Link Transit's "Caring for our Communities" campaign to promote and support Covid-19 safety efforts


Target Audience: The target audience for the "Caring for our Communities" campaign was the community at large -- across all demographics -- as the goal was to promote and support safety initiatives designed to combat the spread of Covid-19. The pandemic hit at a critical time for our organization as we prepared to roll out significant service increases promised during a successful ballot bid to raise our sales tax allotment. Link leadership, recognizing the pandemic would slow the roll out and reduce the demand for new and more frequent bus service, launched the "Caring for our Communities" campaign as a way to support social service, grassroots and health organizations working to combat Covid-19 spread and provide resources to those severely impacted by the related economic shutdown.

Strategy Objective:The Link Transit marketing team hoped to remove preconceived notions regarding eligibility requirements for those who might take advantage of free travel training. By communicating "It's for You," the campaign communicates that this service is for everyone. The video was circulated thru Link's social media and via paid-for ads seen by individuals streaming Internet television. The strategy was to reach as broad of an audience as possible.

Situation Challenge: 2020 was supposed to be a year of growth for Link Transit. Voters had just approved a .2 percent sales tax increase and our organization was poised to deliver the promises pitched during the campaign. Faced with flagging demand, a stay-at-home workforce and the challenge of keeping our own workers safe – Link leadership pivoted, finding new and creative ways to meet Link's mission. By forging partnerships with overburdened social service, industry and business organizations, we found ways to help ensure support for vulnerable populations – those that typically rely on bus service as their main mode of transportation. While helping was our objective, the sweat equity earned helped to keep the Link brand relevant where our planned pre-pandemic messaging was irrelevant and inappropriate.

Results Impact: In planning marketing strategies for 2020, Link staff hoped to grab headlines with technology advances, streamlined routes and increased service. With Covid-19 social distancing rules impacting our capacity to carry riders and the government mandate to stay home for everything but essential trips, we shifted to a community support role. We stayed in the news by helping to organize efforts to mitigate Covid-19 spread and helped to plan events that shored up a fraying social services safety net. These efforts gave us a platform for sharing our mission to provide safe, cost-effective and reliable transportation for essential trips. Our ability to maintain a relevant community presence depended on that ability to "lean in" to the headlines of 2020.

Why Submit: Link's "Caring for our Communities" campaign deserves recognition by the Adwheel Judging panel because: ? It effectively presented an image of a caring organization committed to using its mission to support struggling communities ? The campaign enabled Link to partner with a broad spectrum of grassroots, social services, faith-based and business groups to retain positive relevancy in the news feed of disaster headlines ? It galvanized volunteers looking for ways to make a difference in communities struggling with the devastating economic and social disruption brought on by the pandemic. ? It gave Link a "news hook" to share important information about its operations with a community concerned about the safety of public transportation