Foothill Transit March Madness Social Campaign

Target Audience: Foothill Transit social media followers and riders. This campaign primarily targeted current social media followers, hoping to engage them in a fun and culturally relevant activity. The campaign also targeted potential social media followers who may choose to join the Foothill Transit social community after seeing and participating in the Instagram polls.

Strategy Objective:The challenge led us to creating the Street 16 Bracket Challenge. We found this to be a very timely and culturally relevant activation because of how it aligned with March Madness. By syncing it up with the ever-popular NCAA basketball tournament, we were able to capture the attention of social users who were highly engaged in the tournament. By having users vote on their favorite bus lines in 1:1 matchups via Instagram Stories, we were able to get riders and non-riders invested in crowning a champion.

Situation Challenge: We wanted to engage with our social community in a fun and non-promotional way. We hoped to increase positive brand sentiment and change the way users see and think about Foothill Transit on social media and beyond.

Results Impact: The Street 16 Bracket Challenge was absolutely a success, resulting in over 11K organic impressions across a total of 6 posts (2 on each of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) and 19 Instagram Stories. More importantly, our Instagram Stories polls garnered over a 34% engagement rate, the highest of any campaign we've done.

Why Submit: We submitted this entry and believe it should win an AdWheel Award because it was an innovative, yet simple, solution to a challenge many brands face on social media; creating opportunities for genuine engagement. We believe this entry is an example of how organic social can still be successfully leveraged in a landscape that is pushing brands more and more to using paid advertising to reach users on social media.