I-77 Express Transponder Campaign

Background

If you live in the Charlotte area, chances are you’re familiar with the I-77 Express Lanes. Whether you’re late a football game or need to get to work on time, the express lanes will get you where you need to go; fast. To spread the word about the benefits of the NC Quick Pass & Express Lanes, I-77 came to Tattoo Projects for a campaign that would do just that.

The challenge

Develop a media plan & creative campaign to increase purchases and usage of NC Quick Pass Transponders.

  • Target Audience: Daily commuters, super commuters, semi-weekly commuters, and occasional I-77 users looking for the best way to get to their destination

The first step in this process was creating a media plan to develop a strategy for reaching our target and achieving the goal of increased transponder purchases. We dove into which channels were most popular among commuters and other frequent I-77 travelers that could educate the audience about the benefits of using these lanes.

The Media Plan

Media Mix

  • Paid Social (Meta, Instagram, LinkedIn)

  • Google Search & Display

  • Programmatic Display & Geofencing

  • Spotify/Streaming Audio

Campaign Objectives: Awareness + Consideration

  • Build awareness of I-77 Express Lane benefits and drive consideration by educating commuters on the ease of purchasing an NC Quick Pass, increasing traffic to key purchase channels.

Flighting: June - September 2025

Channel Strategies

  • Paid Social: Target daily commuters, business travelers, and suburban professionals with engaging visuals and testimonial-driven content

  • Google Search & Display: Capture high-intent searches + clicks from people frustrated with I-77 traffic, looking for alternative routes, daily commuters, business travelers, suburban professionals, etc.

  • Programmatic Display & Geofencing: Utilize hyper-targeted ads to reach commuters traveling along I-77 and surrounding high-traffic routes in real time

  • Spotify Streaming Audio: Target drivers while they listen to music or podcasts during their commute in the surrounding Charlotte area

Creative Campaign

Once the strategy was approved, I briefed the creative team on the company background, campaign goals, and final deliverables. With sections like background, demographics, competitors, and creative considerations; this brief serves as playbook throughout the creative process.

Final Deliverables

  • (2-5) Paid Social Video Ads

  • (2-4) Streaming Audio Ad Scripts

  • (5-7) Google Ads

  • (2-4) Programmatic Digital Display Ads

  • Digital Banner Ads for Charlotte Business Journal

The Creative Process

We presented (2) initial creative concepts to the clients who provided feedback and selected a direction for the campaign deliverables to be built out in. The team made updates accordingly and received final client approval. From there, we worked on launching this campaign into action! We uploaded the assets according to their allotted channel and prepared for the creative to go live.

Final Creative

Team Credits

Graphic Designers: Nima Ayagh, Lucas Harmon

Copywriter: John Stone

Associate Creative Director: Christopher Bazata

Creative Director: Chad Brophy

Social Strategists: Kayla Zarecky, Taylor Murdock

Project Managers: Kelsey Lynch, Becky Radford

Account Executives: Heather Opie, Andrew Hagopian

Agency: Tattoo Projects