Train Station Takeover

This is an example of a train station takeover we did for Roku. Division of Labor is an advertising agency in San Francisco that’s been around since 2009. So we know the media opportunities in the city and can buy media much more efficiently and at far better rates than clients buying on their own. For this campaign, the brand had every posting in the downtown San Francisco main station to build awareness of Roku as a great gift for the holidays.

HOW TO EXECUTE A TRAIN STATION TAKEOVER.

Just because a brand buys every advertising position in a train station doesn’t mean it will be successful. Brands that inundate people with the same boring message over and over again might build brand awareness, but people will become aware of how much they hate the brand. You must engage viewers with multiple messages to execute a station takeover properly.

There were 160 locations throughout the station so we mapped people’s walking paths from each of the four entrances to determine which executions went where in order to tell the whole story and keep each execution fresh.

This Roku station takeover at the main downtown station had about 160 postings. We mapped the routes commuters would walk as they entered the station from each of the four entrances. Commuters would end up on one of two levels depending on if they were riding BART or MUNI.

We made sure to post broad brand messages mixed with product benefits and holiday messages. But the key in any station takeover is variety. Use different placements to tell different parts of the story. Allow viewers to laugh and interact while you deliver specific points.

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It’s important for an advertising campaign to mix funny, irreverant messages, like the one above, with straightforward, benefit-driven messages like the one below.

Division of Labor has created some iconic campaigns for startups in San Francisco. “The best $50 gift you can’t drink.” is an example of an execution that delivers a hard-hitting price message in an irreverant tone that’s consistant with the brand voice.

Not every posting has to have a logo or brand name. People will get it, give the viewer some credit and remember they’re going to see a lot of your brand some keep it light.