Frequent Rider Club Cards

Pilot Duration: 6 weeks

Opt-ins: 6.2K

MRR: $1.74/rider

Cubic commenced the pilot for its Frequent Rider Club Card program in its Miami-Dade County, Florida, ecosystem. The program put three objectives to the test:

1. Could it enhance the rider experience?

2. Could it incentivize a behavioral shift among transit passengers?

3. Could it meaningfully boost sponsorships and advertising revenue?

Enhance the rider experience? Check!

Cubic encouraged riders to return to public transportation post the global pandemic by introducing a new Frequent Rider Club Card with “Earn while you ride!” benefits. Transit riders were regularly exposed to instantly-redeemable incentives (e.g. a FREE Coca-Cola®, or a FREE Chipotle® Burrito). To redeem an offer, riders simply visited a sponsor’s retail store and used their Cubic club card. Riders claimed a total of $18K in offers for the 6-week duration of the pilot.

Shift passenger behavior? Indeed!

Cubic knows this much is true: no one likes a crowded bus. So, with the aim to reduce passenger loads during the morning commute, Cubic decided to incentivize loyal riders who were willing and able to shift their travel times. The company hyper-targeted and then notified 1,000 frequent riders who had traveled between 8-9AM in the past week with a text message offer: “Earn FREE rides when you travel before 8AM.” The engagement was easy to measure; the outcome was easy to see. (For Cubic and its advertisers, then, it begs the question: what else could we incentivize our most loyal riders to do?)

Boost advertising revenue? Absolutely!

Cubic, like most transportation operators, generates advertising revenue from display ads placed throughout its metro stations, and on the sides, backs, and interiors of its transit vehicles. Cubic’s advertising is traditionally sold to brand sponsors and regional businesses who can afford to advertise on a cost-per-thousand (CPM) basis, i.e. with mere hope of seeding brand awareness in passengers who travel throughout local business districts, residential areas, and tourist attractions. (Yes, old school, we know. Yawn.)

But that was all before the Frequent Rider program was introduced in Miami-Dade County; before 6,000 commuters added a Frequent Rider card to their mobile wallets; and before those 6,000 riders were served 1.6 million impressions, and watched nearly a quarter of a million mobile video ads. In other words, it was well before Cubic had added more profitable cost-per-action (CPA) advertising opportunities—the kind that make Google and Facebook so profitable—alongside the CPM opportunities already available to advertisers on Cubic’s rate card. Now Cubic can demonstrate to local advertisers how Cubic’s Frequent Rider program can engage and incentivize riders. Can, in fact, drive riders straight into stores…with money to spend! By leveraging point-of-sale (POS) attribution that allows advertisers to pay only after a customer has swiped their Frequent Rider card, Cubic is able to offer and immediately implement performance advertising campaigns that even the smallest of mom-n-pop shops can afford. This translates to a bona fide win-win-win: more local small business advertisers for Cubic, more diverse and personally relevant promotions for riders, and more accountable and profitable return on ad spend (ROAS) for brand sponsors and local advertisers alike.