MEDIA & MARKETING:The NRA faces a huge challenge to inform the public about the M50's new tolling system, writes Siobhán O'Connell.
BARRIER-FREE tolling on the M50 is looming and the National Roads Authority (NRA) faces a huge marketing challenge to inform drivers about the changes coming down the road.
From August 30th, toll booths at the West-Link bridge will be replaced by cameras and detectors which will automatically record every vehicle's electronic tag or number plate.
To inform people of the change, the NRA is spending €1.5 million on advertising and marketing. However, judging by the number of people who have signed up for the tags, the message has been slow to get through.
The new system is called eFlow and the authority has subcontracted the marketing of vehicle tags to a French company which operates the eFlow website.
Private firms are also trying to grab a slice of the tagging market, though they have much less marketing firepower than the NRA. The NRA/eFlow started its marketing drive in April and, over the next week, a direct-mail pack is due to be delivered to every household in the State. "We have a responsibility to make the public aware of what is happening," says NRA spokesman Seán O'Neill.
"The challenge for us has been to create awareness and inform the public of the introduction of barrier-free tolling and tell them about our tag offering."
When the toll booths go, drivers who use the West-Link won't necessarily need a tag on their car. The alternatives are to register for a video account, buy a one-off tag or pay later.
Unregistered users have until midnight the day after they cross the West-Link to pay the toll, either through the eFlow website, in newsagents or by phone.
The multiplicity of options may be adding to consumer confusion. To date, only 30,000 motorists have bought a tag. However, that doesn't include motorists who currently use the Eazy Pass tag on the West-Link. According to NTR, which operates the toll booth, there are 30,000 Eazy Pass customers and these have fallen into the lap of eTrip Services.
Until recently, eTrip was an independent vendor of electronic motorway tags. It claimed 7,500 customers but found it difficult to develop. General manager Ciara O'Brien explains: "It didn't matter how much marketing we did, all we ended up doing was generating more customers for Eazy Pass, because it was the brand customers associated with electronic toll tags."
So eTrip did the smart thing and bought the Eazy Pass business from NTR.
O'Brien is now planning leaflet drops at the M50 toll booths. Her firm is also advertising on radio and has signed deals with Tesco and Topaz to sell eTrip tags.
With eTrip having snagged Eazy Pass, Park Magic will have to work that much harder to grab market share. Park Magic calls its system Toll Tag and chief executive Paul Fitzgerald has formed alliances with An Post and some retailers to sell the only retail pay-as-you-go electronic tag.
Fitzgerald says Park Magic will spend €200,000 on advertising in the coming weeks. Like O'Brien, though, he is critical that the NRA's advertising has focused on recruiting customers for eFlow tags rather than providing information for the public.
O'Neill of the NRA counters: "We had to create awareness of eFlow and barrier-free tolling. We made a strategic decision to allow eFlow to stand by itself."
