WMATA advertising account up for bid

The current issue of Washington Business Journal reports that the Metro advertising account, best known for "Metro Opens Doors," is up for bid.

From the article, "The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is looking for a new agency to handle its advertising and marketing needs. The three-year job could be worth almost $10 million, if two one-year options are exercised and, of course, if the funds are available. WMATA Director of Marketing Murray Bond says that the authority is looking for a creative partner who can be flexible: 'We're looking for an agency that is light-footed and can turn around a creative concept quickly.'

The contract will encompass both print and broadcast, and will be worth approximately $1.7 million in the first year. Arlington ad firm LM&O Advertising has held the contract for the past five years, during which it developed the 'Metro Opens Doors' campaign. President Doug Laughlin credits the agency's previous work with Virginia Railway Express for its initial success, and says that plans are on track to seek the contract once again. [Jennifer Nycz-Conner] "

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"Look yes but don't touch"--the solicitation is online but accessible only to registered users.

LMO wants you to register before you can access some of their ads online, but this link might work if that seems unnecessarily burdensome.

Here is a link to an interesting presentation about some of the specific media campaigns. The presentation was given to one of the various Transportation committees of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Interestingly enough the presentation states that most bus and subway lines are at capacity during rush hour (I knew about subways) so that the campaign focuses upon building usage at off-peak times.

Photo from the WMATA press room.

In any case, I think that the web could be utilized as another medium for the pro-transit message. Why aren't these ads running off the WMATA website?