Following up on my Metro series, I couldn’t help but repost entirely from Campaign Middle East’s blog. Just when you thought they couldn’t surprise you anymore. Here goes. The Dubai Metro’s decision to open only to VIPs on its much-vaunted launch date of 09/09/09 makes a mockery of the high-profile campaign proclaiming it ‘My City. My Metro’.
The line presumanbly sets out to establish the new public transport system as a user-friendly means to access Dubai, putting the consumer in the driving seat, albeit metaphorically.
You would think then, given the strategy, all efforts would have been made to make the Metro appear as consumer-friendly as possible – and that’s to the likely regular paying commuters, not the high profile one-day-only crowd.
That the general public have been excluded on its landmark first day compounds the image its garnered in the pre-launch period as something that’s anything but in ‘My’ control.
Puzzlement still surrounds the decision to open only ten seemingly arbitrarily selected stations; the means of access to and from those stations is still mystifying; and in a recent phone call, the RTA was unable to answer Campaign’s query whether parking at the stations themselves would be free.
Shouldn’t the Metro at least try to kick things off by staying true to the ‘democratic’ premise sold to it by its agency? Until it does, the only message it seems to be sending is that it’s very much ‘Their City. Their Metro’.
Original post courtesy of the Campaign Middle East Blog.
This entry was written by , posted on at 5:21 pm, filed under Dubaiism and tagged campaign, dubai, Metro, my city, My Metro, RTA. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.