Curse code: MKT 337

Course name: Promotional Management

Final Group report on:
‘Marketing campaign of Shuttle BD’

Submitted to- Omar Nasif Abdullah (ONF)

Lecturer, North South University
Department of Marketing & International Business
Team Slytherine

Name Id
Rafat Hasan 1813643630
Imtiaz Ahmed 1821306630
Adman Alvee Maula 1822013030
Md Shahiduzzaman Tamim 1811770630
Abir Hasan Rohan 2013821630
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Letter of Transmittal
Mr. Omar Nasif Abdullah
Lecturer
Department of Marketing & International Business
North South University
Subject: Submission of report on Shuttle BD
Dear Sir,
It was a great pleasure for us to do research on Shuttle BD. We have enjoyed working on the report,
and all group members have contributed efficiently to finish the report. This has given us the
opportunity to gain knowledge and experience of marketing that will help us significantly in our
future. We have analyzed different aspects of Shuttle and implemented it in our report.
Therefore, we would like to convey our deep regards for your valuable guidance and sincere
inspiration. We hope you will accept the report and appreciate our work.

Yours sincerely,
Rafat Hasan
Shahiduzzaman Tamim
Adman Alvee Maula
Imtiaz Ahmed
Abir Hasan Rohan

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Contents
1 Executive summary.................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Campaign theme and Slogan ................................................................................................. 4
1.2 Research Methodology ........................................................................................................... 4
2. Target Audience ........................................................................................................................ 7
2.1 SWOT analysis ........................................................................................................................ 8
3. Campaign Objective ................................................................................................................. 8
3.1 Sales objective: ........................................................................................................................ 8
3.2 Communication objective: ..................................................................................................... 8
3.3 Positioning ............................................................................................................................... 9
4. Execution ................................................................................................................................. 10
4.1 Divergence and relevance ..................................................................................................... 10
4.2 Direct and indirect source of audio-visual advertisement................................................. 13
4.3 Major selling idea .................................................................................................................. 14
4.4 Rational or Emotional .......................................................................................................... 15
4.5 Competitor Analysis ............................................................................................................. 15
5. Media Planning ....................................................................................................................... 16
5.1 Media objective ..................................................................................................................... 16
5.2 Media & Budget .................................................................................................................... 16
5.3 IMC tools ............................................................................................................................... 18
6. Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 22

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1 Executive summary
The company was started back in 208 by two fresh university graduates, Reyasat Chowdhury and
Shah Shafin. The ridesharing market was already saturated, and Shuttle Bd have decided to grab
its own share in the market by targeting only women who are mostly students (Ahmed, 2021).
Multinational company like Uber, and local companies like Pathao, OBHAI, Shohoz and other
were getting overwhelming response from their target market. The startup had thought something
different; their target customers were only women. In Bangladesh public transport is a big problem,
people who had to travel on daily basis they suffer a lot especially women. Shuttle took the
advantage and targeted the right segment of the market.
There are some problems with the Shuttle. Though they are operating only in Dhaka, they are not
promoting their brand or service to more people. Shuttle have limited route plans on their current
service, they need to increase cover area to grab more customer. Recently they have a new target
group, office employee and rental service. They did not do any commercial or any marketing
campaign after starting the new service. Shuttle is only promoting through their social media and
own website. We want to reach these new target group and increase customer by our marketing
campaign. We will do public events, make TV commercials, print media, creative social media
posts and outdoor promotion to create awareness and persuade them to take the service

1.1 Campaign theme and Slogan

We have seen women have problems while using public transport and they do not feel safe in other
ride sharing apps as well. Even male face security issues, while traveling in public transport and
ride sharing platform. So, we have decided to launch our marketing campaign and its theme should
be safety for all.

