METRO Summer of Fun Web Video to Educate Students About Discount Rides.

Target Audience: This entry was designed to target middle school, high school and college students who might may be interested in receiving half-price fares not only for the remainder of the summer, but throughout the 2018-2019 school year.

Strategy Objective:METRO's Summer of Fun program was coming to an end. We hit social media with two short videos promoting METRO's Summer of Fun, FREE ride program. Students were told in August that this limited-time FREE rides program would end September 1. METRO wanted to keep the momentum of this successful program going, so we had to get the word out that students would no longer receive free rides, BUT they would still receive HALF-PRICE fares throughout the entire 2018-2019 school year - as long as they used their METRO Student Q Fare Card. Since the fares were half price, we worded the offer in a memorable and unique way. "Ride Twice for a Solo Price." But how could we do it with school already out for summer? Duh...SOCIAL MEDIA!

Situation Challenge: As a part of METRO's Summer of Fun campaign, we launched two social media videos promoting the Authority's FREE ride program. Each video showed a different scenario where students traveled wherever they wanted using their METRO Student Q Fare Card. Knowing that the campaign would come to an end September 1, 2018, METRO needed to create a new social media effort to capture and continue the momentum created by the Summer of Fun campaign.

Results Impact: The Summer of Fun "mural video" as we call it, blew up on social media garnering more than 50,000 views in just the first three weeks. Analytics show that the video garnered more than a 98.6% retention rate of all viewers, and that 69% percent of those viewers were 13-24! Ultimately, student ridership rose 48% over the previous year.

Why Submit: This zero-budget spot was an intriguing way to promote METRO's half-price student fare message. People were infatuated with watching the young woman dance, waiting to see what it would lead to...METRO's half-price student fares message, of course!