San Antonio Bikes: Guerilla Marketing for Public Good

Business Situation

In 2010, the City of San Antonio Office of Sustainability’s SA Bikes program launched a citywide campaign to inspire the community to “share the road” and educate motorists about the Safe Passing Ordinance requiring cars to give cyclists three feet of space on the road. However, in the five years since the campaign launched, interest and knowledge of the safety portion of the campaign had waned.

Solution

With a limited budget, esd developed the #My3Feet campaign in September 2015.  It included a major press conference, junior outdoor billboards, Facebook advertisements and an experiential, or “guerrilla marketing” component. This combination of efforts allowed SA Bikes to not only raise awareness at the macro level, but to engage individuals at events on a micro level, inspiring everyday citizens to share their excitement and knowledge about the 3-foot rule on their own Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest accounts.