Case Study: Groovy Like A Movie increases ridership for MTS with “Dump the Pump” video  

Background

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System provides bus and rail services directly or by contract with public or private operators. The system covers 570 square miles of the urbanized areas of San Diego County as well as the rural parts of East County, and serves approximately 86 million passengers annually. 

Each year, MTS participates in the National Dump the Pump Day to emphasize the various environmental and financial benefits of public transit. The annual campaign aims to encourage residents to forgo their vehicles and make use of public transportation. As a result of their print and billboard marketing campaigns in 2007, the agency noticed a more than four percent rise in trolley and bus ridership. This year, MTS began searching for ways to reach a broader audience to boost ridership even more. In an effort to reach that goal, the agency teamed with Groovy Like a Movie to create a 30-second “Dump the Pump” video for commercial airing. 

“We wanted to take advantage of the recent sudden rise in gasoline prices and speak to a larger percentage of San Diegans about using our mass transit services,” explained Rob Schupp, Director of Marketing and Communications for MTS. “Groovy Like A Movie brainstormed several concepts for a television advertisement that would not only hit home and catch viewers’ attention, but provide some comic relief as well.”  

Solution – Groovy Like A Movie

Groovy Like A Movie’s team devised a fun and humorous commercial in where a middle-aged man declares his apparent long-standing love affair with a gas pump during dinner at a restaurant; akin to a boyfriend-girlfriend break up. After researching numerous prospective locations in downtown San Diego to shoot the commercial, Groovy felt Dussini’s Mediterranean Grill would provide an ideal atmosphere to accompany the script.  

Timing being of the essence, the project was put on an accelerated schedule. Groovy was responsible for all aspects of the commercial from start to finish, including developing storyboards, writing scripts, casting an actor and selecting 1950-style music for the background. Because of the tight timeline, Groovy worked quickly to ensure the appropriate shots were taken and could be cut together.  

“I was thoroughly impressed with the manner in which Groovy worked on this project. Given the amount of time spent on the commercial, they were very ambitious and their staff worked diligently to ensure a professional end product,” said Schupp.  

Results – Increased ridership

Creating a commercial to increase MTS’ ridership could not have come at a better time with fuel prices soaring. When the video first aired, gas prices averaged $4.53 per gallon, and the amusing commercial reminded viewers that less expensive, alternative modes of transportation were readily available The positive impacts of MTS’ “Dump the Pump” video became visibly noticeable.  

A month after the commercial began airing on cable outlets including CNN, the Comedy Channel and local NBC affiliate that sponsors its Gasoline Price Watch segment, ridership was up more than 15 percent. Shell-branded gas stations included the commercial on their “pump-top” televisions to increase awareness. MTS also made the video available on YouTube. The advertisement generated many positive comments from the public, and was a contributing factor to the agency’s record-setting month. 

“Groovy Like A Movie created several concepts for us and provided an exceptional value in producing our advertisement. Cable television advertising allows you to reach a very specific audience, and Groovy couldn’t have done a better job in helping us reach our goals.” said Schupp. “Moreover, I was impressed by their energy, creative ideas, responsiveness, flexibility and ability to produce an outstanding product.” 

About Groovy Like A Movie

San Diego-based Groovy Like A Movie is a full service, multi-media production company catering to corporations, government and advertising agencies in Southern California. The company mission is to inspire people to think, feel, and do. Groovy Like a Movie is a past winner of the Better Business Bureau’s TORCH award for ethics, has been verified "green" by the county of San Diego, and is also on the most current San Diego Business Journal 100 Fastest Privately-Held Companies list. For more information, visit www.groovylikeamovie.com.