bronze
Our strategic north star: “Sometimes a car is second best.”
It’s a cultural norm that cars mean freedom, control, and convenience. But in practice, they’re a source of stress, expense, and melodrama. We wanted to reframe public transportation as the smarter, saner alternative. Through Shakespearian language, stage-driven direction, and a cast of proper thespians, we dramatized that moment of choice between driving or riding Sound Transit to your destination. In the end, people just have to skip all that drama and ride Sound Transit. Huzzah!
Challenges: To drive or not to drive—that was the question. In 2024, Sound Transit unveiled two monumental light rail expansions: the 1 Line (four new stations to the north of Seattle) and the never-before-seen 2 Line (eight stations gracing the Eastside). But alas, our challenge lay in the citizens of Seattle that were still yoked to their trusty steeds—er, Subarus—believing the open road offered freedom, even as they suffered traffic, parking, and tragic gas prices.
Objectives: Our objectives were four-fold: to drive awareness of the new lines; make people see public transit more like a Plan A; increase ridership; and improve brand sentiment to up our target’s intent to ride.
We dramatized a daily choice: drive and suffer, or take the expanded Sound Transit (duh). A TV spot rewrote a famous soliloquy, while social videos and audio embraced ye olde English. Shakespearean out-of-home hit drivers in traffic or at the pump. We even spoofed a car ad in print. The tone? Dramatically serious, yet hilariously relatable.
Results:
• 24.5M+ riders from launch to year-end, exceeding campaign goals.
• Positive perceptions jumped from 58% to 71%.
• Intent to ride rose from 43% to 52%.
• 100K+ riders hit the lines on opening weekend.
Seattleites often find themselves trapped in an endless loop: They drive their cars only to get stuck in the city’s infamous traffic jams, then pay villainous parking fees, all while pumping gas more expensive than a first-edition Hamlet. And with more people on the road than ever thanks to the region’s rapid population growth, Seattleites were ready for a more flexible, cost-effective way to get around. With Sound Transit’s Light Rail expansions, residents were especially receptive to embracing a new mode of travel—one that didn’t end in tears, tolls, or towed chariots.
