OVERCOMING AN IDENTITY CRISIS: THE INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY AND ITS AMERICA'S NATIONAL AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

This article reviews the challenges facing members of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) and thousands of individuals in the intelligent transportation industry as they attempt to explain the benefits of intelligent transportation systems (ITS). At the center of the problem is the absence of an answer to the fundamental question: what is intelligent transportation? A spokesperson for the ITS America notes that in the mid to late 1980s, while the industry realized that emerging technologies would be able to increase travel efficiency and capacity without creating new roads, it did not know how to describe this to laymen. The four main components of a national awareness campaign would be: extensive market research on the message and audience, development of a new logo as a universal symbol, creative advertising that clearly and effectively introduces a new logo and tag line to communicate its benefits, and extensive media and public relations efforts. The multi-tiered communications program developed by the public relations and advertising team of The Jefferson Group Inc. and Henry J. Kaufman & Associates is outlined. Test advertising and public relations efforts were introduced in the Spring of 1996; a new slogan "IntelliTrans: Bringing new thinking to transportation" was also introduced.

• Record URL:
  http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/97july/its.cfm
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/1586080
• Corporate Authors:

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Costantino, J
• Publication Date: 1997-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: p. 27-29
• Serial:
  • Public Roads
  • Volume: 61
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Federal Highway Administration
  • ISSN: 0033-3735
  • Serial URL: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Advertising campaigns; Intelligent transportation systems; Market research; Mass media; Public information programs; Public relations
• Old TRIS Terms: Communication media
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00739603
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 30 1997 12:00AM