Electronic billboards across Auckland accidentally revealed the opening date of the City Rail Link (CRL) hours before the date was due to be officially announced by Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown.
According to a report by Stuff, documents obtained under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act show the date appeared on digital billboards at 12.01 am on August 6 due to what was described as an “operational error”.
QMS Media had been contracted to run the advertising campaign promoting the CRL opening across Auckland. The campaign was scheduled to go live between 5 pm and 6 pm, after the planned 10 am announcement by Bishop and Brown.
However, emails released under the information request show the mistake was not identified until more than six hours after the billboards went live. The campaigns were subsequently “cancelled” between 6.35 am and 6.45 am, as reported by Stuff.
The official announcement went ahead at 10am from Karanga-a-Hape Station as planned.
Following the incident, QMS Media formally apologised to the minister and mayor, accepting responsibility for prematurely displaying the opening date, Stuff has reported.
In a letter, a QMS official offered their “unreserved personal apology” and the “sincere apology of QMS” for the “premature display” of the CRL launch date.
“It was your moment to share this long-awaited news with the public at 10 am today, and I am deeply sorry that an operational failure on our part pre-empted your official announcement and disrupted your plans,” as quoted by Stuff.
The company said an “administrative and scheduling error” in its campaign operations caused the mistake and that it had taken “full responsibility” for what happened.
“As soon as the error was identified, the creative was immediately pulled down across all digital screens. We are currently conducting a comprehensive review of our campaign workflow, and we have implemented immediate, strict safeguards around,” they said, Stuff has quoted.
QMS also apologised to Auckland Transport and CRL leadership, saying it had “compromised such a highly anticipated moment for Auckland Transport,” as quoted by Stuff.
“We value our partnership with Auckland Transport immensely, and ensure our operational standards meet the high expectations you rightfully hold us to.
“[Redacted] will be at your Auckland Transport office tomorrow to meet with Simon, Joel and Sarah to do a deeper dive into this and ensure it isn't repeated,” the letter said, Stuff has quoted.
Auckland Transport interim chief executive Stacey van der Putten acknowledged the apology and said there would be lessons from the incident.
“Thanks for your email and apology; as Sarah said, we understand no one sets out to make these mistakes. I am sure there will be learnings to take forward,” Stuff has quoted.
Bishop appeared to dismiss the significance of the early disclosure when asked about the billboard error at the official announcement.
“At the end of the day, who cares? I mean, whatever. I mean, it got announced at 6am,” he said.
“The point is, it’s going to open. So let’s focus on the bigger picture here. End of the day, I’m sure [AT] will be talking to the billboard company. Hopefully, we get some cost savings on the future advertising,” as quoted by Stuff.
Brown also made light of the mistake during the announcement.
“Finally, we did something ahead of time. We announced it this morning, accidentally,” he said, Stuff has quoted.
The City Rail Link officially opened to the public last Sunday following an 11-year construction project.
The new rail connection has since attracted strong public use. Auckland Transport said on Thursday that more than 90,000 people had used the train network each day that week, bringing passenger numbers back to pre-Covid levels, as reported by Stuff.