Branding in motion: a TriMet bus in downtown Portland.

If there has ever been a shining example that it doesn’t take millions of dollars to build a brand and achieve marketing success, that example is TriMet, the transportation agency serving the greater Portland area.

TriMet has built one of the country’s elite public transit systems and it has done so, in part, due to a willingness to embrace branding as a fundamental element of doing business. Specifically, TriMet has defined its role in the region, staked out its own unique position based on that role, and committed to delivering a positive, cohesive experience at every opportunity to reinforce this position and encourage people to ride. It is because of these achievements that we can all learn something from TriMet’s success.

Of course, the national accolades TriMet has received are evidence of strong performance in one respect, but for the organization itself, success is measured in another form — ridership. While public transit agencies have often been challenged to maintain ridership, TriMet has managed to increase year-to-year ridership over each of the last 16 years. In 2003, TriMet grew ridership while 74 percent of the transit agencies in the country lost riders. While TriMet’s service district is the 29th largest in the U.S. in terms of population, its ridership ranks an admirable No. 13 (as of November 2004).

These numbers have grown while marketing expenditures have actually declined. TriMet’s advertising and promotion budget represents approximately one-fifth of 1 percent of the total agency budget; in a recent campaign year the group achieved $2.1 million in media value and over 50 million in gross monthly impressions from a campaign budget of just $250,000.

So how has TriMet done it? Tactically speaking, TriMet has excelled at setting priorities and using a mix of traditional marketing tools such as collateral materials, a Web site and

Advertising, along with far more innovative approaches such as on-board elements like “Poetry in Motion” and an award-winning commemorative poster series that celebrates Portland landmarks and destinations reachable via TriMet. Additionally, TriMet has taken a traditional approach to determining who does what — using its agency of record for certain elements and in-house staff for others — to minimize the impact of out-of-pocket expenses. However, TriMet’s true success has not been driven by its tactical execution but rather by the branding structure and philosophy to which it has remained faithful. The topic of brand structure is crucial to understanding TriMet’s success. Specifically, TriMet understands the need to develop a unique position in the market and use that position to inform and drive all branding efforts. By defining this position, TriMet has had a clear benchmark against which to measure all creative initiatives and a clear articulation of its vision to inform all communications, regardless of whether it is executed internally or through its outside agency. TriMet’s position concept, “Essential to Livability,” is simple yet lofty in the expectations it sets and extremely rich in meaning.