Chicago RTA Regional Consumer Marketing Camapign - 'Ride On.'

Target Audience: The primary target audiences were two distinct rider segments: occasional riders and tourists ages 25-54 years old. Secondary audiences were reverse commuters and older adults. Although their motivations differ, all four audiences are similar in that they want to maximum their lives. They're on a personal quest to get the most out of their time and money.

Strategy Objective:The strategy behind the campaign is to trigger emotion by associating public transportation with making the most of your time, money and lifestyle. It highlights the frustrations of driving in humorous ways that are highly identifiable and positions public transportation as the solution. The creative drives consumers to the RTA website which features a Trip Planner that allows consumers to plan a trip, get real-time information and view schedules. The media strategy was uses a variety of media vehicles to target consumers at multiple touch points, and to increase overall reach and frequency. Included were traditional tactics such as TV, radio, out-of-home billboards and print, plus digital display and pre-roll video as well as experiential events/street teams and social media efforts.

Situation Challenge: Research has shown that brand awareness for the transit agencies in the Chicago region is relatively high but less than 40% of regional households ride transit at least once a month. Therefore, the challenge was not one of awareness but rather action ' getting them to ride transit. Knowing that people are already well aware of the rational benefits of public transportation the campaign seeks to remind and nudge them a little bit on the pain points of what they are currently doing, driving. The intent is to encourage them to ride public transportation by highlighting how the conveniences, time saving and value of public transportation can translate to a richer quality of life. The goal is to get them to ride more and more often.

Results Impact: The campaign launched in January 2015 and to date the advertising has met, or exceeded, all performance targets. The digital banners have generated click-thru rates of more than 0.16% or almost double the industry standard. The social media/Facebook advertising has resulted in close to 26 million impressions and over half a million conversions, which are defined as occasions where a rider not only clicks on the ad, but then uses the RTA Trip Planner to plan a trip, get real-time information and/or view a transit schedule. As a result, the RTA Trip Planner has seen an uptick in usage. We've also seen positive results from a brand tracking study with 38% of respondents saying they recognize the ad, above the 34% norm. Perception of the region's transit agencies have also improved.

Why Submit: The "Ride On" campaign takes a unique approach to promoting public transportation. The tongue-in-cheek nature of the creative executions are unexpected yet delightful. The creative makes public transportation conversational rather than informational which is standard and predictable. The campaign is upbeat, friendly, relevant and makes the rational benefits of public transit emotionally relatable. Most importantly, the campaign has resulted in an increase the awareness of transit as a viable mode of transportation for leisure and tourist travel, as well as and improvement in the perception consumers have of the Chicago region's transit system