The Baltimore Sun column by Michael Dresser welcoming Ralign Wells to the top spot of Administrator of the Maryland Transit Agency is about the best press a transit leader could ever ask for. Dresser calls on the MTA to run its marketing campaign around the new Administrator:
The MTA would be crazy if it didn’t develop a marketing campaign around Wells. He should be on television and radio as no other MTA administrator has been before. He could be the Frank Perdue of Baltimore transit – as long as the product he’s selling isn’t a turkey.
This is a prescription for aggressive earned media. Why pay for advertisements if a good-looking, charismatic, black, 42-year old is your leader? Hold a press conference twice a week. Get on talk shows. Ask residents to ride transit. If the press likes you, give them more of your time.
By the way, most of the media like transit agencies. Few agencies really take full advantage of their ability to generate news stories about whatever the agency draws attention to. If no one at your agency is responsible for generating media in order to build community support for transit *and* get more riders, then your agency is missing out a huge opportunity. Always, always tell voters and taxpayers that transit makes their community stronger, wealthier and healthier and that more riders are in everyone’s interest.
I wish Wells all the best and hope he takes the columnists’ advice.