OurBus Door-To-Door Product Launch - Principles of Growth

From Launch to Profitable in 4 Months

OurBus Door<To>Door

Principles in Practice

BRAND: A brand is a myth that exists in the inter-subjective reality of people who know about it.
BRAND: To decide if a new product should be within the same brand, a sub-brand or entirely new brand, ensure you have a holistic view of the implications.
CHANNEL SELECTION: The most effective communications reach people from multiple channels, increasing recall and trust.
ANALYTICS: Build in customer feedback loops with both qualitative and quantitative data collection.
GROWTH: Ensure consistent, trust-building messaging accompanies customers throughout their journey.

Situation:

OurBus was started to provide a passenger-centric, tech-enabled experience for regional travelers at reasonable prices. Since OurBus’ launch in 2016, other companies have matched the onboard amenities like ability to purchase tickets online. We needed to take a step forward to deliver a better experience for passengers to avoid a price war and increase revenue per passenger.

One major pain point in the regional travel experience is getting to and from the bus stop, which can cost more than the actual bus trip and causes stress due to missed connections. We decided to create a service for these first and last mile trips.

Insight:

Insights across multiple disciplines led to the creation of the sub-brand OurBus Door-To-Door:

- - Customer Experience: Door-To-Door was a part of the travel experience, but a separate service and should be treated as such
  - Legal: An understanding of the legal requirements around modes of transportation was factored in.
  - Naming: Potential names were evaluated based on search trends and other online data to identify terms that were widely understood, but not over crowded by competition.
  - Positioning: It was important to grab attention by making people think of the service in a new way. We made it analogous to delivery services which people are increasingly using and have positive connotation in terms of safety post-pandemic.
  - Design: Door-To-Door inherited the main brand colors, and then a new color was added to visually signify the different product on specific touchpoints.
  - Communication: A phased approach was implemented to first communicate to customers, then non-customers. This was aligned with operations to ensure a smooth launch experience for passengers and grow over time.

Action:

Door-To-Door: Travelers Delivered was born

OurBus Door-To-Door is transportation the way you want to travel. In a single platform, book a trip from where you are to where you want to be, using addresses, not transit terminals.

Let technology handle the complexity of connections so you can enjoy a seamless trip on shared vehicles. It’s pick up and delivery service for you.
OurBus Door-To-Door: Travelers Delivered

Brand Assets Created

- - Positioning
  - Explainer video
  - Logo
  - Custom images and testimonial videos
  - Vehicle Design

Communications Launched

- - Messaging on the website, app and online directories, including dedicated FAQs
  - Automated sequence of mobile notifications, sms and emails sent to customers to convert them to add-on Door-To-Door
  - PR interview with Chamber of Commerce
  - Content in Ithaca Times
  - Social and Search ad tests to acquire customers and gain insight into most effective messaging
  - Partner communications through Near Me @ Ithaca program

Analytics, Testing & Customer Feedback

- - Gaining insight into what was resonating with customers before, during and after the trip was as important as the launch itself. We tested messaging, booking experience and ride experience and integrated the findings into product marketing.
  - Website & App Events: Dedicated events for each stage and key actions along the purchase journey were created and tracked on dashboards.
  - Ad Campaigns: Messaging was tested through text and visuals to understand which pain points and benefits were more effective in capturing interest and converting to purchase.
  - Cross-department collaboration: Slack channels about Door-To-Door and Operations contained team members across Marketing, Operators, Planning, Product and Data Science
  - Customer Surveys: Post-ride surveys were sent to all customers to gauge satisfaction and understand reasons for purchase and where they found out about Door-To-Door.

Result:

OurBus Door-To-Door was quickly adopted by OurBus passengers and continues to grow both for customers and the business.

- - 90%+ understood the new service, how it was different and why they would use it
  - 82% who took a Door-To-Door ride reported being ‘Extremely satisfied’ with it
  - High percentage of bus passengers added on Door-To-Door to their ride, beating expectations (proprietary data)
  - Revenue per passenger has increased significantly (proprietary data)
  - Pricing has consistently increased along with ridership, demonstrating value delivery
  - Door-To-Door opened up partnership opportunities with regional organizations
  - Ongoing customer surveys and A/B ad tests have contributed to refining the overall messaging approach and contact points

Door-To-Door has become an integral part of the OurBus experience for Ithaca passengers

Principles in Practice

BRAND: A brand is a myth that exists in the inter-subjective reality of people who know about it.
BRAND: To decide if a new product should be within the same brand, a sub-brand or entirely new brand, ensure you have a holistic view of the implications.
CHANNEL SELECTION: The most effective communications reach people from multiple channels, increasing recall and trust.
ANALYTICS: Build in customer feedback loops with both qualitative and quantitative data collection.
GROWTH: Ensure consistent, trust-building messaging accompanies customers throughout their journey.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Anthony shifts items from 0 to 1 with calm, clarity and creativity.

Paul Somers

Xoogler | former Head of Global Apps Partnerships

From Launch to Profitable in 4 Months