Sorry to go back to the issue of ads on the bus, since we’ve just about beat that one to death, but when asking Sound Transit how much they spend on advertising I go this response:
The American Public Transit Association recommends transit agencies devote between one and four percent of their operating costs to marketing. Sound Transit is well within that guideline.…
Overall ridership on Sound Transit services rose 8 percent between 1st quarter 2006 and 1st quarter 2007. An annual public opinion poll conducted by Sound Transit in fall of 2006 also showed approval rating for the agency had risen significantly from 45 percent in 2003 to 65 percent in 2006. Brand recognition is up to 85 percent. We believe much of this is attributable to effective advertising.
Well if they’re going to spend 1~4% of their budget on ads, I think they should try to recoup 1~4% of their budget from advertising.
I think that Sound Transit set themselves up nicely with the design of their system. I mean think about it, their buses, trains, light rail vehicles have a cool fresh looking wave design. That sets them up nicely for easy advertising. Ride the Wave! Simple therefore easy to remember. There is a lifesaver bus rolling around somewhere though! The thing I don’t understand is advertising billboards on 15th Ave NW and Queen Anne Ave N? Perhaps they are trying to get people to transfer? Seems weird because no ST routes are on those streets. I think their service is awesome. I agree though that what they spend they should make at least the same if not more. I wonder how much KCM spends? I don’t really see much advertising from them actually when I think about it. I know their slogan is Metro…We’ll get you there. I only know that cause I am slightly nerd-ish when it comes to transit.
The lightsaver ads actually confuse me because usually the buses are white and blue and once in a while it’ll be rainbow.
I think that is the new style of wrap they are talking about though, with only partial window blockage, you get to look at a life saver 14500 times the normal size. Hey at least you get to see out though right! I agree though, you definitely have to look at the electronic reader board on front to make sure it is an ST or KCM bus.
Not a bad idea, but isn’t this apples to oranges? I guess I view revenue sources and marketing expenditures as separate accounting categories, and would be tempted to make comparisons at the income and expense level, not the line item level.
Guess I’m thinking of, say, a media company, like the Seattle Times or the PI. They earn a substantial amount of their revenue from advertising buys, but I don’t think it would be a wise expenditure for them to match advertising revenue to advertising targeted to drum up subscriptions.
Of course, comparing Sound Transit to a newspaper is apples to oranges, so I think I’ll just shut myself up now.