The business challenge
Encouraging Port Phillip residents to Bike to Work
The City of Port Phillip encompasses Melbourne’s inner south region, from South Melbourne to Elwood.
The council has pushed for health and movement for well over a decade, most recently with its ‘Move, Connect, Live 2018-2028’ strategy to promote sustainable transport, improve public health, and enhance safety.
To encourage people to ride their bikes to work, the council developed the ‘Bike To Work’ program and needed support in promoting the concept to a broader audience, ultimately aimed at attracting new people to ride to work.
The insight
People perceive cycling as being only for the super fit
The Bike to Work campaign offers significant benefits, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion, contributing to a cleaner and more sustainable urban environment. It promotes physical activity, improving public health and lowering healthcare costs.
However, there were common barriers that need to be overcome, including a strong perception that cycling required extraordinary effort or fitness to engage with it.
The idea
Cycling is for everyone
To overcome the misconception that cycling is only for the super fit, and to humanise the issue in a memorable and eye catching way, the campaign was branded with a theme about not needing to be a superhero to ride your bike to work.
This positions cycling to work as an easy, accessible, and enjoyable activity for everyone. It addresses common barriers by humanising the experience and countering perceptions that cycling requires extraordinary effort or fitness. Through vibrant visuals, relatable language, and engaging references, the campaign aimed to appeal to a broad audience, making cycling feel inclusive, fun, and empowering.
This approach encourages people to see cycling as a small, achievable action with significant personal and environmental benefits, rather than an overwhelming challenge.
One of the biggest challenges we faced was that people found it daunting to ride alongside cars. We worked with the council to develop a campaign to promote workshops and groups in the area that offered training and support for all levels of experience.
The impact
Assemblo supported City of Port Phillip’s October 2014 campaign, creating striking, comic-inspired visuals across a variety of mediums including direct mail postcards, posters, social media, and outdoor advertising.
The creative was rolled out across City of Port Phillip through a range of out-of-home activations, including bus stops and billboards.
The campaign had a positive response from the community, with high attendance at the Bike To Work events, valuable feedback from participants, and great take-up via social media and the website.