Improving the Transit Experience 

For over a quarter of a century, MARTA has moved more than 3.5 billion people throughout Atlanta and the surrounding cities. They provide cost-effective and reliable transit, spurring economic growth, enhancing the lives of citizens and leading the way to a less congested and more connected future.

To help improve brand perception and increase ridership, MARTA undertook a comprehensive project to better understand its audience, evolve its brand messaging/story and launch a new more-mobile friendly digital experience.

Brand and Audience Insights 

The project started with in-depth audience research to better understand MARTA’s core audience/user segments. This research was aimed at understanding their perceptions of MARTA (and transit) as well as identify potential opportunities to better engage the audience. Research interviews were conducted at stations, via screeners placed on the MARTA website and through existing key audience relationships. These findings were used to develop goal-oriented personas that informed all our work moving forward. 

Solving the Problem

Utilizing our research findings as a foundation, we then worked with the MARTA communications team to update their Brand Messaging. This included  overhauling their Brand Purpose, Promise, Positioning Statement and Key Messages. Evolving the brand from internal-focused language/jargon to more authentic and language that better reflected the role of MARTA in the city it serves. This messaging shift helped riders rethink MARTA and reappraise the transit system by changing their perceptions and making the case that MARTA was better than ever before. 

To bring the brand story to life we designed a new website experience. Content was created that aligned to gaps identified in the strategy phase and included new articles focused on trip ideas, answering common questions and showcasing key information at relevant times via new real-time alert functionality. The website design and user experience were built for intuitive ease of use with simple paths to help ensure each audience segment could accomplish their goals with just a few clicks.

Results

As a result of our effort, website engagement metrics improved across the board with organic traffic increasing, bounce rate declining and overall user satisfaction improving. More importantly, this project helped change the perception of MARTA and improve the perception of transit in our region.