"The Voice of Cherriots" video introduces riders to the man behind the voice on the bus.
Target Audience: We targeted current and past riders of our service with this video.
Strategy Objective:Our goals were to: - Recognize a longtime employee by featuring his career, interviewing him, and hearing from his coworkers about his impact on the organization. - Make riders feel nostalgic about riding the bus by playing old recordings and talking about the history of the "talking bus" system. - Inform riders about new features in the CAD/AVL project that are now available in addition to the new stop announcements.
Situation Challenge: We recently added a CAD/AVL system on our buses which replaced our recorded stop announcements with a computerized voice. We wanted riders to know about the changes and the new features this project provided for them on the bus. More importantly though, we took the opportunity to celebrate the operations supervisor who had recorded those stop announcements for over 20 years as the "Voice of Cherriots."
Results Impact: This video resulted in significant awareness building through 3,654 people reached on Facebook, (and with only $20 spent to promote the post). Most importantly, it resulted in 957 post engagements and was our most-viewed Facebook and YouTube video of 2020. Viewer comments included: - "A beautiful story that I never knew existed. I too am sad to lose that comforting and familiar voice. But I can't wait to experience the public transportation of tomorrow! Thanks Cherriots!" - "Keith is literally like the father of Cherriots. Definitely missing his voice on the buses." - "I never knew that was a real person's voice! Whenever I think of city buses I always connect it to his voice." - "Man, that voice will always be iconic."
Why Submit: Transit is about the people, not the buses. In "The Voice of Cherriots," we introduce our riders to the man behind the voice they've grown up with on the bus. We celebrate our history, our fantastic staff, and our bright future. We tell the story of our past, and then inform riders about the new tools coming to make their ride better. By balancing nostalgia for the Cherriots of yesteryear, highlighting the commitment of our staff, and introducing new technology, we hit all of the right notes with this great video!