HOLLY TROLLEY


A successful advertising campaign can be compared to having a great song stuck in your head; which was exactly what we hoped would happen with Visalia Transit’s 1st Annual Holly Trolley Song Writing Contest.


The Visalia Towne Trolley operates all year long in Downtown Visalia for $.25 per ride, however during the holiday season the Visalia Towne Trolley turns into the Holly Trolley and with this comes the spirit of giving– free trolley rides that is! Although the Holly Trolley has been a 10 year tradition in Visalia, we realized in 2008, during MMC’s first year handling the promotion, that many locals didn’t know about this holiday treat. So in 2009 we decided to shake things up. As opposed to merely advertising the dates of the Holly Trolley, we created an event that would enlist the help of the entire community– a song writing contest.


Two months prior to Holly Trolley we ran a “call to entry” campaign– asking for song entries from any Tulare County resident. To enter, the song had to be original and had to be about the Holly Trolley, which required a certain level of education and awareness. A promotional website was built to give information on the event, answer frequently asked questions, give rules and regulations, as well as allow for online song submissions. Immediately the promotion was a hit with entries streaming in every day. After the entry deadline a group of judges, which included music producers, local concert promoters, the Visalia Transit Division, and MMC, chose the winning song. That artist was awarded a cash prize and professional production of his original Holly Trolley song. This song became part of our 2009 radio advertising, which was piped through all local outdoor music speakers, and was available for free download on the Holly Trolley website, which received hundreds of downloads during the four week promotion. In addition, MMC designed and built a float for the winning artist to perform his Holly Trolley song live during the annual Visalia Candy Cane Lane holiday parade.


Mediums for this event included print ads, bus advertising, Facebook, mall advertising, high school outreach, posters, flyers, radio, and e-blasts. Utilizing the same advertising budgets as the previous year, the 2009 Holly Trolley season ended in a 34% increase over the previous year!

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