PRNewswire/ From small cities to big capitals, public transportation is helping generate new vitality never witnessed before. The more comfortable people are in a public transit facility, the more often they'll use it. Modern public transport is an essential policy to reduce stress, congestion, accidents, noise, pollution and energy and land use.
Global benchmarks have shown that for efficient development to take place in any city with global aspirations, it is imperative to focus on the continued improvement of public transport as the key mode of travel for residents and visitors.
The Dubai Metro
The impact of the new Dubai Metro on the city's residents and visitors in terms of travelling habits and mobility in general, will be diverse and many-fold, and in essence change the way people live their daily lives. As public confidence grows in the abilities of the integrated system, we'll see a more European model emerge. The primary task is to provide and maintain a seamless multi-modal transport service. The infrastructure modernity is unparalleled. People will no longer miss meetings due to traffic and they'll arrive at work in a positive state of mind as journey times fall.
The Dubai Metro which will be fully integrated within the transport network operated by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), is being constructed under the supervision of more 30,000 engineers and workers and upon its completion will be the world's longest driverless automated metro system to be completed in one go - a first for the Middle East. It is a massive project that was commissioned after Dubai identified the need for a metro system to relieve growing traffic congestion and improve access to various urban development projects.
When completed, Dubai Metro will have a total of 75 kilometers of lines, and 47 stations (including 12 underground stations). Two lines are under construction, and three more are planned. It is expected that the metro will carry 1.2 million passengers on an average day, 27,000 passengers per hour for each line, and 355 million passengers per year once both lines are fully operational. Studies show that the Dubai Metro will reduce the traffic congestion by 12% of the total 30-35% which is aimed to be reduced by an integrated public transport network. There are plans to build a total of 318 kilometers of Metro lines by 2020.
The Dubai Metro Marketing Campaign
To support this massive project, a campaign was launched in April 2009, through a collaboration with Saatchi & Saatchi, which is part of the Publicis Groupe SA, the world's fourth largest communications group. This campaign has set numerous activities, institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for the passengers, and society at large. In order to maximize impact on Dubai's residents the campaign has integrated all marketing tools, approaches, and resources.
At the heart of the campaign is a major research study commissioned by the RTA with DDB/A.C. Nielson joint venture, in the summer of 2008. This comprehensive study identified various perceptions, barriers, stigmas and expectations people have of public transport in Dubai, so that this information from potential customers could be used to develop the most efficient Marketing Campaign.
"The key challenge we face today is that we are trying to change peoples' habits. This study gives us a sound basis to start the long journey of winning the hearts and minds of people and educating them on how the Dubai Metro, and public transport in general, will be of benefit to them." Peyman Younes Parham, Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications at the RTA said.
"One major differentiator with the Dubai Metro Marketing Campaign is in how we are speaking to our potential customers. The Dubai Metro, which will be the backbone of the city in the future, has been designed for the city and its people - the Metro belongs to them. This is where the concept of "My City. My Metro." ties in - we want all inhabitants of Dubai to be proud of and take ownership of the Dubai Metro.", Parham adds.
The strategic marketing campaign for the Dubai Metro has been divided into 3 phases. In line with Saatchi & Saatchi's theory of developing "Lovemarks", these phases take the brand through a 4-tier journey: 1) From being known to being known for something, 2) to being known for something good, 3) to being known for something different, 4) and finally to being known for something people feel passionate about. This is where the personal bond is created between the Dubai Metro brand and the public.
"A lot of time and effort was put into the planning process to ensure that the overall campaign took into consideration the diverse needs of the multinational population that resides or travels through the city. Dubai is a unique city with a mix of people from all corners of the world - some have used a Metro before, some haven't - our campaign needs to address each one of them and their individual needs", said Parham.
Phase 1 was launched in April 2009 and was to announce the theme of the campaign, while letting everyone know that the Dubai Metro was going to launch soon. It saw the creation of comprehensive brand architecture for the Dubai Metro, which laid the foundation for communications and the launch of the big idea, "MY CITY. MY METRO."
"It was about instilling a sense of pride for yet another major achievement for the city of Dubai" said Parham.
A key visual was developed for this phase which depicted the connectivity the Dubai Metro offers to people in line with what the brand stands for. The visual shows how the Dubai Metro connects the various famous icons of Dubai, such as the Burj Al Arab, The Palm and the Jumeirah Grand Mosque, with each other. Various media channels were strategically chosen to communicate the initial message out to consumers and lay the foundation for Phase 2.
Phase 2 is to educate people and provide depth of message for each of the key benefit categories of Dubai Metro across various target audiences. Supported through the research and our goals, these key messages were divided into brand and tactical operational messages. The brand messages cover aspects such as the advanced technology built into the Dubai Metro project, various security and safety features, the Gold Class Cabins, Women and Children Cabins, as well as various other products that the Dubai Metro has in-store for passengers such as free WIFI access across the whole Metro system. The tactical operational messages cover aspects such as fares, tickets, timings and station locations. Beyond advertising, the marketing campaign will stretch out to involve government entities and private partners.
"Phase 2 sees us launching a major element of the campaign. We will be moving on multiple fronts - advertising and partnerships. Due to the nature of the messages, Print, Radio, Online and PR have been identified as playing a key role. Through Saatchi & Saatchi, we have commissioned a renowned New York artist, Josh Cochran, to work on our unique print visuals. We have chosen to use illustrations for our Print campaign because these give us a format in which we can deliver our messages in a warm, friendly and welcoming way. This style has never been used by us before and we strongly feel that this campaign will appeal to a global audience while continuing to build affinity for the city of Dubai. This will be closely supported by Radio where we have come up with various innovative and fun ways of delivering our messages with our partners AMG. The campaign will further be complimented through PR and various BTL elements that will ensure that the detailed information is also available to passengers. As reflected by the brand character, the campaign is as innovative and unique as the Dubai Metro project itself." said Parham.
"As this is a national campaign, we are also engaging with various local partners to help bring the campaign to life. This is a 360 degree integrated campaign using all forms of traditional and non-traditional mediums, and is being personally followed by Kevin Roberts, the Worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi, a renowned figure in the field of Marketing and Advertising and Elias Ashkar, the Regional CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi MENA. This engagement will be ongoing through all phases of the campaign", adds Parham.
Phase 3 will look into emotionally engaging all potential users of Dubai Metro through delivering a strong call to action and activating 1 to 1 communications. In addition to this, the phase will refresh the educational messages from Phase 2 and also launch a new world class TV Ad Campaign that will activate the "My City. My Metro." concept, showcasing the Dubai Metro and the city of Dubai. This phase will launch just before the Dubai Metro opens for commercial operations.
"In the end, we want people to talk about how the Dubai Metro has transformed their lives for the better and are proud of using it. We hope that these efforts support the overall goal of making Dubai the greatest city in the world." concluded Parham.