2023 Gold Travel and Leisure

Agency: TMW Unlimited

Client: Govia Thameslink Railway

Campaign Name: Every stop is a story

Campaign Overview

With commuter numbers down post-COVID, Govia Thameslink Railways (GTR) needed to encourage people back to rail. People’s thirst for travel, discovery and adventure was stronger than ever - so the brief was simple, encourage GTR customers to travel for leisure rather than work.

Strategy

Compared to other major train brands, Govia Thameslink's picturesque, fun-filled, leisure destinations weren’t well-known. They were places Londoners felt they have ‘been and done’, or were mostly seen as commuter or suburban stops that would not be their first port of call.

The campaign tapped into passengers’ desire for discovery, inspiring Londoners who have everything on their doorstep to visit new places like Hemel Hempstead for something totally unexpected: an indoor mountain. Or to reappraise places like Brighton to find different, lesser-known attractions like an upside-down house. The team unearthed one-of-a-kind experiences with a guaranteed story for people to tell their friends about.

The attention-grabbing activities were supported by content tailored to specific audience groups. It also showcased relevant offers and emphasised short journey times to drive conversion.

Creativity

The work introduced a new leisure-focused campaign line: ‘Every stop is a story’, intriguing people to discover interesting places all over the network.

The campaign focused on social, digital and radio channels, pairing unusual images of the activities with quirky questions e.g. ‘Fancy a dip in the nip?’ for a nudist beach near a Southern station.

The creative leveraged bright and bold colours to drive stand-out, with selected accent colours from each of the different GTR train brands. This full-colour approach modernised the feel of and brought an unmistakably fun, leisure travel energy to the executions.

Results

The new positioning and exciting creative was persuasive for an adventurous audience, with a social clickthrough rate 30% higher than benchmarks.

And passengers weren’t just intrigued: once through to the website the audience booked train tickets in volumes that drove incremental revenue of £2.47m throughout the campaign—an increase of 15.1% compared to the previous year, resulting in ROI of 5.88:1.

The Team

Contributors