2023 Silver Travel and Leisure

Agency: Wakemaker UK and Mother

Client: Trainline

Entry Title: I Came By Train

Executive Summary

I Came By Train is the launch of a sustainability platform than means more than simply commercial benefit. The platform is decoupled from any specific brand with the intention of showcasing that travelling by train is 70% less polluting than cars.

Strategy

Nobody has ever watched someone get off a train and thought, “Well done you for protecting the environment.” The challenge for Trainline was to build kudos, and turn taking the train into an action that people could be proud of.

The focus was on maximising media impact, while minimising climate impact. The industry-leading proprietary Carbon Calculator tool enabled the team to assess carbon emissions caused by the campaign. Every element was optimised, from production to materials, to media. Wavemaker UK ran multiple scenarios to identify the optimal channel mix and prioritise investment.

Creative work was assessed in two halves. The agency created an animated music video which cut production emissions significantly while the static work was all in black and white, and designed to use as little extra processing as possible.

Out Of Home placements had sustainability at their heart. Activity was upweighted towards ‘green’ cities; murals used exclusively environmentally friendly chemicals, and paint that absorbed carbon emissions and other chemicals from the atmosphere.

The team worked with ethical partners like WeAre8 and the GoodNet, offsetting the carbon of the activity.

Creativity

I Came By Train flipped the sustainability conversation from doom and gloom to a positive, impactful call to action with a multi-media nationwide sustainability movement centred around an RnB love letter to Earth by Noughties RnB icon Craig David.

The letter, delivered by song, would hero the role train travel plays in protecting our planet and kick-start train travel’s comeback.

Craig David teased out short clips of the track across his socials channels to build excitement and anticipation. This was followed by a multi-channel campaign designed to drive scale and impact, featuring partnerships with Spotify and TikTok train-spotter Francis Bourgeois.

Results

I Came By Train is a long-term ambition, but the movement is already having a huge impact.

From a standing start, the platform became well-known and delivered an unmissable 85.4 million video impressions, reaching 49% of the under-35s train-traveller audience at least three times.

This fundamentally shifted sustainability perceptions, driving an 89% increase in consideration to switch to rail for environmental purposes.

And it drove action. On average, 3,500 pledges were made every seven days during the campaign.