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Keyline Transit_Marketing and Rebranding_ECIAMasterpiece on the Mississippi TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager SUBJECT: Marketing and Rebranding for Keyline DATE: June 29, 2010 Economic Development Director Dave Heiar recommends City Council approval of the Marketing and Rebranding Plan for Keyline submitted by East Central Intergovern- mental Association Executive Director Kelly Deutmeyer. I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council approval. MCVM:jh Attachment cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager David Heiar, Economic Development Director Kelley Deutmeyer, Executive Director, ECIA i o P'''.______ chaelC.VanM M Milligen Dubuque kritd All- AmedcaCity ' 2007 Masterpiece on the Mississippi TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager i FROM: David Heiar, Economic Development Director DATE: June 28, 2010 SUBJECT: Marketing and Rebranding for Keyline Dubuque AHmuicacltyr 11111f 2007 Attached is a memo from Kelley Deutmeyer, Executive Director of ECIA regarding a proposal to initiate a process to rebrand and market Keyline Transit. This was part of the service package that ECIA promised to include with the Transit Management contract which officially began July 1, 2010. Ms. Deutmeyer and her staff have participated in the year long operation analysis study completed by LSC and have also spent many hours over the past two months refining this proposal. I concur with this proposal and respectfully submit it for City consideration and approval. F:\USERS\Econ Dev \Transit \Council Memos\20100629 Council Memo Marketing Rebranding.doc TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager David Heiar, Economic Development Director FROM: Kelley Deutmeyer, ECIA Executive Director RE: Marketing and rebranding plan for Keyline DATE: June 25, 2010 BACKGROUND Dubuque is a community that prides itself on its sustainability initiatives and acknowledges the importance of a viable and successful transit system to its continued success and leadership in the sustainability arena. Dubuque's public transit system provides opportunities for citizens to travel within the city limits regardless for their reason for utilizing the service. Developing a system and a corresponding marketing strategy and brand to encourage the greatest number of citizens to utilize the service is essential. The existing Keyline Transit name and persona does not adequately reflect the existing spirit of the community. It is important for the transit system to reflect the leadership, success and vibrancy of the Dubuque community. According to transit trainers from the Community Transit Association of America (CTAA), ridership can be increased with the simplest of changes like the name, color of the logo and specifically, the color of the buses. Several transit entities experienced a 30% increase in ridership by changing nothing but the color of the buses. Moving away from the institutional white and gray, was a critical component to their success along with changing their name to less government related names. In the past several months, City and ECIA staff have applied for several federal grants to replace the entire City of Dubuque transit fleet. We are also investigating several options to lease a new fleet should those grant opportunities be unsuccessful. Prior to the City obtaining the new fleet, it would be appropriate to engage community members in a rebranding process for the City transit services to ensure an inclusive identity is selected that appeals to a broad demographic. Below is our recommended rebranding approach. RECOMMENDATION AND APPROACH Press release to Telegraph Herald and follow -up call to the Editor inviting citizens to volunteer for two - hour brainstorming session to rename Keyline and outlining rebrand timeline and collaborating with the TH for press coverage promoting and reporting on the event. 1. Contact individuals in our target markets and citizens who submitted letters and /or emails of interest to encourage them to attend the brainstorming session and to get volunteers for a rebranding and marketing committee to be developed out of the brainstorming session. a. Workforce living and commuting within the city limits b. Workforce commuting to Dubuque c. Local business leaders and private business and not - for - profits d. Low income households e. Senior Citizens f. Non - English speaking citizens g. Persons with disabilities h. Schools i. College students j. Transit Drivers k. Transit Dispatchers I. City staff m. Transit Advisory Board members n. City Council members o. Visitors 2. Hold the public brainstorming meeting at a downtown location accessible by public transit 3. Proposed date....July 20 for the brainstorming meeting 4. Meet for 2 hours — presentation, brainstorming, and list of ideas 5. Seek volunteers to participate on a marketing committee to narrow the public input ideas and participate in developing future marketing materials and concepts. Refer to the committee member list below. 6. Follow -up with online survey to committee members to choose top 5 names 7. Develop logos and color schemes for each of the 5 brands 8. Public voting — online survey, paper ballots at library, city hall, on buses, etc 9. Present alternative to the City Council for approval 10. Unveil winning brand Through the rebranding process, we will also be taking into consideration the desire for the City to utilize the transit system for bus wrap advertising. Recently a Request for Proposals was published and two responses were received. I am proposing that the bus wraps will continue to be a revenue generator for the transit system however I will be recommending an alternative approach under a separate memo. Proposed Marketing and Rebranding committee Market Segment Organization Position Schools Dubuque Community School Teacher District and Holy Family Schools Colleges Loras, Clarke and U.D. Marketing Community College NICC Marketing Keyline Staff Keyline Dispatch Keyline Staff Keyline Mini Bus Driver Keyline Staff Keyline Fixed -Route Driver Community Mystique /DRA Private Business Dubuque Bank & Trust HR Private Business Dubuque Bank & Trust Marketing Private Business McGraw -Hill Companies HR TAG /Social Services TAG /Social Services ESL Multi- Cultural Family Center Director ESL St. Pat's Transit Advisory Board Transit Board Member Chairperson Private Business Finley Hospital Community Relations Community /Environment Green Dubuque Administrator City Staff City of Dubuque Public Information City Staff City of Dubuque Public Information Low Income Getting Ahead Program City Council Need at least one volunteer Low Income /Public Community Oriented Policing Service College Student student College Student student College Student student Private Business IBM HR Not - For - Profit Dubuque Chamber of Commerce Director Not - For - Profit Dubuque Main Street Director Not - for - Profit Community Foundation of Greater Director Dubuque Not-for —Profit Greater Dubuque Development Marketing Corporation Not - for - Profit Dubuque 2.0 Director Not - for - Profit Every Child Every Promise Director Not - for - Profit Washington Neighborhood Director Development Corporation *Note — we will be contacting the individuals indicated above to participate in the rebranding process or for them to designate someone from their organization. No contacts have been made until formal City Council approval of the plan. TIMELINE July 20 or within the next week — Hold public brainstorming meeting First week of August — Hold first Rebranding and Steering committee meeting and narrow the top ideas down to five branding concepts August — ECIA staff to work on developing branding concepts for the top five ideas including layouts, colors and logos. First week of September — Hold second Rebranding and Steering Committee meeting with ECIA staff presenting layout concepts for top five branding selections including layouts, colors and logos. Second week of September — publicize the top five branding concepts and hold a public voting forum. Voting to go until the end of September using public ballot left at the library, on the buses, in public locations, and online. First week of October — Third Rebranding and Steering Committee meeting to officially review the alternative with the most for the rebranding concept. Mid to late October, 2010 — Preferred concept and top 5 alternatives presented to the City Council for approval. New brand adopted by the City Council then presented to the public. November and December, 2010 — ECIA staff to get pricing on cost to re- letter and re -logo the Keyline fleet to include in the FY12 budget. By that time we should also know about the pending grants. ACTION I am seeking City Council input and approval in moving forward with the proposed marketing and rebranding plan. Thank you for the consideration.