Los Angeles' Metro is doing something that no transit agency in the country has ever done: it's marketing its products and services as if it were a private company bent on turning a profit. But for Metro marketing isn't about increasing the bottom line. It's about reducing traffic, cleaning the air and making people's commutes in this auto-clogged city a bit less stressful.

Matt Raymond, the Chief Communications Officer for Metro, is the brainchild behind Metro's marketing push. During a trip out to Los Angeles I had the chance to talk with Mr. Raymond. "The key to putting together the group," Mr Raymond said, referring to the in-house ad agency known as Creative Services, "was that we wanted to make public transportation cool."

Making buses appear as an attractive alternative to cars is an ambitious goal for any transit agency, but it's especially ambitious in a place like Los Angeles where image and the automobile are everything. Yet, traveling around LA it's hard not to feel the presence of Metro. It's fleet of colorful buses are ubiquitous on every major city street. And unlike standard city buses, these buses aren't dreary and dull. They boast vibrant colors like California poppy from a color palette inspired by the city. Metro also has a number of playful ads on billboards encouraging Angelinos to leave their cars at home and take the bus, rail or carpool.

These ads and the re-brand of Metro seem to be paying off. Earlier this year the Creative Services division of Metro was instrumental in the success of Measure R, a 1/2 cent sales tax that is expected to generate 40 billion dollars over the next 30 years for improving transit services in LA. To get the 2/3 vote required, Metro convinced the vast majority of Angelinos, most of whom commute by private car, that they should pay for transit out of their own pockets.

The most impressive outcome of Metro's marketing is that it has convinced people to start using its services. Following Metro's re-brand, discretionary riders, those people who have the choice to commute by car or transit, have jumped from 24 to 36 percent. That is, Metro's new clean and modern image is actually getting people into transit and helping address this city's notorious traffic problem.

For people involved in advertising and marketing this really shouldn't come as a surprise. The reason why the pharmaceutical industry, for example, spends over 33% of its revenue on marketing is because it works. Otherwise, why would they do it? It's true for every other industry as well, including the automobile industry which spends roughly $21 billion to convince you and me that we cant live without cars. So why aren't more transit agencies following LA's lead and investing in marketing?

The common perception is that money spent on marketing would be better spent on the transit systems themselves. The problem with this line of thinking is that it is short sighted. Over time, a sustained investment in marketing increases the number of people who use transit. Increased ridership leads to increased revenue and, ideally, an increase in service to match the new demand. That's what's happening in LA right with Measure R. It's also what Clayton Lane, a transport expert for EMBARQ, calls "the virtuous cycle."

There's no doubt that LA still has a long way to go to solve its traffic problems. The first day I arrived here was a Wednesday and at 10:30PM I got snared in a traffic jam on the 101. As a friend who lives here told me, "Traffic just sort of pops up out of nowhere." Fortunately, Metro is set on increasing transit ridership by doing a number of big projects like the orange line expansion, the now complete gold line expansion, and perhaps even the ambitious "subway to the sea." And unlike other cities, LA will likely see a greater than normal increase in ridership thanks to its great marketing. Cast: EMBARQ Network, Rhys Thom and Ethan Arpi

saw these today... Orange flavored Sport Beans - Portable Power! made by Jelly Belly... marketing must have run out of ideas... they were definatly just orange jelly beans...

I know I've been going through meeting paralysis recently so I thought this was timely. Some good ideas to mix it up and make yourself and your organization more efficient.

Fantastic promotion by hotel review site TripAdvisor letting you know where NOT to stay based on user reviews like "“I have seen homeless shelters better than this”" and “It makes a crack house look like a Hilton. There are mice, roaches, bedbugs,and crack heads all living at this Hell Hole! The hotel itself smells and is filthy from the disgusting bedspread to the filthy bathroom.”... YUM.

In the fall Trance-trio Above & Beyond asked their fans to make them a music video for great new release "Oceanlab- On A Good Day". Last week they released the winning video in its entirety, a compelation of all the videos people had submited, and a video of them presenting/thanking those who had submitted the best videos. 

This is a fantastic example of Crowdsourcing.

Did they get the best music video ever made? No. Not by a long shot.

But...

Did they connect with their fans and alow them to participate in the music? Yep.

Did they they save a pile of money? Yep.

Do the people who got to appear in one of their favorite artist's vidoes feel pretty awsome about life? Yep.

So whats the point? Well croudsourcing is something ALL marketers should be intimatly framilar with. Aside from the saving money part its a great way to get publicity and hear from the people that matter most- your followers/customers/tribe. 

Since media went social there is no excuse not to allow people to participate in the proccess. Where should you hold an event? What color should the product be? What should our logo look like? What should the first single be? 

At the end of the day you are owned by your customers/fans no matter if you are the Yankees or Wal-Mart so maybe take the time to listen...

Winning Video:

Another submission:

Pretty sweet new viral Reebok commercial. Sort of a knock off of the ones Nike has been running in europe for soccer for a few years... Best form of flattery though, right? 

Seth Godin writes about being careful with your brand on the web... "Google never forgets"

Was Just over on Seth Godin's blog and he had posted this video, which I had seen some other people talking about on Twitter but not gotten around to watching it.

I guess you can't blame marketers because they are just doing their job. And you can't blame Nintendo for making really cool stuff that everyone wants. So I don't know what to say about it all. For all I know, if I had video of me getting presents as a kid I lost my mind to. Don't think I ever cried though...

As Seth elludes too, its just sort of the "perfect storm" of marketing.

If you read the this blog often enough you will know I tend to like things that are just stupidly slapped together for the sake of it. For example, a marketer may sit there an stay "OK, we've got a cell phone. Now, how can we augment this product to appeal to a different segment of the population?" So, you make a different color (for girls), you make it cheeper (for laggards), you add diamonds (for the vain) etc. etc. Generally this process is existing product + X factor = new product.

So what's my point? Well in the past I've criticized Porsche design for things like my external hard drive or designing watches. But today, Porsche does the sled. And you know what? I like it. The world needs a premium sled. I love the simplicity of the design and I love how it "looks Porsche" and somewhere deep down inside I feel like Porsche may know something about sled building.

via GearCrave

Nothing says excess - and marketing stupidity - like a Crystal encrusted Bluetooth headset.

Thanks Bell!

... where would marketing be without you? Here's a viral video by... well maybe I won't ruin it. But it plays a lot of stereotypes but is sort of surprisingly entertaining (good production value can go a long way).

The targeting is interesting though, it SHOULD be targeted to males, but almost comes off more female. hm.

http://bewareofthedoghouse.com/video.aspx

chrishanz posted a photo:

http://www.jumptools.com