The slogan for our campaign theme is ‘নিরাপদ সবসময় আমাদদর সাদে’

1.2 Research Methodology

In our report we have done primary and secondary research, we have collected information from
the website of Shuttle Bangladesh and other online materials. We have tried to understand their
business model and identified their target market. Moreover, we have identified the weak points
of the marketing strategy of shuttle and planned a marketing campaign to improve the brand image.
In secondary research, we have mainly focused online articles and read newspapers to find the
problem. We have done a survey through google form, to know what people think about Shuttle
and its service which helped us to design our campaign. As mentioned earlier, we have browsed
internet and social media page of Shuttle to know about their activities and know more about them.

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Research findings
We have asked various question in google form; next it was forwarded to gather the perception
about the company. Link to the survey question:

https://forms.gle/VpbgQkYP1msqvHZo6
We have found that more than 84% of our respondents use ride sharing app. The illustration is
given below.

From the data of survey, our respondents said that just over 50% of them know about shuttle and
only 19% of them had taken the shuttle service till now. This shows how much audience they have
reached and the percentage of people they had been able to convince to take the service.

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In this survey we have observed that, very few people in Dhaka city know about shuttle, and very
few people have shown interest to take the service. In our data we have found mostly students and
corporate persons from different occupation. Shuttle have recently targeted office employees, but
through research we have not found that they are taking the service. The office employees use
other ride sharing apps but do not use Shuttle. In short, shuttle need to increase customer base and
build relationship by doing promotion to attract them. In the following diagram collected from
survey, we have shown the response of office going people and students from different
background.

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 Organizations
8
8
7
6
5
4 3
3 2 2 2 2 2
2 1 1
1
0

2. Target Audience
We are satisfied with current target customer group. Shuttle target group are women who are
students and office going women. According to reports around 13% women avoid public transport
because of sexual harassment and there is lack of safe movement mod for women (Change needs
social movement, n.d.). In another report published by BRAC it is mentioned, in roads and public
transport 94% women are victim of sexual harassment (Latest News, 2018). It is the best chance
to grab these target audience and attract women to a safer choice. Now shuttle expanded two other
services rental and office going people If we look at the survey the corporate persons do not know
about shuttle and they did not take the service so it is the time to reach them through our message.
Our target customers in Geographic, Demographic, psychographic & Socio-economic-

Geographic Demographic Psychographic Behavioral

● Country: ● Age: 18-40 ● Prefers public ● spend every

Bangladesh ● Gender: Male & transport day on
● Division: Female ● spend a transport
Dhaka ● Family Size: limited ● price sensitive
● Area: Any amount for ● priority on
Dhanmondi, ● Income: low transport safety, concern
Rampura, income, middle ● middle-class on hygiene
Mirpur, income group
Bashundhara, ● Occupation:
Gulshan, Students,
Uttara, working women,
employees

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2.1 SWOT analysis
Strength Weakness
● Fixed drivers to drive vehicles. ● In any situation they do not change
● Every car has a guard with their driver their route
for the safety of passenger ● Need more people to operate
● Ensure safety. ● Limited vehicles
● Reasonable fair price ● Operates only in Dhaka
● Maintains health protocols

Opportunities Threats
● Spend on expansion from seed funding ● No barriers to new entry.
● Become only choice for female user ● Many indirect competitors like uber,
● B2B relation through new pathao
segmentation

3. Campaign Objective

3.1 Sales objective: Till 2021 shuttle have successfully completed more than 1 million rides
to thirty thousand users (Trade, 2021). As shuttle has started targeting new segments, their
objective is to bag some customers and make some revenue from there. We have made the
objective that, from office going people we will bring in at least three thousand customers in this
four-month promotional campaign. Shuttle is in the market for making some profits, so if they can
make more sales then the goal of achieving the profit will be completed. The market size of
ridesharing in Bangladesh is around Tk 2,200 crore and it is growing every year, markets share of
shuttle was not found. We want to grab around 0.5% of that market after our campaign.

