Launch and Promotion of a New Program for a State Transportation Agency

The Challenge

A Mid-Atlantic state transportation agency was preparing to launch a Mileage Based User Fee (MBUF) program. With the rise in hybrid and electric vehicles on roadways, states are collecting fewer gas taxes used to build and repair roadways, despite ever increasing use of the roads by these vehicles. Our client currently previously utilized a Highway Usage Fee (HUF) applied to all vehicles with a combined miles-per-gallon rating higher than 25 MPG. The new MBUF program would allow drivers to pay based on their actual miles driven.

Ahead of the program’s launch, Signal was tasked with publicizing the program and testing various messages to guide future promotion.

The Solution

Utilizing survey data from within the state regarding awareness of the MBUF program, Signal developed multiple messages promoting the benefits of the program to test among local drivers of high-efficiency vehicles. These messages were built into rich, HTML5 dynamic ads to be served across brand-safe websites online. The ads combined the program’s branding guidelines with strong imagery and calls-to-action to best attract potential drivers

Signal then developed unique sub-segment audiences to test each message based on those most likely to benefit from the program. These audiences included geographic breakdowns of the various regions of the state, as well as niche groups that could benefit from the program (users of mass transit, work from home employees, environmentally friendly drivers, etc.).

Signal served these ads to the built targeted audiences using a programmatic advertising platform. Segmenting the campaign allowed us to serve to the geographic audiences by their locations, and the use of online data providers created the niche data-driver segments to serve the ads.

The Signal 500, our proprietary data analytics platform, collected detailed user experience information such as repeated visits, time on page, and scroll depth. This provided further insight into the performance of each message among the various audiences.

At the conclusion of the campaign and the launch of the program, the agency saw initial registrations surpass their estimates and on track to reach their six-month goals by the end of the first month. The program also saw a 10-15% boost in registrations for drivers looking to join the program in future months.

Services

Brand and Digital Strategy
Audience Insights + Advanced Data Analytics
Digital Advertising Campaign
Design and Creative Services
Signal 500 Analytics