Love and belonging: These powerful motives of consumer behavior fall squarely in the middle of renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow's standard-setting hierarchy of human needs.
They also support the strategy of our recent "Proud to Trail" campaign for the Circuit Trails, a network of interconnected multi-use trails throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. Our goal for this new comprehensive branding campaign, unveiled in April 2016, was to increase trail use through social influence, boost brand awareness, and highlight the importance of the Circuit's ongoing effort to connect its trails.
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Among those who came out to support the launch of the new Circuit Trails public relations campaign, managed by Devine + Partners, was Philadelphia native and Eagles defensive end Connor Barwin (top center)
While there was already a strong general awareness of the many trails that make up the Circuit, our goal was to increase its visibility as a comprehensive entity and to provide the client with effective tools to better promote their offerings and the benefits they convey, including: access to and conservation of recreational space and nature, increased individual and community health and wellness, a commuting alternative for bicyclists and pedestrians, the connection of communities, the creation of jobs, and the contribution of local economies.
Our work began with a discovery and comprehensive audit of existing communication tools. We interviewed the Circuit's steering committee members and other stakeholders — and we went straight to a select group of trail users via telephone interviews, as well — to determine each group's objectives and priorities. With those results in hand, we formulated a bold new identity that binds together all who are connected with this project via a sense of shared commitment: "Proud to Trail."
The Circuit's new messaging has been successfully applied to everything from billboards and environmental signage to transportation advertising and promotional videos.
As shown above, the new logo and campaign wordmark works within a system that offers personalization opportunities for the trails and their respective partners, which translates into a powerful "strength in numbers" approach.
The next order of business was creating a massive crossover brand toolkit that spans all media, including outdoor, print, and digital advertising, as well as usage guidelines, email templates, and more. We designed each of the materials to be customizable to the individual trails or partners, allowing them to "adopt" and promote the campaign.
We then applied the messaging to a comprehensive new website that helps users learn more about the trails and encourages multi-trail use. Key features frequently demonstrate the various trails that make up the Circuit, illustrate its reach via maps, and include in-progress trails to show what's next for the Circuit and encourages advocacy.
The website also includes a blog; events; animated features that communicate the reach of the Circuit network; rotating trail names on the hero image; content association that allows the tagging of specific trails; features that encourage users to explore the site across content types; a resource document library; a unique page that features coalition members; a Trail Finder feature; filters by trail status, region, and keyword search; trail itineraries that promote cross-trail journeys; and a newsletter sign-up. One particularly engaging element is the featuring of Instagram photos. By tweeting the hashtag #onthecircuit, users can get their photos featured on the page of their favorite trail within the site.
Our ongoing work with this client has grown into a virtual CMO role, which includes developing and implementing their paid media strategy and plan. One of the challenges we faced in this respect was maximizing the client’s budget to achieve the greatest brand reach wherever Circuit trails are located, including the Greater Philadelphia region and parts of New Jersey. We arrived at an optimal plan that includes a large allocation for transit advertising (bus tails and wraps that span the area, regional rail video advertisements, rail posters, and more), with supplemental amounts dedicated to a television partnership with 6ABC, as well as various digital and print outlets.