3.2 Communication objective: During this campaign, we want to build awareness to our

target segment. Moreover, shuttle provides information about their safety service and creates
interest for the audience. Through this campaign, Shuttle communicates with the audience and tell
them the advantage of it. Also, through this campaign Shuttle Promotes their brand as well. Suttle
for Business delivers service through a customized app for enterprises.

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Our campaign slogan creates interest among the women and increases their knowledge about the
brand. Our ad will inform the safety and security about the shuttle service, which will create a
strong relationship between users and service provider. We want to send the message that Shuttle
always think about customer’s safety specially for women.

Moreover, the 24/7 hotline support also helps to address any difficulty. The program also provides
a real-time dashboard for human resources. Most crucially, late-night pooling can assist an
organization in sending off their personnel after dark to different places using the shared transport
facility.

3.3 Positioning
Our campaign theme is ‘নিরাপদ সবসময় আমাদদর সাদে’ for shuttle service. The positioning of
shuttle service will be based on the product’s attributes and benefits. In Bangladesh the public
transport is not suitable for general public, it kills a lot of time from people’s life. The reckless
driving of bus drivers has caused lot of accidents on the roads of country and taken life of people.
People still have to choose the bus rides, and those who are well off in terms of money they use
ride sharing apps or take CNG to reach destinations on daily basis. Even if people take public
transport they face other issues, especially women. They face different kinds of problems like
sexual harassment, stuck in traffic for hours. Most importantly in the time of pandemic it is not
safe to travel in such way, because safety protocols are not maintained. In our campaign we have
tried to show that all the problems mentioned above will not be an issue if they choose to ride in
Shuttle. In our video advertisement, we have shown how the hygiene factors are maintained and
the safety of customers are given a top priority. We want to position ourselves in the brain of
customers that whenever they think of traveling through public transport, they only choose shuttle
because of safety and it can drop customers to destination on time.

Attributes Benefits:

• AC vehicle • On time reach to destination

• Provides a security person • Health measures taken
• Lot of people reach same rightly
destination together • Safety for all

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4. Execution

4.1 Divergence and relevance

Divergence and relevance for audio visual ad

We have tried to incorporate as many aspects from both divergence and relevance in our audio-
visual ad shuttle. And they are as follows:

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Originality. Ads that contain elements that are rare, surprising, or move away from the obvious
and commonplace. In our ad we tried keeping it as original as possible. We tried showcasing the
feeling of safety and comfort of a girl in two different ride sharing apps.
Then we have flexibility. Ads that contain different ideas or switch from one perspective to
another. We also showcased the different experience of the same person (girl) from two different
perspectives from her point of view to highlight the concerns regarding women’s safety in Dhaka’s
transportation services.
Thirdly, we have elaboration. Advertisements that contain unexpected elements or that finish and
extend fundamental concepts to make them more elaborate, complicated, or sophisticated. This
can be seen in the ad when it took the idea of discomfort in a car service to being happy and
comfortable in Shuttle.

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Fourthly, there’s artistic value. Advertisements with creative verbal impressions or appealing
shapes and colors are considered as its artistic values. We put in music and sounds in transitions
to keep it both visually and audibly stimulating.
Lastly, we mostly tried achieving divergence by using emotions such as feeling of safety to
establish our point of the advertisement and theme of our campaign.
Furthermore, audio-visual advertisements are employed to convey relevancy. Relevance or
appropriateness can also be measured in terms of how much information or imagery a commercial
give that is relevant to the brand and to the consumer. The relevancy to the consumer, who are
female passengers commuting in the city, would be that they would feel much more comfortable
using our service instead of the other services available in Dhaka. The brand relevance being
projected here is that the film depicts the emotions of a young woman in the twenty-first century
riding alone in a ride-sharing app where she has to face some real-world problems of using a ride
sharing app and the sense of safety, she experiences in Shuttle instead. This audio-visual ad evokes
feelings of security and well-being.

