KCATA's Late Night Service Extension Campaign

Target Audience: Johnson county residents who lived and/or worked near the 401 Metcalf-Plaza route and the 475 Quivira-75th Street route.

Strategy Objective:Our strategy involved notifying the public with our standard marketing tools, but also adding paid social media advertising and mobile ad buys to the zip codes those routes travel through. We pushed out our new RideKC video with our social ads as another layer of RideKC brand awareness. We also geotargeted these two routes to capture people within a ' mile on either direction of each route. We wanted our messaging to reach those who were within a reasonable walking distance to the routes' bus stops. We promoted the night service information with a motion graphic that used bright colors to catch the attention of mobile device users. We also promoted our mobile app information to let people know that they can plan their trip, track their ride, and buy their fare all within the app.

Situation Challenge: Public transportation in Johnson County is generally used by riders who choose to take public transportation but have other travel options if the bus were not available. We were tasked with marketing new night service on two routes, 401 Metcalf-Plaza and 475 Quivira-75th Street, which was previously not available in the Johnson County area. These new changes added more nighttime frequency to the routes.

Results Impact: In total, we reached more than 97,000 people and acquired 395,000 impressions to our target audience through our paid marketing approach. We had an above average click-through-rate with our mobile advertising. With key messaging and educational material, we brought greater brand awareness and market penetration with the RideKC app and night service adjustment promotions. With our goal to create flexibility for our current riders, the service is being utilized and ridership is steadily increasing.

Why Submit: We believe this entry should win an AdWheel Award because these social media posts were eye-catching and innovative, and promoted our messaging concisely to educate potential riders about routes near where they work and live. The video was produced was a new type of marketing for RideKC and included original music from a local artist. The video alone accounted for 50,000 impressions and reached 34,000 people.