1. In The Round Communications

2. Using Social Media to influence travel behaviour - Experiences from the London 2012 Games Terri Lynam and Jon Foley 5 November 2012

3. In The Round Communications What we’re going to cover Ι About the London 2012 Games Ι What was done in response to the challenges – role of social media Ι Interactive workshop – you’re going to plan a social media campaign Ι Conclude with some ‘hints and tips’

4. In The Round Communications But before we start….. Ι Who uses social media personally? Ι Does your organisation use social media? If yes what? Ι Do you use it in your day job? In what circumstances?

5. In The Round Communications The London 2012 Transport Challenge Britain's 'largest peacetime logistical exercise’ Olympic Games equivalent to 26 simultaneous world championships 9 million Olympic Games spectators 2 million Paralympic Games spectators Almost 300,000 athletes, media, officials & other ‘Games Family’ members and workforce All spectators to take public transport, walk or cycle

6. In The Round Communications The Transport Demand Challenge On a normal day, 12 million public transport trips per day in London An additional 3 million public transport trips on the busiest days of the Olympics Reductions in the volume of normal travel, due to school holidays and travel demand management, offset by increases associated with Games and cultural events So congestion likely at hotspots at certain days, times and locations – not across the entire network That’s why re-timing, re-routing and changing the way people travelled was so important

7. In The Round Communications All partners working together to meet Games transport challenge Throughout, we had twin objectives: Deliver a great 2012 Games Keep London and the UK moving London 2012 Games transport strategy had four main elements: Invest in public transport capacity, reliability and accessibility Enhanced public transport – more and later services Manage the road network effectively for all road users Manage travel demand patterns to keep London and the UK moving

8. In The Round Communications Different groups / audiences – Communicating and to engage with Games FamilySpectatorsTube users BusinessesDrivers Walkers and cyclists Bus users Mobility impaired people

9. In The Round Communications Get Ahead of the Games Campaign ‘Get Ahead of the Games’ campaign to communicate directly with Londoners, commuters and people right across the UK Information, tips and advice via ads, posters, emails and a new website, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr channels To explain how those who live and work in travel hotspots can: Reduce Reroute Retime Remode their journeys

10. In The Round Communications GAOTG Hub Website @ GAOTG Twitter and other social media channels integrated with campaign website

11. In The Round Communications GAOTG SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS Ι GAOTG Flickr and YouTube channel: ■ To amplify video and photo content, ads and engage audience ■ Boost PR campaign and provide easily accessible content for media, engage audience with fun and interesting content Ι @GAOTG: ■ Key campaign tool – distribution of messages, news and campaign content ■ Ahead of the Games – Continuous stream of information on how to plan ahead and links to website, YouTube ■ During the Games – information on key ‘hotspots’ to avoid each day and real-time travel info and advice

12. In The Round Communications Why we chose these channels… COMMUTER SPECTATOR LONDONER/ UK Venues BUSINESS

13. In The Round Communications Coordination and Cross-Promotion of channels and content Get Ahead of the Games Help and advice on how to plan travel during the games (background demand) Get Ahead of the Games Help and advice on how to plan travel during the games (background demand) London 2012 Help and information on getting to the Games (spectator) TfL / BBC / Highways Agency/Train operators/Businesses Information, notice of disruption / planned works

14. In The Round Communications What we did… Ι Have a content plan Ι Use insights from Social media monitoring to develop and change messaging content along the way Ι Use PR to generate interesting stories and video content Ι Generating followers through paid advertising, promoted tweets and partnerships Ι Pre Games messaging vs real time Games messaging Ι To respond or not to respond Ι Distil key points down into 140 characters!! 14

15. In The Round Communications Over to you… Planning phase Ι In groups – think about a scenario that applies to one of your organisations: ■ An upcoming event that affects transport ■ Changes to transport system ■ Introducing a new service ■ One of your own ideas Ι And then answer the following….. ■ Which social media channels would you use and why? ■ When would you start? ■ What type of content would you want to put out? Frequency of messaging? ■ What would you put in place to understand if it’s working? ■ What other things would you need to consider? 20 mins to come up with answers and feedback ideas to group 15

16. In The Round Communications Pre-Games – Social Media (1)

17. In The Round Communications Pre-Games – Social Media (2)

18. In The Round Communications Pre-Games – Social Media (3)

19. In The Round Communications Back to you… Up to and during the intervention/event Ι Using the scenario from the first exercise – Ι Now a week out from the start of the event/intervention Ι What do you think you are doing now? Ι Frequency? Ι Responding? Ι Content? Ι Monitoring? Ι Anything else? Ι 20 mins and then feedback 19

20. In The Round Communications Games-Time Communications  Twice daily press notices (7am & 2pm)  Daily Metro content (5am)  Daily customer emails (2pm)  Public transport users (approx. 2m recipients)  Roads users (approx. 1m recipients)  Daily station posters (3.30pm)  Daily business bulletin (5pm)  Twice daily stakeholder bulletins (11am & 4pm)  Regular Tweets (TfL & GAOTG)  Ongoing online content and Journey Planner updates

21. In The Round Communications Social Media driving the news agenda

22. In The Round Communications During the Games – Real-Time travel info and advice

23. In The Round Communications Games-Time Social Media management Model TfL Press Office TfL Customer Experience GAOTG ‘Hub’ 2012 Transport Coordination Centre TfL Operational Control Centres LU DLR LO Bus Street London 2012 @BarclaysCycle @TfLOfficial @TfLTravelAlerts @TfLTrafficNews @ GAOTG @ London2012

24. In The Round Communications So how did we do? 24 Around one third of commuters changed their travel behaviour Central London traffic down 15% Tube and DLR carried record numbers– up 35% on normal summer levels

25. In The Round Communications Games Social Media success Total of 43,638 mentions on Social Media between Jan 1st-Sept 13 th = 1.3m impressions Understandably, Twitter dominates Get Ahead of the Games

26. In The Round Communications Games Social Media success @GAOTG @TfLOfficial Huge peak in Twitter mentions at Games time Average seven mentions per hour Jan-Sept More consistency for @TfLOfficial over the period of Jan-Sept having already been established as a well known Twitter handle for commuters

27. In The Round Communications Thanks from happy customers…

28. In The Round Communications In conclusion……Hints and tips from experience  Social media an essential part of TfL / GAOTG campaign, news and information tool – ahead of and during the Games  YouTube ideal for ‘rich’ campaign content, promoted via web, email and all social media channels  Twitter an essential real-time information and news management tool – monitoring is vital, use insights in real time  Facebook good for building community and developing long lasting relationship with fans  Understand which channels are right for your audience/s through market research  Don’t create more channels than you need if a pre existing channel is available adapt it!  Have a plan! Know the timing, frequency and content you want to put out but take into account what your audience needs are – it is not just about you!

29. In The Round Communications Hints and tips from experience (Continued)  Develop relationship with key influencers and bloggers in advance to amplify messages  Ensure your content is interesting and relevant… listen to your audience  Have a Social media management model with effective operational links vital to verify facts and quickly dispel myth and rumour  Ensure you have ‘rules of engagement’ in place – how will you respond to incidents, requests for info… or abuse  Even via social media, customers prefer real-time information and more importantly advice delivered by humans and with humour!  Allow twitter operators personalities to shine through  Be ready to adapt  Social Media is a conversation and is best used to respond to audience – manage expectations – tell followers what your service level will be in advance  Be the trusted source of truth – make it official!

30. In The Round Communications Questions?