BART's SweaterFest Event

Target Audience: BART's biggest enthusiasts, families, and anyone who had purchased a BART holiday sweater or wanted to purchase one.

Strategy Objective:BART's engagement strategy following the pandemic centered around holding in person station activations to get families and weekend riders back on BART and to come experience and witness the improvements to safety, cleanliness, and service we had made since the pandemic. We rolled out an event passport with custom stamps to collect at each event. The objective of SweaterFest was to activate our station with a family friendly event on a Sunday, offering fun activities, and to sell BART merch for the holidays. We also wanted to capture an epic group photo of everyone in their BART holiday sweaters for social media and the news media.

Situation Challenge: BART introduce its first holiday sweater in 2021 selling out of 150 sweaters in a matter of minutes, becoming a phenomenon garnering national media attention and viral social media posts. The 2022 sweater design was also a hit, selling out of 800 sweaters immediately. For 2023 we offered a pre-sale option in late summer, selling 2,370 sweaters before it was even cold outside. We bought extras to sell closer to the holiday seasons. In November, as we prepared to offer the remaining sweaters for sale, it dawned on us that there were more than 3,000 people with the various generations of BART holiday sweaters and we should get everyone together for a big group photo and celebration. The event would also be a way for people to buy the coveted sweater in person and snag one before it sold out.

Results Impact: More than 1,000 people attended SweaterFest and we sold $13k in merch onsite at the event and we got the group photo! The news media covered it, and social media was flooded with festive photos from the attendees. Overall, we sold 3,500 holiday sweaters in 2023 making a PROFIT of more than $100k.

Why Submit: Our holiday sweater reached cult status, and it is worth pointing out, many transit agencies introduced holiday sweaters in 2024 after learning about BART's success and profits. Our SweaterFest event was a unique, outside of the box idea to activate our station, drive weekend ridership, increase sales of holiday merch, and to build brand affinity with our riders and biggest fans. Our event created a memorable moment for families and groups of friends who attended. Everyone was pulling out their cameras to take photos of the crowds, activities offered, and the lines that formed, posting on their social media accounts. Those photos showcased a clean and vibrant station filled with people having a good time.