MetroNow! New Service Launch

~ Public Relations Case Study ~

Role: External Affairs Manager
Timeframe: January 2023 - June 2023
Project Reference: Brandy Jones, APR; Chief Communications Officer, SORTA/Metro: bjones@go-metro.com, (513) 632-7527

Background

As part of its Reinventing Metro service improvements, made possible through Hamilton County voters’ historic passage of Issue 7 in 2020, Metro introduced a new mobility-on-demand (MOD) service, MetroNow!, that provides first-mile/last-mile connectivity to suburban communities ill-equipped for more traditional fixed-route bus service. MetroNow! launched two pilot service areas in May 2023, with a sustained, multichannel campaign leading up to the launch, promoting the new service and introducing it to the public.

Objectives

  • Introduce Hamilton County to the new service, with enhanced efforts aimed at the Springdale and Sharonville communities (Zone 1) and Northgate and Colerain communities (Zone 2) and stakeholders, specifically.

  • Demonstrate the service’s unique and specific value to customers in these communities in terms they can relate to personally and on an everyday level. (This is a service meant to make their everyday lives easier.)

  • Demonstrate to Hamilton County residents the value of approving the Issue 7 sales tax levy in 2020.

Target Audience

  • Primary: Existing and future riders within MetroNow! communities

  • Secondary: Existing and future riders in Hamilton County

  • Tertiary: Regional businesses, local government and community leaders and other stakeholders

Strategies

  • Introduce the concept through straight-forward, digestible communication methods as well as hands-on experiences with the new vehicles (a la “touch-a-truck” events).

    • Connect MetroNow! in audience’s minds to similar, more familiar on-demand transportation modes like Uber or Lyft

  • Demonstrate how MetroNow! is an example of the transit agency delivering on the promise of Issue 7 and putting their tax dollars toward new and innovative forms of transit that will make the region more competitive.

  • Activate the neighborhoods’ business and healthcare/social services communities to help reach target audiences.

  • Engage existing and future customers living and working in the two service zones through earned and proprietary media as well as events in those communities.

Tactics

MetroNow! Service Launch Event at The Healing Center

To celebrate MetroNow!’s first pilot zone launch in May 2023, Metro collaborated with Springdale social services hub, The Healing Center to host a ribbon-cutting event for the new service. The program included remarks from members of Metro leadership, the SORTA Board of Trustees, the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners, Springdale elected officials and business community leaders. After the ribbon was cut, news media, guests and Healing Center clients were invited to stay and explore the new MetroNow! vehicles up close, learn more about the service and pose questions to staff.

Community Outreach ‘Touch-a-Truck’ Events

During the three months leading up to its May 2023 launch, the MetroNow! team hit the ground running in the Springdale, Sharonville, Northgate and Colerain communities, bringing the new service directly to those it would serve primarily through tabling at community events and hub locations like grocery stores and pharmacies.

Social Media Promotion

MetroNow! had a constant presence on Metro’s social media platforms throughout the campaign. These posts not only introduced the public to the new service, but they also helped promote new job opportunities with Metro made possible by the service expansion. With few exceptions, these posts were boosted and targeted toward service-area zip codes. Here is a small sampling:

Go-Metro.com Landing Page & FAQ

The new service called for a new landing page on www.go-metro.com (https://www.go-metro.com/metronow) as well as a detailed FAQ (print version reproduced here).

News Release

Earned Media Coverage

All content reproduced here with permission from SORTA/Metro.