Creative, Schmeative. Impact Rules!

That may seem an odd sentiment for a creative agency. Especially since there is nothing we enjoy more than taking words and pictures and bringing them to life in new and exciting ways. But we do expect our creations to turn people’s heads. And we love it when what we created sticks with our audience, and changes they way they think.

We just found out that this year we turned more heads than even anyone had anticipated for The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). They asked us to use Rideshare Week to kick off a first-ever, year-long, cohesive, sustainable alternative transportation message that would excite commuters about using OCTA’S alternative transportation initiatives. We made it our goal to get solo commuters out of their cars and into busses, trains, vanpools, carpools, biking walking. Specifically OCTA asked us to increase participation in their annual Rideshare Week program by 15% – a 5% increase over their previous year’s increase of 10%.
 “No problem,” we lied, and we immediately set out to solve the problem. We scoured OCTA’s Awareness and Attitudes Studies, boarding reports, ridership trends, boardings, StationLink routes, and National Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) studies. Bit by bit we laid the foundation for the core message that would unite all the promotions, marketing events, materials and interactive resources for this year-long campaign. Taking our cue from TCRP studies, we designed this campaign to appeal to commuters directly, (rather than corporate transportation coordinators) for maximum impact.
To attract commuters from all walks of life, we created a heroic silhouette that was ageless and raceless: an illustrated everyman who set the style and branding image for all the promotions to come for the rest of the year. All the graphic elements promoting the Rideshare program were designed to be visually stimulating, compelling and memorable. Simple yet elegant icons of transportation gave equal weight to all the alternative transportation options.
OCTA named the hero image the “Ridesharer.” This campaign image appeared in all media, in print, on busses, on workplace posters, postcards and handouts, as well as on the web, on Powerpoint presentations and in email blasts, to reinforce the central message of empowerment no matter where the audience was or where they were looking.
Additionally, in accordance with the TCRP findings, OCTA’s VanPool effort was made easier for commuters with our interactive Seatfinder application which made joining existing vanpools and establishing new VanPools vastly easier.
When all of the figures were compiled and analyzed, the overall effectiveness of the 2011 Rideshare Promotion Campaign was remarkable. There was a 134% increase in pledges over the previous year, and it turned out to be the most effective Rideshare promotion ever. As an added bonus, vanpool participation nearly doubled even before the beginning of the vanpool week promotion.
Speaking from a “creative” point of view, impact is what it's all about.

One and a Half Months in 4 Minutes and 27 Seconds

Every move is fraught with delays. Trucks are late. Things get broken, lost, misplaced or (the politically correct word for:) stolen. Everyone expects this. Everyone deals with it. You just double the estimated amount of time predicted and learn to live with it.  It takes a lot to make a move truly "memorable."
Welcome to a memorable move. Between rebuilding two offices, resetting a contractor's broken finger and two broken toes, a bout with the flu for most of the crew, plus old plumbing, ducting, electrical and a monster ethernet network nightmare, our move of just under 7 blocks took almost exactly 2 1/2 months to complete. You have to laugh. 

Moving out of The Palace Livery and into the Original Chamber Building leaves us Unstabled.

Our new home, the original Chamber of Commerce Building is in one of the most beautiful buildings in the City. Constructed in 1906, it is a prime example of Beaux Arts architecture and the first "modern" steel frame building in all of Pasadena, and one of the first west of the Mississippi. It was also revolutionary in its design. The office towers were designed to maximize the effect of natural breezes for cooling. The U-shaped design surrounded a central atrium that assured there was always a shaded section at all times of the day. The central atrium was used mainly for deliveries, but was also a light and airy place to relax during hot and hectic days. The flow-through design utilized windows on the outside with transoms over the internal doors to make the most of the slightest breeze.

In 1988 this building was the first home to Pasadena Advertising (then The Pasadena Agency), We were one of the first tenants of the Chamber Building after a complete restoration by our good friends Gene and Marilyn Buchannan, and it marked the beginning of a long association with hundreds of other visionaries and developers dedicated to the restoration of Old Pasadena. A success story we are immensely proud to have been a part of.

As for the move itself, it was exciting, frustrating, educational, occasionally painful (and, of course, smokey), and ultimately extremely rewarding.  Or, in short.

We've decided never to move again. =)