UK prepare corporations usually focus their campaigns round glamorous and thrilling locations, which look attractive and cinematic on display screen. However in actuality, most prepare journeys past the every day commute come down to at least one factor: individuals.
That is the perception driving Avanti West Coast’s newest marketing campaign ‘Be With Them Sooner’, created with adam&eveDDB and shot by pictures legend Martin Parr. As a substitute of showcasing locations as postcard-perfect backdrops, the marketing campaign explores the emotional pull behind journey; the faces ready on the different finish.
The analysis
Avanti’s analysis uncovered a easy however highly effective reality: 37 per cent of in a single day journeys are made for love—to go to pals, household, or companions—fairly than for tourism or enterprise. But, regardless of this, most journey promoting nonetheless sells “the getaway”: metropolis breaks, scenic routes, cultural hotspots.
For Avanti, this posed a inventive problem. How do you stand out in a service that is all about locations, and as an alternative discuss why individuals go to them? Or to place it one other approach: how do you make rail journey really feel not simply sensible, however private? The reply was to flip the script. To cease promoting locations and begin celebrating connections.
The response
Consequently, the brand new marketing campaign focuses on the emotional fact of journey, fairly than specifics like which locations are accessible through Avanti West Coast. Utilizing iconic photographer Martin Parr’s celebrated eye for authenticity, it captures the heat, awkwardness and appeal of actual individuals and their causes for travelling.
Every execution incorporates a vivid pictures portrait, paired with Avanti’s clear, recognisable signage and a easy, heartfelt line that tells the “actual story” of that vacation spot, comparable to “Liverpool. House of your squidgy new niece” or “Macclesfield. House of the good friend you’d drop something for.”
The marketing campaign runs throughout out-of-home (OOH), social and audio, and curiously, it has been tailored for various areas. Which means somebody in Glasgow may see an advert studying “Manchester. House of…” with the journey time included from that metropolis. It is a neat method to hyperlink emotional motivation to the model’s promise of velocity and comfort.
Dynamic digital billboards and location-based audio adverts additional personalise the message, reminding us that getting there sooner means getting again to the individuals who matter, sooner.
Parr for the course
Avanti’s alternative of photographer is not any accident. Martin Parr is one in all Britain’s most influential image-makers, recognized for locating poetry and humour within the on a regular basis. Born in 1952 and a long-time member of Magnum Photographs, he’s world-famous for his work documenting trendy British life (sunburnt holidaymakers, tea-stained mugs, suburban buffets), with a watch for the gorgeous and the absurd.
His work is each affectionate and unsettling: celebrating what’s acquainted whereas exposing the quirks and contradictions of sophistication and tradition. And his involvement within the marketing campaign comes sizzling on the heels of heightened public consciousness, because of the documentary movie I Am Martin Parr, which hit cinemas earlier this 12 months to widespread acclaim.
As Andy Mcananey, inventive director at adam&eveDDB, put it: “What makes West Coast locations a pleasure to go to? The individuals who stay there. We could not have requested for a extra appropriate individual to shoot them than Martin Parr.”
The timing of the marketing campaign can be good. Launched in October forward of the important thing Christmas reserving season, it begins with an preliminary two-week burst of out of doors adverts, whereas social and audio will keep stay year-round, maintaining that emotional thread going after the festive rush.
Sarah Copley, Avanti’s industrial director, sums all of it up neatly. “The marketing campaign unexpectedly delivers on our transient,” she says. “With Martin Parr’s unmistakable eye behind the digicam, it strengthens our reference to prospects and ensures prepare journey with Avanti is entrance of thoughts when visiting pals or family members.”
