The Toronto Transit Commission is spending $3.9 million on advertising this year to maintain the status quo.

Ron McLaughlin, ttc manager of marketing and public affairs, says he is convinced the ‘Ride the Rocket’ campaign launched in April is delivering the goods and has been tracking it monthly.

After five months, aided awareness of the campaign was at 91%, while awareness of the new slogan, ‘Ride the Rocket,’ came in at 78%, about 10 points below the themeline used for a number of years, ‘The Better Way.’

For three years before the ‘Ride the Rocket’ campaign, ttc advertising had been limited to a small amount of print.

At the end of 1993, The Communique Group of Toronto was chosen for a two-year term.

An advertising, promotion and events strategy was put into place for each of nine target groups with the underlying message being, no matter who you are, what you do, or where you live – there is a time and place when the ttc is the better way.

While tv is the core of the campaign – focussing on convenience, reliability, safety and value for all target groups – radio and print are used for tactical messages about specific instances when the ttc is the better way.

The third 30-second commercial in the campaign has just been launched. PS