Marketing
Marketing professionals agree that the bus industry is generally undersold in terms of promotional activity. The lessons from previous research are that the market for bus travel is highly localised: no 'magic formula' exists which can automatically lead to successful promotion. Extensive TAS research has shown that well-targeted promotional activity is capable of delivering a return of up to £3 for every £1 spent.
When comparing the marketing of public transport with other consumer products, there is one fundamental issue: all demand for travel is derived demand. This means, with few exceptions, that the public does not use public transport for its own sake. Three things follow from this:
- The bus network must be easy to understand and use
- Potential customers need a reason to travel (e.g. work, shopping etc)
- To maximise optional travel, attractive destinations or activities must be promoted as a reason to travel.
The basis of our approach to the planning and reviewing of any marketing activity is the traditional marketing mix. This has the benefit of providing a useful series of categories into which the issues impacting on marketing may be placed:
- those which are internal to the product, influenced by management action
- those which are external to the product, where the company would need to react to, and influence, outside its business.
Market Profiling
We can use our skills in market profiling to predict passenger response to marketing initiatives. This requires market research tools to link to the segments in order to harvest the results appropriately. For example, user and non-user surveys would include appropriate sampling questions to determine the respondents' main market segment. We believe this has great value when considering highly focused marketing initiatives. Our work with bus operators in direct marketing through telesales has shown that a well planned, targeted campaign can deliver a positive response.
Our review of marketing would therefore form part of a three-stage process, as follows:
- Stage 1: Review of Existing Marketing Activity
- Stage 2: Market Profile and Review
- Stage 3: Design and Implementation
TAS is now in a position to provide a full design and implementation service for web-based and print media, though it is recognised that there may be a desire to submit such work as a separate tendering exercise, or to use established local contacts for implementation.