Divergence and relevance for banner ad

1. Originality. Ads that contain elements that are rare, surprising, or move away from the obvious
and commonplace. We used a picture of a bodyguard and a guard dog to imply the safety of the
passengers when they get on the vehicle. This was done to emphasize the safety measures taken
by Shuttle, such as hiring and providing a trained trip manager to ensure the passenger’s safety.
2. Elaboration. Ads that contain unexpected details or finish and extend basic ideas so they become
more intricate, complicated, or sophisticated. Here we used Doberman dogs as a symbol of fierce
safety for the protection of Shuttle’s customers.

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3. Synthesis. Ads that combine, connect, or blend normally unrelated objects or ideas. We related
the message of women’s safety through the help of dominating imagery of security.
4. Artistic value. Ads that contain artistic verbal impressions or attractive shapes and colors. The
contrast of the lights and the source of the picture is created to capture the attention of people.
For relevance, we have used the same theme for this banner ad as well. We conveyed the message
of safety through our sources in the picture on the banner to increase the power of the message in
this ad.
Furthermore, we have used indirect source to communicate our message of safety by using the
sources of a bodyguard and a guard dog to increase the attractiveness of the ad.

4.2 Direct and indirect source of audio-visual advertisement

With our audio-visual ad we are trying to create awareness and a positive association with our
service. We are letting our customers know about how much Shuttle prioritizes women’s safety.
In this ad, we show the safety precautions taken by Shuttle by showing one of the services they
provide, which is they have a trip manager in the car for extra protection. The trip manager has
been used as an indirect source in this ad to increase the credibility of the brand. Shuttle keeps a
trained trip manager in every vehicle to ensure safety of the passengers when they get on the
vehicle and to take them to their destination safely.

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Using direct or indirect source for event

We have carefully selected a brand ambassador to represent our campaign at our event. We chose
a woman as a brand ambassador because the focus of our chosen campaign is women's safety. She
has a high and powerful media presence and is an advocate for women's empowerment. Rafiath
Rashid Mithila is our campaign's brand ambassador. She works as an actor, singer, model, and
development worker in Bangladesh. This increases the likeability of the campaign as the affection
for the source blends with our goal of the campaign. Because she is a well-known actress in
Bangladeshi media, we are using a celebrity as a direct source. She is also a feminist who uses
social media to publicly advocate for women's empowerment. Which means we can have a much
higher reach if we incorporate her social media accounts to promote our campaign. This will aid
in the development of our brand's credibility, appeal, and power.

4.3 Major selling idea

The major selling idea is to target and create awareness among women about Shuttle who use ride
sharing apps to commute for their work on a daily basis inside the city and highlight how Shuttle
prioritizes the safety and well-being of their customers and show it through their advertisements.
The goal here is to create a unique selling proposition to stand out in the crowd. Shuttle is offering
something that the competitors aren’t; great measures to ensure safety of female customers. They
do this by making sure that the entire microbus is specifically used for female passengers and also
by providing each ride with a trip manager whose job is to ensure the safety of the passengers

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when they get on the vehicle and to take them to their destination safely. This sets Shuttle apart
from other brands in the same industry. This means that this aspect of the service gives a
competitive advantage to Shuttle.
“USP should dominate the ad and be emphasized through repetitive advertising.” And that’s
exactly what Shuttle plans to do with their marketing campaign; to show to their target customers
that they are one of the safest means of commuting by repeating the message of safety and
protection in most of their advertisements.

4.4 Rational or Emotional

In our whole marketing campaign during the four-month planned schedule, we will use only
rational appeal to attract and deliver our message to the target audience. We have tried to made an
audio video visual, social media posts, infographic and lastly print ad for newspaper, magazines.
These ads are used in a way to compare with the competitors, and show how our business provides
a unique selling point to the customers.

