Using Social Marketing to Change Travel Behavior Case Study: City of Bellevue ECOMM 2008 June 2008

Agenda What is Social Marketing? Case Study: City of Bellevue Why did the City develop a social marketing campaign? What techniques were used? What were the results? What lessons were learned?

What is Social Marketing? Process that uses commercial marketing techniques to change behavior An approach the benefits the users and society as a whole versus the marketer Technique has been used to: Personal health Drug abuse Smoking Recycling

Case Study: City of Bellevue Bellevue is part of the urban hub of Puget Sound Population: 117,000 residents Employment: 121,000 jobs

Bellevue Enjoys a High Quality of Life Median Income: $76,757 Median Housing Value: $364,920 One of the 25 safest cities in USA Major companies include high technology

Transportation Challenges Bellevues traffic congestion ranks among the top 5 U.S. Cities All major highways are failing level of service standards Traffic congestion leads to lost productivity, stress, and wasted fuel

Causes for Traffic Congestion Love Affair with Automobiles (2 cars/household) Land Use Patterns Lack of Mass Transit System Lack of Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities

City of Bellevues Policy Goal To reduce the use of single-occupant vehicles and vehicle miles traveled, through a coordinated program of regulations, marketing, and provision of alternative travel options.

Citys Campaign to Change Travel Behavior City started campaign in mid 1990s to change travel habits Focus on both commuters and residents Used grass roots approach

Approach for Developing the Campaign 1.Talk to the target audience 2.Segment the audience 3.Position the product 4.Know the competition 5.Go to where the audience is 6.Utilize a variety of approaches 7.Use models that work 8.Test, test, test 9.Build partnerships with key allies 10.See what you can do better next time

Goals of the Campaign Increase awareness of consequences of reliance on automobile travel Increase awareness of travel alternatives Educate residents, commuters and students on how to use alternative travel Develop strong support Increase usage of alternative travel

Campaign Strategy Multi-Media Promotions Middle School Education Program Residential Transit Pass Program Downtown Bellevue Commuter Club Program

Multi-Media Promotions Created profiles of commuters who actively use alternative travel options Advertised commute options in local newspapers Created a web site Developed public information announcements and broadcast through the citys cable channel Prepared news releases Conducted transportation fairs Presentations to students, business and neighborhood groups Set up bike stations at community events

Middle School Education Program Curriculum created to teach middle school students about alternative travel

Residential Transit Pass Program Selected multi-family buildings to participate Distributed a free annual transit pass to each resident Residents were required to survey Apartment managers were required to distribute and promote transit

Downtown Bellevue Commuter Club Modeled after a frequent flyer program Rewarded commuters for using alternative travel options Solicited participation from local merchants

Campaign Results Two middle schools participated in education program 85% of residents became aware of One Less Car Campaign and their travel options Transit ridership increased by 25% at participating multi-family sites. Drive alone rate for commuters reduced from 85% to 65% over a four-year period

Lessons Learned from Campaign 1.Social marketing is most effective when there is a core group of champions 2.Campaign was most effective with younger audiences 3.Campaign should be built around larger global issues 4.Campaign needs to be monitored and evaluated on a regular basis

Questions? Jonathan Dong, AICP