Behind the Campaign - Biki

By Priscilla Zheng

One of Ad 2 Hawaii’s flagship programs is the annual pro bono Public Service campaign. For the past several decades, a local nonprofit client is selected each year to receive an all-inclusive marketing campaign valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. For Ad 2 Hawaii, this annual program gives members a chance to get hands-on experience from concepting to budgeting to production and more. This also becomes a great opportunity for our members to explore what aspects of marketing and advertising they enjoy when it comes to deciding a career path.

So, what does the public service campaign look like? Let’s dive in on the 2019-2020 campaign with Bikeshare Hawaii.

Call For Applications and Client Selection

Around July of every year, Ad 2 Hawaii puts out a call for applications through social media posts, e-blasts, and press releases. In July of 2019, members of our executive board were invited to speak on KHON2 and at various radio stations to promote the opportunity.

Fifteen applications were submitted and Bikeshare Hawaii was selected as the recipient in August. Bikeshare Hawaii is the nonprofit that oversees Biki, a bike rental program that services the Honolulu area. Biki operates over 1,300 bikes at over 130 Biki stations.

We felt that Bikeshare Hawaii serves an integral part of the community, especially since it was truly the first widespread micromobility service in Hawaii. Their senior marketing manager, Kelsey Colpitts, served as our close point of contact throughout the campaign process.

We learned that Bikeshare Hawaii was primarily in charge of all marketing efforts, community outreach, grant and donation solicitations, and fare decisions among other tasks. We discovered that their main problem was financial sustainability. There is a public misperception that Biki is purely for-profit, but the revenue generated goes towards a third-party group that maintains and rebalances the bikes and Biki stations. Bikeshare Hawaii does not receive revenue from the rentals until a certain ridership threshold is met. Which at the time we began working with them, was about two years out.

Target Audience and Creative Brief

The public service committee then got to work on developing the creative brief. Our primary goal was to increase Biki ridership to shorten the time frame for Bikeshare Hawaii to reach their threshold goal. We defined our primary target audience as Oahu residents, who were not current Biki riders, are at least 18 years of age, and frequented the urban Honolulu area. This is a relatively large audience, but as Kelsey explained, they wanted Biki to be seen as a service that a person of any age, gender, background and occupation could use.

Market Research

Anthology Marketing Group generously donated their marketing research services to our campaign. We utilized it to learn more about what factors appealed or deterred residents who do not use Biki. We analyzed Biki station data and determined that the three areas that saw the least Biki traffic in Honolulu were Makiki, Manoa, and Diamond Head/Kapahulu. Our committee then set out to conduct 15 to 20-minute long street interviews. Based on the results, our two largest takeaways were that: 1. safety was a major concern and deterrent for potential riders, and 2. convenience was Biki’s greatest appeal. These served as great insights in developing our creative.

Media Solicitation and Production

The campaign consists of a 30-second radio ad, a 30-second TV spot with a shortened 15-second spot for digital formats, and various print and out-of-home advertisements. Ad 2 Hawaii members reached out to various publications and broadcasting stations to ask for in-kind media contributions. We are incredibly grateful for the tremendous amount of support we received from the local industry.

For our creatives, we decided to focus on the phrase “Where Will You Biki?”. It was short, memorable, and challenged the viewer to imagine how they would use the service. Our call to action was “visit gobiki.org” as it led potential users to a place where they could learn more and sign up for a plan. For our core campaign theme, we wanted to show Biki as a service used by a diverse set of people. 

Our committee met often as we worked on the creatives. For radio, our concept included five different voices that spoke of the variety of reasons residents would use Biki. Malcolm Bailey of MVNP drafted the script. Pacific Music Productions generously donated their services. After a three-hour recording and editing session in early March, we had a finalized spot! Our radio spot launched on the airwaves on April 1st of 2020 and will play for up to a year. Mahalo to H. Hawaii Media, iHeartMedia, Pacific Media Group, and SummitMedia for their generous airtime donations!

For our video ads, we worked closely with Ryan Kawamoto at Kinetic Productions and Director Johnathan Walk to craft the story of the “Biki Journey”.

After drafting a few storyboards, our final concept revolved around four individuals: the Downtown businessman, the Kakaako female entrepreneur, the college student, and a 40s to 50s aged woman. The spot features snippets of each individual’s ride from undocking to docking. We showcased the use of Biki for commuting to work, traversing through vibrant Kakaako streets, beating Honolulu traffic, and enjoying time with friends. We casted talent and extras, and had our shoot ready to go until COVID-19 hit mid-March and we were forced to delay production.

Simultaneously, we were working on our print concept with Ad 2 alumna Vanessa Zachariah. Her vision for the print ads included splicing images of the four riders together as one cohesive picture. We had planned to include imagery from the television shoot, so ultimately our print advertisements were also caught in a limbo.

Fortunately, we weren’t sitting around too long. In April 2020, Bikeshare Hawaii was approached by KITV4 with an opportunity to run a free two-week PSA. It was the perfect opportunity, but we just didn’t have a spot. This was at the height of the first lockdown on Oahu when only essential businesses could operate. Biki was deemed essential since they provide a mode of transportation. With a 48-hour turnover deadline, we got down to work. Ad 2 Hawaii created the script, Kelsey went out on a one-woman mission to gather footage on her smartphone, and Kinetic Productions donated their editing services. Through our perseverance, we were able to produce a quick COVID-19 PSA.

As June rolled around, Oahu’s film industry received the green light to begin productions again. We picked up where we left off for the original television spot. Ad 2 alum David Murphey joined us on set to capture imagery for our print ads. After filming for two days in July with strict COVID-19 safety procedures, we finally had footage! Kinetic Productions worked with Montaj9 to piece the spot together.

And with the craziness of the pandemic, problems returned as Oahu’s second lockdown hit. Understandably, our client was hesitant to launch the campaign during a shutdown where many people would not be out and about to ride Biki. We came to an agreement to launch the television, print and out-of-home advertisements beginning October 2020 as Oahu worked towards a tiered reopening strategy.

Launch!

The 30-second spot was released to our generous donors at KHON2, Hawaii News Now, KITV4 and Hawaiian Telcom where it will be airing up until October 2021. But you don’t have to be glued to your TV to catch it, here’s your exclusive look at the spot.

Our print and digital ads can be found in FLUX Hawaii, Hana Hou Magazine, This Week Magazine, Honolulu Magazine, and KHON2.com. Our mall posters can be found at Ala Moana Center, Kahala Mall, Manoa Marketplace, Royal Hawaiian Center, Ward Center, and Ward Villages thanks to the wonderful donation from Hawaii Malls, Inc.

AAF ADMERICA Conference and the Public Service Competition

Under normal circumstances, the public service campaign would have been completed by April in time for the American Advertising Federation’s ADMERICA conference and competition that takes place in June. This year, although we only had the radio spot completed in time, the show went on virtually. We were proud to take home the inaugural People’s Choice Award.

Join Us

Ultimately, the public service campaign really is a win-win for Ad 2 Hawaii members and our clients. Members gain valuable skills and experiences through the various aspects of the campaign. Our nonprofit clients benefit from these integrated marketing campaigns to further share their message and services to the community.

Working with organizations such as Kinetic Productions also serves as a great networking opportunity for our members. Here, Ryan Kawamoto explains the benefits of getting involved.

If you are interested in getting involved with our public service campaigns, either as a member or industry professional, please email us at ad2hawaii@gmail.com.