Southern Californians will soon be seeing and hearing a lot of clever messages reminding them to "Drive Less. Smile More." as part of a new Rideshare Thursday campaign launching today. "Drive Less. Smile More." is designed to rally drivers to get out of their individual cars and into carpools, vanpools, bicycles and mass transit to help save money on gas, reduce the stress from driving, and reduce traffic and pollution on the Southland's notoriously congested roads and freeways. The campaign is being sponsored by Clean Transportation Funding from the MSRC, one of the region's largest funders of innovative policies and programs that reduce the air pollution and emissions from cars and trucks in Southern California.
"The MSRC's Rideshare Thursday campaign is designed to promote the benefits of ridesharing so that commuters will take advantage of the multiple transportation options available to them - everything from carpooling to public transit to walking," said Greg Pettis, Chair of the MSRC. "Using alternate modes of transportation saves people time, money and aggravation by giving them access to the carpool lanes or by letting someone else drive, and helps reduce air pollution by taking single occupant vehicles off the road. Driving one mile creates almost a pound of emissions, primarily greenhouse gases. So, with the typical roundtrip commute in Southern California averaging about 40 miles, removing even a single car from our roadways can significantly impact our air quality."
The "Drive Less. Smile More." campaign hitting Southern California's airwaves was created by Fraser Communications, a Los Angeles advertising and marketing agency headed by Renee Fraser, PhD. "Fraser is proud to be a part of this important effort to help alleviate our roadways of congestion and clear our air of pollution. Our firm has a long history of being involved in important environmental campaigns like this one because we believe in the power of communications to make real change in our world."
The goal of the campaign is generate mass awareness for Rideshare Thursday and encourage solo drivers to commute via carpool, bus, rail, bike or walking, not just on Thursday -traditionally the busiest day for car traffic - but on any day of the week.
The campaign consists of several dynamic elements including traditional and online radio spots, traffic reporter promotions, digital advertising, a website landing page (RideshareThursday.com), Facebook page (Facebook.com/RideShareThursday), and promotion at popular local sporting events.
To best reach drivers, the campaign heavily targets local broadcast and internet radio stations with a fun, upbeat jingle directing people to RideshareThursday.com to learn more about ways "to put less stress on you and your wallet." The radio spots will run on nine Clear Channel FM and AM stations and also on the online platforms Pandora, iHeart Radio and CBS Radio.
The digital animated ads feature catchy slogans like, "less gas - more lunch money," and "diamond lanes are a girl's best friend," which will be displayed on news sites, the SigAlert and Weather Channel websites, and Facebook.
The MSRC also has a unique partnership with the Los Angeles Kings to be part of a public service announcement about Rideshare Thursday. There also will also be a series of in-game promotions and opportunities for fans to be rewarded for ridesharing to games.
The campaign will run through November 17, with Rideshare Week (October 7-11) taking place during the height of the campaign. Elements of the campaign, including the Kings' promotion and the campaign's Facebook presence, will run longer to encourage as many people as possible to rideshare.
The Rideshare Thursday radio spots are available for anyone to hear on the MSRC website at http://msrcdev.exemplifi.io/info_center/drive_smart#ridesharing
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"The MSRC's Rideshare Thursday campaign is designed to promote the benefits of ridesharing so that commuters will take advantage of the multiple transportation options available to them - everything from carpooling to public transit to walking," said Greg Pettis, Chair of the MSRC. "Using alternate modes of transportation saves people time, money and aggravation by giving them access to the carpool lanes or by letting someone else drive, and helps reduce air pollution by taking single occupant vehicles off the road. Driving one mile creates almost a pound of emissions, primarily greenhouse gases. So, with the typical roundtrip commute in Southern California averaging about 40 miles, removing even a single car from our roadways can significantly impact our air quality."
The "Drive Less. Smile More." campaign hitting Southern California's airwaves was created by Fraser Communications, a Los Angeles advertising and marketing agency headed by Renee Fraser, PhD. "Fraser is proud to be a part of this important effort to help alleviate our roadways of congestion and clear our air of pollution. Our firm has a long history of being involved in important environmental campaigns like this one because we believe in the power of communications to make real change in our world."
The goal of the campaign is generate mass awareness for Rideshare Thursday and encourage solo drivers to commute via carpool, bus, rail, bike or walking, not just on Thursday -traditionally the busiest day for car traffic - but on any day of the week.
The campaign consists of several dynamic elements including traditional and online radio spots, traffic reporter promotions, digital advertising, a website landing page (RideshareThursday.com), Facebook page (Facebook.com/RideShareThursday), and promotion at popular local sporting events.
To best reach drivers, the campaign heavily targets local broadcast and internet radio stations with a fun, upbeat jingle directing people to RideshareThursday.com to learn more about ways "to put less stress on you and your wallet." The radio spots will run on nine Clear Channel FM and AM stations and also on the online platforms Pandora, iHeart Radio and CBS Radio.
The digital animated ads feature catchy slogans like, "less gas - more lunch money," and "diamond lanes are a girl's best friend," which will be displayed on news sites, the SigAlert and Weather Channel websites, and Facebook.
The MSRC also has a unique partnership with the Los Angeles Kings to be part of a public service announcement about Rideshare Thursday. There also will also be a series of in-game promotions and opportunities for fans to be rewarded for ridesharing to games.
The campaign will run through November 17, with Rideshare Week (October 7-11) taking place during the height of the campaign. Elements of the campaign, including the Kings' promotion and the campaign's Facebook presence, will run longer to encourage as many people as possible to rideshare.
The Rideshare Thursday radio spots are available for anyone to hear on the MSRC website at http://msrcdev.exemplifi.io/info_center/drive_smart#ridesharing
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