Tools:

Stakeholder engagement, issues management, branding, events, marketing and promotions.

 

Vancouver, BC, Canada is aiming to become the world's most sustainable city. It needs a robust public transport infrastructure. While Public Relations Director at Grey Worldwide, AdWeek's global agency of the year, Rebecca led the team to win the public transport project. The Canada Line was one of the largest PR campaigns of 2009.

 

Challenges:

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• Mired in controversy, due to lost business during construction, the aim was to rebuild trust and bring shoppers back.

• To communicate effectively with all the diverse communities along the route of the Canada Line.

• Create and implement Canada Line opening day, a huge public event.

 

Strategy:

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• Engage businesses and listen to their concerns. Bring back shoppers to the districts through effective marketing and promotions using the full gamut of marketing tools.

• Re-brand, to move away from the negative legacy to a final year of celebration.

• Celebrate the diverse communities using their languages and their input for events that resonated clearly with them.

 

Results: 

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• The Canada Line was opened ahead of time and under budget.

• The community events and the main Canada Line opening day saw hundreds of thousands in attendance.

• The Canada Line was anticipated to see 142,000 boardings per day by 2021, but it has consistently exceeded targets.

• Due to the incredible success of the Canada Line, British Columbia is expanding its rail network exponentially, reducing traffic-related deaths, pollution and stress.