LONG BEACH TRANSIT

In the 5+ years I’ve been the sole voice of Long Beach Transit, the challenge has always been the same: how do we convince folks to use the bus in the most entrenched car culture in the world (SoCal)? Through monthly ad placements touting a half dozen LBT services, student comms, internal HR advertising, and even through a gosh darn pandemic, we’ve successfully raised the profile of LBT beyond a public utility and given it a brand. Foot traffic is up. Website traffic is up. Traffic traffic is, well…this is LA County after all.

Created with Commune Communication.

RIDE THE BUS

LBT’s first dedicated ridership campaign ever flips the idea of “bus person” on its head, presenting real customer stories to elevate what it means to…wait for it…ride the bus.

Then we thought about ways to extend the campaign, which led me to writing this punk rock Wheels on the Bus anthem.

STUDENTS

Students make up 40% of Long Beach Transit ridership. Our communication with this audience is keyed on on specific Long Beach commuting struggles, especially when we have fun talking to the kids at Cal State Long Beach.

We went there with Bussin’ is Easy, a strike-while-the-vernacular’s hot campaign that positions LBT as the simpler, safer, and more interesting option for students from middle school through college.

Our resident web developer/DJ spun up this track that served as the backing beat for our social ads.

We also capitalized on our poster placements on campus at CSULB by tapping into dank meme culture for a semester.

Then on the other side of it, there’s letting parents know that LBT is the easy and safe alternative to being their kids’ campus chauffeur twice a day.

AQUALINK

LBT is more than a bus. It’s a boat! Our ads for the AquaLink water taxi give the boat a localized personality while lightly roasting Midwestern tourists for their lack of ocean views and amazing year-round weather back home (sorry flyover country).

There’s food and drink service on the boat. So naturally there are also nautical napkins.