The Stakes

Despite surging popularity among the tech press and growing mainstream media coverage, most policy makers and civic leaders viewed e-scooters as untested, unknown and unwanted. Nonetheless, Bird wanted to rapidly launch in new markets while using its key message points (accessibility, affordability and sustainability) to build institutional support across the political and media landscape.

The Process

We drew up and managed an aggressive launch calendar. Our team drafted policy and legal analyses for each target market, scored each city and state accordingly and made recommendations to Bird on the approach, scale and velocity of the launch. We often then traveled to the market for launch, where we managed the grassroots outreach and PR strategy, hired local vendors and ensured execution across functions. In many markets – especially New York City – we organized well-attended public demos with lawmakers in communities of color alongside advocates and transit media. We conceived and managed the creation of independent reports in Chicago and NYC that made the case for lawmakers to allow e-scooters. We commissioned polls showing public support and used them to make our case to media and policymakers. We set up a meeting with the NY Times Editorial Board and won their backing in a Sunday NYT lead editorial.

Conclusion

We helped Bird launch in over 35 markets across the county, generated editorial support from NYT and other leading publications, scored TV coverage across NYC and around the country for launches and demos and drafted and introduced legislation and ordinances in almost a dozen cities and states to allow for the use of shared e-scooters.