sharon feigon - i-go car sharing

Promoting Market Innovation and Growth through Community – Based Marketing

Presentation to the BrandSmart

Conference

June 24, 2010

I-GO Background and Mission

➤ Brought car sharing to Midwest in 2002

➤ Non-profit, started by Center for Neighborhood Technology with support from City of Chicago

➤ Serving individuals, businesses, government, universities, and non-profits

➤ Extends the transit system

➤ Part of a network of non-profit / independent car sharing organizations, including Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Toronto

I-GO’s Mission:Reduce car ownership rates, decrease

transportation costs, reduce urban congestion and improve air quality in Chicagoland

neighborhoods

How it Works

➤ Become a Member

➤ Pick your rate Plan

Charge by the hour or the day

➤ Make reservation

➤ Gas, Insurance, Maintenance included

➤ 24/7 Call Center

Decentralized – Available close to home and work

35 Neighborhoods and6 Suburbs

How we differentiate from the competition

➤ Non-Profit

➤ Focused on triple bottom-line

➤ First to market

➤ All low emission vehicles

➤ Less expensive

➤ Serve more neighborhoods

➤ Coordinate with network of non-profits and independents

➤ Goal of innovation/cutting edge in sustainable transportation

The Big Challenge

The Challenge for I-GO when we started and now

➤New Category

➤New Behavior Anytime you are changing behavior, its

difficult and its expensive

Low budget and big ambitions

I-GO Goals

➤Grow to 15,000 over 5 years

➤Achieve significant cost savings

➤Achieve significant environmental benefits

➤Serve wide range of diverse neighborhoods

➤Become self-sustaining

➤Connect to the larger marketplace

Results as of 2010

➤ 15,000 members, 200 plus vehicles

➤ 35 neighborhoods, 6 suburbs

➤ Breakeven from operations

➤ 73% of I-GO members give up a car or postpone a purchase in conjunction with I-GO

➤ I-GO member cars taken off the road: 9,451

➤ Savings per car shedding member: $5,081.69

➤ Gross savings to members from all sources: $48,028,592

➤ 50% increase in biking, walking, and transit use

Challenges to Goals

➤High functional and emotional connection to car ownership Shift thinking Show emotional and functional benefits of car sharing

➤Inertia hard to overcome Give up car and change lifestyle Continue to use I-GO

US Car Culture

I am my car:

Functional and emotional attachment to cars

➤Functional Storage center

Direct route

Less time

➤Emotional Identity

Control

Freedom

Trends moving against those ideas

➤Congestion

➤High cost of gasoline and car ownership

➤Problems with oil extraction and scarcity of resource

➤Climate Change

➤Urban living becoming attractive to younger population

➤Service Use in lieu of Ownership Culture

I-GO: Address functional needs

➤ Many cars in the neighborhood

➤ Different kinds of cars

➤ Available one minute after make reservation

➤ Make it easy Include gas and insurance Self-service

➤ Affordable

➤ Smart phone, internet

➤ 24/7 Call Center

Address Emotional: I-GO Community

Segment Growing

➤Frost and Sullivan Report Between 2007 and 2009, car sharing

membership rose by 117 percent in North America.

The trend is expected to continue over the next five to 10 years.

Car sharing membership is expected to reach 4.4 million in North America and 5.5 million in Europe by 2016

Marketing Strategy: Addressing functional and emotional needs

➤Educate market about car sharing

➤Creating awareness about I-GO

➤Leverage partners and evangelists to drive buzz

➤Flexible programs

➤Give users sense of community and reinforcing benefits

Leverage Partners: Joint Smartcard with CTA

Leverage Partners

Visibility: Transit Campaign with I-GO Members

Transit Campaign

Education: News Coverage

Visibility: Events and Street Teams

Summer Festivals

Visible Car Locations and Signage

Evangelists: Member Party

Evangelists: Social Media

Success

➤ 15,000 members

➤ 200 plus vehicles

➤ 35 neighborhoods, 6 suburbs

➤ Roaming agreements with 10 cities

➤ Breakeven from operations

➤ High marks from Yelp and other reviewers

➤ Long-term partnerships with

Government and private sector

Challenges Ahead

➤ Essential Service: Need much larger scale– buzz has to be bigger

➤ Differentiation: Competition that is better funded

➤ New Markets: Grow to underserved and suburban communities

➤ New Products: electric vehicles and additional services

Leadership can change behavior