Valley Metro's Right & Rong Campaign

Target Audience: The primary target audience for this campaign was Maricopa County residents, who live in proximity to the Valley Metro Rail Corridor that runs through Central Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa and Gilbert. Specifically, we looked to target three main groups as follows: - Regular Riders - People utilizing Valley Metro Rail services on a regular basis - Occasional Riders - People who only occasionally utilize Valley Metro Rail services - Not-yet-riding Local Residents - People who live or work within the Valley Metro Rail corridor

Strategy Objective:Our objective was to ensure that our regular riders felt a renewed commitment from Valley Metro to make their rides safer, more pleasant and generally better, while at the same time communicating a stronger enforcement message to any riders contributing to a less than perfect environment on our light rail vehicles and station platforms. We needed a show of strength, but also of humanity. While encouraging riders to Respect the Ride with the new code of conduct and more visible enforcement, we also introduced two new characters (named Right and Rong) who personified the right and (w)rong way to ride. Their job was to encourage good behavior by using a more humorous and less authoritative approach to balance our enforcement efforts.

Situation Challenge: As anyone familiar with running a vibrant transit system can attest, the news of a few bad incidents can travel much faster than the vast majority of uneventful, pleasant rides. Valley Metro wanted to pro-actively handle this reality before it had a chance to impact the perception of its many rule-abiding, loyal customers. We also wanted to show occasional riders that the quality of all rides were important so they might choose to ride more often.

Results Impact: You can't live, work or ride in the Valley Metro Rail corridor without noticing the increased visibility of the rules; but also our two fun mascots who playfully remind everyone about the dozen or so major ways to ride like Right. The campaign included a total of 5.545 M impressions from: - Activation of 35 light rail stations - Installation of interior decals and car cards in over 12 trains - Social media campaign and digital display ads - Increased enforcement personnel deployment during strategic and peak periods The Ride Like Right pledge page, that featured the new codes of conduct illustrated using Right and Rong has garnered over 26,000 page visits since launching in July; including 5,815 pledge takers and roughly 3,000 sign ups through October, 2018.

Why Submit: This effort required the coordination of Operations and Security teams along with marketing and public relations personnel to work in concert to ensure that the campaign couldn't be dismissed as mere marketing fluff. The enforcement and marketing efforts had to complement each other. Presenting what was essentially a list of rules and a tougher enforcement approach'in a way that the public would respond positively to'required deft communication, solid strategy and precise creative. Beyond the impressive pledge results, we are now left with two living characters that have a relationship with the public that can be utilized as spokespeople for improving the rides (and lives) of those who depend on transit.