IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING.TM TABLE OF CONTENTS OVERVIEW ...............................................................................................................................................3 Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................3 The Need for Transit Security Awareness ....................................................................................4 Project History and Funding ............................................................................................................5 Communication Goals .......................................................................................................................6 Strategy ................................................................................................................................................7 Target Audiences ................................................................................................................................8 Critical Importance of the Campaign’s Regional Partners ......................................................9 Marketing Tactics and Materials..................................................................................................10 Web and Social Media .................................................................................................................10 Other Digital Media Efforts ...........................................................................................................10 Transit Advertising .........................................................................................................................10 Radio & Television/Direct Response .............................................................................................10 Transit Station Reminders, On-Site Approaches and Promotional Items .................................11 Transit Employee-Specific Educational Materials ......................................................................11 Public Relations ..............................................................................................................................11 Measuring Success ..........................................................................................................................12 Introduction to Phase II Marketing Materials ...........................................................................16 ECONOMIC impaCT ........................................................................................................................17 BASE paCKage ..................................................................................................................................19 LEVEL ONE .............................................................................................................................................35 LEVEL TWO ............................................................................................................................................53 APPENDIX Budget/Timeline Order Form IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING.TM OVERVIEW Executive Summary The “If you see something, say something™” marketing communications campaign directed toward public transit riders was launched in July 2011 in preparation for the tenth anniversary of September 11th, 2001. Developed by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), the multimedia campaign was funded by a $700,000 grant awarded to the MTA by the Department of Homeland Security Transit Security Grant Program. The campaign was aimed at the Greater National Capital Region, which consists of Washington, D.C., the Baltimore metropolitan area, several Maryland counties and Northern Virginia. With nearly nine million inhabitants, this is the fourth-largest combined statistical area in the United States. The region is served by numerous public transportation agencies, the largest of which are Amtrak, MTA (including MARC Train Service), VRE and WMATA. In developing the campaign to help employees, riders and other transit agencies become more vigilant regarding security issues, MTA looked beyond the obvious strategy of using fear as a motivator. Instead, the campaign’s use of humor and vibrant design elements proved to be an unexpected and counter-intuitive – yet powerful – attention-getter that was both memorable and effective. The unexpected nature of the creative approach helped to leverage the campaign’s effectiveness far beyond the dollar value of the media placements that might otherwise be forecast. Due to the success of this initial campaign, the project received an additional grant from the Department of Homeland Security to continue outreach efforts through 2015. This plan outlines an approach that builds-on and refines the previous successful messaging, while also allowing for the continuous development of new and even more interesting approaches to building awareness. Partnership and buy-in by the largest public transportation agencies and other stakeholders in the Maryland, Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia marketing area is fundamental to the success of the campaign. Significant attention was given to making all materials as locally customizable as possible, and to informing partners on a regular basis about new developments and new promotional materials as they become available. Quantifiable results are what matter most, of course, and the campaign is committed to sharing those results with all stakeholders. Project management will be implemented through the MTA Communications & Marketing Department, 6 St. Paul Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202. For more information about any aspect of this program, please contact Janiece Timmons at [email protected] or call 410-767-8748. 3 IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING.TM The Need for Transit Security Awareness The reason for enlisting the public in a campaign to raise awareness about security issues is simple – even the most vigilant police force can’t be everywhere. When it comes to preventing acts of terrorism, the ability of any security force to do its job can be made exponentially more effective when more eyes and ears are available and attuned to detecting suspicious people, packages and activities that “just don’t seem right.” For example, WMATA and the MTA combined carry passengers on over 455 million trips annually. Add in twelve million annual boardings from VRE and MARC Train Service, as well as the vigilance of those in the general public who may only occasionally use public transportation, and the power of a campaign to build security-awareness and thwart potentially dangerous activities becomes clear. Documents found after the death of Osama Bin Laden on May 1, 2011 identified major public transit systems as having high-risk potential for future attacks within the United States. The discovery of these documents gave added impetus to the implementation of a communications campaign already under development that was intended to build awareness among the riding public of security issues around public transportation. There is both anecdotal and quantitative evidence to support the effectiveness of enlisting citizens in maintaining vigilance against security threats, on mass transit systems and in general. The attempted car bombing of Times Square in May of 2010 was thwarted by street vendors who alerted New York City Police about a car that was emitting smoke from the inside. A clerk at a gun store in Killeen, Texas notified authorities about a “suspicious purchase” made by a soldier who planned to kill his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood. Both the “underwear bomber” and “shoe bomber” were kept from carrying out their plans by alert flight attendants, assisted by passengers. Closer to home, survey results revealed that the “If you see something, say something™” campaign conducted in the Chesapeake Region was remarkably successful. With over 66 percent of respondents indicating that they were aware of the effort, securetransit.org logged 3,801 unique visits credited to the campaign. In Washington D.C., suspicious-package related calls rose 41 percent, and suspicious person calls rose over two percent during the campaign. More significantly, crime decreased by 18 percent, while recorded offenses decreased by 28 percent. With additional focused and better-funded efforts, it is expected that this record of success will only get better. Although terrorism prevention was the original impetus for the development of this plan, it offers significant potential to have a more far-reaching impact on the prevention of crimes of all types on transit systems. 4 IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING.TM Project History and Funding In fiscal year 2008, the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) applied for and won a $700,000 grant from the Greater National Capital Region Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) to fund a commonly branded “If you see something, say something™” marketing communications campaign covering from Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C. to the Baltimore metropolitan area. Given the need to develop and build regional consensus on the associated campaign, it was not rolled out to the public until the second half of 2011. The campaign was broadly scoped and well received. MTA ($237,340) and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) ($106,000) transferred additional FY 2006 and FY 2007 TSGP funds to the campaign to enhance it to include Spanish language and cover movie theaters in the region during 2011 and early 2012.