2011 Bronze Travel and holidays

Client Vigin Trains

What is wonderful about this work? Right now, value perceptions are vital, but people believe pricing complexity is there to hide cheaper tickets. We tapped into the truth that everyone enjoys getting one over on the authorities. With Virgin panache, we helped customers spend less, generating an exceptionally healthy ROI.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? Virgin Trains’ current franchise re-bid is approaching and being perceived as good value for money is vital. But complex fare pricing structures skew this perception; rail travellers don’t just think structures are complicated, they often believe they are to prevent them getting the best fares. Complication and perceived hoodwinking are not associations that sit well with the Virgin ethos, but here lies the opportunity. We’re not out to get you – we’re helpful, great value and a service that truly understands our customers. This campaign empowered travellers with transparency and education, with Virgin fun and wit. We built reach via outdoor near the Virgin train line and online advertising. Our Facebook game built a sense of community and amplified the key message. By empowering customers, Virgin Trains stood with them against the ‘system’.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? There’s a knack to winning at the fairground, and buying a train ticket can feel the same – there’s a knack to getting the best fare. We used this metaphor to grab attention while placing Virgin Trains firmly on the customer’s side. We invited our audience to “Beat the System” with helpful advice and money-saving tools to find the best fare. Traditional fairground games like the Coconut Shy and Shoot the Duck played centre stage in our outdoor, press and online creative, with targets increasing in size as the tools were used. A Grabber Game on our Facebook page also gave hints on how to increase your chances of winning.

Results Virgin’s ‘Value’ campaigns have previously had low ROI scores, but “Beat the System” achieved a 300% improvement in ROI. The trust we generated by becoming more open and helpful increased consideration and intention to purchase among existing customers. The increase in trust was proven by statistically significant increases in key brand perception measures (compared to the October 2010 campaign) for both business and leisure travellers. We had great results within the channels too: online advertising ROI was greater than 4:1 (based on ‘5% PI + PC’). The Facebook ad and page generated 23,000 new ‘Likes’ (at a cost per lead of £1.84) and 3,000 entries. The email achieved an ROI 31% higher than March 2010.

Team John Treacy, Ben Clapp, Paul Becque, Cath Willingham, Tom Duckham, Rosalind Mair, Stuart O’Neill, Dan Noller, Paul Taylor, Scott Hunter.