California State Rail Plan 2005-06 to 2015-16

2005-06 – 2015-16 California State Rail Plan
approximately $1 million, is divided between public relations, rail safety,
passenger information, and market research. The CCJPA and the State have
agreed that $1,173,800 of State funds annually goes to the CCJPA for marketing.
Together with the Amtrak advertising supplement, $1,373,800 is available for the
Capitol Corridor.
DEPARTMENT’S MARKETING PROGRAM
The Department’s marketing program for the Pacific Surfliners and San Joaquins
has several major components: advertising, public relations/outreach, rail safety
and market research.
ADVERTISING
The Department and Amtrak combine resources to create a single advertising
program for California services. In October 2004, the Department renewed a
two-year contract with Glass-McClure Advertising of Sacramento for 2004-05 and
2005-06. Contract services include strategic planning, media planning, production
and creative services, and media buys. Glass-McClure’s agreement with the
Department maximizes the State’s commitment to rider-producing media by
paying a lower-than-standard commission rate on media buys, and no mark-up is
paid for production or creative work.
The Department has formulated, in conjunction with Amtrak, a detailed plan for
the FY 2005-06. The plan includes seasonal fare promotion campaigns that are
coordinated with Amtrak’s national campaigns. The plan also continues a
successful strategy of targeting constituent groups with high likelihood of riding
the train. These groups have been selected through research that shows that they
hare underrepresented in the train population. Primary markets include the
“mature market”, families, and Hispanic persons. Important secondary targets
include business travelers and college students. These groups will be targeted
with campaigns and media addressing their particular travel needs.
The Department’s advertising focuses on the virtues of train travel. This approach
uses the “Travel made simple” concept for Amtrak California that combines an
emotional element reflecting train travel as a unique experience with price and
destination messages. This overall advertising concept will be adjusted when
tailoring specific messages for each of the different target groups listed above.
PUBLIC RELATIONS/OUTREACH
The public relations/outreach program is a personal and hands-on part of the
advertising program designed to work in conjunction with and support advertising
efforts. This allows for a customized, corridor-specific program to be constructed
from an array of the following activities.
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