riders of public transit from the Austin Collective photo portrait series originally commissioned by CapMetro, and rebranded for our campaign.
- Reframe existing behavior by demonstrating how MetroRapid riders "just like you" currently benefit from bus service enhancements.
- Geo-target a narrow ¼ mile corridor surrounding the routes with bus sides, English and Spanish radio, digital banner ads, event support, UT athletic sponsorship assets and social media ads.
- Hyper-target Google AdWords, paid search and Snapchat filters.
Results
- Digital banner ads currently exceed 3-4 times national average click through rates.
- Preliminary results show a 40% weekday ridership increase since campaign launch.
- Weekend ridership had an increase of 89%