4.5 Competitor Analysis

The ride sharing industry started in 2016 in Bangladesh, the first company to launch was Pathao.
It was founded by Elias Hossain, Shifat Adnan, Fahim Saleh, three of them were fresh graduates.
Their business model was sharing rides with bikes. An app was built, users could request rides at
their desired time and place; the nearest rider was sent request to pick up. Later part of the year,
the multinational company uber launched in Bangladesh with its foreign countries style of ride
share in car (Transport, 2020). As time passed both started to offer ridesharing in car and motor
bike. Eventually by seeing the potential of the industry and increasing growth trend more
competitors started to come in playing their roles. The new ones were Shohoz rides, OBHAI,
Shohojatri, and in 2018 Shuttle was launched as a new player but targeting a different segment in
the market (Tarek & Amit, 2020). All the business had diversified their key operation, in the
process of expansion during the years.

Advertisement
The key players like uber, pathao had expanded their operation outside Dhaka to reach more
customers and Pathao did an exception by launching in Nepal (Chowdhury, 2021). When
competitors had started to operate in different locations and work for different target group, they
had adopted various IMC tools. If we look at uber, they had made Shakib Al the brand ambassador
in Bangladesh in 2018 to create a strong relationship with the youths (Lifestyle, 2018). Uber used
a source as an icon of the country to connect audience, they had also gone to different universities
to promote the brand. Pathao had made cricketer Mashrafe as their brand ambassador, additionally
they had sponsored Dhaka Dynamites in BPL 2019 to reach young generations. The ride sharing
apps did not limit themselves to promote only through social media or making tv commercials they
came up with creative ideas to.

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5. Media Planning

5.1 Media objective

Throughout the whole campaign we aim to create an awareness among our target audience and
persuade them to take our service. In the marketing campaign we will use different kinds of media
mix to cover 70% target audience in four months. We aim to reach at least 50% of our potential
target audience five times with in this four-month marketing campaign. The marketing campaign
will start from 1st February 2022 and continue till 31st May 2022. In this period, heavy frequency
of marketing campaign will be done in February as lot of events will happen. In March we will
focus on women’s day and light promotion in April. May 2022 the marketing frequency will be
heavy.

5.2 Media & Budget

There are three different media that are used to reach the target audience. They are paid media,
earned media, owned media. We will try to grab all the media but our main focus will be on paid
media.
• Paid media- In this media, we have to spend money for advertising and reach our audience.
We will use three different paid media, Internet marketing, TV commercials and print
media like newspaper and magazines.
• Owned media- We have our own website and mobile app and social media to publish about
our service. These will be free of cost as we are using our own platform.
• Earned media- In this media usually brands are promoted by customers, newspaper or
electronic media, celebrities or influencers and lastly by the customers itself. We have the
target to give the best service to our customers and earn their trust within the time, so that
they recommend others to take shuttle’s service.
Budget- Shuttle is a small company in the market, and they are indirectly competing with large
ridesharing companies like Uber, Pathao. Shuttle do not have enough funds for their campaign,
but recently they have been able to raise funds. They can use a portion for their marketing
campaign to promote their brand. Shuttle can spend around 1 crore and 20 lacs taka for the four-
month campaign.
Month Budget
February 45 lacs
March 20 lacs
April 20 lacs
May 35 lacs

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Based on the BDT 1 crore and 20 lacs budget, the breakdown of media used for spending are
illustrated:

Media Plan

10% Internet

35% TV commercials
20%
Print media

5% Outdoor

Public event
30%

Marketing Schedule:

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5.3 IMC tools
We have implemented a variety of IMC solutions that can help us communicate with consumers
more effectively. We have concentrated on several IMC techniques in order to efficiently engage
our target audience.

