The Campaign

In getting the public interested in DTL2, we stood guided by the following: 1. Build up awareness of the DTL2 by communicating the benefits of the new MRT line. 2. Create excitement and celebrate the completion of DTL2 as it brings us closer to our land transport vision. 3. Encourage the use of the DTL2. DTL2 marks the first direct access to the rail network for Bukit Timah residents and students hence it’s important to encourage them to use the new line and experience the convenience of public transport. 4. Going car-lite by getting the residents to try out public transport and they may eventually come to realise that alternative transport such as the MRT is also a convenience means of getting around. 5. Reinforce LTA’s commitment to enhance the rail network and achieving having 8 in 10 households living within a 10-minute walk from a train station.

Creative Execution

DTL2 Open House saw a resounding turn-out of 200,000 in a SINGLE day, made possible because of the various strategies employed: 1. Good publicity was achieved given the intensity of our PR efforts, a targeted publicity approach and the extensiveness of our publicity platforms. 2. A Thematically-Interesting Open House Programme - a unified theme ‘Rail Trails’ for all stations, with each station carrying a theme unique to its locale. 3. Highly interactive and engaging activities – encompassing popular Trick Art, old-school games and DIY activities. 4. Rail Trail Stamp Rally – this adrenaline-pumping and experiential activity spurred the public to actively explore the stations in a fun and enjoyable manner! This accomplished the DTL2 Open House’s objective of encouraging the public to familiarise with the stations. 5. Customised content for Open House Magazine – this magazine served as a quick guide and perpetual reminder of the lifestyle options DTL2 offers.

Details of the event’s success: 1. High campaign awareness and recall – 4 in 5 were aware of the DTL2 advertisements. 2. Excellent Ad clarity and appeal - 96% agree that the messages were clear and easy to understand while 89% found the publicity materials attractive. 3. Effective communication of campaign messages – 80% are able to answer 2 out of 3 questions on the DTL2. 4. Purposeful visit and positive experience at the DTL2 Open House – 8 in 10 made a special effort to attend the event, and more than 90% say that the open house allows them to familiarise with the stations. 5. High engagement levels and growth in social media platforms – most significantly, our new Instagram account grew by 86%! 6. Extensive and positive media engagement – DTL2 generated a media publicity value of $2.04 million, encompassing many aspects from construction challenges, to train testing to places-of-interest along the DTL2.

The Downtown Line 2 (DTL2) Open House was an event that was meticulously planned, creatively curated and passionately executed with a singular objective in mind – Encouraging the public to familiarise themselves with the 12 new MRT stations while at the same, letting them relish every single moment! With a resounding turn-out of 200,000 visitors in a SINGLE day, this is testimony to the success of the event, even trumping the previous open house’s (for DTL1) visitorship by a whopping 60%! Hence, the team believes the DTL2 Open House is worthy to be entered for the Media Spike.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

A nation-wide campaign was implemented to publicise the benefits of DTL2 focusing on: 1. Expanding our publicity efforts to do island-wide, to reach all public transport (PT) users 2. Targeting publicity at a new target group – motorists 3. Using a lifestyle and thematic angle to excite Singaporeans about DTL2 For the first time, motorists was a key target audience in our publicity efforts. As we work towards doubling Singapore’s rail network, stepping up publicity to target motorists was crucial so as to highlight how the enhanced connectivity of the PT network can support a ‘car-lite’ lifestyle. The team adopted a ‘market segmentation’ approach to tailor our key messages in accordance to the nature and specific needs of each group. The publicity platforms used to target each group were also carefully deliberated on.