The Situation
Team Soapbox was hired by The Whatcom Transportation Authority in November 2020 to lead a community engagement and branding project for a new on-demand van service for citizens in the City of Lynden.
The Approach
Our work began by developing key messaging to describe and inform the public about the on-demand van share service. Whatcom Transportation Authority wanted to seniors and low-income individuals, and they shared with us that audiences could be skeptical or distrustful to utilize such a service. Our messaging work established a brand identity as “safe, reliable, and convenient” and described the service to the community as “Your Van, On-Demand, In and Around Lynden.”
With key messaging established, we developed two surveys to engage with the Lynden community and build awareness and excitement for this new on-demand van service. The survey was distributed by Whatcom Transit Authority in their electronic newsletter and on their social pages, and Team Soapbox designed digital web ads used to market the survey in The Lynden Tribute online newspaper.
The first survey included questions about the use of the service – collecting information on common destinations and high-need hours and dates – and invited the public to suggest names for the service. Following the first survey, Whatcom Transit Authority and Team Soapbox narrowed naming suggestions to two and invited the public to make a final vote for the name of the service. The winner… The Lynden Hop!
The Lynden Hop now needed a brand identity. Team Soapbox’s lead designer, Meagan DeGrand, led a creative brief with The Whatcom Transit Authority to narrow-in on design characteristics and styles. Meagan and the team started by developing eight potential logos on a spectrum from ‘conservative to playful,’ gathering feedback from the client to revise and finalize the logo in a short three-week period.
We created a suite of creative materials that will market the service to the community of Lynden including aa poster, yard sign, window cling, magnet, an animated video, and designing the vehicle wrap of the Lynden Hop van itself. The Lynden Hop service launched in Spring 2021.
