Tap to Pay

Target Audience: We successfully launched a full-scale campaign to gain new riders when we opened our Compass payment system to accept credit cards and mobile wallets: Phase 1: Card Clash Education - Card clash occurs when multiple cards in a wallet are tapped against the card reader and the customer gets charged on a card they didn't intend to pay with. Targeting our core rider group, the education campaign encouraged customers to adopt the proper tap behavior. Phase 2: Get Tap Happy - Next, we built excitement and educated riders on how to make the most of Tap to Pay. While Compass cards still offer transit users the best value, this campaign aims to increase ridership, targeting occasional riders and tourists who no longer need to dig for change or wait at the vending machines to purchase a ticket.

Strategy Objective:Our objectives were two-fold: to mitigate card clash by getting riders in the habit of tapping their cards and not their wallets at the payment pads; and to highlight the benefits of Tap to Pay & grow ridership. To achieve this, we: - developed a simple and clear mantra to expedite recall and adoption of the proper tap behavior ' "Tap your card, not your wallet"; - developed educational materials to create broad comprehension of card clash; comedic angle sparked talkability and left a lasting impression; - leveraged paid media to build excitement; - provided branded sleeves to physically separate cards from customers' wallets; - provided in-person outreach to support riders; and - partnered with Visa, Google and BC Lions Football Team to inform and celebrate tap to pay.

Situation Challenge: Many choose to take public transit every day because it's an efficient way to get around. Alternatively, occasional riders experience pain points like being stuck without exact change for bus and not understanding how the fare system works. Tap to Pay is our commitment to making tapping on and off easy by allowing customers to use the payment option they're most comfortable with. To prevent card clash from overshadowing the benefits of Tap to Pay prior to the rollout, we had to educate and incentivize customers to adopt the proper tap behavior. In order to successfully drive preference for transit and grow ridership at launch, we had to demonstrate the benefits of Tap to Pay in a manner that resonates with our entertainment and tourist riders.

Results Impact: As the top performing campaign for five years to successfully grow ridership, we: - delivered over 10 million impressions and generated thousands of positive comments across media channels during the two phases through transit and out-of-home advertising, point-of-sale signage, digital, social, video, earned media and outreach; - card clash education achieved 74% aided recall and a reduction of people tapping their wallet from a reported 19% to 8%. Refunds processed due to card clash refund was minimal; - campaign alleviated the TransLink brand; customers rated their experience tapping on transit 8 or higher out of 10; and - surpassed ridership targets and hit one million credit card and mobile wallet taps within three months of launch and three million as of October.

Why Submit: The campaign surpassed targets and achieved: behavior change in four months; strong awareness of new payment options; was instrumental in ridership growth amongst tourists and entertainment travelers with one million credit card and mobile wallet taps within three months of launch and three million as of October. We're also able to reach untapped markets to grow ridership via partnership opportunities with multinational brands like Visa, Google, and BC Lions football club. In sum, we're committed to empowering customers and ensuring their experience on transit is an easy one. This dynamic ridership growth campaign with content and creative that entertains and educates has breathed new life into our brand and has allowed us to tap into the hearts of Metro Vancouverites.