The Public Relations Society of America Los Angeles Chapter (PRSA-LA) has recognized the City of West Hollywood with a PRism Award of Excellence in the highly competitive category of New Product/Service Launch for the city’s kick-off campaign for the PickUp, West Hollywood’s free weekend shuttle. The award was announced Wednesday at PRSA-LA’s 50th PRism Awards dinner, which honors outstanding achievements in public relations throughout greater Los Angeles.
The City of West Hollywood was chosen for the PRism Award of Excellence in competition with three other finalists, which included Blue Shield of California, Nestlé, and Hyundai.
“The PickUp continues to exceed our expectations for attracting riders and attention. West Hollywood folks use The PickUp on Friday and Saturday nights as part of their night of fun,” said West Hollywood Mayor John D’Amico. “PRSA-LA received a lot of entries this year, and we’re thrilled that the PickUp stands out for its fresh approach. We’re reaching folks who would not normally use ‘public transit’ and this means more fun, less traffic, and safer streets: clearly a winning combination.”
The PickUp (also known as the WeHo PickUp) is a fun, flirtatious and irreverent trolley service that was launched by West Hollywood as a pilot program in August 2013. The West Hollywood City Council voted to continue the program in January 2014. The PickUp is offers an alternative to driving for people who go out on or near Santa Monica Boulevard on Friday and Saturday nights. The PickUp program was branded and named by Symblaze Inc., a West Hollywood-based digital agency.
In April, the PickUp won top honors from the California Association of Public Information (CAPIO) in a statewide competition for distinction in communications programs. West Hollywood was presented with CAPIO’s Award of Excellence, First Place, in the category of “Achievement in a Marketing/Communications Campaign.”
The trolley features a bright palette of sexy graphic characters, which can loosely be interpreted as pop art from the 1960s. Onboard music thumps to beat mixes by DJ Derek Monteiro. Adding the service to a busy stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard helps to curb drunk driving, eases parking and reduces traffic congestion. Social media has been fundamental in capturing the imaginations of users of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. A rewards program, the PickUp Perk, was developed to encourage local business involvement, as well.
The PickUp runs on Fridays and Saturdays from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. It travels along Santa Monica Boulevard in a four-mile loop with 10 stops in each direction between Robertson Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. It arrives at stops every 15 minutes.
Well deserved and I agree it should be extended to the eastside. It was a great idea and very good execution. Also expand the hours to daytime on Saturday and Sunday! I know money doesn’t grow on trees but I would bet serious money that the Pick Up would be used more often than the City line shuttle at those times.
Congrats to the City of West Hollywood, Lisa Marie Belsanti and Joshua Schare. Well deserved. Now, bring on up to the Eastside…