Promotional media
TVC: We will advertise our service of ridesharing app ‘Shuttle’ in selective tv channels for
example Shomoy TV, Jamuna TV, Ekattor, Independent, Channel I. Our TVC will have a rational
appeal, showing difficulties faced by people when they choose transport and the advantage, they
will get on choosing shuttle. The advertisement will be aired on prime time, 8.00pm -11.00pm and
three times during day light. We will choose news, talk shows and drama serials to advertise our
brand during the time. TV channels help us to reach mass audience at the same time, it will help
us to connect with our target audience at that time. Link of the ad:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XAZVT7MS_zGMfLaW41Wk_5DoXbyeOb8q/view?usp=shari
ng

Print Media
Newspaper: We will publish our promotional campaign through popular newspaper like Prothom
Alo, Jugantor, The daily Star, Bangladesh Protidin, The financial Express. All these newspapers
have a huge audience and it will be easy to reach our target customers easily. The ads will be either
displayed on the front page, second, third page or at the last page taking small corner of the paper.

Outdoor advertising
Billboard: We target the busy roads and heavy traffic areas in Dhaka city, we will place billboard
there. This will draw the attention of the people on roads, and it will catch be easier to reach our
target audience.
Poster on public transport: Lot of people from different background like students, office going
person, women travel by public transport. They know the trouble and hassle they face, so if the
message is delivered, they might take shuttle’s service.

*An infographic has been shown how to use the application from the mobile phone, and details
given how the service are given.

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Internet
Facebook: Internet usage in Bangladesh is growing every year, and Facebook is popular among
them. Shuttle can use Facebook, to promote about their service and persuade them to ride.
Facebook can be used to reach exactly to the target audience effectively.
Instagram: Beside Facebook, this media is also popular, specifically among students. If ads are
given to promote on the platform, then people can get aware of shuttle.
YouTube: As more people are using WIFI and mobile data costs are declining people watch it
more than TV. We can give ads in between shows and place our ad beside the video player.

Photos used for social media:

The above picture was used to show the price comparison if one uses Pathao ride for one month,
and the money they can save if they use shuttle and travel comfortably.

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Women’s Day post on brand ambassador’s social media and on shuttle’s social
media

Events
Brand Ambassador: We have decided to make Rafiath Rashid Mithila the brand ambassador of
Shuttle. She is an actress, social activist. She is popular among lot of females, so it is ideal to
promote with her. She will be used to promote the safety campaign about shuttle.

Google drive link for the TVC and all graphical posters, banners and print media Advertisement:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FPipYdzjzQ-
ViwgkO3wxMKRVroi4uEZS?usp=sharing

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6. Bibliography
Ahmed, N. (2021, June 8). Business analysis. Retrieved from Uinet News of Bangladesh:
https://unb.com.bd/category/Business/an-overview-of-shuttle-a-promising-mass-transit-
startup-in-bangladesh/73182
Change needs social movement. (n.d.). Retrieved from Work for a Better Bangladesh Trust:
http://www.wbbtrust.org/view/activity_details/478
Chowdhury, T. (2021, March 10). Briefs. Retrieved from The Future Startup:
https://futurestartup.com/2021/03/10/the-future-startup-dossier-pathao/
Latest News. (2018, March 25). Retrieved from Brac: https://www.brac.net/latest-
news/item/1142-94-women-victims-of-sexual-harassment-in-public-transport
Lifestyle. (2018, November 13). Retrieved from The Daily Star:
https://www.thedailystar.net/lifestyle/check-it-out/news/shakib-al-hasan-bat-uber-brand-
ambassador-bangladesh-1659496
Tarek, M. O., & Amit, S. (2020, February 17). Economy. Retrieved from The Business Standard:
https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/75m-rides-month-ridesharing-services-take-over-
bangladesh-45453
Trade. (2021, June 1). Retrieved from The financial Express:
https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade/shuttle-raises-750000-to-redefine-mass-
transport-1622521058
Transport. (2020, December 7). Retrieved from The Business Standard:
https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/transport/four-years-uber-bangladesh-175-lakh-
bangladeshi-drivers-earn-livelihood-168520

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