CITY OF LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF TRASPORTATION
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Park & Pay
The City of Los Angeles is launching a new metered parking system that takes payment in the form of coin, bills, ATM credit card and via cell phone. The launch of the new meter system is currently taking place according to a neighborhood-to-neighborhood installation schedule that allows for timely notification to affected local residents and businesses. The Park & Pay system replaces old parking meters with a centralized meter box that takes payment for corresponding parking spaces. |
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THE ASSIGNMENT:
- Create a brand for the new service
- Design a logo for broad use
- Draft and design flyers for distribution to neighborhood residents and businesses and recommend a strategy for dissemination
- Translate and create the layout for brochures in four languages
- Create a detailed bilingual brochure for local leader and business use
- Adapt collateral materials for use on the LADOT website
The initial challenge that we came across at the first client meeting was the City’s proposed program title: “Pay and Go.” Our team felt that the name did not brand the service with a sufficiently strong and unique identity for the product. At our subsequent meeting with the City, we offered our suggested name, “Park & Pay,” and the key reasons for considering the change:
- This is a parking product
- The first action undertaken by the customer is to park
- After the customer parks, he needs to be directed to the payment box to make a payment; therefore “park and then pay” are the actions tied to the product and service
- An ampersand should replace the word “and” as this will make the two key words “pop” and enhance the overall look of the brand
The logo design that we developed took into account the following considerations:
- Two-colors only - to keep production costs low
- Longevity - to withstand the test of time and survive trends
- Name call-out - important for the launch of a new system
- Design strength - over the course of time, the image develops into an iconic product of the LADOT system
- Movement - the client wanted to convey the feeling that the system was “fast.” We addressed this concern by incorporating the look of a road and sense of movement into the design
Success! The new name and logo design met with swift and resounding approval
Publicity: Marketing & Communications worked with LADOT’s public information office to prepare press materials and a media strategy for a Department press conference to announce the new meter system. The “Park & Pay” logo was unveiled to the public by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at a press conference that was covered by every major television newscast, radio news station and major Southern California newspaper.
Collateral Design: In the second phase of effort, Marketing & Communications created flyer copy and design in four languages (English, Spanish, Simplified Chinese and Korean) for distribution in selected areas where the “Park & Pay” system was to be installed within the operations schedule. In addition, Marketing & Communications developed a bilingual brochure with in-depth explanations of system operation for distribution to community leaders and businesses.
When working with different languages, we make sure to adapt copy into culturally modified syntax in order to avoid the traps of a literal translation. Within our layouts, we ensure that our line-breaks flow so that headlines and copy have a crisp advertising look.
The campaign is ongoing with the replacement of the City’s old meters with the new “Park & Pay” system in neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles.
Materials developed by Marketing & Communications are currently on the LADOT website: www.ladot.lacity.org
The following case study is included within the scope of our work experience because it offers a similar scenario of taking something that is great, well done, but not well known, to new heights of awareness and success - within the span of one campaign effort.
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