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Marketing Campaigns
Compiled by Andy Clarke
American's have a love affair with their cars, we are told. Consequently, many transportation professionals and politicians are reluctant to promote bicycling and walking initiatives because they fear no-one will leave their car at home and walk or bike instead. This isn't a uniquely American problem. Even in some of the countries and communities with high levels of bicycling and walking - e.g. the Netherlands and Denmark - promotion of bicycling and walking is still a critical activity. Below you will find listed some of the more interesting and creative marketing campaigns that are being used to persuade people to walk and bike instead of drive.
Glasgow, Scotland
The Glasgow area of Scotland has some of the highest obesity rates and worst physical activity levels in the UK. As a result, numerous health and transport agencies have initiated projects to promote more active living, healthy lifestyles etc. The "Learn to Let Go" campaign, features various marketing techniques to get people to let go of their car steering wheel. See their TV commercials on the website listed below.
Learn to Let Go
http://www.learntoletgo.org.uk/index.shtml
Walk in to Work Out
http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/healthycities/phys_activity/commuting.htm
Fit For Life
http://www.who.dk/healthy-cities/Documentation/20010918_17
Northern England
Remarkably, a number of other creative campaigns to get people walking and bicycling are also from the north of England. York is one of the most bicycle and pedestrian friendly communities in the UK (similar to Portland, Oregon in the United States).
York Walking Tall
http://www.york.gov.uk/outabout/travelling/foot/index.html
http://www.eu-target.net/target1/workpackages/cycling.htm
"If you're not going far, forget the car" West Yorkshire, England
http://www.ntwa.org.uk/archive/forgetcar.htm
How Far Will You Go? York, England
http://www.york.gov.uk/roads/excellence/cyclingmarketing.html
Brought To You by KIA
The KIA car company in the UK is actively encouraging folks to drive less and walk more. They are - along with a Shell shell - major sponsors of "Walking: The Way to Health" and initiated their own "Think Before You Drive" campaign that includes sponsorship of walking school buses.
Walking the Way to Health
http://www.whi.org.uk/
Think Before You Drive
http://www.walkingbus.org/
Other European Promotions
There are, of course, loads of cities throughout Europe that have been actively encouraging bicycling and walking for years and years. The Car-free Cities network and the European Car Free Day movement encompass more than a thousand cities. The three listed below were chosen because they represent an interesting diversity of approaches.
Bike Bus'ters of Aarhus, Denmark
The Bike Bus'ters are 200 Aarhus residents who signed a pledge to give up their cars for a year and use alternate modes of travel.
http://www.communitybike.org/cache/bikebusters/summary.html
Danish Mobility Week, Copenhagen, DK
This is the unofficial title of a corporate challenge program that's part of Danish Mobility Week in the capital city of Copenhagen. It takes bike to work day events to a new level!
http://www.bergen.kommune.no/studynorway_/ekstern/bah_November.doc
Fahr Rad Campaign, Vorarlberg, Austria
It's not very well documented, but it's the program that got me started thinking about this issue of marketing. A whole series of incentives and information campaigns in the Bregenz, Austra region were employed to get people thinking bike - including a lottery program reminiscent of the Publishers Clearinghouse.
http://www.22september.org/pdf/vorarl.ppt
Other Examples
Cambridge Golden Shoe Treasure Hunt, Cambridge, Mass.
http://www.cambridgepublichealth.org/prog_serv/camb_walks.html#shoes
http://www.cambridgepublichealth.org/prog_serv/pdfs/golden_shoes.pdf (note: this is a pdf)
TravelSmart, Perth, Western Australia
http://www.dpi.wa.gov.au/travelsmart/
Wheeling Walks, Wheeling West Virginia
http://www.wheelingwalks.org/
Bogota Ciclo Rutas
http://www.itdp.org/news/bogota900.html
http://pages.infinit.net/colombia/bogota/trans/ciclo.html