San Francisco, CA — Characters usually associated with the wee hours, including a fairy tale princess, are walking around at night in the San Francisco Bay Area. More specifically, they are riding the buses in an advertising campaign that promotes the region’s new All Nighter bus service.
Published: October, 2006
Five Bay Area transit systems — Muni, AC Transit, County Connection, SamTrans and the Livermore-Amador Valley Transit Authority (WHEELS) — collaborated this spring to launch the service. Now riders can travel 24 hours a day by bus throughout San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley, and as far north as Richmond, as far east as Concord or Livermore and south to Fremont or San Mateo.
The five transit agencies that provide All Nighter bus service wanted a fun, eye-catching campaign that would resonate with the night-time crowd, says AC Transit’s Karen Bakar, manager of the All Nighter campaign.
Palmer’s answer was a spokesperson campaign with a twist. They enlisted Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman and even Cinderella to shill for the new All Nighter Bus Service.
We’re a small, light, agency, says Drew Palmer, President. We’re not weighted down with a lot of hierarchy. So if the client wants to, we can, and do, push the creative envelope.
Palmer’s ads depict the nocturnal icons riding buses alongside nurses, stockbrokers, rave revelers and the late-shift from 24-hour diners.
We think this campaign will definitely catch people’s attention and make them think about the service as a viable option for traveling around the Bay Area after midnight, says Karen Bakar. The campaign speaks directly to All Nighter passengers; the late-night and early-morning work commuters as well as the party crowd.
Funding for All Nighter bus service comes from Regional Measure 2, the $1 bridge toll increase approved by Bay Area voters in 2004 to improve both highway and transit travel in bridge corridors. For further information and scheduling on the All Nighter Bus Service, visit 511.org on the Web or telephone 511.
