It’s amazing the level of fantastic service some transit agencies produce that they don’t fully advertise. Whether it’s an airport shuttle or a special express to the baseball game, specialized transit services deserve robust and specialized marketing plans.
One of the common fallacies in transit marketing is the idea that narrow services should be targeted at a narrow audience. This is completely against the prevailing movement in the greater marketing environment, especially in relation to transportation.
Most car companies spend significant amounts of money advertising limited edition, high cost vehicles to the general public. For example, Ford spent millions of dollars advertising the Ford GT, which sold only 4,803 units at an average cost well above $100,000. What gives?
Car companies understand the importance of a “halo car,” a vehicle not accessible to a large portion of their consumers that, nevertheless, captures the imagination and showcases the company’s technological and artistic prowess.
Transit agencies occasionally do this as well. With the exception of King County Metro Transit, most transit agencies that operate hybrid buses have only a few. Despite this fact, it’s the hybrid bus that ends up in every brochure and constantly touted as part of the agency’s commitment to new technology. And rightly so.
But this should be done with exemplary services as well. A good example of this is the Riverside Transit Agency and their “Beach Bus.” As you might expect, the bus offers rides from a local mall and Wal-Mart to the beach. And though Californians may love their beaches, it’s doubtful that it makes up the majority of ridership.
Nevertheless, the agency has made an effort to show off the service to everyone. In fact, the front page offers up a link right at the top to their nicely designed service flyer (PDF).
Not only that, they also include a link right next to it for a flyer showing off their Art tour. What this does, besides encouraging people to actually use the service, is raise the profile of the agency and the service in the minds of potential and current riders.
Public transit is commonly perceived as transit for people who cannot afford to drive, or chose not to. A halo product demonstrates that transit uses advanced technology (hybrid buses) or offers great services (the beach bus).
The Focus, the F-150 and the Ranger make up the substantial portion of Ford’s domestic income, but it’s not the Focus that ends up on the cover of all the brochures. In the same way, transit agencies should put their best products out front to raise their own profile.
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